former future.

for much of my growing up years, and let's be honest, well into my college years, "beer" was, for all intents and purposes, a four-letter word.

it was synonymous with a darwin fish on your car or skipping church to go to brunch.

beer obviously led to drunkenness and debauchery and premarital sex (oh, and dancing).

it was to be avoided at all costs.

in one word: unacceptable. 

but somewhere along the line, i realized that maybe beer (and alcohol in general) wasn't the enemy and that a little responsibility and moderation could go a long way.

but with all that said, i was still a little hesitant when mr. lesley and our good friend luke proposed the idea of starting a beer club with people from church.

a beer club connected to a church? 

my teenage self wasn't sure how such a proposal would go over. 

but fortunately for us, the church embraced the idea and the baker beer club was born. 

people from the church, people from outside the church, people who like beer, people whose spouses like beer all come together once a month, check out a local brewery, and talk about the goodness we see in the beer. 

how's that for redeeming culture? 

yes, we believe there is goodness and truth in everything God made.

even (and especially) in beer.

our meetings thus far have been great and we continue to see new faces and drink good beer, but nothing quite compared to our meeting this past friday. 

james and sarah howat, the owners of former future brewing company set to open in denver this fall, invited us over to their home for a preview tasting of four of their delicious beers.

did you hear that right? 

they invited almost 20 strangers from a beer club they had never heard of previously into their HOME to give us free beer! 

and it was absolutely wonderful.

sarah and james embodied hospitality that night. 

their home is beautiful, there were delicious snacks to pair with the beer, and the conversation was easy and comfortable. 

and then there was the beer.

i am very far from being a beer expert, but everything i tasted was delicious! 

{and i made sure to ask all the true beer lovers in the group what they thought, and they agreed!}

we all tasted their saison, ipa, stout, and salted porter (my personal favorite), and with each taste it was clear how much time and thought and energy they put into their brewing.

i left that evening feeling like all was right in the world with a deeper understanding of the church and community and hospitality and great beer.

so, if you live in denver...

-go to former future as soon as it opens ("like" them on facebook, so you stay up to date on all the info}

and

-come visit the baker beer club

for a bunch of church people, we're pretty cool.

“Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!” ― Martin Luther

festivus for the restivus.

i know you've seen it. 

right there in your inbox just seconds from the recycle bin. 

LIVINGSOCIAL! 

an exotic trip, an earthquake survival kit, aroma carpet cleaning...

you know the drill.

but sometimes, just sometimes, you find a gem in the midst of livingsocial ridiculousness. 

in our case, the south denver beer fest coup was definitely worth the purchase. 

we spent saturday afternoon with two of our favorites, luke and krista, sipping on a whole bunch of beer from all over the place, while sporting our diy-ed, custom made, "you wish you had one" pretzel necklaces. 

there was a lot of good beers there, don't get me wrong. 

but i have to say that fate brewery out of boulder won first place in my book.

their watermelon kolsch was out. of. this. world. 

{second place goes to woodchuck for their blueberry cider, but shhhhh...don't tell anyone. mr. lesley will disown me if word gets out.}

great friends. 

great location.

great beer. 

and when you get down to the lone pretzel, you know you had a good time.

cheers.

beer, chocolate, and love.

if you haven't noticed lately, mr. lesley has a slight obsession with beer. 

he can talk brews and hops and flavors and aromas and breweries for hours.

{this is not a hyperbole. last night he literally talked about all these things for hours with some dudes. it was awesome.}

and because he's such a beer aficionado these days, i've learned a few things myself. 

a few days ago i called him to ask what kind of beer i should pick up for him and starting spatting words like "IPA...double IPA...white IPA...amber...lager..."

{all this coming from a girl who used to think coors light was the creme de la creme of beers.}

so with that said, it just made sense for us to spend part of our valentine's day at wit's end brewery for their first annual beer and chocolate pairing event.

this wasn't our first time at wit's end.

we've visited a couple times before because of their super friendly staff, unpretentious environment, and    most importantly, delicious beer.

but this event really hit the nail on the head.

men love beer.

women love chocolate {especially on valentine's day}.

put the two together and you, my friend, are a GENIUS! 

the beer was predictably awesome.

{i even liked the more hoppy varieties.}

the chocolate was rich and flavorful. 

and the pairings were spot on.

initially, i can't say i would have picked to spend part of our "romantic" evening at a local brewery, sitting on a church pew, sharing beers over a plastic table, and admiring the decor of red roses in water bottles. 

but isn't that what love is all about?

sometimes love means letting go of what you think or want and being along for the ride with what makes the other person happy.

and, if you're like me, you may find that what makes the other person happy has a funny way of making you happy too.

while we were sitting there talking, and sampling, and people watching,  and laughing, i realized i was having such a wonderful time.

because even though it was a far cry from a fancy schmancy dinner date {i was wearing my north face fleece for crying out loud}, it was very much us, and i wouldn't have changed a thing.

so with chocolate on my face and beer on my breath, i say to you...

cheers.

to love. 

to romance.

to plastic tables.

and to us.