Colorado

I've always loved Colorado. Before I had ever been there, I heard about all the beauty and adventure that was there, and I knew I had to get there. About four years ago, I got to go for my first time. My dad works for Youth for Christ, and he had planned a trip to Crooked Creek Ranch (totally awesome!) for his kids. I volunteered to go along as a counselor. The 36-hour school bus ride (one way) was rough, but it was worth it! Ever since then, I've wanted to go back, especially with my hubby. We finally did! To celebrate our second anniversary, we set out to conquer Colorado...

The first day there, we checked out Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater. It's a really neat rock formation where concerts are held. I totally enjoyed being out in the fresh air and wide open spaces!


It was a beautiful, slightly cool day (probably 55 degrees), and I was shocked and excited to find snow (and right next to cactus at that... still crazy to me)!

Our second day was spent in the mountains. We went on a horseback ride at Aspen Lodge. It was a gorgeous area with stunning views.


Then we drove around and went on hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park. A lot of the park was closed for the winter (unfathomable to us Kentuckians... it was only October!), but we managed to see a good bit of it. We'd definitely like to go back again.

On one of our hikes, we climbed up a big rocky area. I thought this pic was fun with the sun flare and all!


In that same area, we discovered a herd of elk! How neat is that!? We could hear their call and everything. We were standing up where the people in this pic are:

This is a view right near where the elk were:

Then we drove up to Bear Lake. By then, it was freezing cold because the sun was going down. It was really neat to see.

The next day, we headed out to Waterton Canyon to do some mountain biking.

We had heard that the mountain biking trail was 6 miles down a dirt road from the parking area. No biggie, right? Well, we didn't know it was 6 miles up hill! And with the high altitude, it was rough! By the time we got to the trail, we were running short on time and I was exhausted. Matt went on and explored the trail for a bit, but our "mountain biking" didn't turn out like we had thought. Regardless, it was worth it. The scenery was so nice, and we ended up seeing big horn sheep on our way back! They were so close to us too! It was neat to see them running all over the hillside--it's amazing how they can do that when it's so steep and rocky. The big guy was checking Matt out:

Then we went on to visit my cousin, Michele, and her family. They live in Denver. It was so great to spend time with them on their own turf! They took us out to Boulder, where we did some shopping, hiking, and climbing. We climbed on these rocks:


Matt ventured out to the edge:



The rocks again:

It was such a great vacation! We definitely want to go back some day. Thanks go out to Becky for letting us borrow her little camera for our biking and horseback riding! And thanks so much Michele and family for having us stay with you! We had a blast!

And thank you, God, for such a beautiful creation and for making it possible for us to enjoy it. :)

LIVE!

I visited my parents a few weeks ago. While I was there, I stopped by at the home of a friend of my mom's to help her out with a computer question she had. To give you a little background, this friend, Ms. Stone, is an amazing pianist and wonderful piano teacher in my hometown (my mom is also a piano teacher). She is originally from Louisville, so she was telling me about all the wonderful things she did while she was there. Then she started asking me questions. "Do you go to Iroquois Park much?" Um... no. "Do you go to the concerts at UofL? They have a lot of free events!" Um... I've been meaning to, but no... Etc. Etc. She paused, then looked at me and said something I'll never forget: "You aren't living! You're just existing." Ouch! But so true! I have all these things that I'd love to do around here (most of which are free): spend time at a park, attend concerts, see a ballet, spend time by the river, do the trolley gallery hop, find a good stargazing spot, play in the fountain... The list goes on. And I'm not doing them! I'm always "busy." But with what? Existing, that's what. So I'm taking out a new lease on life. The laundry can wait. I can give up an hour of sleep here and there. Dinner doesn't have to be magnificent. I'm going to LIVE! I'm going to take advantage of opportunities while I have them. I won't be perfect at this, but I'm going to try!

So thank you, Ms. Stone. I needed to hear that.

Brian & Megan

This weekend, I spent some time in Bowling Green, Kentucky, photographing Megan and Brian's wedding. After meeting them this spring to take their engagement pictures, I knew that their wedding would be lots of fun to take part in! They are such a sweet and fun couple.

There were so many nice things about the day: The church where the ceremony was held was really gorgeous, with huge windows in the foyer that made it feel like it was outside. Megan's dress had intricate beading all over it, and an elegant silhouette--absolutely stunning! The reception was held at the Kentucky Museum, which had a huge staircase, and lots of deep, dark woodwork. And one of my favorite moments was at the reception when Megan and Brian thanked everyone for being there, supporting them, and helping out. Too often we forget to stop and appreciate others, and that was so nice to see them do that!

Getting ready at the church (check out that beading!):


All four of Megan's sisters stood up with her. Can you tell they're related? ;)


The flower girl playing in a little sunshine:


Those huge windows at the church that I told you about:


The newlyweds sharing the last dance of the night:


And, once again, check out that ring!!


Congrats Megan and Brian! Thanks for having me share in your special day!

Glory

"We grow in glory so that we might assist others in doing so; we give our glory to increase theirs."
(The Sacred Romance by John Eldredge, p. 158)

I've been reading The Ransomed Heart, a collection of devotional readings from John Eldredge's works, and that line caught my eye the other day. It kind of reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, "The glory of God is man fully alive" (St. Irenaeus). I've really been trying to apply that in my life lately, praying daily that God would help me to be more alive. I know that would give Him glory, but I forget that by doing that I can also help others. When we become more alive ("grow in glory"), others see that and are also inspired ("to increase theirs"), and both of those--together and individually--definitely are the glory of God.

Along those same lines, I read this morning:

"Somehow, we human beings are never happier than when we are expressing the deepest gifts that are truly us... God created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing, and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there."
(Quoted from Os Guinness, The Journey of Desire by Eldredge, p. 152-54)

Maybe that's part of being more alive? Finding our gifts, our passions, our deepest heart's desires; and living in them.

What are your gifts? Your glory?

Megan & Andy

Some of you might remember seeing Megan and Andy's engagement pictures... Now you get to see the wedding!

Every little detail about their wedding was perfect and beautiful. At the ceremony, each guest was given a really nice, hand made program, a pretty little box with chocolate covered almonds, and the most detailed and pretty directions to the reception that I've ever seen! Then, at the reception, they had gorgeous roses for centerpieces, coffee bean filled candle holders, deep chocolate linens, a pretty menu with fun trivia on the back, and ribbon-tied boxes with yummy chocolate rice crispy treats. So many details were just so beautiful!

One of the things I thought was great was that they came up with a creative way to dismiss people to get their food at the reception. The first people who could get their food was anyone who had read an entire, unabridged Jane Austen novel (Megan just got her Master's in English). Then anyone who has served in the military could go (Andy is a Lieutenant in the Air Force). Then anyone who had changed the diaper of anyone in the bridal party was next... And so on. How fun!

There were so many great things about the day, but best of all for me was getting to see a great friend unite with a fantastic man, and start their lives together. Megan and Andy--I wish you all the joys that marriage can bring you!

Corey, Jeremy, and Aedan

I had lots of fun taking pictures of my friend, Corey, with her son, Aedan, and hubby, Jeremy. (I posted a few previously, which were taken with my Holga.) Corey and Jer are such great friends to us. They came down and visited us recently, which was awesome. All of these pictures were taken back in Michigan though.

The romantic couple:


Some family shots, having fun on the beach:

Then lots of little, photogenic Aedan:

In this one, he was walking in circles around me trying to get really close to the camera. Talk about hard to get a shot! I thought this was pretty cute though.
He loves freighters.

I

Michigan!

So I know I said I'd tell more about my wonderful time back home in Michigan, and now it's over a month later and I haven't said much at all! Time flies... But I still want to fill you in!

One of the things I got to do was have a family picnic with Matt's siblings and numerous neices and nephews at the beach. We swam in Lake Huron and ate yummy Michigan hot dogs (I'm partial to a brand there... it's the only kind I'll eat!). The lake was actually quite warm, which was awesome. This is my favorite snapshot from that day--our adorable nephew, Nathaniel:


Isn't he CUTE!? :)

I also got to spend some time with my Mom's dad's side of the family. My mom and I headed up to Mt. Pleasant for a family reunion. It was on my great-uncle Frank's farm. We did a tractor ride all through the fields, watched Uncle Frank try out the pop-pop boat he made, ate lots of good food, and just had a great time laughing together. I love family!

Here's Uncle Frank and me:



This is my great-aunt Florence. She's in her late nineties and is such a godly, wonderful example.


Uncle Frank and Dan (his son) with their pop-pop boats. Uncle Frank made is by hand with mahogany wood. He's so handy--he makes all sorts of strange inventions and toys all the time!



Mom and Grandma getting ready for the tractor ride:



Gotta love those suspenders! My family roots are SOOO country!



And last but not least, me and my cousin Katie. She's like a sister to me and I love getting to see her!



I love family so much! I was so blessed to be able to spend so much time back home.

Keep an eye out for my next post. I'll have more pics of Corey and her family to share!

Family Wedding

I attended my cousin, Angela's, wedding this weekend in Jackson, Michigan. It was so nice to be with that side of the family, as I don't get to see them often.

It was a really pretty wedding, with lots of little homemade details that made it all so special. This is one of the candle centerpieces:


My gorgeous cousin with her beautiful family--husband, Sam, and their son, Collin:


A personal favorite of mine... I was really hoping to get a shot like this during the day. It's my beloved Grandpa.


The dances were all so sweet. After Sam and Angela's first dance, she danced with her brother, Tony, **tears** and then with Sam and Collin **more tears**.



Congratulations Sam and Angela! I wish you ALL the best!

Holga Time!

I've been planning on filling y'all in on my trip to Michigan, and I've just been completely swamped this week, so I haven't gotten a chance! Here's just one little tidbit for now--more to come later!

I spent some time with my friend, Corey, and her son Aedan, taking lots and lots of pics (and relaxing and enjoying girl time!). I also took some with Corey's hubby, Jeremy, which I will post later. These are some of the shots I took with my beloved Holga. I loooooove Holga shots. For those of you who don't know, Holgas are these cheap little Russian cameras, that use 120mm film and give some pretty wacky results. Focusing is seriously based on these little icons of one person, 3 people, and mountains---real accurate, eh? And for the "shutter speed," you can pick between sunny and cloudy. Oh, and the light leaks that get into the camera create the dark corners, and mine seems to make the bottom right corner really blurry... Each camera has a character of its own!

For these shots, I did do some fun post processing edits on them, but that mainly effected color and contrast. Other than that, any quirkiness you see is entirely the result of Holga-ness (as Corey would say).

This one is my fave: