I've Moved!

I've moved! Both on the internet and real life. I arrived back in the Dallas area on Saturday, and I haven't even BEGUN to unpack-- that's going to be a several-day project. But there's just so much crazy stuff going on in my life that I want to get done first! And I don't think it's hit me yet that I'm done with College Station-- after 4 and a half years, I feel like this is just another weekend trip or spring break or something that I just majorly over-packed for.

I had my last “official” day with Shauna over a week ago, but I’ve still been coming to the office every day to work on designing stuff. It’s been a good transition period; it would have been a lot harder to work my last day and then just say, “See ya!” These last months working with Shauna have been incredible. I have learned SO much, more than I could ever write here, and not just about photography. It wasn’t an ordinary boss/assistant relationship (I mean, come on—she taught me how to cuss in German!) Shauna has become my friend and mentor in a way I never expected. I am just so grateful for every day that I got to come to “work” for her.

Shauna, I can’t thank you enough for the last year. Any time I hear a song by Alanis, Jay-Z, or Sarah Groves, it will always remind me of you :)

To all my friends, roommates, Comm Family—thank you guys so much for making my life in College Station so fun and enjoyable—I will miss you all! I’ll come visit soon!

There are some MAJOR things coming up in my life that I am so excited about… so excited, in fact, that I have a whole new blog to talk about them! Go to chasethelightwithme.com (or click on the picture below) to read about all the CRAZY ways in which the Lord is moving in my life!

Roman and Sammy

There is just something about horses. I don't know what it is, but they are just... majestic. My whole life I have been drawn to them, but there will be years at a time where I don't come anywhere near one because I just don't get a chance (or I don't make the most of opportunities). So when I finally get to be around one and I get a whiff of their wonderful smell (yes I LOVE the smell of horses and stables)-- it all comes flooding back to me and I wonder, "How did I stay away for so long??"

The past few weeks I have gotten to just go hang out with my friend Kristen and her horse, Roman. It's been YEARS since I've ridden, so she is awesome and agreed to give me some lessons so that I can, literally, get back on the horse. I had SO much fun-- seriously how did I stay away so long?? Even when I wasn't riding, I just enjoyed being around Roman-- brushing him, helping Kristen wash him, giving him peppermints (his favorite things EVER)-- basically loving on him like a big puppy dog. It's just relaxing for me to be around them-- all stress disappears while I'm out there, I always leave with this incredible sense of deep peace and joy.

This last week I finally got to hang out with Kristen's best friend, Fay, and her horse Sammy. I had SO much fun with them! Kristen and Fay are hilarious together, and when they get around their horses they're kind of like moms on a playdate-- Fay totally goes into mom mode when Sammy starts getting too crazy, even busting out the full-name reproach ("Samuel!")

These last few weeks have been such a huge blessing to me-- I'm going to be so sad to leave them!

Kristen & Roman

Fay & Sammy

"Susan & Lucy In Narnia"

Under Construction

Sooooo obviously my blog looks a little different-- just about everything in my life is in transition right now, and the blog is not excluded! Soon I will be at a new address (once it's completed) and I'll let you know where that is-- for now please forgive the disarray! I'll also write a longer post about what all is going on in my life-- but for now, meet our most recent roommate, Sara-bear

Horsetooth Hike #2

I love Colorado. Anyone who knows me at all knows this about me. My brother and his family live up there so I have a fantastic excuse to go visit a couple times a year. It's just such a great place to get away. Away from the jobs, away from my phone, away from facebook. My brother always feels like he has to apologize for the fact that they don't do much, but that's a huge part of the appeal. We don't watch a lot of TV (except Cinderella and the Incredibles on a loop in the playroom) and there aren't a ton of people to see. Whenever I visit, I go to the library and pick out a few books that I will inevitably finish before my trip is over, and I love it.

Last October when I visited, I went on a hike for the first time by myself, and it was amazing. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and as I set off down the trail I came upon a little family of deer, just meandering around the path. We just stopped and stared at each other for a few seconds, until I slooooowly got my camera out of my bag. They just kept staring as I started snapping a few pictures, and then started inching closer...

and closer...

and closer...

until finally they decided I was close enough and they started moving into the brush on either side of the trail. I just stopped and watched them, until this doe turned around to get one last look at me, and *CLICK*... I got this picture.

It's one of my absolute favorites! The picture is precious, and it also just reminds me of a beautiful day. That whole afternoon was just an incredible time for me to be alone with the Lord in the middle of His Creation. When I got to the top of the trail, a place called Horsetooth, I was able to just sit for a while and marvel at the view. I had a lot going on in my head and in my heart that day, and it felt so good to get to the top and just rest. It wasn't a long hike at all, but I had rushed to get to the top because it was late and I wanted to get to the top before the sun went down.

It was worth the rush.

Like I said, this was not a long hike at all, but I was still pretty winded when I got to the top (let's face it, this "city" girl doesn't have much practice climbing mountains, however small they may be.) I was thankful for the opportunity to just sit and marvel at Creation, and rest my shaky little legs. I was just overwhelmed by the beauty of it, and the fact that the Lord made it all for us. And I wasn't the only one up there-- I happened to turn around at the right moment and see this little guy sneaking out to check me out and grab some snacks...

After having some time to sit and enjoy the view, I was so rejuvenated by the beauty of everything that energy just started spilling out of me. If you happened to be on the Horsetooth trail in early October and saw a crazy girl running down the trail, camera in hand and bag bouncing all over the place, you saw me. And this wasn't good, steady, athletic-type running. No no, this was me running like a giddy little kid downhill at unsafe speeds on rocky, uneven terrain. I would start steady and just get going faster and faster until I finally skidded to a stop to take pictures of some random plants or trees that caught my eye.

This is the closest I got to a self-portrait that day...

This is the view of Horsetooth from about halfway down the trail.

Thus ended a nearly perfect day!

Brazos Family Magazine

A few months ago Shauna agreed to do a shoot for the Brazos Family Magazine winter edition-- a snow-themed photo shoot in the middle of College Station! We did the shoot at Mt. Aggie, which is the place on campus where they teach all the skiing classes and have kids' birthday parties and stuff. It's basically a big hill covered in white astroturf, and whenever people are using it they run water down the hill to make it slippery enough for sledding and skiing. In all my years at A&M I had never been there, so I was pretty excited to get to play around on it!

The photo shoot was promoting a local children's boutique, so we had several kiddos out there dressed to the nines in all these precious clothes, and with some adorable accessories...puppies and kittens! The magazine was also running an article on the Brazos Valley Animal Shelter, so they brought some animals from the shelter for the shoot. They all looked SO cute! We had some difficulties though-- It was pretty much the brightest/sunniest day of the year so the kids were almost blinded by the sun, and we had to keep them and the animals from running and sliding down the hill-- they just wanted to play! But we had fun, and I'm glad I finally got to experience the majestic Mt. Aggie :)

This one is my absolute favorite-- he just wasn't sure about the puppy at first!

Fairytale bridals

This is the lovely Kelly-- she hired Shauna to do her wedding and bridal portraits and I got to come along and second-shoot both! Check out her wedding images here

Her bridal portraits were just incredible to shoot-- it was the perfect magic hour and she looked like some kind of beautiful Disney princess. She has such a sweet heart and I had so much fun with her!

And they lived happily ever after