If I knew then, what I know now...

Thanks to a little "facebook memory" throwback, I realized yesterday that exactly 5 years ago, I was presenting my business plan to a board for my last project as a college grad. I was nervous, I was excited. It was a "mock" business plan, not intended for real life, but it's crazy to think back to how I was feeling in that moment and know that I had absolutely NO idea how far that business plan would actually take me in real life, or that it would actually COME TO LIFE!

Just for a back story, for those of you who don't know how this career got started for me, I picked up a camera for my digital photography class senior year of high school, and was simply completing the assignments to get the grade. I wasn't sure what I was going to do for my senior project at the time, and my digital photography teacher (shout out Doug Huegli) suggested that I take senior portraits for my senior project, as he enjoyed what I was doing with my individual class assignments. I figured, well I don't have anything else to do! So, I setup a fake little photography business and took about 10 senior's portraits for free, again, to complete an assignment. The next summer, I had people asking me to take their senior portraits, so I asked to borrow a camera from Doug again and was like "no problem people, I'm not doing anything this summer, might as well." Then, my dad had the GENIUS idea of "hey, maybe you should charge people for taking their portraits?" I was like WOW, great idea! Soon enough, I started making more money than I thought possible for how easy taking photos was. So, I bought my first Canon camera in 2008. The first photo I took with it was a selfie in a mirror (see above), and I think it's hilarious and awesome that I just remembered taking it and actually was able to find it on one of my 30 hard drives!

Anyways, I was definitely not intending to blog about this, but yesterday had me thinking all day how absolutely insane it is that all of this, my entire career, what I am most passionate about in life, all of this started with a little suggestion from Doug Huegli and my dad. Oh and my mom thought of the name "RP Imagery" for my senior project, so credit to my mother, too! My "business plan" that I created at the end of college, 4 years later, was also to complete an assignment... just get the task done... I 100% was not anticipating on actually using it.

And here I am.
I'm blown away with where these last 5 years have taken me, how many experiences I have had, how many epic places I have had the opportunity to travel to, and honestly - the truly genuine, amazing people that I have met along the way.

These are the most random photos ever because I went through facebook as fast as possible grabbing a few photos that when I looked at, I said to myself "I would not have met this person and/or I would not have traveled to this place if not for my photography/videography."

This is getting too long for something that was not even supposed to be a blog post, so I'm going to wrap it up with saying that I'm THANKFUL that I didn't know then, what I know now. I was naive, unexperienced, and had no idea what my life or career was going to look like, but I truly would not have it any other way. I could only hope that the next 5 years will look half as awesome for me as the last 5 years. Thank you Facebook Memories for taking me down memory lane.

Lauren & Christian

Lauren and Christian are two peas in a pod. Lauren can't stop staring at Christian and telling him how handsome he is, and Christian can't stop kissing Lauren. They are so full of joy and laughter, I just adore these two. They were absolute naturals in front of the camera, too!

We had fun frolicking around downtown Tacoma and it was a pleasure getting to know Christian and Lauren.  I am so excited for their wedding next year!

Stephanie // Mission Hot Mama

I love when I get to do lifestyle/fitness photos for Steph. She is so spunky, sweet, and funny!

Stephanie grew up in my hometown but now lives in Montana. She has an awesome blog that you should go check out, especially if you're a mama trying to keep up with every day life and also take good care of yourself at the same time; "get your mojo back." Her blog is packed with tips and tricks, and she herself is one hot mama - her baby isn't even 6 months and Steph is fitter than I am! I mean, come on. So inspiring.

Her laugh is adorable, so in most of these photos you will find her laughing, but that's her in a nutshell, so I find it fitting :) Be sure to hop over to her BLOG to be inspired and to get motivated.

Oh and how BEAUTIFUL is her baby girl!?! 

Dylan & Christina

I knew it was going to be a fun evening with these two when the first shot I took with my camera, they couldn't stop laughing. Like, really laughing. Hysterical laughing.

Dylan and Christina are so sweet, and SO much fun! They're spontaneous and down for just about anything. We traveled over to Merwin Lake and Speelyai Bay for their engagement session, and we were blessed with a beautiful day.

It was fun getting to know these two and I loved seeing how similar their personalities were to each other, they're just a hoot! I'm so excited for their wedding this fall.

Steve & Nicole

I was scheduled to take Steve and Nicole's engagement photos back in January. A few days prior to the scheduled date, Steve was in a tragic accident.

Without going into too much detail about his personal life - I'll just say that it's an absolute miracle that we were able to do this photo shoot now, here in May, when there were several instances throughout being in a coma for 50 days, that he was not expected to make it, then not expected to be able to function - walk, talk, eat - on his own, then not expected to be the same Steve, same person, if he did wake up. I followed along, in addition to almost 3,000 other people, with his family's devastating journey throughout Steve's time in the coma via a facebook page that his fiance, Nicole, was posting daily updates on. As heartbreaking as it was to hear about the several instances that doctors told the family they must say goodbye to Steve, it was incredible to see how many people were praying for, fighting for, and supporting Steve, Nicole, and their families throughout his entire battle.

It is my personal belief that Steve's waking up was all God's doing. God had a purpose for waking Steve up from his coma, for granting him more time here on Earth. I also believe it was a combination of things that actually brought Steve back as STEVE, against all odds...The thousands of people praying for Steve, his personal fight (he is basically the Hulk), and of course Nicole's unconditional, unwavering love for him.

I loved hearing about the stories of his small responses while in the coma to Nicole's voice and touch. I can't even imagine what Nicole was going through and how she was feeling, but she is certainly one strong woman! I think this quote perfectly describes them as a couple and what they have been through together in 2017 so far:

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” -Lao Tzu

Steve and Nicole, they say going through life's greatest challenges and obstacles together makes you a stronger couple. I can honestly say that getting to spend the day with you guys the other day, I can visibly see and feel that you guys are stronger then ever before. I love how you are the same light-hearted, fun-loving, sarcastic, and adorable Steve and Nicole - but with a different kind of depth now. Your love for each other is so raw and intentional, I admire every bit of it!

I couldn't help but post a million photos from their session, because they are too adorable and this photo session was incredibly significant in so many ways. Plus, I am just in complete awe at Steve's ability to function and do things in a matter of weeks that the doctors warned that he would possibly never do again in his life. In addition to the miracle in all of that, I just love the way he still looks at Nicole.

PS: Scroll down and check out Jessica Heron's AMAZING video that she put together from their shoot as well!! Huge thank you to her, as I asked her to tag along and surprise them with a video, too! :)

Alissa

Alissa is so sweet and care-free. She is intelligent, kind, and outgoing! We had to reschedule her senior session about 25 times because we got rained out, but we finally made it happen yesterday in the wanna-be-storm that was actually sunshine :)

She is so darling and I had such a fun evening with her and her momma!

Oahu

Oh Hawaii, i love you.

All the places that I go, I typically imagine myself living there... and say to myself, "I could totally live here." But this time, I actually looked at some real estate. I grew up going on several family vacations to the different islands of Hawaii, but going there as an adult by myself this time, was a little different. I felt like I belonged ;)

It started with Steph asking if I wanted to go to Hawaii to help film her best friend's proposal. Dangerous question... if it's between October and April, and you ask me to go somewhere, I'm going. So of course we made a little vacay out of it and stayed in a Waikiki airbnb for 5 days. We met some fun locals on a catamaran that ended up taking us all around the island the next day. This, was actually one of my favorite days. Our new friend, Ikaika, drove us up and down the east side of the island, tailgating at his favorite beach spots, jumping off rocks, and ending the day with a treacherous, muddy hike up to the pillboxes, then jumping into the crystal clear, blue ocean at Lanikai beach afterwards. I floated on my back for a good 20 minutes in the warm ocean, with a little bit of rain falling, and I was in complete heaven. THAT was a perfect moment.

It basically only got better from there, as the day Steph and I were supposed to leave, we decided to ditch our flights and stay another day. One thing I'm getting REALLY really good at, is traveling somewhere and staying way past the original itinerary. We moved on to the Marriott Waikiki and soaked up more sun all day and had one more Lava Flow at our favorite barefoot bar, Dukes.

Once again, I couldn't leave. So when Steph left for the airport the next day, I rented a car and booked another 4 days at an airbnb outside of Waikiki, away from the hustle and bustle. First of all, cutest airbnb EVER! It really is the cutest studio cottage in paradise, and I can not rave enough about how perfect it is for a solo getaway. I arrived to a sweet note from Shawna, the owner, telling me she had all sorts of stuff for me to use during my stay (snorkel gear, beach chairs, bikes, etc) and letting me know there was a brand new outdoor shower in the back of the studio just for me, too ;) HEAVEN!

The next day, I actually got to meet Shawna and her sweet kiddos that live on the property as well, and she convinced me even more that I need to live in Hawaii. Such a sweet, awesome, laid-back, hang-loose type little family with cute, tan, barefoot babies. Serious family goals.

I took a day to drive around the island, made some friends up at North Shore, shared some delicious grilled shrimp tacos with them, and watched a perfect sunset at a "secret beach" that they showed me, to end that day.

My friend from home, Kyle, showed up a few days later, since his parents live in Lanikai, and we frolicked around some more, ate at some yummy restaurants, watched more sunsets, and spent way too many hours at Moose McGillycuddy's on a Tuesday night. 

The day I actually decided I should probably come home was a sad one. So I made the most out of the minimal hours that I had left, got up at 4:30am for a sunrise hike, took the longest outdoor shower possible, and headed home. During the longest outdoor shower possible,  I reflected on how truly blessed I feel. Blessed to have a job that I not only LOVE, but that gives me so much free time to do other things that I love, like travel. And extend my trips. And meet such interesting, awesome people. And spend enough time in Hawaii to know my way around the island without GPS. And float on my back in the ocean for as long as I want without worrying about what's next. And crack a beer at the top of an epic hike because it's a Monday. 

And to think, so many times in the last 5 years, my life could have gone a multitude of different directions. I am so happy and thankful to be HERE, in this season of life I'm living right now. Life is so, so good. Thank you outdoor shower for letting me reflect on all of that.

 Hawaii, I'll be back for you sooner than you think :)

Nick & Kristen

Kristen had a work convention in Hawaii for a week and had asked her boyfriend of 8 years to join her for fun... Nick said he couldn't get the time off of work, unfortunately. So Kristen brought her mom instead.

Nick told Kristen's best friend Stephanie otherwise... he asked if she (Steph, Kristen's best friend) could come to Hawaii to be there because he planned to propose. 

Stephanie told Kristen she was going to come to Hawaii the same week and hang out, and bring along me of course, since I can't say no to traveling. Kristen thought it all sounded dandy :)

Not going to lie, I am pretty impressed with Kristen's mom, Stephanie, and I's ability to keep a secret for 5 days hanging out with Kristen in Hawaii, leading up to the proposal.

Nick flew in on Saturday with his mom (we had been there since Tuesday), and we started walking through how he was going to propose and how the day would unfold.
 

Mid-afternoon, Nick was standing out on a pier with the ring, as Kristen and her mom walked down the beach - Kristen thinking she was meeting up with Stephanie and I to go on a boat. In order to get Kristen on the pier, Kristen's mom came up with a little story about baby turtles that she saw earlier, so Kristen headed down the pier (Nick being the ONLY person standing on the pier, at the end), in search of the baby turtles. Half way down, she stumbled upon Stephanie and I with our cameras out and pointing directly at her, and she simply thought nothing of it. She waved at us, "Oh hey guys! I'm just looking for the baby turtles my mom told me about it." Okay Kristen... Nick is literally standing 10 feet in front of her, and her head is still looking down at the water in search of the baby turtles. Good job Kristen's mom for the baby turtles story, totally distracted her, haha! Almost too much ;)

She finally looked up, and was in complete shock that Nick was standing right in front of her. He got down on one knee... and you know how it goes from there.

It was a completely blissful day, so much joy, and so much love. We ate a yummy lunch at Dukes after the big moment, and then we all celebrated on a catamaran afterwards.

Nick and Kristen, many congratulations! You guys are truly the definition of "couple goals" and I am so excited for you guys and the next chapter in your love story.

Check out the photos that Steph captured of the proposal below:

Snowy Mirror Lake Hike

Good Friday this year was a good friday, indeed! 

I've been wanting to do the Tom, Dick, and Harry Mountain Hike on Hood this year, but have been waiting for the snow to get a little less intense. I thought it would be perfectly clear by mid April so we took our Seattle and Ellensburg friends to this hike when they were in town Easter weekend. To say we were a little unprepared is an understatement. I wasn't expecting any snow at all, haha! Oops. Luckily Steph and I just moved out of the house we were living in and had some extra snow gear in our cars that we hadn't taken out yet... perfect. Tom, Dick, and Harry trail was closed, or basically non-existent with the snow, but the trail to Mirror Lake was accessible.

We were the only ones out there and although it was a bit cold, we had so much fun. Michael and Tenielle are serious couple goals (honestly though, talk about two people that are perfect for each other and exude so much joy), so of course I snapped way too many cute photos of them that I had to share.

We celebrated Good Friday with a good ole' communion with Rainiers and a protein bar once we reached the lake. It was a good day on good Friday with good friends and good fresh mountain air. Unfortunately I came down with strep throat and a fever hours after the hike, but it was worth it ;)

West Coast First-Timers

God works in crazy ways and I love it! Getting the opportunity to go to Honduras with H&H was a total God moment that completely fell in my lap, but even more things came out of it than I originally expected. The people I met on that trip will forever hold a place in my heart, two of them being Dana and Ally - whom I like to call my soul sisters. They are literally two of my new best friends that I feel like I have known my whole life. 

Ally is from Missouri and Dana is from Wisconsin. When I heard they had never really been to the West Coast, I was shocked. I shared so many PNW pictures with them and convinced them they needed to visit me sometime. One thing I love about these two is that they stick to their word. We left our Honduras trip end of February and they said they would come visit me in Oregon some day, and about 40 days later they really came!

I was so excited to show them all of my favorite things about where I live. The first day we explored the Columbia gorge. We stopped at Vista House, then on the way to the hike I wanted to do, we stopped at the first waterfall off of the Historic Scenic Byway (Latourell Falls) and their minds were blown. I didn't realize they had never even seen a waterfall! They were seriously obsessed... I was like "goodness, you girls haven't even seen anything yet!" Then we went to Moultnomah Falls and their minds were really blown. From there, we hiked Angels Rest and then stopped at Double Mountain Brewery in Hood River for appetizers and beers. We ended the gorge adventure frolicking around Rowena Crest. We headed home on the WA side so I could take them over the Historic Bridge of the Gods and then ended at my parents house just in time for them to treat us to a yummy dinner and wine.  It was an epic adventure day and I was actually incredibly impressed that we fit so much into one day.

The next morning we headed out to the Oregon Coast. Huge thank you to my friend Judy who let us use her beautiful Rockaway Beach cabin for our stay. We stopped at Cannon Beach first on the trek to our cabin, and briefly took some pics at Hug Point, too. We cozied into our cabin the first night, made some tacos, and attempted to build a fire on the beach. It was so windy that it wasn't necessarily a success, but a memory for sure haha! The next day we celebrated Dana's birthday. We started off with a birthday frosted breakfast roll for her and went on our merry way to check out some other beaches. We stopped for a bathroom break at Blue Heron wine and cheese company, part of Tillamook Cheese Factory, and ended up staying for a wine tasting (Dana's first wine tasting!). We spent the rest of the day exploring Pacific City and of course getting lunch at Pelican Brewery. Our last night at the beach, we went out to a local dive bar, Rick's, the only one in Rockaway and met a rowdy fun group of people, which led to meeting another fun group of guys, who invited us over to their beach front cabin for a fire and s'mores, which us girls ended up building AND buying s'more supplies for, but at least we got our fire on the beach. Another first- for Ally!

The next day we headed back to Portland so I could show them the actual city. We were blessed with another gorgeous sunny day to wander around the Sunday market and walk around the city, then I took them over to another favorite, 23rd street, for some shopping. Mid afternoon we drove out to Mt. Hood because I wanted to show them my favorite Hike of all time, Bald Mountain - which opens up to the most glorious view of Hood. However, we drove all the way there to find out that the road to the trail was unaccessible due to snow... my bad. Always do your research, oops! Fortunately I remembered another road near the trailhead that opens up to another pretty view of Hood, so we were still able to get that "photo op" with Hood. We ended the evening introducing them to my friend Kelsey at another one of my favorite places, McMenamins Edgefield. Another day that I couldn't believe we fit so much into! So blessed.

It was a truly joyful experience for me getting to show Dana and Ally all of my favorite places, a little piece of where I grew up, and a big part of my heart - my home, the PNW. It made me smile seeing their jaws drop at the sight of a waterfall, of a mountain, and of all of the beautiful green trees we have here. So many more wonderful memories were made having these girls visit me and I'm writing this still thinking about how in awe I am of how God works. At the beginning of 2017, I never would have imagined doing all the things I've done before the month of May, and the new and dear friends that I've made along the way. I am SO incredibly thankful. Thank you, Jesus. And thank you Dana and Ally for coming to visit me, for being extreme troopers with all of the driving and the constant go-go-go, for having as adventurous hearts as myself, for being genuine forever friends, and for posing for all the photos I wanted to take of you guys even when you were over it haha. I love you girls!

Butcher Jones

I just got back from spending 2 weeks in Arizona when I thought I was going for 6 days, and had the absolute time of my life. It was a much needed couple weeks in some sunshine. In my extra week, I got last minute Eric Church tickets with my friend Jon, went to a few more spring training games, got to see one of my college besties Nichole and her family, and had the opportunity to meet a new friend, Annabelle.

I have a dear friend, Tenielle, whom I've known since grade school. She text me while in Arizona and mentioned that she reached out to her college friend, Annabelle, who lives in AZ and told her I'd be in town. Annabelle is also a photographer, as well as a very sweet girl - and I'm thankful that our mutual friend Tenielle thought to even randomly connect us from 3 states away! 

Meeting Annabelle was a complete treat. She is incredibly kind and endearing, with such a wonderful story and testimony for the Lord. We spent an hour driving out to explore the Butcher Jones area in the Tonto National Forest and got to share several stories. Unfortunately, our goal of capturing sunset was diminished by the cloud coverage, but we still explored beautiful areas and took some awesome photos, and of course photographers on an adventure always have to take a few portraits of each other ;)

Detours // Joshua Tree National Park

Some people wonder how I travel so often... and the answer is no, I am not made of money. I am a small business owner, and I'm extremely lucky to do what I love to make a living, but no I am not ,by any means, made of money. I am however, lucky enough to have a mother who has worked for Delta airlines for 20 years and the benefits are wonderful :)
 

The benefits are wonderful budget-wise, but flying stand-by has gotten more and more difficult over the years. Often times, I'll be stranded in a city for several hours, sometimes several days, just trying to get to another city. Often times, I'll be stranded in an airport for 24 hours or more. And often times, I'll get fed up with the hours in the airport and just fly somewhere other than my original destination. I'm thankful my schedule allows me the flexibility for this type of travel.

I'm spending the week in Arizona this week, maybe next week also. Yesterday, I got up at 4am to get on the Salt Lake City flight out of Portland to make sure I got there in order to try to make at least one Phoenix flight that day out of SLC. Chances were looking slim to none come 3pm, so I hopped on a Palm Springs flight instead. 

Arriving into Palm Springs and having to rent a car to drive the 4.5 hours to Phoenix, most would be frustrated. I, too, would normally be frustrated. However, I've come to realize in the last few years that frustration does not result in anything good. It results in more frustration, tiredness, stress, bad attitudes, and that, in turn, effects the people around you. The term "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade" has really come into play for me lately. Everything happens for a reason, God gave me a little "me" time before hitting AZ with friends and visiting family, and I couldn't have been more thankful.

I rented the cutest car that I've never even heard of (I'm not a car person)... I was urged by a friend to rent a convertible and let my hair down, but I'm cheap so rented the latter and just rolled my windows down instead... felt just as happy ;) Anyways, what came of the Palm Springs-Joshua Tree detour was nothing short of fantastic. I met the sweetest old man on the plane, whom showed me around Palm Springs a bit when we landed, I took my time on the road to AZ, discovered some wonderful new music, stopped in Joshua Tree and got a little lost wandering around taking photos of plants and the beauty that surrounded me, and caught a sunset in the middle of no where all by myself. I didn't have any cell service most of the time, and truly didn't have any worry in the world of timeline, schedule, itinerary, anything. It was all a true breath of fresh air, and then I made it to my final destination of Phoenix by 11pm. Between 4am and 11pm, I had a damn good day. Come to find out, it was the first day of spring, and I'm so glad I got to spend it the way I did!
 

The first day of spring 2017 I learned that some of life's greatest adventures are actually detours. I actually didn't think I would blog about this (thought I was taking photos for myself), but I woke up today feeling truly blessed for my unexpected detour yesterday and had to share. Here's to detours. And here are my photos from Joshua Tree National Park... it is so beautiful, I can't wait to go back and explore for more than an hour!

Brandon, Nicole, & Baby Addison

Although wedding videography has become my main passion, I am SO thrilled to still be able to photograph when I can... especially when it involves meeting wonderful people like Brandon and Nicole! Who are about to welcome their first child, baby Addison, into the world.
It was such an honor to capture this special time in their lives. Brandon and Nicole have been together for 12 years! High school sweethearts. They are seriously so adorable and sweet, and are going to make such wonderful parents. Although we just met for the first time at their shoot, I already feel like they are dear friends, and I am so excited to watch their little family grow!!
By the way... isn't Nicole just glowing?! She's a stunning mama-to-be!

Bahamas

I've never been on a cruise, never really had any desire to go on a cruise... but this Bahamas cruise was one for the books, and one of my 2017 highlights so far; even though it was supposed to be a cruise elsewhere....

In my Uncle Cory's prime 30's, he was full of spontaneity, loved to travel, loved to ski, loved going out with his friends, loved enjoying so many things in life. Then, he was in a terrible car accident in 2001, was in a coma for 15 days, miraculously came back to us, but was left legally blind in addition to several other impairments for the rest of his life. As you can imagine, after that kind of trauma, things were never the same. Because of his impairments, he was unable to keep his job, in which he also took great pride in. For years, the only thing he has really been able to do and takes joy in now is rescuing rottweilers. Because he always has had 1 or 2 rottweilers in his home over the last 15 years, he really hasn't left his house and is always unavailable to go on any family vacations with us. However, sadly his last rottweiler passed away in the fall, but I took it as an opportunity to get Uncle Cory traveling again!

I said "Uncle Cory, let's go somewhere. I'll take you anywhere you want." He said Belize. I said, "we're going to Belize!" So, him and I, being the only ones with a flexible schedule and the rest of our family with normal jobs, we sought out options for a Belize vacation for the two of us. When it came down to it, it seemed to be that a cruise might be a good option, stopping in Belize, Cozumel Mexico, Roatan Islands, and Grand Cayman. We booked it and were excited for months leading up to it!

Out of 15 years that my uncle hasn't traveled, the one cruise that he books would of course get canceled. 2 Days before we were set to sail, we got an email from Carnival Cruiseline saying there were some ship maintenance issues, and our anticipated itinerary would be no more; since our ship was unable to go maximum speed. What they could do for us - A) Give us our money back and cover flight costs or B) Give us 50% off and still take us on a cruise, but only to the Bahamas to get the ship fixed, and give us 50% off of a future cruise as well.

I was so peeved, I couldn't believe the ONE cruise we perfectly planned because of the destinations, fluked on us 2 days before travel! I was already on my way to Denver to fly out with Uncle Cory when we received the news, so we sat in Denver for a day contemplating the options.. both of us irritated with the situation, and really leaning towards not going at all. Then, we ultimately decided to make lemonade out of lemons and just go for it. After all, neither of us had been to the Bahamas before, so that would be another check off the ole list... and being on a cruise, unlimited drinks, in the sun, surrounded by sea, we really couldn't complain... Plus I thought, we would be surrounded by such positive people, because the only people going on the cruise would be people doing the exact same thing we were: making lemonade out of lemons.

My first cruise experience was very unique. We pretty much sat at port in the Bahamas getting fixed for the majority of the time... but it was still SO wonderful! Warm sea breeze, lots of sun, lots of drinks, new friends, fun evenings, great shows, amazing food, Uncle Cory and I had a blast. Most people had to ask us two or three times, "Wait, he's your uncle? she's your niece? you guys are traveling together, just the two of you?" Hey - I highly recommend an Uncle-niece trip if you have an awesome uncle :)

Anyways, I took this week to really spend time with my Uncle and make sure he had a great time and I really didn't bring out my camera all that much. It was more about the relaxation and living in the moment. But, of course I took just a few pics, so enjoy the little bit of Bahamas that I did capture:

Honduras // Part 2 (La Coroza)

Welcome to La Coroza, Yoro, Honduras. A small village with little to nothing in tangible form, but the biggest hearts around. Humanity and Hope has brought in clean water for them, jobs, an education opportunity, and are currently working on providing bathrooms to every household too. I included a photo in this post of what they currently have, which is a little make-shift shack with a concrete hole in the ground. Click here to donate, as many of the donations are currently going towards this bathroom project.

La Coroza truly stole my heart and I cannot wait to go back to hug and laugh with all of them. I want to share my two favorite moments from this village though... which are the moment we arrived and the moment we left.

Our arrival: Our truck pulled up into the village early morning, so the kids were in school. It was the cutest thing to see all of their faces piled up at the door of their classroom peaking out as our truck pulled up, and it literally looked like ants in their pants, they were jumping up and down and couldn't contain their excitement (granted, many of us they hadn't even met before). When we got out of the truck, and made our physical appearance known to them, it was all they could do to not run over each other while sprinting full force and jumping all over us. The joy that these kids had just merely seeing us, I will never forget. One of my favorite images from the whole trip is one I got of the kids piling all over Riley (founder and President of H&H) and squeezing him like they were never going to let go. It was so sweet. Our arrival was definitely a moment to behold and the pure joy in their hearts truly made my own heart overflow.

Our departure: My other favorite moment was the last morning before we headed to the airport. Just Jaclyn, Ally, and I rode into La Coroza one last time with Darwin to bring donuts and orange juice to the men working in the fields. With the beautiful sunrise, and the gratitude that the men had for us bringing them some breakfast, it was the perfect ending to an amazing trip.

The eye clinic was also a huge success in La Coroza. They managed to get everyone in the villages' eyes checked the first day, so opened up the clinic to surrounding villages on the 2nd day. I'm pretty sure a whole village piled into the back of 1 truck... you'll see in the photos. They were all smiles though and you could tell they were so thankful to have this opportunity to literally, SEE. 

Other than the eye clinic, we also spent our time digging a trench in the plantain field, well... helping at least ;) The village men found it very entertaining how NOT labor-intensive our American men are, as they did more singing than digging. We also helped dig the holes in the ground for the new bathrooms. I came around the corner one time to see how they were doing with the digging of the hole at one particular home, to find a 5 year old with a machete chopping up coconuts for his friends to eat. I took plenty of pictures of that... because it's not every day you see a 5 year old so coordinated and comfortable with a machete!

We also ended our last evening in La Coroza with a church service. It's really neat that a local pastor and worship team come out every Thursday to this small village, donate their time, and bring the word of God straight to their little village. A few of us climbed the water tower during the worship service, and it was really a wonderful moment to have that aerial view of the village, and see that the whole village was empty and quiet except for at the worship service... all were worshiping. 

All of these moments I will hold in my heart forever. However, I am excited to go back again and again and bring more hope, inspire more faith, witness more miracles, and grow in the H&H Family. I am starting off the photos with a photo of our H&H team. It's crazy to see God works in small ways of simply just bringing a solid group together. Each one of us truly had our own unique skill-set to bring to the table, and we couldn't stop talking all week about how much of a dream team we were.... not to brag haha... it's just really cool to see God's hand in placing each one us on this particular trip at this specific time. I love each and every one of you and thank you for laying out your hearts and giving up your time to not only inspire the villages we serve, but to inspire me. Until next trip! ;)

Also, I encourage all of you who are reading this to do something. Come on a trip, donate, share our story.  As Riley recently said, "Everyone was created on purpose, and for a purpose. No one is an accident." So why invest any less than our best? Find out more by clicking here.
And give them a follow on instagram to keep up with what we are doing down there!

Honduras // Part 1 (Remolino)

I am incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to serve and love on the people of Honduras with Humanity and Hope. Specifically, the people of the small villages of Remolino and La Coroza. Because I took over 3500 photos in one week, I decided to split the blog post into 2 parts -- by villages. This post will be filled with images from REMOLINO.

We began the trip with just us girls -- Ally, Dana, and myself -- flying into San Pedro, and having 2 days to spend some time with Bessy (works for H&H and lives in Honduras) and go into the villages as well. It was a privilege to spend some one-on-one time with the people of Remolino the first day, learn about the projects, and play the kids. I am currently working on a film for Humanity and Hope, so we got to interview some of the adults in Remolino... and it was so touching to hear about how Humanity and Hope has changed their lives, restored their faith, and given them hope. On the way back to our hotel that day, we got a flat tire... which luckily happened right at the coconut stand and not only did we have some men there willing to help us out with the spare tire, but we also scored some fresh coconut. 

The following day, the rest of the group joined us and we held the first day of the eye clinic in Remolino. Humanity and Hope visits these villages about 5-6 times a year, and although each trip has a specific focus usually, the overall agenda is to inspire hope, generate  opportunities, and create better living conditions, in order to empower the Honduran communities we serve. This specific February trip was designed around an eye clinic, whom one of the H&H board directors, Mitch, put together. As an eye doctor himself, Mitch was also able to get another doctor on board, equipment ready, and glasses donated, so that these people of Remolino and La Coroza could get their eyes checked for the first time in their lives, and we could help them to see.

The eye clinic was a huge success! Since it had not been done before, there was some concern with the organization and flow of things since we only had 2 days in each village to check a combined total of over 300 eyes. It turned out wonderful! In the mean-time, the rest of us were learning about the projects around the village... the jobs that Humanity and Hope brought to the villages in order to give them jobs, and in turn, give their kids opportunity for education.
 

In Remolino, the main projects are the sheep, pig, and chicken project for the women as well as the pineapple fields that the men work in.

Visit Humanity and Hope's Projects page to learn more about these opportunities we provide!

Some of the other things you will see in the photos:

The women teaching us how to make tortillas - a day in the life of them - it's harder than it looks!

The kids loving the disposable sunglasses we gave them after dilating their eyes.

Climbing the water tower that H&H put in recently so that they could have clean water.

Jumping into the river at lunch break.

The kiddos in school receiving letters from "pen-pals" in the U.S that are currently taking spanish class. We also had them write responses back and took back to the U.S. with us!

I saw God's hand at work in so many ways in our short time in Remolino. Unlike any other non-profit organization that I know of, Humanity and Hope doesn't just go in and give to give. Yes, we love and serve these people... but the vision is to give in a way that creates sustainable change (give them jobs and provide a door to education) so that in the future they are capable of doing for others what we have done for them. This trip was an incredible experience and I will follow up with more about the Hope and Humanity organization in Part 2 of this blog post.

I could go on and on about our time in Remolino, but I think I'm going to wrap it up here and let the photos speak for themselves... the evident joy on all of the kiddos faces just melts my heart. Enjoy!

New York

"What are you doing next week? Do you want to go to NYC with me?" - Bryan
"Hmm.. I don't think I have any plans. Oh wait, it's my birthday, yeah no plans though" -Me

"Perfect so you're coming to NYC with me for your birthday?" -Bryan

Haha, YOLO. After all, I'd never been to the East Coast so figured I should probably experience it. Bryan's been my travel pal for the last few years and I'm thankful he invites me on the majority of his adventures with him and his friends (shout out Bryan, you da best)! Last year I was in Norway with him on my birthday, and this year - New York City with him, haha.

I've never considered myself a city girl, and that could not have been more validated on my first experience in New York. Don't get me wrong - I had SO much fun and it was a blast to experience NYC with good friends, but the whole lifestyle there... nope, just couldn't do it. I'm a country girl who believes that west coast is best coast whole-heartedly :)

However, NYC did treat me extremely well though. I got to frolick around the city and do touristy things with my dear friend Mark who came and met up with me from Jersey, celebrated my birthday with Bryan, Jon, and even my college bestie Christina who I haven't seen in years! We experienced 3 seasons in 3 days.. it was raining when I got there, 60 and sunny the next day, and then a winter blizzard the last day. Emily joined us for the last couple of days, and us 4 saw so many different things in a matter of a few days, and walked so many steps that I thought my feet were going to fall off. We got rad photos, took a ferry at sunset, ate marvelous food, and just had a wonderful spur-of-the-moment trip to NYC! Bryan, Jon, and Emily - too much fun with you guys, thanks for having me tag along, and can't wait for the next adventure ;)

Enjoy my photos from the big apple! Shout out and photo cred to Bryan and Jon for the couple photos of myself, as well. 

Secret Supper in BEND, OR

If I lived anywhere besides the Portland area, it would definitely be Bend, OR. The landscapes, the community, the breweries, the seasons, the people, the all around vibes... I love it all!
Huge shoutout to my friend, Max, for inviting me to a "Secret Supper" in Bend this last weekend. It was a beautiful weekend, and just what my body needed in this travel season of my current life.

We stayed at Suttle Lake Lodge, which is EPIC. It is the perfect combination of rustic and modern, with a cozy common area, a warm fire, a trendy bar, an arrangement of popular games, and a record player complete with an impressive collection of legendary records. The rooms are also the perfect mix of spacious and cozy, in a way that you literally look out the window and feel like you are in your own private cabin on the lake. I took a few photos so you know what I mean!

Okay... I had no idea what I was in for going into this "Secret Supper" thing... I had never even heard of it, but apparently it's a thing. A wonderful thing! Truly one of the coolest experiences of my life. The amazing team behind it began doing these secret suppers about a year ago, with the vision of inspiring people through feast, community, and the natural surroundings... and just something out of the ordinary. Mona and Jaret, from Tournant Catering in Portland, are the incredible chefs behind this masterpiece concept (and also the cutest couple ever, I obviously HAD to take a few portraits of them)! They teamed up with a talented team of creatives, Christiann, Danielle, and Eva, to really bring their vision to life. I believe this was their 4th one, and this one was alpine themed. They cooked everything over an open outdoor fire, the candle-lit table setting was to die for, and the people we dined with were genuine, fun, down-to-earth folk that I seriously feel so lucky to have met and spent all weekend with! Sorry for the picture overload, everything was too beautiful - I could not stop taking photos, even though I was there to just enjoy it, oops. Not pictured - Max rounding up 12 of us after dinner to join in the lodge and play a rowdy game of Cards Against Humanity - complete with home-made cookies, more booze, and more laughter.

Buy tickets to their next Secret Supper because you seriously have to experience this yourself to truly know how wonderful it is. We laughed, we feasted, we drank, we shared stories, we cozied up with blankets, it was 30 degrees and we didn't even know it! Anyways, thank you to the Secret Supper crew for blowing my mind... you guys are amazing.

With the obvious highlight of the weekend being the Secret Supper, we also made sure to spare a little bit of time for some hiking and adventure on the way home. We met up with my friend Megan and her cute pup Dally for a hike at Tumalo Falls. We couldn't stop talking about how glorious the weather was that day... the falls and surrounding areas were completely covered in snow but the sun made it feel like t-shirt weather. We worked up a 10 Barrel appetite and enjoyed more of the sunny day at the cute Bend brewery before ending our day at Smith Rock.

All in all, it was an epic weekend. I love to travel, and I love to explore and try new things, this included. However, this was semi-different in a sense that it was a weekend prioritized with NO priorities, NO plans, and I thoroughly enjoyed NOT having a worry in the world, breathing in fresh air, relaxing, and enjoying the people that I was surrounded with. Martha and Thadius - the cutest young couple with old souls... They recently got married, and we loved getting to know them.. they sat across the table from us if you couldn't tell, I took so many candids of them! :) Also, Tim and Deb - I loved getting to know this couple and hearing their stories... Tim fell in love with Deb when she walked into his elementary class, and now they are married with kids my age. It's stories like theirs that you appreciate and really admire. I just adore them! Tim reminded me of MY dad Tim, and had me constantly laughing at the table, as well as in our Cards Against Humanity round-up. Anyways, here's to my new friends, Max for inviting me, the Secret Supper crew, the wonderful staff at Suttle Lodge, and the beauty that surrounded us all weekend! Oh and here's to BEND, OR too :)

Styled Elopement in the Gorge

If I'm being honest, traveling is my absolute favorite past time in my "off-season" of November-May. However, every once in awhile, us PNW creatives have to get our "wedding fix" in come mid-off-season time ;) Baylee, Jessica, and I had been discussing the idea of a styled shoot for awhile... This has definitely been in the works, folks! Huge props to Baylee for honing in on all of her connections and really coordinating the whole thing in order to make this dream a reality!

In truth, we had tossed so many ideas around over the course of about 6 months, and everything came together beautifully as if it was meant to be, just in the last week or two of the shoot. Our models - STUNNING, and so much fun to work with! They were a perfect fit, a real life couple, sweet and funny, and so passionate about it each other, that it made for a very romantic outcome in the imagery. Baylee and Jess photographed the entire day, whom made for a killer photographer duo. I filmed obviously, and was so stoked to put together this film, I hope you liked it! We are so thankful to all of our vendors who participated, please check them out in the links below! And enjoy this combination of imagery from both Baylee and Jess:

Coordination and Photography: Baylee Dennis 
Photography: Jessica Heron Images
Models: Bailey O'bar and Kevin Bacewich
Hair & MUA: Mallory Savery
Wedding Gown: Cocoon Silk in Portland, OR
Florals: Your Flower Friends
Jewelry: Rageda's Jewelers
Venue: The Gorge... No better place than the PNW ;)

Here are just a few "behind-the-scenes" shots that I took while filming:

All in all, it was such a fabulous day! Despite cutting my finger open, getting a flat tire, Bailey rolling her ankle, all of us pushing our car stuck in snow, and painful frozen fingers and toes later... we were completely blessed with beautiful weather and just the right amount of wind, and all of us had so much fun together. It honestly couldn't have been more perfect. Thanks again to all of our talented and amazing vendors!

San Francisco

My fellow photographer and dear friend, Baylee Dennis, and I finally get to work together this summer! One of the cutest couples I've ever met, Austin and Katie, hired Baylee as their wedding PHOTOGRAPHER and me as their wedding VIDEOGRAPHER coming up this year. We are SO excited! They took us down to San Fran to capture this special time in their lives, engagement bliss. I tell ya, traveling with your wedding photographer and videographer for a long weekend is definitely a good way to get to know them! We had such a blast frolicking around being San Fran tourists, road-tripping to Santa Cruz and Mavericks, CA and taking rad photos and video of our beautiful couple (and now dear friends) Austin and Katie. A sneak peek of their engagement film is featured at the end of this post... A separate blog post with their engagement photos and full love story film coming soon :) For now, enjoy some behind-the-scenes photos from our trip...

Here is a little one minute preview of what's in store for Katie and Austin's Love Story Film coming soon...