moclips beach

this past summer. little did i know then the twist life had in store for me. for us. but life is all about improvisation (isn't it?) and we seem to be humming along to our tune quite beautifully so far....

wedding::jen+chris

this was a destination wedding planned by the adorable bride and groom from Chicago, Illinois but thankfully shot in our own backyard of wine country Washington, or more specifically, the lovely Januik Winery in Woodinville. gorgeous weather and unique backdrops made this such a fantastic place to host their momentous union. 

what home feels like

hiatus

this was taken back in july after shooting a wedding in the beautiful lake crescent area of washington. a lot has happened since that weekend - i got married and pregnant (not necessarily in that order) ;) and have been trying to finish editing all the wedding and engagement and portraits i've taken and as a result, have been letting this blog get a bit dusty. we now take you back to your regularly scheduled program....

bandera mountain

i've been less than active the last two weeks given a massive ankle twisting due to tripping down a few measly stairs in our apartment complex (danger prone daphne does it again!). it was grapefruit size (ok, maybe a rather large orange size) and turned just the loveliest shades of green and yellow and purple for a quite few days. i had to quit all the running training i had been doing which was really hard because going to the gym every night had become such a habit. still, i was in excruciating pain every time i moved it and i knew i had to take it easy for awhile - i didn't want to risk possibly re-injuring it and making things worse or my recovery time any longer. so when our friend suggested we go hiking this weekend i was still a little worried things wouldn't have healed entirely. i decided that i'd go with the attitude that i would attempt it and if i felt any pain i would stop and that would be that. surprising, we made it all the way to the summit with no problems (other than some mild joking and complaining that the trail was going on FOR.FREAKING.EVER and not being able to see the top to give us some motivation). but my ankles feel great. and due to the steep decent, there were points i was actually running because the momentum was propelling us down faster. yay running! so tired but so worth it. and good to know i can go back to my regularly scheduled workouts tomorrow.

i didn't bring my good camera (no extra weight just in case) but my iphone took amazing pictures in the bright sunshine. this is the ira spring trail that we took all the way to the top of bandera mountain. i'm glad i didn't check out the specs before we left because i might have talked myself out of it:

so, yeah, just a tiny 5,400 foot, 9 mile hike. no big deal. ;) good time of year to go too - the wildflowers were incredible - like something out of a dr. seuss book. 

we could see the teeny tiny mt. rainier in the distance when the clouds and fog finally broke.

crazy cloud formations blowing in.

and the most beautiful view after the tricky rock scramble.

great friends, great hike. incredibly gorgeous, awesome day.

engaged. jen + chris (preview)

ocean shores/moclips, wa

our friends, mark and dawn, were staying at a place on the ocean front for the weekend and had gotten a room upgrade with a second bedroom so they wanted to know if we'd be up for a spontaneous road trip...

how could we not?