a poem of praise & thankfulness

a few months ago, a friend of ours recommended a puritan book of prayers and devotions to us. even with all of its 'thees' and 'thous,' the words of these verses are soul-stirring to us, calming. lately, i've been starting my mornings with that leather-bound book in hand. its timeless words provide a fresh perspective and direction for each day. 

the prayer below struck me this morning. the writer's overflowing love and thankfulness are moving. are we thankful, every day, for our senses, the food we eat, the people we spend our time with, our body and its abilities? they are things we so often take for granted, i think, but if i prayed like this every morning, i know i'd find much more to be thankful for and much less to complain about. 

When I think upon and converse with thee,

ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up,

ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed,

ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart, 

crowding into every moment of happiness. 

I bless thee for the soul thou hast created, for adorning it, sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barren soil;

for the body thou hast given me,

for preserving its strength and vigor,

for providing senses to enjoy delights,

for the ease and freedom of my limbs,

for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding;

for the royal bounty providing my daily support,

for a full table and overflowing cup,

for appetite, taste, sweetness,

for social joys of relatives and friends,

for ability to serve others,

for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities,

for a mind to care for my fellow-men,

for opportunities of spreading happiness around,

for loved ones in the joys of heaven,

for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly;

I love thee above the powers of language to express. 

Increase my love, o my God, through time and eternity. 

one frame: flower crown

romantic, wild, and effortless. this is what i want to shoot more of, what i yearn to create. 

thanks for the perfect dose of inspiration, sweet sister of mine. 

our halfiversary camping trip

i'm just minutes away from boarding a flight up to northern california, but i had a little time to spare and finally got around to editing these photos! to celebrate six months of marriage (halfiversary isn't really a word, i know, AND we're now hitting 8 months since our wedding day, so this post is a little overdue), we packed up our tent and sleeping bags, drove south, and spent a weekend in san clemente. as it usually happens, things didn't really go as planned: we forgot soap and fuel for the camp stove, the lantern burned out, and we had some awfully noisy neighbors the first night. but, we learned quite a few things, and it made the weekend that much more memorable. isn't that the best thing about marriage anyway? the whole point of it? to never stop growing in life together, to always love each other better? behind the beautiful pictures and "you guys are so cute" snapshots on instagram, things are a little messy sometimes. we butt heads, we unintentionally hurt each other, and sometimes we feel stretched pretty thin. but the secret ingredient to any strong marriage is strong communication. if you had asked us a year ago if we were good communicators or not, we would told you "yes, absolutely." it was something we were really proud of in our relationship, and we still are. but since our wedding day, we've also realized that there are a lot of areas where we still fall short in our communication. sometimes, it isn't even the words we do or don't say. it's our actions, our expressions - they say more than words ever could. so, surprise, we're not perfect. but we're getting better every day, and that's what counts the most! 

also, i didn't take too many pictures during this trip. we honestly spent almost ALL day saturday reading and napping, which was exactly what we needed. we had nothing on the agenda, just time to do nothing together and enjoy the outdoors. and that's exactly what we did.  

blogger style: life & love with mr. wonderful

I am still dying over these images of my beautiful friend Kasey, the blogger behind Life and Love with Mr. Wonderful. I was so flattered when Kasey asked me to partner up with her on a new style series for her sweet blog, and I can't wait to continue working with her in the future! Girl, I'm just so super glad we're friends. 

After scrolling through these images, jump over to her blog for style inspiration, make up tips, and a personal glimpse into her life. 

happiest of thursdays to you all - aren't you so glad it's almost friday?! 

xo. 

graduation bound: katie // orange county senior session

this girl is a gem, and she was so much fun to photograph! enjoy this lovely senior session. 

katie, thank you for asking me to capture this exciting season of celebration and transition in your life. i wish you ALL the best as you pursue your dreams and make big things happen in the future. much love! 

march goals

oh february, you were a riot. going into it, i knew the month would be nuts, but i don't think i realized just what kind of a toll it would take on us. but again, we learned MILLIONS, and are going to try and do things a little differently from here on out. during february, we seriously evaluated our time (which i shared in this post), and realized we need to leave some space in our schedule. unfortunately, we just had to put our heads down and get through february, because it was just one of those months. our camping trip, winter camp, a trip to san diego - every weekend was basically booked. it was full of fun things, but it left us pretty beat overall. so, lesson learned. all is grace. 

but, february was also full of really great things. we've been connecting more with a group of friends - friends who are also fairly newly married and are also around our age - and it's been SUCH an answer to prayer. Travis turned 24, and i had a whole day's worth of excuses to spoil him and love on him. even though it was a full day of work and classes, we still tried to make it as special as possible! and it RAINED. SO MUCH. with thunder. that was the BEST part. we've also officially committed to Kenya, and Travis is co-leading - i'm so excited about our team, so excited for the opportunity to step outside of our routine and watch God mess us up. 

FEBRUARY GOALS: 

// submit substitute applications

// complete and submit student teaching application and i'm overwhelmingly blessed with my placement! i will be working with a phenomenal middle school teacher, and the school is just a quick drive around the corner from our house - PTL. 

// send thank you photos to officiates, musicians, and coordinator

// make care packages for the homeless

// sell the Xterra

// dream up and host a birthday bash for my love! (welp, i dreamt it, and that was that) 

// unplug and camp on the beach with T to celebrate 6 months of marriage

// shoot two sessions

// reflect on previous shoots - what worked, what didn't, how can i prepare better? (still working on this!)

// dream up shoot inspirations

// listen more and don't be afraid of silences during conversations

// start a book study with the Young Wives Club

// pray more regularly with T and start our Gospel devotional together (i think we always thought we'd definitely do our devotionals together, but lately, we've slipped into the habit of doing our own quiet times. we're working through separate books, tuning in to various podcasts, meeting up with our guy friends and girl friends, and so far it's really working for us! it's fun to wind down at the end of the day and share what we each learned with each other)

// soak up Winter Camp with my junior high girls. be present. make the most of it.

MARCH GOALS: 

// cut down on screen time - i want to devote a part of the day to updating FB, blogging, and sharing on instagram, and then i want to be DONE with it. it's become second nature to me to scroll through a feed and fill my brain with the stuff of other people's lives, and i think it's affected how i do life as well. it's a comparison trap for me - "they did that, and it worked out like this for them, so maybe i should try that to" "should i be doing this, doing that?" "i wish i had that, wore that, that my house looked like that" and it's just an unhealthy cycle. instead, i want to use those inbetween moments to just talk to God, acknowledge Him during my day, ask for HIS direction rather than comparing myself to others. so, i'm challenging myself. let's see how it goes. 

// shoot two sessions
// send thank you notes
// practice gratitude - more thankfulness, less complaining.
// sell the Xterra
// make care packages for the homeless
// write & send our mission support letters
// work on finishing house decor: the wall above the couch is STILL bare, and we need something over our bed. i want to finish it all before the family comes to visit in april!

do you have any goals this month? share below - i'd love to hear from you!

xo.

setting boundaries

the madness of the semester currently has me wrapped up in school work and plans for student teaching next semester, and my blogging has felt the effects. but i've been desperate to find the time to think deeply, process, and write, and i'm determined to make it a part of my schedule if not only for my business, for my personal health as well - so hey, i'm back! 

for the last few weeks, i've been running up against a wall, the wall of busy and stretched too thin, but feeling entirely helpless to change it. "setting boundaries" "rest" and "saying no" are words and phrases i've pounded into my head, and yet i've slipped back into my old routine - jumping at every opportunity to do something "fun" or try something new, saying yes when others ask for something, cramming my schedule until i burn out, dive under the covers, and pretend the world doesn't exist (at least for a few minutes). both Travis and I have felt the effects of our busy life. we are tired of the rat-race, exhausted by the pace of life. in a perfect world, i want to feel like i've spent enough time with my husband, my friends, my family. i want to feel on top of the errands and to-do lists. i want to feel at rest with my life, knowing that Jesus is at the core. but reality shouts back, my commitments demanding time and energy. and the tension has left me frustrated and dry. on our way back from san diego last weekend, i vented to Travis and he brilliantly suggested that we chart our time in order to see where exactly we were spending the most time and if there was anything at all we could cut out. and you know what we discovered? being a wife is a lot of work! as soon as excel magically created pie charts for us, Travis turned to me saying, "no wonder you're always stressed!" my life looks a lot like school, sleeping, eating, and work, and then cleaning, chores, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, running errands, church commitments, and only a little bit of time with family and friends, with little time for anything else. and ever since that reality check, i've been thinking about how easily i over-commit, how desperately i try to keep it all together, and how frustrated i feel when i can't meet the expectations of others, when i can't be there for people like i'd like to be. the daily grind is exhausting sometimes. there are great days of course, filled with laughter and ease, but in the big picture, it's all just too much. and you know who's blatantly missing from it all? Jesus. my savior, comforter, counselor, advocate, and burden-carrier. i have restricted Him to a piece of my day, and often, time with Him takes the hit as i scramble to catch up. but He's not asking for a sliver of time, 10 minutes in my bible, or a page of journal notes. He's asking me to surrender, to trust, because HE can manage it. i can't. He wants to be at the core. He wants to fight my fights and speak peace into challenges and frustration. He wants to give me the fullest joy. He knows my needs, and He wants me to grow and thrive. He wants our marriage to flourish. He wants to deepen our relationships with others. while i clench my fists, create my lists, and power through the day, He just wants me to let Him handle it. so i'm inviting Him in again, or at least i'm going to try. and i'm gonna watch Him make things happen - big, beautiful, unimaginable things. 

if you want to tune in to a great series on setting boundaries, check out this podcast and click "breathing room"- we love this guy!