2012 was great.

2012 was an incredible year of saying yes to adventure and opportunity. The role of gratitude in my life transformed everything and taught me to drink the joy and grace out of each moment, whether or not I understood the purpose at that time.

This year, I:

traveled all over Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay :: had my first full year out of school :: took a spring break anyway and went to Disney World ::  had countless sunset picnics by the lake in Davidson :: ate mexican food on Mondays with young life girls :: worked on a rappel tower at sunrise :: ran straight through a wide open field, singing & yelling at the top of my lungs :: hiked to the top of a 14,000 ft. mountain :: played outside in the rain :: watched the sunset from the top of a mountain :: roadtripped across the country :: got my first ever speeding ticket in wyoming :: hiked to a high altitude lake in Idaho :: slept in a hammock in bear country, accidentally :: blasted "wide open spaces" more than you can possibly imagine :: turned twenty-two :: moved into my first non-college apartment, having my own bathroom for the first time ever :: was blessed nonstop, all the time by conversations and adventures with Taylor :: had weekly playdates with my new friends Emily and April :: went ice skating in uptown Charlotte :: shot thirteen weddings :: daytripped to Asheville and Boone so I could be in the mountains :: took the leap into full time photography :: watched my best friend, Lauren, get engaged in Kansas City :: ran a half marathon :: rode bikes on the beach :: flew to California to visit Kenzie and Lauren :: got to spend Christmas at home in Nashville.

This is my dream job, and I'm confused and blown away by the fact that God took the shyest, most scared little girl and gave her a desire to meet, to know, to interact with new people all the time. This year, I did much.  But I became much less.  It has only been by the decreasing of my identity's roots in business and photography that God has wildly replaced me with Himself.  His passion, His ability, His beauty--and my privilege to follow the adventure.

happy christmas.

I got to go home to Nashville for Christmas! It was a quick trip of seeing friends and family and photoshooting and cuddling my pup and playing board games and eating Mom's chili and seeing Les Miserables {GO SEE IT!}. Cozy has been my word of choice in the last couple months, and there's just no better word to describe being home.

throw your hands in the a-yer :: the roadtrip.

It is absolutely goofy how much i enjoyed driving across the country, from Colorado to Wyoming, then back to Colorado and from there, all the way to Nashville (and next week, North Carolina). I had the best roadtrip partner you could possibly imagine-- I mean, 5 full days of driving and neither of us slept a single second on the road. We sang louder than I thought possible to "Some Nights" and took in the ridiculousness of the scenery outside our windows. We read "Love Does" outloud and discussed every chapter. We talked about faith and love and fear and processed this summer's lessons. When we weren't heading in any one direction, we were taking pictures with our hands in the air (too excited to keep them down, i guess). We were pulling off on the side of road for even more random pictures. We were hiking miles and miles through wildflower meadows to find turquoise lakes. We were driving to Idaho with slushies in hand, just to say we did. We were making coffee stops every two hours. We were avoiding looking for places to stay (we'll call it responsible irresponsibility) and hanging up our hammocks in random places in Wyoming bear country after dark. We were "freshening up" in gas station bathrooms after camping. We saw some great friends, and met some fun people along the way, including the dear policeman who gave me my first ever speeding ticket in Wyoming. It was truly a week of adventure and intention and spontaneity and whimsical living. It was reinforced as many times as we blasted the song "Wide Open Spaces" that i don't ever want to bore myself by living a life of doing things that don't matter. I always want to be dependent and obedient. I want to choose something adventurous every morning that I wake up, and I can. I never want to settle for anything less than the full life to which Jesus has called me.

And now, after all of that, tomorrow I'm turning a whopping TWENTY-TWO years old {weird!}, and spending my birthday at home. If you really know me, you know that I couldn't be more pumped to turn twenty-six one day... only four years to go :), but for now I'll enjoy year 22 and the adventure it holds.

anthropologie display event . march 25, 2012

Oh boy, I truly can't tell you how much I love Anthropologie: the style, smell, feel, and people. I love how intentional the company is in working to ensure that all aspects of the store create an unimagined experience. I did the visual display internship last semester and started working as a sales associate a few weeks ago. For my very first day of work, I was asked to photograph a display event happening in the store, where women from the community came to help make the pieces for the window display that's being installed this week. In true Anthropologie fashion, the small gathering was a gorgeous mishmash of simple but unique aesthetics. I told Katie, the visual display coordinator, that I'd be more than content if every wedding I photographed for the rest of my life incorporated details that encompass the Anthropologie style. True to my nature, I let photographing this lovely event feed my pipe dream of one day photographing their catalog. It's a step in the right direction, yeah? ;)