Arizona Highlights

My trip to Arizona is not yet over, but I wanted an excuse to write tonight

So I will review my highlights so far:

{1} Shooting our VERY FIRST wedding in ARIZONA! It was spectacular. This is a place that I have loved since birth, and I was given the opportunity to DO what I loved while HERE!

The wedding was beautiful-- outdoors at the Tempe Center for the Arts. Included a beautiful bride & groom, a lovely family, lakeside outdoor ceremony with negative edge waterfall as the backdrop, a blue-sky sunny day, and many architectural AND desert scape areas for photography!

{2} The sun. Even though we have had an uncharacteristically warm and sunny winter in Illinois, Kristi and I have soaked up the sun as much as possible. (Because let's face it-- the sun is just different in Arizona). Not to mention, you can sit in the shade here and not SWEAT, even though it's 90 degrees! At any given minute from the hours of 10-2, we could be found at my aunt & uncle's community pool... every single day.

{3} Making a new friend. On the air plane, on the way out here, I befriended a little 6-year-old girl. She was absolutely darling and I loved to be in her company for even just a short while. In times like those, I cherish the ability to revisit tic tac toe boards and handfuls of Skittles, because sometimes my life gets too crowded with "big people" decisions and worries. And in the world of drawing daisies and chasing butterflies, you don't have to think about those things.

{4} Freshly-squeeze grapefruit & orange juice. On my first morning here, my aunt pulled some frozen grapefruit/orange juice out of the freezer. She had squeezed it out of her fresh fruit a few weeks ago, and then froze it to keep it good. She defrosted it in the fridge overnight, so on that first morning it tasted like slush... which was, amazingly delicious. Then it turned to extra-pulpy juice, which was, also, amazing delicious.

Needless to say, I have drank it every morning since. It pairs nicely with my cinnamon oatmeal squares.

{5} Beautiful all around me. Multiple times, Kristi has said, "This is so beautiful." The thing is... I can't believe I'm admitting this, but the things I find beautiful in nature are quite unconventional. And mountains aren't one of them (GASP!) I know, I'm terrible. But I usually don't look at rocky desert and prickly bushes and red-rocked mountains and think, "Wow... beautiful." I just don't. The blue sky? The sun? The fresh air and ability to hike up a giant rock? THAT is beautiful. I find experiences beautiful. I look at this time with my aunt and uncle, with my best friend, with everyone around me and think... it has been beautiful.

Don't get me wrong... I love God's creation and how He has hand-crafted this desert-scape which is so different than where I come from; BUT, I guess I'm just mored wired to see beauty in the people and experiences and faces rather than the places.

Lastly, I share a picture. Kristi snapped this of me tonight. Still trying to decide how I feel about it. Let it be known that she told me, "Twirl around and look up." I think my gut reaction is that I feel like this picture is a little cheesy, because rarely am I found twirling around with my camera; OK, I'm never found doing that. But nonetheless, the mountains and camera and carefree nature of this photo sums up this trip quite nicely, so I shall share it.

Love you all!

T