Selfless Friendship | Life

This post was inspired by a talk with the beautiful lady above. The shot was taken at the beach, self-timer, Canon A-1 film camera. The lady is a lovely Iowa kindergarten school teacher that I have known for the past 10 years, she is one of my dearest friends.

One of the things that I have learned since being married is that we have different needs/holes that are to be filled by different things/beings. There is a big place for God, and a relationship with our creater, which is the most important and vital of the three. The second (for me) is romance, my husband and the amazing friendship we have together (going on four years). The last one is (girl) friendship. I need someone to talk with and talk with and talk with again, sometimes about silly things and sometimes about heart wrenching things. This hole for girl-friendship, in my life, God has filled with my mom, my mother-in-law, my (not-so-little) sister and several other beautiful ladies.

One of the most important things I have learned about friendship is that it is all about who I am. Hah! Oh please, let me explain... I need to be (in the very least) what I expect people to be to me. AND if I strive to be an even better person this means I am going to strive to be above and beyond those expectation. So in the end it is the farthest thing from a selfish act, in fact it is selfless. Because when you are to others what you want them to be to you, your needs, wants and desires take second. I was so inspired by a quote once that says "Love without depending, listen without defending and speak without offending". I think if we applied that to our relationships life would be easier, we would become more selfless. And in becoming more selfless the contentment of life just appears. I have this quote written on a journal and feel as if it is one of those that should be read every morning (if not hourly on some days). But life is not about perfection, it's about the journey, taking the small steps to become the person you want to be, that God wants you to be. So journey on, my friends.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

July Camping Adventure | Life

We got the wonderful blessing of escaping up north for our Independence day! As I have stated in posts of the past, I am rediscovering my passion for film. A small reason for this is because my Nikon digital cameras are our bread and butter, so taking them on a camping trip probably isn't the smartest thing to do. So here is the film from the long weekend. 

We had a beautiful first few days. We tented in a small space next to the landing which is only big enough for small boats and canoes. No cell service for miles, and no electricity. Our beagle, Hunter, got to come with us and was free to roam. Hunter got so warn out by day two that he would try to fall asleep wherever he could, the picture above is one such place, all cuddled up like a wild dog.

B fished, while I read. Baby wasn't yet visible, I still only look chubby, joy.  But I felt great, and just kept snacking on a protein bars and/or a premixed fruit smoothie. There was a bathroom, the kind that is a big hole, with a toilet. It was wonderful to NOT have to go in the woods considering pregnant ladies have to pee all the time. Sleeping was better then expected... we brought along two cots, and tiny camping air mattresses, I also brought two pillows to prop accordingly. 

The last day it poured, and stormed. We went out between the clouds and caught a few fish for dinner and cooked them up under the awning then snuck in the car to watch a movie on the tiny screen. It isn't camping, unless it rains. We packed up our wet belongings the next morning and headed home, through traffic and a clear sky.

What a blessing it was to get away for a weekend and enjoy the company of B, Hunter and my in-laws.

Back To Film | Life

Oh the beauty and simplicity of a film camera. My mom talks of how my grandpa captured moments of their lives with his cameras that line my shelves. She did the same with us with the camera I now shoot with, Canon A-1. The kit lens for this camera was the 50mm, I have yet to change it. The most challenging part is shooting without an auto focus, as silly as that may sound. I have yet to be brave to shoot on anything but auto, the meter is broken and has been since I took it into my possession. The auto produces beautiful results. Since I bought film for our outdoor trips, I stuck with ISO 200 so there wouldn't be too much grain. The grain that is seen in these scans is perfection! These scans were processed at Walgreens (I am a high spender), and are actually awful scans but they look great on the internet. The prints turned out great in 4x6 size. My next processing will be down at National Camera. Once I finish off this silly I will be buying pro from a local lab and processing through them.

This blog post is full of photos from our 2011 trip to the Boundary Waters. B and his family have been going there since he was tiny. It is one of the entrance lakes. We can take a tiny motor into and we stay on one of the few campsites. It is beautiful, quiet, away from cellphone service. We fish, I read, and swim. This year some friends of my in-laws rented a cabin and one day we decided to portage (carry canoes, walk and canoe again) to a water fall. We eat fish over fire, and go to the bathroom in the back woods (pictured below). The last picture is our pup, who had to stay home. Dogs are allowed but you have to pick up after them, no fun.

We just returned from our summer weekend trip and I have a camera loaded with film ready to be developed. I can not wait to see what turned out and what didn't from our adventures. As I have been mulling it over, I think I am going to capture most of our babes life in film. The color, crispness, quality and simplicity is incomparable to digital (shhh… don't tell anyone I said this). Hopefully this passion of mine will not be forgotten in the chaos of life!