Recent Photos

I've been practicing a lot! Here are a few images from 2 recent photo outings:

Photographer?

Interesting lighting...Max shot this one of me.

Max, a friend from back home who is studying at Cedarville University nearby, went out on a photo adventure with me in Yellow Springs. These are a few shots from our trip.

I've been working on learning sun flare and this was a PERFECT evening to practice

Very Senior Portait-esque.

Ben walking down train tracks on another recent photo outing!

I'll share more about what I've been up to soon but I just wanted to quickly share a few pictures! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying summer :-)

Old and New

I've been learning a lot lately. A lot about myself, a lot about the world, and a lot about what it means to be "new". I'm in a new place learning my way around, meeting new people, and trying new things. And I must admit, it feels great! There is something about newness that gives me this jolt of excitement about life in general and with that comes the chance to learn something new about myself. So, I've decided I like newness!

Beyond the new I'm getting back in to one of my favorite "old" things:SWIMMING! For those of you that don't know, swimming has been my heart and my passion since I was just a little girl. I don't know what it was but there was something about the sport of swimming that I never let go of and basically from the age of 3 through my first year of college I never stopped. It was all I thought about, dreamed about, and worked for. Swimming was and is so many things to me. It's getting lost in your own head swimming lap after lap. It's the thrill of competing against yourself and against others. And its seeing the improvement by your own hard work alone. So now, in preparation to compete in the swim portion of a team triathlon, I am back in the pool training. For me, that means a long hard road back to swim shape and ready for competition. I've always had to work exceptionally hard to be a good swimmer and this time will be no different as I go from not competing or training for 4 years now to competition ready in the next 6 weeks. Along the journey, I'm hoping to reconnect with the part of me that swimming always fulfilled and I just might try joining a Master's swim team to be a part of a team again! My body already hates me, but I'm looking forward to the challenge :-)

I hope everyone is having a great week!

St. Louis!

This past weekend I made the trip to St. Louis to see my friend Alicia, who I know from my trip to Romania, get married. When she arrived in Romania we were instant friends and shared a friendship over a passion for laughter, adventures, positivity, and helping to make the world a better place. Since Romania we have been able to visit once and keep in contact often. Her wedding was held in a beautiful church filled with live music, family and friends, and lots of love.The day was nothing but perfect and she deserved nothing less.

Pictures from the trip:

The Arch!

Me and the Arch...St. Louis is a really neat city!

Inside the little elevators that take you to the top of the arch!

St. Louis from the top!

Just relaxin'

Me and the Arch again!

Dressed up walking around St. Charles!

Alicia entering the reception in pure style!

I am so glad that I was able to be a part of such a great day and see some of St. Louis and St.Charles too!

And here is a quick flashback of a few pictures of Alicia and I in Romania!

double scootering around Targu Mures, ROAlicia, Bobo, and I one afternoon when the girls had us over for dinner!

A picture of Alicia, Amanda, and myself with a few of our favorite Romanian Teens!

Have a great week!