its simply better to take your senior pictures with your best friend // nikki + annie

ah, what to say about these girls. i don't have to tell you that they're beautiful. but you should know that they truly are beautiful from the inside out. i have never known annie to be anything but genuinely kind. and never have i seen nikki without a smile on her face. i suppose its customary to sketch out a blip of good qualities underneath a collection of photographs of a person, but here i am, saying only what these girls are. its a rare thing in this world to find people who are true and honestly themselves. i spent midday with two of them. annie showed me around her home, we walked the grounds outside, she made me feel instantly at ease. (which i know is opposite of how its suppose to be considering i was the photographer, but that's annie). nikki arrived and we began the shoot. we had a perfect day for it too, a warm change from the cooler weather we've been use to. we dodged bees. ventured across fields. they switched in and out from being my camera's subject. and it was so much fun. slightly bittersweet, seeing these two get along as i know they have for years and years in school. college is a big change, though i know they both will rock it. their friendship however, i see it staying. growing. i loved listening to their memories and stories of pastimes. it made me thankful that people can depend on people, for the strength of friendship.
i'm blessed i got to do this. and blessed by these girls. x

a little boy turned six today which makes him not so little anymore

there is a tiny burst of reality that comes around with the birthday of a younger sibling. or a birthday of anyone. but with kids, the knowing is especially there. where has the time gone? it seems like just yesterday... words alike pop into your head and it hits you that these days are flying by.
solomon natnael turns six on this cloudy, fine wednesday.
he wished for a hot and ready cheese pizza from little ceasers.
granted, he pitched a two minute fit because we are making him wait till tonight to open his presents. granted, he pouts sometimes. granted, a little boy will be a little boy. this baby has taught me more than he knows about parenting and patience and what it means to let go. to let go of arguments, of the strictness of rules, to just be. he has always been the one with the fantastic imagination. his mind is color. his heart is good. solomon inclines himself to care for others. from the nest-thrown-baby bird we found years back on our walk in the woods, to a sick family member - he is constantly on the look out for ways to help, ways to nurture, to make life better for anyone and everyone. he is head strong, not easily swayed. he sometimes acts like bill cosby. he likes to listen to louis armstrong and old jazz.
my sweater was a bit much to fit him, but it was cozy. 
whenever i make a run to starbucks, he's up for the go. i can remember one sunday afternoon that he sat with me and drew pictures in his sketch book and sipped chocolate milk. it doesn't take much to keep him happy. he's content. he's a backseat driver, but that's okay. he is a star wars fanatic. he likes blue, lions, spiderman. he loves learning and loves his school.
the very first moment i saw him. he was tiny, wearing a white shirt. he was also wearing the sweetest grin i've ever seen. and waiting never had been so worth it. 
his first words were daddy, mommy, and moo. he loved to stick his tongue out as a baby. he would rock his head from side to side on his pillow to fall asleep at night. french fries were "dee-eyes", yogurt was "yogrit". i wasn't madison to him, i was meme. he was a persnickety picky eater. he was a man of many faces, mostly serious stare you down expressions that made us question if he'd ever smile again. but he did. he convinced us to build forts out of quilts in our living room and play jungle expedition. he was born with rhythm, born to dance, to move.
he finds the bright side in everything. 
and now six years have come and they've gone. i can honestly say i look forward to watching this kid grow up. because he's doing it right. happy birthday, little buddy.

thoughts on the year passed and the year ahead

time is a funny thing, isn't it? days can fly by or drag on. this year seemed, for the moments i was in, an everlasting stretch. looking back on it now though, i can't really believe its gone. i'm sure i'm giving you a dose of cliche. but time...it is a funny thing. a beautiful thing. i find myself trying hard to sum up last year in a single paragraph, perhaps with some piece of knowledge i came across, an inspiring lesson, something astounding i discovered. silly girl, when are you going to learn that there simply aren't words for some things? because time isn't something i should spend in order to have something to say at the end of the day. it is not a process of engaging myself so that i can have something interesting to blog about, to impress my friends. sometimes i'm so busy with life, it doesn't cross my mind that i might want to remember what is happening. sometimes i'm not busy at all, and that's okay. i find that i take life as it comes. there are times i grin and bare it, times when i cannot get enough. moments i wish i could relive. others i dread to even reminisce. people say life is crazy, life is good, life is a bowl of cherries. and here is what life (these past twelve months) is to me. 

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it is a story

it is moving on from highschool, but not moving away from home, learning to sacrifice, learning to love life

it is being surrounded daily by sweet little faces

it is having my life touched by people i don't know, witnessing that the body of Christ is everywhere

it is shooting my first engagement couple, being blessed by them

it is new life in spring

it is fresh food from our garden in summer

it is breathtaking color in autumn

it is hot cups of tea in winter

it is chaos

it is truly enjoying good health, because it has a whole new meaning to me now

it is a neverending process of learning

it is being restless until i rest in Him, finding only He can satisfy wholly

it is fearing the unknown, being comforted by hope

it is noticing that my sunday morning drives to church are paintings, blue skies and green fields

it is finding out that love brings us closer and heals our hearts in ways we could not imagine

it is little outtings with cousins and friends, laughing so hard our stomachs hurt

it is failing, falling, and being taken under His wing

it is making plenty of mistakes

it is relying on Him for all my needs

it is laced with sickness and sadness, prayers and tears

it is dancing on the stage for the last time, dancing under the stars for the first

it is knowing things will never be the same, learning to be okay with change

it is movie dates and dinners with my man

it is leaving for beach conference with new friends, coming back home as close friends

it is letting out hurt, speaking and not holding it in anymore

it is having forgiveness because of grace

it is a journey

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life is a constant of understanding that i am blessed with breath in my lungs. it is remembering to live for my Jesus, to love because i am loved. this year, i want to seek Him more. i want a hunger placed deep inside of me that leaves me wanting Him more than anything this world can give me. i want an appetite for life, whatever it brings me. i want to be thankful. i want to stop wanting things to go my way, and to appreciate the spontaneous moments that occur, knowing these moments were planned by Someone all along. i want to be content. i want to see the beauty amongst the pain, to strive for joy reguardless of my circumstances. and so, two thousand thirteen is here. twelve months, just twelve. i could say that want to make them count, do something great with this year. but all i want is a sincere want for Jesus, to always lean on Him. and everything else in my life will follow.

happy new year, my friends

x