Spring in the South

As I've said before, I can't envision myself living in South Carolina forever.
But it's such a picturesque stopping ground.

Once I no longer live in this place, the one memory that will hang with me until the day I die is the peach trees in bloom every March.

They are one of the first signs of Spring here in the Palmetto State so not only do they invoke a feeling of rebirth, they're also candy for your eyes. The first Spring I lived here, I could not believe this movie-set like scene was right down the road from me! Never in my life have I seen anything like it. Hundreds of fruit trees in bloom at once.

Like all good things, they only last for a short while so Mitch and I got out and took some headshots before they turned into long, green leaves!

I loved working with different focal points and lighting in these shots.
Of course the natural ones where I wasn't posing are my favorite.

Let me know if you're ever in the Charlotte area and want some headshots done!

I went to Colorado

The second I returned home from this trip out to Colorado I wanted to share every single moment, every single photo, and grab my loved ones and return to show them.

But in just 5 short days I saw so much beauty I was blown away.

When I got home I kept thinking, how will I ever summarize this trip into words?
Every time I close my eyes now I feel the perfect mountain breeze, I see the most bright white sunlight and hundreds of vibrant gold aspen tree leaves raining down on me.

 

Time, to me, seems to be accelerating with each passing day, week, month....does anyone else feel that?
It's October. I'm exactly 2 short months away from bidding 26 farewell and welcoming my 27th year of life.

Whoa.

Our trip to Colorado, like most, was very spontaneous and not really planned. We started in Denver, drove West to Breckenridge then South to Crestone where we spent majority of our time.

We took these Aspen Tree photos on Boreas Pass in Breckenridge. What an adorable little ski town... I would love to spend a Summer there!

I mean, they paint their trees Blue ...what's cooler than that?
;)


So after doing the cliche Colorado touristy things: visiting a marijuana store and stopping in South Park (yes the cartoon is based off a real town in Colorado) we made our way to Crestone where we would stay the rest of the trip.

in the middle. of. nowhere.

Every time we told friends or strangers that we were staying in Crestone they gave us a confused look and said:
Where?!

 

How we found this place I will never know. Actually, we didn't find it.
It found us.

I was searching Air Bnb a week before we left trying to find a place to stay in Colorado.
I kept circling back to This Rental and kept receiving signs that that's where I needed to go.

So, off we went!

Ahh here it is. The entire space was ours.
This is actually a holistic healing retreat called Haelan Lifestream Center owned and operated by a trauma surgeon turned holistic physician named Dr. John Day.

Extremely smart guy who makes you feel very welcomed as soon as you arrive. He fed me fresh snap peas and cherry tomatoes from his greenhouse and answered some questions I had about my Hashimotos Thyroid disease.
Guess who can no longer eat gluten.

The retreat was out of this world. It was so still and quiet that I could hear a bunny hopping through a big tumbleweed bush. The sound of a blue jay echoed. Getting up with the sun, bundled in cozy sweaters, watching the first peeks of sunlight come up over these mountains is something that will live with me forever.

The property has a few meditation stations where you can sit in peace and stare at the mountains. To add more to the experience, you can bang on some meditation gongs which were the coolest ever.

Crestone is a very spiritual, health and eco conscious tiny community. A place where every single item at the only grocery in town is organic and most bakery items come gluten free. We spoke to a local one morning at the cafe over breakfast and he said while they are trying to grow the community they enjoy how small and tight knit it is, everyone loves and supports each other. Right in their downtown they have a 'Give & Take' box where people exchange clothing or housing items in return for something else they need.

There may not be much in this tiny run down town, but it sure is full of love.

Crestone has a history of being a hot spot for aliens. They even have a UFO Watch Tower...it was so fun to hear stories from the locals. There was even a college class there on a field trip. They were taking a class geared towards thinking outside the box...
(omg- get with the program SNHU)

 

But our favorite part was an hour South of Crestone.....
The Great Sand Dunes National Park.

I sware you guys.
Just last month....well, wait. August. So 2 months ago
(See! time...)

I was sitting on Hunting Island with happy tears in my eyes because I got to capture on film my first tornado/water spout. After the storm I sat in a hammock under two palm trees thinking,
There's no way it get's better than this. I will never see anything this cool again, at least not for a long time!!


Then September 24th came around.

 I felt like I was on a different planet while playing on these massive sand dunes.
A planet where nothing mattered anymore. I didn't have to pay bills, I didn't have to worry about what my future looked like or what other humans thought of me.
It was only joy and love.
and SO MUCH FUN!

A group of middle aged tourists arrived shortly after us and they were running and giggling and sliding down the dunes...it was so adorable and, refreshing. To see that no matter what physical age you are, you can always let your guard down and be a 'free spirit' again ;)

Don't let the world make you hard.

 The National Park Service has said that walking on these dunes in the full moon light is similar to walking on the moon. I can totally see that, because as the sun sets and the quiet darkness begins to  creep in... it turns into another world.

You're hundreds of miles from any major metro area. It's so dark, and so quiet.
So still...

We wrapped up this short trip with a visit to Garden of the Gods then made our way back to Denver to fly out.

This trip changed me.
I was just starting to feel like OK, I want to buy a house and settle down into a routine life.
But now I feel like... no way. I want to live in an RV and live in each state for a week!
There's so much out there to see!!!

But then again, owning a house with a yard where I can run around with chickens and cats and dogs while growing my own food & flowers sounds pretty darn enticing.

Back and Forth
Hot and Cold.

Story of every 20-somethings life?
lol

All I know is it's raining, and I've got a cup of tea waiting for me in the kitchen.
Time to kick my feet up and pretend like I'm sitting here:

Ahh travel.
It truly is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer.


Sending you lots of love friends.

Desert Days

Life sure is random.
One moment you can be grocery shopping and folding laundry on a calm Sunday afternoon.
The next you can be halfway across the country hiking red rocks...


On Superbowl Sunday the TV kept mentioning Phoenix, Arizona.
I didn't think too much about it. I've never really had any desire to visit Arizona.
It was always just a random state that I would sometimes see cool photos of.
Sometimes see on TV.
Eh.


While binge eating spinach artichoke dip and laughing hysterically at Katy Perry's halftime performance, it would have never occurred to me that that very night sky she was shooting fireworks up into would soon be the same night sky I would instantly fall in love with...


...The very next weekend.

Monday morning after the Superbowl was like any other Monday at work. Started off calm, slowly sipped my coffee as I refreshed my memory from last week's work.
When all of the sudden I see an email notification pop up in the bottom right hand corner of my screen with the title: PHOENIX, AZ 2/9 as the subject.

I quickly opened it and realized that my work was requesting me to attend a mandatory, 3 week on site training class in Phoenix, AZ from February 9th until the 26th.

WHOA.
WELL THEN.
OK!


I quickly booked all of my travel, celebrated Mitch's 26th birthday with 4 dozen cookies, threw a bunch of tank tops in a suitcase and off I went that following Sunday morning.

I had absolutely
NO
CLUE
What I was about to experience.


___________________________

My weekdays were spent in an office 8-5 which really stunk. But luckily I work with an awesome team and they made it entertaining!
After work we would run to our hotel, quickly change into hiking gear, and go out to chase the sun....

Luckily my girls didn't mind me staging impromptu photo shoots either
;-)

I went out on my own a few times to do some exploring/meditating and found a few amazing, quiet places all relatively close to Phoenix.

Lake Pleasant had mirage-style desert beauty...

And my absolute favorite spot was Cave Creek Recreation area.
I went here and hiked probably 4-5 times and cannot wait to return.

This place has everything! Horseback riding, easy to moderate hiking trails, camping sites for the snowbirds...

...stunning mountain views, and the tallest cactus you will ever see!

I spent my weekend up in Sedona, AZ...and... WOW.

Have you ever heard of this place? The geography is like stepping  back into the dinosaur age. It's known to have extremely strong 'energy vortexes'  where you can replenish and recharge your spirit. Spiritual or not, the energy omitted from these vortexes was actually measured by scientists in order to track down the exact spot where they are located. So if you only believe in the physical objects you can see, then the Juniper trees are your proof.

This Juniper tree is located right in the middle of the airport overlook vortex.
Notice how the wood appears twisted? It grew that way from living in the vortex.
 So cool.

I only got to hike to two of the four energy vortexes. But I meditated and calmed my mind while at each.
Being alone in the wilderness is the best feeling ever. I always return to my social circles so happy and recharged. It balances your mind and helps ground you. It helps you focus on what's real in life and the few things that truly matter. I highly, highly suggest it.


If I left you curious about this mystical place, my favorite link to help further explain the vortexes in Sedona can be found  Here.

_____________________



I returned to Phoenix and spent Sunday with my beloved cousin who is more like a sister to me.
I haven't seen her in over a decade!!
We went to brunch,  drank homemade Moscow Mules, cracked up over the crazy stuff we did as kids in the Indiana cornfields, and went for a sunset hike with her husband Matt and their dogs.

They have two adorable, fluffy black dogs; Buddy and Dublin.
Buddy is an old dog that Matt found behind a dumpster near his work.
He used to feed him on his lunch break until one cold day in November he decided enough was enough;
He was bringing him home.

Buddy is now over 12 years old and slowly wobbles his way up the mountain.
Matt patiently stays behind to walk slow with him and make sure he gets up to the top.

While Matt & Buddy were taking a moment to embrace each other, I couldn't help but whip my phone out to capture the moment...

That night when I was editing my photos from the day I teared up looking at this one. It captures the bond we have with our fur babies, who are not pets to us; they're family.


________________


I still cannot believe I just spent half the month of February in ARIZONA.

It all happened so fast. And it totally made me believe in miracles. In the power of Life.


Remember my annual photo collage I create? I hang up 12 photos of some of my fondest memories from the previous year to remind myself on bad days that hey, even your worst days only have 24 hours.
Things always get better.
You will be happy again and go on another adventure!

Well I remember hanging these up on my wall the first week of January and stopping to just stare at them.
And thinking to myself.... 'There is no way you will go on this many adventures in one year again'

January I spent a long weekend with my Albro family in Florida, and had my very first real photo shoot.

February was spent meditating all over Arizona....

March: Montana? Puerto Rico? At this point, nothing would surprise me

Just last month, if you would have told me that I would soon be reunited with my old college roommate who I have always viewed as nothing short of an angel, and at times sadly thought I may never see again...
I probably would have teared up and said
'I wish'

My Monday looked like this:

Just last month, if you would have told me that I would soon visit Dierks Bentley's famous 'Whiskey Row' bar and have a much needed girls night out, chock full of belly laughs and beer, I would have never believed you and thought in my head:
'I wish..'

My Thursday night looked like this:

____________________


Since we moved down South, I have always wanted a wind chime for our apartment balcony. The sweet sound reminds me of awesome thunderstorms blowing in from the West when I was a little girl growing up in Indiana. No matter what mood I'm in, the sound of a wind chime makes me smile.

So because wind chimes carry such fond memories for me, I refused to buy one from a mass produced department store.
I always envisioned myself picking one up in Key West or some roadside shack up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I wanted to look at it and hear it and feel some kind of emotional attachment to it...

Never in a billion, trillion years would I have guessed that my beautiful wind chime would come from my cousin who I haven't seen in 12 years, and bought from a free spirit at the cutest farmers market in Arizona.
Just blows my mind.

Pun intended.


_________________________________



Arizona now holds a very strong place in my heart.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't even considering moving there.

I don't know what my future holds.
But after my sudden adventure in the Southwest...I know it's a bright one.
Filled with many random adventures.

Not a middle finger. haha

Shoot me an e-mail or leave a comment below if you are curious about my Phoenix area hiking spots or my time in Sedona! Or if you just want to know how damn good the fried pickles at Whiskey Row were.

Until the next adventure.......