A glance back at 2014, and a look ahead.

Wow. What a crazy, intense, beautiful, challenging, wonderful year. A blur of emotions and experiences. I still remember the taste of the dry dust on my lips at the end of a long day riding in a tuktuk through Cambodia. Smiling uncontrollably as big, wet tears of happiness rolled down my cheeks as I watched my best friend get married in March. Breathing in the woodsy, smoky campfire smell on Mt. Hood. Falling completely, totally, recklessly in love. Laughing at noisy scarlet macaws in Costa Rica. Feeling the stress and loneliness of navigating friendships as they grew and evolved. Dancing until sunrise in Thailand. Always running to catch the light. Always. Sometimes catching it, sometimes not. Singing at the top of my lungs in my car on the way to weddings to pump myself up. Waking up to bright sunshine and soft sheets and two furry cats. Trying to find the balance between appreciating what I have but always striving for more. In this new year, I am hoping to focus on relationships, take more risks, and stay as true to myself and my business as possible. I want to strive for in-the-moment living, I want to be honest and real with the people in my life, and I want to be purposeful in the things I do. I think that we all try too hard to cover up our flaws and convey a level of constant perfection to the world, and I know I am very guilty of this. Put on lots of makeup. Photoshop this and that. Only share positive news, hide what is hard, scary or embarrassing. We are all going through our own struggles, but they are what make the beautiful moments so much brighter. I believe that sharing the real emotions of the human experience can help us all feel a little better about ourselves. And that is what I want to do: I want to make people feel better. Not necessarily perfect, because perfection is impossible. But better. A smile, a boost in confidence, a happy memory. So, in 2015 I’m hoping to share more on this blog. Not just photos, but words, stories, musings, adventures. I’m going to try harder to convey more. And hopefully to make you smile. In the meantime, here are a few of my favorites from the past year. Definitely not a complete list, but just a few that felt particularly evocative to me today.([^)])