1. 3 Mar


    in six, count em’, six more days, this will be my point of few. 1…2…3…4…5…6 and i can not wait.

    in six, count em’, six more days, this will be my point of few.

    1…2…3…4…5…6

    and

    i

    can

    not

    wait.

     

  2. 10 Sep


    a new series: pocket dreams oo1: tiny francis

    a new series: pocket dreams oo1: tiny francis

     

  3. 23 Aug


    the 1978 vw rabbit… a new dream for the distant future.

     

  4. 12 Aug


    life through instagram: my new haircut. packing up. the life. mornings in the bus. just so photogenic. saved the day. another dream. love loves. thanks boys. mountains are good for the soul.

     

  5. 11 Aug


    the people we meet: steve has been out of work for two or twenty years. it is hard to tell. he works in sheet metal but the work has dried up. there might be work in aspen but who wants to live in aspen with the richies? steve has two teeth in his head and whistle when he says certain words. he is trying to figure out what kind of animal he wants to travel with. he has said good bye to three black labs and just can’t do it again. i suggested a ferret and he thought maybe a snake. but a snake won’t keep you warm on cold mountain nights. what steve really wants is a falcon. and i think that would be just right. he carries a gun but dose not want to murder anyone which was lucky for us. steve has been working on his camper for eight years and installed solar paneling last winter which was pricey but worth it. he can’t wait for october so he can get his mountains back. steve made the hottest fire i have ever toasted my buns on and he called me weird when i made my s’more with six pieces of chocolate and burned my marshmallow black and shiny. that’s how i like them. curtis thinks its weird too. steve was our neighbor in crested butte and he loved the bus. we might see him again next year. hopefully not with a snake. these are the people we meet all thanks to francis. bless you steve. i hope the fall treats you well.  

    the people we meet:

    steve has been out of work for two or twenty years. it is hard to tell. he works in sheet metal but the work has dried up. there might be work in aspen but who wants to live in aspen with the richies? steve has two teeth in his head and whistle when he says certain words. he is trying to figure out what kind of animal he wants to travel with. he has said good bye to three black labs and just can’t do it again. i suggested a ferret and he thought maybe a snake. but a snake won’t keep you warm on cold mountain nights. what steve really wants is a falcon. and i think that would be just right. he carries a gun but dose not want to murder anyone which was lucky for us. steve has been working on his camper for eight years and installed solar paneling last winter which was pricey but worth it. he can’t wait for october so he can get his mountains back. steve made the hottest fire i have ever toasted my buns on and he called me weird when i made my s’more with six pieces of chocolate and burned my marshmallow black and shiny. that’s how i like them. curtis thinks its weird too. steve was our neighbor in crested butte and he loved the bus. we might see him again next year. hopefully not with a snake.

    these are the people we meet all thanks to francis. bless you steve. i hope the fall treats you well.  

     

  6. 11 Aug


    two and thirty-three years ago.

    two years ago, on my boy’s birthday, we brought home our bus. we loved her at first sight. she was a rockin’ red head and now she is true blue. the truest.

    thirty-three years ago curtis was born. i have had the honor of being a part of his life for the last fourteen years and he is my heart. i can’t imagine life without him. he makes it all sweeter. what a blessed day. this day.

    happy happy birthday curtis. i am beyond thankful for you.

     

  7. 9 Aug


    figuring it out.

    after our night in the orchard we made our way over to crested butte, colorado. now to get from paonia to the butte you have to, get to, drive over kebler pass and it is my belief that it is the most beautiful mountain pass in the whole us of a. kelber pass is home of the largest grove of aspen trees in colorado and i swear that there are some trees that curtis could not get both his arms around. beautiful. but again, what is normally about a two hour drive turned into a five hour drive and after stopping for lunch and supplies in town, we showed up at our camp site, six hours later, pretty worn out.

    and also sort of sad. usually we camp every year with our dear friends davy & ellen but we missed them this year. and miss them we did. it was lonely there without them. but curtis got to work setting up tarps and trying to make our bus as dry as possible. we are still missing two front windows so that makes mountain storms very interesting. and good thing he did because it started to rain at about six o’clock and did not stop until one in the morning. and was perfect. what a fun and perfect night. we lit candles, played music and had ourselves a grand time hanging out in the bus. honestly, i would not have cared if it had rained for days and days. playing uno, reading and just hanging with my boy was just what my heart needed. 

    we are figuring things out friends. figuring the bus out. we are learning that keeping the bus dry is key and takes some work. and we are learning when to duck. i have hit my head countless time while getting in and out of the bus and people, it makes me crazy! just ask curtis. the things that come out of my mouth… and most important we are learning to just enjoy. let go and enjoy. enjoy each other, the mountains and our sweet francis. and i have a feeling my friends that is will be a life long lesson. 

     

  8. 9 Aug



    [Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

    plays: 10

    dear mumford & sons,

    please accept this invitation to be permanent lovers of our dear bus, francis. we apologize for not introducing her to you boys sooner. we know you will be life long friends and offer each other a shoulder to cry on, creative inspiration, good natured high jinx’s and joys upon joys. thank you for your time and consideration.

    love & blessings,

    curtis, emily & francis

    ps: thank you matt & tamara for a really fun night. loves.  

     

  9. 9 Aug


    night number one: how fun is it that our very first night in the bus was spent in an orchard in paonia, colorado. that was not really a question. it was really fun. paonia, the wine country of colorado, is one of our favorite places on earth. so naturally we wanted our first trip in the bus to be visiting this beautiful and odd mountain town. we pulled into town at around six o’clock and we were pretty fired. it took us about seven hours to get from grand lake to paonia and almost three hours of the trip was spent driving over dusty, unpaved mountain passes. friends, it is decided. we do not like unpaved roads. the bus did fine, totally fine, but we were stressed. i should say, i did most of the stressing but curtis got sick of the roads too after hour two. that first day was a struggle for me. i was worried and nervous about every little noise the bus made and about every little rock that came flying toward our beautiful new paint job. but after we set up camp, got the serious mosquito situation under control, made a little dinner of a red pepper, banana and a bottle of wine, went on a walk around the orchard and played some uno my heart was calm and i was having a blast. the best part of the night was setting up our bed for the first time. and i am happy to say that the bed was great! we slept for about nine hours that first night and i was happy as a clam.

     

  10. 8 Aug



    you mentioned dreams.

    now that you mention dreams, it’s my belief that everyone in the world has two heart desires, whether they know it or not. one, to live in new york city and two, to travel the world in an old vw bus. seriously. i really do think that both of these adventures call to every individual on some heart level. i sit here today, maybe sounding a little narcissistic and simple, been given the blessing of living out these universal dreams in real time. and guess what? my heart is not settled. it is not complete in the face of nyc and the bus.

    i think what can make a dream so heart breaking and perfect is the realization that they, they being the dreams of our souls, are never blemish free. never faultless. take new york for example. for all it’s glory, mystery and presence, the city of all cities can be unforgiving, dirty and lonely. and guess what? there are mosquitoes and flies when you are camping in a vw bus. and even our sweet and beautiful francis has engine cooling issues and flintstone breaks that have caused me many tiny heart attacks along the way.

    friends, i think that lots of people live with a broken heart in the face of their dreams. some because, sadly, their dreams have never come true. and lots and lots because their dreams have come true and disappointment can be oh so powerful. so what do you do? what do i do?

    well, i know that i have to keep hoping. i want to keep hoping. hoping not for my dreams to come true, but for jesus to be real in my life. hoping that what he says about god, the world and ultimately himself are true. the truest. with this hope, having beefed up my heart, i can press on. through joy and disappointment. through miracles and loss. through uno and mosquitoes. through nyc and infertility. my dreams are good and holy and right. and thankfully they become even more bright in his care and safekeeping.

    i have seen and learned allot in 84 days. and my heart is both thankful and broken. glory be.

     

  11. 8 Aug


    the grandest lake: before curtis and i headed off on our own into the wild with the bus we spent a really fun weekend with my family in grand lake, colorado.

    the high lights are as follows: the bus making it up berthoud pass, listening to the bellamy brothers over and over, s’mores of course, the boat ride, making new friends because of francis, the back porch at night, seeing the running bear, watching curtis and my dad act like eleven year old boys, baths in the big tub, walks and rides.

     

  12. 8 Aug



    seven days.

    we will be back in brooklyn again in 7 days. we have been gone for 84 days. living out of the same suitcase, or the really cool shelving unit curtis made for the bus, for the last 84 days. we have slept in 13 different beds and in 15 different location. i told curtis the other day that these kind of summers change me. that this summer has changed me. i told him this while driving over some dusty mountain pass. i told him this while my legs were sunburned and freckly on the top and sweaty and stuck to my seat on the back.

    i suppose what i really mean is that i know myself a little better today. all thanks to a run down ocean front motel, an open west bound highway, a very hot oklahoma garage, a book or two (the hungering dark & fahrenheit 451), family, both sides, and most of all, sleeping in the bus next to curtis.

    i learned that perfection stresses me out and gives me a knotty right shoulder. but i also learned that beauty is a good value and a holy desire. i learned that excitement and anxiety sometimes act the same way in my body and heart and that praying deeply and walks cure most worked up stomachs. i learned that i crave time alone with curtis and that after a couple games uno i can see him better. i learned that relationships really can heal and become new and true. i learned that i will probably always battle the temptation to worry all the days of my life and that i need to be reminded everyday that his heart is to prosper and not to harm. i learned that i want so badly to be brave and confident but that fear and self doubt are never to far away from my heart. i learned again that i need a savior. and that curtis does too. and pretty much so does everyone i know. i also learned that i am not a savior and neither is curtis. i learned the power of a dream and how beautiful and scary it can be when they come true but how heart breaking it feels when deep dreams are deferred.