Corey & Melanie | Highland Springs Resort, Cherry Valley, CA

See more photos HERE.

Brianna Preview | Forest Falls, CA

"Hey Beautiful! You are loved!"

 

The West

"We were young then, and the West was young, with land broad and bright before us. We knew, whatever the truth was, that every horse could be ridden, every man whipped, every girl loved.We road with the wind then, and sang in the rain, and when we fought it was with the same savage joy as that of the Comanches who opposed us, these fierce, proud warriors who would ride half of thousand miles to fight a battle or raid a wagon train." ~ The End of the Drive, Louis L'Amour

The Mayo Family | Sedona, AZ

The Mayo's are one of my favorite families. We spent Memorial Day weekend with them at a cabin buried somewhere in the hills of Sedona. And, more importantly, lived to tell about it. To get there, you followed a winding dirt road past a locked gate and arrived at a scary looking exterior. The cabin made quite the first impression. It grows on you though. Somewhere in between the sunsets that make the rocks burn red, splashing around in the river, shared meals (including amazing bbq) and laughter, you decide you like the place and don't really want to leave.

We found time to take a few photos while we were there.

You're my sweetheart

I belong with you

You belong with me

You're my sweetheart

~ Ho Hey, The Lumineers

Lake Superior

Things I learned/experienced on The Great Lake Superior Camping trip of 2012:

- I do not function well on a diet consisting primarily of coffee, more coffee, and pop tarts.

- Especially when combined with minimal amounts sleep.

- My paranoia about bears is worse than I thought.

- When you forget towels, showering and walking back to campsite soaking wet in your swimsuit is a surprising brilliant option. (Yes, I believe clean hair is that important.)

- When you forget silverware and find only one spoon in the car, you can still make it work.

- Two Step Falls is misnamed… by about 300 steps.

- Lake Superior is beautiful! You should go.

{Thankful} for my dog.

I’m thankful for my dog. She’s a constant reminder that God pays attention to the little things.

I’ve loved collies since I can remember. I mean, what girl doesn’t want a Lassie in her life? When I was twelve, my brother and I began a campaign to get a pet. We started small. “Mom, Dad, can we have a bird?” We’ll take good care of it!” (In hindsight, I have no idea what made us think a bird was a good idea.) They didn’t buy it. So we went bigger and started asking for a cat, then a small dog.

Eventually, I saw an ad in the newspaper from a rescue shelter advertising a collie. I wrote around the photo asking God for that dog. I didn’t anticipate anyone seeing it, but my dad found it before the paper was thrown away. He contacted the shelter. While we didn’t that particular dog, (she was 14 years old, and they didn’t want to give to a family with young kids) we did end up in touch with a collie rescue organization. Through them we received two pure bred collies.

So whenever I see Tracy, I’m reminded God pays attention to little things.

Right now she’s laying next to me on the living room floor attempting to get me to touch her instead of the keyboard. She’s winning. Talk later, guys.

“In all the setbacks in the life as a believer, God is plotting for your joy.” -Piper