late night

I'm editing and photoshop is being eternally slow... as in it's taking 5 minutes to crop an image.
Bllllleeeeehhhh.....
So while I wait, I thought I'd write a new post.

This has been an amazing weekend.
I've had so many answers to prayers and it's been incredible to witness each answer make itself manifest in my life. Every blessing has stood as a testimony to me that the Lord takes care of His children who keep His commandments. It really amazes me how much sweet and tender love the Savior has for me.

I also found that I really like to shoot with music playing. I had a photo session with my sister and we listened to music while we were shooting outside. It was so inspiring to me. I'm going to try and incorporate more things like that when I shoot. Especially since right now I'm in a horrible photo black hole... I haven't been liking anything that I've been shooting for school and it's been incredibly frustrating. I'm hoping I get past it soon.

I threw away my wedding photo albums a few days ago.
They are now at the dump.
.... It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Have you ever heard of The Civil Wars? They have a song called Poison and Wine and it's a beautiful song that I just love... It reminds me of Jordan... "I don't love you, but I always will."
....
....
....

We've been divorced for 7 months as of 2 days ago.
I've been trying really hard not to talk about it anymore. I feel like it's been long enough that people don't really want to hear it anymore and I especially don't want to turn into the girl that talks about her divorce all the time.
But sometimes it still hurts a whole lot...
I'm just so grateful for the Atonement. Even though it all was and sometimes still is a great burden, I can't imagine having to bear it on my own. I have felt the sweet joy that comes from the Atonement and turning over all my troubles and pains to the Lord. There have been so many times when I have felt that the pain was going to absolutely consume me and it was almost as if a blanket of peace was wrapped around my spirit. I have always been able to get through those moments because of the many tender mercies that I now think back to and hold dear.

Well, I'm going to bed now. But listen to this song if you have a minute, it's really beautiful.

my love and me, his name is In and Out

So yesterday, Ayisha and I went climbing. Afterwards, I was sooo hungry so we got me an In and Out burger (glorious). I was inhaling the thing with the cleanliness of a 5 year old when I took a wonderfully delicious and huge bite and glanced over to see the car next to us full of men laughing at me hahaha.
Maybe this is why I never get asked out? :P

thoughts

Thought #1:
I.
Love.
Ayisha.
Seriously.
That girl is (and works) brilliant magic. (Ish, you know exactly what I'm talking about.)
She makes my heart sing happy bird songs. I just love her more than rain!

Thought #2:
I am in love with warm weather and sun.

Thought #3:
"I have a crush on every boy." "Arrowed!"

Thought #4:
I love being able to say that I'm happy.

This is my serious face ;) hahaha

epic spring break

So basically...
... my spring break was amazing.
Seriously.
I went rock climbing with a group of awesome friends in Las Vegas and St. George and then hung out in Zion for a day. A part of me wanted to cry that I had to come home and be an adult or "something". It definitely was a top 5 favorite vacation.

Here are some pics from the event with some of the lovely people I went with...

thoughts

Thought #1:
I've always felt like I'm not a very feminine girl (super tomboy growing up and then martial arts, definitely nothing like cheerleading). But lately I've been trying to find some sort of balance between my feminine and non-feminine side like wearing makeup and doing my hair and wearing clothes that don't cross over as pajamas.
I think I've been remotely successful :)

Thought #2:
For spring break, I'm going with friends on a rock climbing/camping trip. It's gonna be bomb. I'm also in terrible climbing shape sooo... I'm going to be stomped. Like a little bug.

Thought #3:
I like to sew. And now that I don't have any future plans after school (aka having babies), I'm seriously considering studying fashion design (or at least taking some classes). I think it would be amazing to work in NY while I'm taking classes for design (there's really nothing good out here, it's all out east). Anyways, just some ideas that I'm playing with because I don't know what to do with my life anymore :P

classy

I'm not saying this to offend anyone, but I really don't like the wedding announcements that are a collage of a handful of photographs and words on a single sheet of photo paper...
bbblllleeeehhhh....
Some are better than others of course (I've actually seen some that I like, though not often), but as a photographer, I feel like it takes so much away from the images (takes away in a bad way). It's distracting, busy, and messy... You don't get a chance to appreciate the image for the image because the announcement is one giant mixed salad.
I like simple. Simple, beautiful and classy.

Like this:

 Or this:

 Or this:

All of these are from the blog Oh So Beautiful Paper, check it out, it's a fabulous site!


Print a lovely image and slide it in the envelope with all the other goodies and you've got a beautiful, classy and memorable announcement. The best part about all of it is that it's more affordable to make these type of announcements than you would think. Oh So Beautiful Paper has a ton of tutorials where all you do is make a stamp with your announcement on it and stamp your paper. Really affordable. Then go to Macey's photo lab on a wednesday and print out 3x5's or 4x6's to put in with your announcement for only $0.10.
Maybe it's being exposed to weddings so often, but wow, there are so many cheap ways to do a wedding and still keep it classy! I'm kind of excited to plan my wedding if I get married again. It's going to be cheap and awesome (do-overs kind of rock, I know what I'm doing now haha).
Anyways, that's my 2 cents :P

firework

I shot Mrs. Hana Doggett Cordon's wedding last month. One of the images I loved was this one of Alex with the sparkler. It reminded me of this wonderful piece by Keith Carter on the bottom :)
Anyways, that's all!


Photo above by me


Photo above by Keith Carter