Vail Colorado Senior Portraits | Nina, Baylee + Sofia

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. || Henry David Thoreau

Finally getting around to sharing a few favorites from this mini senior portrait session in Vail Colorado last fall. These girls were a joy to spend an afternoon with. Such sweet and lovely souls.
And talk about killer babes. Am I right or am I right?

Know Yourself

I just want to remind you to know yourself.
And if you don't feel like you know yourself, get to. 
Spend time with you in varying situations and places and circumstances.
Comfortable and uncomfortable.
Alone. With people. With strangers. With friends. 
Be honest about your loves and likes and dislikes.
Stay true to them when you find them.
But also be okay with them evolving and changing with you as you evolve and change. 
Don't be ashamed of the quirks and inconsistencies and wrinkles and bumps and imperfections.
Whether they be physical or emotional.
Be unwavering in embracing who you are.
The world will notice that. It's what's most attractive about people.
The embracing of their whole entire selves, flaws and all.
The openness, rawness and realness of being intrinsically human. 
If you currently feel like that, open, raw, and in a state of mess and struggle, embrace it.
Be there.
Be all there.
Because it's beautiful.
And you'd be so much duller, flatter, and unattractive without those pieces of you.
Because those pieces help refine and shape you into being a person worth knowing.  

//// Thanks Emily for modeling for these portraits.
I love that you know exactly who you are.
Keep knowing that.

iPhone Snaps | Iceland

So to tide you over until I can get to the many many many photos I have to share from Iceland, here are some iPhone snaps.
Just a few of my favorites.
(Of course if you follow me on Instagram a few of these will be repeats... Sorry!)
They're sorta-kinda-mostly in chronological order. 

Lists Take Two

Came across this post recently, and realized I'd been making similar ones again so I decided to share some. 
Because I can't stop making them. And they should at least be good enough for some sort of amusement other than my own.


Talents I Want To Acquire
Running more than 3 miles
Running 3 miles without feeling like I'm dying
(^I wrote that before I ran the 10k in March. So we can cross this off. Although, maybe not the feeling like I'm dying part. Still actually kinda working on that.)
Picking better things to add to my Netflix cue
Picking out good bath mats
Being able to tell someone it's going to be okay without discrediting their feelings or situation
Loving people more unconditionally 
Unicycling 
Be able to pack more efficiently/completely in a carry on
The ability to cook chicken
Packing for a trip not 4 hours before I have to leave for it


Talents I Have Acquired
Being able to laugh at myself
Buying plane tickets for a good deal
Being somewhere once and being able to get back to it from memory
Sticking up for myself and not taking peoples shennanigans
Making really good fried eggs
Screen shotting maps and navigating accordingly
Liking Mushrooms
Being unaplogetically myself
The ability to consistently drink coffee black
Disregarding no trespassing signs.


Things I Wish I Liked But Don't Really Until I'm Actually Doing Them
Talking on the phone
Keeping up with my accounting
Cooking
Showering
Facebook
Listening to 
 

Weird Things I Do In Public/Things I Do That Are Maybe Not Really Socially Acceptable 
Grocery shopping with my head phones in and dancing in the produce section 
Lying in the grass in random places
Talk to myself
Wear overalls 
Skip
Walk around barefoot
Say mean things to cats
Ignore 98% of my Facebook friend requests
Dancing spontaneously when there's not music playing
Dancing spontaneously when there's music playing


Things I Kind of Don't Really Care About
Being able to taste the difference between a $4 bottle of wine and a $30 bottle of wine
Viral youtube videos
Spending more than 10 minutes on my hair
Chocolate
Nice cars 
Starbucks
Keeping up with the Kardashians 


Things I Want To Make More Time For
Playing ukulele
Learning french
Reading non online things
Watching 90s shows
Spontaneous coffee dates
Sleeping 
 

*these lists are also subject to change