about

Well hello there! 

I'm Jessica, but you can call me Jess. I grew up in Colorado and have spent the last 7 years of life in Los Angeles, California. I'm grateful to call both places home. I'm also grateful that my little sister Meredith lives 5 minutes away. 

When I was 20 years old I married my handsome husband Shaun. He is a 6'4, Jesus-loving, skateboard-riding, babe of a man and I frequently find myself wondering how I scored him as MY man. Shaun is the director of Calling All Skaters, 
so most days we have anywhere from 10 to 30 skateboarding housemates. 

I am 26 years old and have a deep love of pink, sparkles, Disney and most of the other lovely things in life... like flowers, snowflakes, beaches, mountains, twinkly lights and coffee dates. (In fact I sincerely hope that one day I can have a coffee date with you.) I believed in Santa Clause until I was 17 years old, and still pretend to believe in him now, 
because it greatly enhances my overwhelming adoration of all things Christmas. 
(PS. I have been known to overflow with Christmas spirit.) 

I founded a ministry called Beauty Arise & also direct MFC (Models for Christ) LA. My work with MFC brings me backstage to places like Fashion Week a couple times a year... which you may have seen in photos, because I go a little photo crazy those weeks. I love my job. 
I also dream of working as Belle at Disneyland, and modeling for a Bridal magazine. 
I'll let you know if either of those ever play out. 
Oh, you should also know that Shaun and I work as unsalaried missionaries with YWAM LA. This means we travel a lot. It also means that we haven't gotten a paycheck in 7 years. 
It ALSO means that when I say that God is a provider, I actually believe it, and actually live it. 

I learned once that to be passionate about something means that you are willing to suffer for it. Knowing that, I'll say that I am passionate about girls & women understanding their God-given beauty, identity, and value. 

My prayer for this blog is that it would be a safe place for beauties like you to come in and be yourself. I won't pretend to be perfect here and I hope that you don't either. There's too much pressure in this world for us to have everything put together, and I'd rather not bring that in here. If you feel beautiful, then this is a great blog for you. If you wish you were beautiful, but spend most days hating yourself, then please grab a hot drink and stay a while. I've experienced both extremes, and an array of other related emotions, 
and would love nothing more than to chat with you about it. 

I desire to encourage your heart and inspire your life with the stories, 
videos & photos I post on here. 

You probably have picked up on the fact that I follow Jesus. I believe in His finished work on the cross that has set us free from our sins & made us children of God. I believe in a God that loves us like crazy & desires to do life with us. I also fully believe in His power to heal, restore, and redeem ANY life. It doesn't matter what we have done, our God is bigger.  I didn't always believe that, and I completely understand if you don't believe it. But it's where I'm at and knowing that will help you understand what motivates most everything I do 
and say. 

Welcome to "the beautiful ones". 
May you find joy for your day, truth for your mind, and peace for your heart. 

And ultimately may you say yes to the same glorious invitation that Jesus gave me 
7 years ago...

"Arise my darling, my beautiful one, 
and come with me."

Song of Solomon 2:10