A Million Things to be Grateful For

The night before last Wes told me before he went to bed that he'd be climbing the peaks in the morning and not to worry if I woke up and he was gone at 6am. I was actually disappointed for him when I woke up and work had gotten in the way of his plans. At breakfast though, we decided that a little family adventure could be the next best thing and that we'd head up the mountain for a picnic dinner at the end of the day. As the hours passed and the weather progressed into rain showers and a heavy blanket of cloud covering the peaks - a picnic started to look like a bit of a bad idea. Wes suggested however that we pack our salad and go for a drive - worst thing that could happen is we'd have gotten out the house for a break and we could eat when we got home.

Last night I watched the most beautiful sunset of my life. Turns out that the monsoon rain and heavy clouds combined with the smoke from seasonal controlled forest fires made for a spectacular show that only God himself could produce. We got to witness it all on our own from the flower clad meadows of Humphrey's mountain.... and to think we could have let a little weather get in our way.

It's times like last night that overwhelming gratefulness could have reduced me to tears. If I didn't live another day I've seen more beauty, experienced more love and been more blessed than most people will be in their entire existence. And forever my greatest blessings will be God's salvation and my little family:

Keeping Love Alive

Life gets a little hectic sometimes. Routines turn what used to be fun and exciting into boring and ordinary. Scary part is it's our own fault. It simply feels easier to fall into a pattern - and it's the path of least resistance to tell ourselves that we simply don't have time for "all that fun stuff" we used to fill our lives with. We feel guilty if we take the time to do something that doesn't accomplish something (aka further our careers or make us money). I was reminded last week though of just how simple it is to work a fun little date into one's schedule. Between the end of last Wednesday's work day and church Wes and I picked up some hamburgers from Dog Hauz and drove out towards SnowBowl to take some photos of this winters extraordinary snowfall. It was so much fun. Lydia was loving all the puddles.

We snowshoed out to an old abandoned ranch house that Reg Plett (fellow photographer) tipped me off on. (Turns out it would be an EXCELLENT venue for someone's engagement pics.) All said and done, it was a cheap-easy-n-quick way to appreciate the two people I love most and the gorgeous place I live in. All in a block of time that I likely would have filled for cooking, vacuuming or facebooking. Now it's time to quit blogging and take my little girl to the library (she's watching Barney and I feel compelled to practice what I preach!!)

What Happens in Vegas... Leaves Vegas

Atleast... I hope so. I attended Photoshop World this last week (compliments of my boss Dan at GDS) and was handed so much information that I wondered whether my rather "Waterlogged" brain could retain any of it. The conference had many amazingly talented individuals teaching both design and photographic technique. Each brought incredible skill sets and nuggets of information to the table. Some brought huge egos too. That aside, I learned a LOT and was totally inspired by what I saw.

I enjoyed Vegas which is actually amazing considering I probably dislike Vegas more than most people on the planet. It's a place engineered to suck you into casinos to spend money. No natural lighting, no clocks, amazing maze like structures specifically designed to make people with even the slightest lack in sense of direction to sit down at a slot machine in bewildered confusion. I will never understand why the city that requires more electricy and water than any other on the planet was constructed in the middle of a barron desert. ANYWAY... enough ranting. It was nice to go there for a reason and walk away with a LOT. On the last day our classes only started at 11am so I took a crazy hurried run down the strip to shoot some photos. Please mind all the abstractness - I had been around too many artists. :)

Incase any of you are wondering what Vegas is REALLY like, this is the most common age bracket and activity you're likely to run into there:












I was treated to an amazing moonrise/sunset on my way home (and I was SO excited to see my honeys back in beautiful Arizona!)

Lake Powell Getaway

In anticipation of a REALLY busy month, Wes and I decided to get away at the last minute. We left Lydia for the first time since she was born overnight *nail biter* but it was SO worthwhile. We had a lot of fun just cruising around lake Powell in an old borrowed boat and just soaked up that gorgeous Arizona sun!


In anticipation of an upcoming late wedding - I wanted to play with some long exposure techniques for some portrait ideas I have. The above is an image of wes and I running around with LED flashlights on a 30 second exposure.



The above left photo reminded me so much of a Salvador Dali painting. It's really an eery looking place in a lot of ways.

Did a self portrait on the cliffs using my new pocket wizard system. Pretty fun stuff to play with.

Desert Botanical Gardens Phoenix

Maybe it's having a world reknowned botanist, plant photographer and author as a Grandfather (Graham Williamson)...
Maybe it's having a Dad who takes amazing plant and insect photography (Peter Bussell)...
Maybe it's that my mom with all her bubbly enthusiasm and awesome camera skills was with us freaking out about all the great stuff around us...
Maybe it was that it seemed surreal and unearthly to see such lovely things thriving in such a hot and barren place...
Maybe it was that the more I saw that day, the more I realised that God's creativity is pretty powerful... and He's an artistic type... and I don't appreciate the earth and all it's other inhabitants enough!

Whatever the reasons - this place just BLEW MY SOCKS OFF! I think the photos taken that day are among my favorites I've ever taken. Here are some photos of the incredible desert plants, insects and birds we saw when we went down to Phoenix with my mom a couple of weeks ago and killed some time here while we waited for her flight. I'd say it's worth a visit to any nature lover (especially the above mentioned individuals!).

Ever seen anything like the above? Looks like nature's own version of a kaleidascope!

Wes shot this pic of me, my mom (or as everyone else thought - my "sister") and Lydia.



Photographing these hummingbirds reminded me of shooting a couple at a wedding... :)



A lot of it seemed like it was from another planet (part of an alien brain maybe...) - (I know Pop-Pops... botanist blasphemy... haha)

Lydia had a ball. She wanted to walk the whole time. 100 degree temps and all. She loved it!

Can I have him? haha (my hubby and probably telling Lydia not to touch the thorns)




Thank you for the opportunity to see this God!

Jerome Arizona - What an Interesting Place!

We took a trip to Jerome, Arizona this weekend to meet my Dad-in-law's cousin who he hasn't seen since the 70's. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is planning on visiting the Phoenix, Flagstaff or Sedona area (about 1.5 hour drive from Phoenix). It's an old mining community that till the not too distant past was a "ramshackled" ghost town. It's now a unique artist's haven with tons of gift shops, museums and restaurants. A really interesting town high on the hillside overlooking the desert. We drove up to the old ghost town where there is an antique car graveyard. It was an amazing place for photos. I could have taken hundreds. Here are the select few I thought were worth sharing.

This chicken was workin' it!!! He was hanging out below a beautiful antique car.

More chickens hanging out on cool old objects.

Cousin Larry, Ralph and Wes
A rainbow of old cars.

This car was full of great old signage. Had to show a few.
The view from Jerome.

Superstition Mountain Weekend

We got inspired this weekend by the Arizona Highways article about the wildflowers across the state. Since I was in for a MUCH needed weekend off, and I don't seem to be able to be near a computer or phone without getting sucked into it - this was the ticket to escaping it all for 24 hours! The destination we chose to go and hike was Superstition mountain near Phoenix. We packed the family up for a cheap night at a priceline room and some warmer weather down South. It was a little early for the prickly pears and daisies but we got some amazing yellow "brittle brush" action going on. Here are a few pics of the hike and of a little nearby ghost town called Goldfield.



Wes snapped this one of Lydia and I - I'm in love with it!





The amazing saguaro cancti - I never realised how they dwarf a human being. For reference - Wes is 6ft2 - and it makes him look TINY!