the "don't let your dreams be dreams" blog. day 25 - ANIMALS (well, just one animal).

After many many days of rain, a Tuesday spent on the couch with my mom watching movies (literally 4 movies in one day), we finally ventured outside! With our friends Judy, Cassidy and Declan, my mom and I headed to Green Bluff to pick some strawberries. On our way up the bluff, we stopped by a farm to see one of my mom and I's 7th grade softball girls' alpacas! She happened to be there working with her mom and brother. For those of you that have never had the opportunity to see an alpaca up close, let me tell you, they are PRETTY. Their coat is SOFT, their eyes are HUGE, and are just like old people (they're missing their top teeth... haha). I took some photos for this blog about ANIMALS. If you were wondering, we don't do animals in our household. I have had a beta fish for nearly two years, and that is awesome in my family. We just don't have pets. However, I have come to love animals, minus the ones that cause an allergic reaction (uhm, cats, uhm)... I still don't like those :) I am so glad Chloe was there to show us around and that her brother, Liam, was around to be a very knowledgeable guide.

the "don't be afraid to sit in the front row of your life" blog. day 24!

HOLY COW. It has been entirely too long since I last blogged! My apologies, followers!

So much has happened in the last few weeks. Jordan's graduated from high school and had an EPIC graduation party, some serious baseball travel (Yakima and Missoula - hooray!) and now we have family visiting from Southern Idaho.

I showed them around Manito Park - which is different than the Manito Park they have in Boise (fyi, Spokane parks > Boise parks). Tonight's theme is flowers, because I spent the night taking pictures of Mason and Jaime with flowers :) If you haven't been up to Manito lately, go check it out. Duncan Gardens has freshly planted flowers and the Rose Garden is just starting to blossom.

I had a busy day and have an even busier day tomorrow (Cat Tales, Green Bluff possibly, a Gonzaga tour, Riverfront Park, etc.), so goodnight y'all! :D

the "when life gets blurry, adjust your focus" blog. days 21, 22, & 23 :)

GUYS. I'm going to post 3 concepts in one blog. AWESOME RIGHT?

These are the remaining pictures from Chewelah - I figured that my blog dedicated to Memorial Day deserved its own post.

I've spent the last six days watching baseball and I have perma-bleacher butt at the moment. However, the weather has been consistently cloudy which has resulted in some great photographs being taken. Enjoy!

Day 21: A faceless self portrait
Day 22: Black and White
Day 23: Landscape

And some bonus photos, just because I can :)

the "nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing" blog. day 20.

I spent the weekend driving back and forth to Deer Park and Chewelah for Jordan's baseball tournament, which resulted in 1) a very tired Megan who consumed more caffeine than considered healthy and 2) a wide variety of photographs in the down time that we had (because Jordan would have to be at the field an hour and a half before game time). So here is the first of four posts of photographs from this weekend.

Every day of this tournament, which was the Memorial Day Triple A Legion Tournament, I thought of the reason behind Memorial Day. For years, we spent Memorial Day opening up our cabin on Priest Lake, welcoming in the summer season and enjoying a much needed 3 day weekend before the end of school. Since I am no longer a student, a 3 day weekend is just a bonus day of family time for me, and we didn't get to spend this year at the cabin for a multitude of reasons.  But this year, I found myself thinking more and more about the "Memorial" part of Memorial Day. I drove around Chewelah quite a bit Sunday and Monday, and came across several cemeteries that were covered with flowers on every tombstone. I walked around a park and came across a war memorial that stopped me in my tracks. I am so grateful for the freedom provided to me, and for some reason, I'm at a point in my life that I can appreciate what others do for me, even though they might be complete strangers. I have come to understand exactly what soldiers give up in their lives to protect all of ours - and I cannot express in words how truly thankful I am for them. I can never repay them for what they do for all of us, and I can never give back to them the things that they gave up for me. You hear heartbreaking stories about soldiers all the time, but I never fully comprehended what they give up until I knew someone personally.

My mom's best friend Linda has a son that is currently in Afghanistan, and he already served a tour in Iraq. I've known Jake since I was in middle school, and that kid has a huge heart. When his sister Meghan got married, he didn't get to be there in the flesh. He misses birthdays, and Mother's/Father's Days, weddings and special occasions, and I know that he feels forgotten sometimes because it is hard to maintain relationships with people in the military (even though social media helps.. it isn't perfect). But I want him to know that I think of him often. I want him to know that he is in my heart and in my prayers always, and that I know what he has lost because of his service. I want him to know that there are always people in his life that will provide a smile, a hug, a laugh, or a shoulder when he needs one. And I want him to know that I appreciate his service, and the service of the men and women around him. I am so glad they are there for him, have his back, and are there to talk to about the things they are going through. I am educated, but I will never know what they see - however, I do know what it is like to see things that are hard, and it isn't easy.

Today's photo concept was shoes, and I could have photographed my Vans, but I came across something better. So thank you to all of the service men and women who put their lives on the line for us. Freedom isn't free, but it is possible because of you all.

With so much love,
Megan

the "and He loves me, despite the fact that I fail Him - every day" blog. day 19!!

I know, I know - it has almost been A WEEK! But the weather has been garbage and I have turned into a bit of a hermit as of late. I have come to accept the fact that I do not want to be social all the time. And yes, this blog forces me to be social. Because in a way I am communicating with a lot of you all over the world - which I adore - but sometimes I just want to lay in my bed and watch an endless amount of Property Brothers on HGTV. Get over it :)

So, today (on "whatever the hell you want to shoot" day), I had some time to kill between an appointment and hang out time with my mama, and I ended up wandering around downtown Spokane for awhile. I took some shots, and I am going to post them on here for you today!  WOOO!  I also have a few pictures from the time I spent with my mom. One is a quote on the wall at the Title Nine store on South Perry Street by Lady Gaga which I LOVE. It was quite timely to be reminded that you can marry yourself to a person, and it may or may not work out, but if you work hard doing something you love, it will love you back every day of your life. I need something to love me every day of my life, because some days I don't even love myself. Another is a picture of three of the CUTEST dressed 20-something-lip-balm-selling-boys I have ever seen at the South Perry Farmer's Market that happens on Thursdays.

I am headed to the "midnight" showing of Fast and Furious 6 tonight and I am STOKED about it (p.s. "midnight" is in quotations because it doesn't actually happen at midnight... it happens at 10:30... lame, I know).

I missed you all. Thanks for being such loyal followers.

the "no one ever got blind by looking on the bright side" blog. day eighteen! :)

Good evening friends and family!

First of all, I would love love love to congratulate my cousin Bryce and his girl Kimberly for getting engaged this morning on a hot air balloon ride! I'm so excited for them to move to Spokane so I can show Kimberly how to be a 22-year-old in my town! :) Also, if you need engagement photos taken, I would adore the chance to take some...maybe. That might be a little too much pressure...

Anyways, today's photo concept is "experimenting with light," and I ended up in the car with my mom this evening. We went shopping at Auntie's Bookstore - one of my favorite places - and then the clouds & sunlight were GORGEOUS around 7 tonight. So, we headed up to Five Mile Prairie to one of my favorite spots and ended up watching the sun go down from there. I usually go up there alone and end up taking some pictures or using the time to reflect, but it was fun to share it with my mom and she even offered some different artistic advice. On a rare occasion (as in - it has never happened in the lifetime of this blog), I struggle to pick which pictures to put up, but today is one of those days. I am so happy with some of the pictures I got, and I am SO happy I get to share them with you. Hopefully you enjoy some of my favorites as much as I do.

Alright, this blog is kind of short tonight, but we are watching the season finale of Elementary and it is EPIIIIC. Love you all!

the "one day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful" (freud) blog. SEVENTEEN.

Today's big concept was meant to be "something I want" - which is a hard thing for me to photograph because the things that I want to acquire are not exactly things that I can photograph (a marriage-worthy relationship, travel, love, a lifetime of laughter, a child that I adopt from another country).  I don't dream of material things very often, and I love that about myself. However, we had a deck guy come out today to advise us on some stain problems, and he pulled up to my house in an awesome Volkswagen hippie van, and I have ALWAYS wanted to photograph one of those, so I changed the challenge to be "something I have always wanted to photograph."  I see them in parking lots on occasion and either wish I had my camera or am too chicken to creep on some stranger's van. But, I asked Aaron, a.k.a. "deck guy," if I could photograph his van, and he was totally cool about it.

I do not know what has drawn me to the Volkswagen van for the last few years, but I am so happy I finally got to take some (non-creepy) pics! I have (secretly) always wanted to be a little bit more hippie - I think it fits my persona a bit (okay, not really a "stereotypical hippie," but I think I could pull it off... maybe if I was a little more hip?). I used to have perfect, wavy, hippie hair and I loved it, until I got sick of it and donated it to Pantene's Beautiful Length Charity. Anyways, I just think that if you drive a hippie van, you have to be happy. And I love being happy :)

the "let your heart guide you - it whispers, so listen closely" blog. DAY SIXTEEN (a few days late...)

I missed a few days of blogging because one of my dearest friend's graduated from Gonzaga University this weekend and the only pictures I managed to take were of her celebrations.

I have decided that it is important to post photographs of things that have inspired me on this blog, so even though I missed a few days, I am dealing with it because I only took pictures that were not for my sake (as in pictures that are not artistic or following my daily challenges). Make sense?

Tonight, Jordan and I went on a little adventure to the Airway Heights area and took silhouette photos (and a few bonus photos, because the clouds were sort of killer tonight). The weather cleared up nicely this afternoon, and thank goodness because I was ready to take some pictures outside!

the "if god brings you to it, he will bring you through it" blog. the halfway mark - day 15!

Today's challenge touches very close to my heart. When I was thinking of who I would photograph for the concept "someone you love," I thought of SO MANY people I could capture that would suffice that minimum.

However, I got to visit a very special person today, who has being going through a hard time recently but continues to inspire me in many ways. My Aunt Chris is my mom's sister, and in the same week last September, my mom and my aunt were diagnosed with different kinds of cancer. My mom's cancer was much simpler than my aunt's and MUCH easier to take care of. My mom was considered cancer-free as of October, but that was not the case with Aunt Chris.

I was in the doctor's office the day she found out she had cancer, and it was possibly the worst thing I've ever had to witness. After months of pain from an unspecified source, the doctor finally ordered some additional testing that discovered a mass in her lung. After that doctor's visit, we went to Wendy's and enjoyed some chicken nuggets while reminiscing about my Grandma before spending hours in an oncology office where Aunt Chris would become a regular visitor. Many tears fell that day, and continue to fall because of the emotional and physical battle that cancer patients fight. We found out that the lung cancer was in several other places in her body, and she immediately started radiation, with chemotherapy to follow, and she continues to battle cancer to this day.

In the matter of seven months, her life has drastically changed, but her faith has grown, and that both encourages me and terrifies me. A few years ago, my cousins, Bryce and John, found another place they could call home with a family that welcomed them with open arms, and I am so glad that they encouraged Aunt Chris to join their Christian family. The community of friends she has built over the past few years is beautiful and so supportive - from showing up at doctors appointments (so that we hog an entire section of the waiting room) to cleaning up her house or making meals for her and making sure her fridge is stocked should her appetite come growling - even if she never asked for it. The only thing I have heard her ask for is prayers. She continues to smile and welcome people into her home from the chair that she has spent the last seven months sleeping in (for comfort reasons), and embracing every person with a hug. She's plugging away, fighting for her life in a way that I hope I never have to experience.

But if anything good has come from this (and I'm positive that something good has), it brought family back together. It reminded us that we all have people in our lives that would be there for us in a supportive and encouraging way, even if we don't ask for it or don't expect it. It has taught us that there is nothing more valuable in this world than time spent with the people we love, because if we don't embrace them while they are here, we will regret all the time that we lost when they are gone.

Aunt Chris, I am so incredibly proud of the fight you have gone through, and I am so glad you continue to fight every day. You are strong. You are beautiful. And I am so blessed to call you family.

the "our days are happier when we give people a bit of our heart rather than a piece of our mind" blog. day 14!!

Not that I ever doubted it, but I decided today that I would love to work in a kitchen for the rest of my life... and not in the role of a housewife or mother or any of the stereotypical jokes about women belonging in a kitchen ways, but in a real way, where I get to create beautiful pieces of art with food and then enjoy the fruits of my labor. Whenever I complete a new recipe or make something that I really like, I want to share it with everyone. I want to give them something that they could not necessarily give themselves, a piece of my heart that is very simply a gift - something that I never expect to be returned.  Baking has always been a favorite hobby of mine, but now I find myself drawn more and more to cooking real food and loving every minute of it.

Today's photo challenge is "my favorite snack," so tonight, I made my favorite post-dinner, television watching snack. I usually make this snack when I have girlfriends over for movie night or something, but tonight I made it just for this challenge (AND BECAUSE IT IS DELICIOUS). This batch of popcorn had soft caramels, Rolo's, cut up Snickers, and Junior Mints. For those of you that want to try this at home, I simply popped some popcorn from a bag, you can air pop if you'd like, and then I layered the popcorn in a bowl while adding delicious chocolate treats between layers of popcorn. I cut the Snickers from a full candy bar size into smaller pieces to spread the wealth among the popcorn. Then you bake the layered popcorn/chocolate in the oven for 5-7 minutes on 200 degrees, and then let cool for 15-20 minutes before you enjoy!

the "she reads books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live" blog. lucky 13!

In college, I didn't read any books outside of the world of academics. I simply didn't have the time I wanted to dedicate to reading when I had so much reading to do for classes and homework. Since graduation, I have made it a priority to read books, and I have been very successful in doing so. Reading is about the only habit of my many habits that I consider to be "a good habit," which was today's photo challenge. I love being transported by the written word to a land I might not ever get to visit except for in my imagination. I love developing relationships with fiction characters, being heartbroken when a book ends, and how, at the end of a really good series, you feel like your best friend just died or they are moving to a foreign country and you will never get to contact them again. Recently, I started reading books on my iPad, and I originally thought that I would hate it, but I don't. I like that I can start a new book immediately after I finish another one, but I still miss the comfort of a physical book. I spent today soaking up some sunshine and reading on my deck, and it was FABULOUS - AND I managed not to get sunburned! Go me! Happy Hump Day everybody!

the "I want to be like water. I want to slip through fingers, but hold up a ship" blog. a day late, but still day 12.

Until this point, I have been pretty good at blogging every day, and I'm super disappointed in myself that I missed a day, but yesterday was a huge struggle for me. In addition to being in a super tired zombie state of mind, I just wasn't feeling super inspired. I took a few photos but I felt like they were a bit forced, so I decided to just go to bed and regroup myself today. Turns out, that was a great decision. The challenge today was "something blue," and I immediately thought WATER. My brother and I were headed to dinner at the Happy Dragon on Monroe (by the Courthouse, if you've never been there, GO. It's delicious!!) tonight, so we stopped by the Falls and took a few photographs before dinner.

Water is a calming thing for me. I was raised with a million summer memories from Priest Lake, and I just find that when I am surround by a body of water, I am at peace. I wish I could have photographed Priest Lake for you all, to show you how beautiful it is, but our family hasn't opened up our cabin yet, so maybe soon. However, I have been blessed to be raised in Spokane, where water is everywhere. I live a block from Riverside State Park and could have walked down to the river to take some pictures for everyone, but I was feeling like photographing the falls today. See you all tomorrow :)

the "be a fruit loop in a world full of cheerios" blog. photo challenge - day 11 style!

Yesterday and today's photo concepts sort of collide - and I'm loving it. In Zambezi, my wardrobe was much more vibrant and full of colors. Today, I photographed patterns. The point of this blog is to open up my world and show it to others who want to see. I photographed two things that hang above my bed tonight. One is a giraffe painted "M" that I spend some time painting earlier this year, and the other is a cut out elephant made of patterned scrapbook paper. I was in love with giraffes before I went to Zambia, but after our safari in Botswana, I had a new love for elephants that has only grown. I cannot wait to return to Africa someday to go on safari again - it was such an incredible experience!

For those of you that don't know, when I sort of lose myself (or begin to feel like I'm losing myself), I find myself creatively. All winter, I spent time making crafts I found on Pinterest, and now my room is fully redecorated with my own pieces of art, like these two things.

P.S.
Sorry tonight's blog is so short, but my mama just got home from the Bahamas and we were catching up and chatting! Until tomorrow - Megan

the "there are all kinds of love in this world, but never the same love twice" blog. day TEN.

Ten is my lucky number! And I LOVED today's challenge! The concept is "something that I miss," and I had a no-brainer choice for what I was going to capture.

I'm not sure how my fellow Zags-in-Zambezi travelers feel, but I know I learned more about myself in Zambezi than I would have ever thought. I think of Zambia every day of my life. Whenever I feel exceptionally busy, or feel like a chicken running around with my head cut off (which actually happens if you were wondering...ha ha!), I think of Zambezi.  Whenever I'm running late (which is rare), I think of our concept of time and how different it is from the Zambian concept of time.  Whenever I want to honk at someone who cut me off or glare at someone in the grocery store for taking up the whole aisle, I think of how much kindness and respect complete strangers in Zambia showed me and smile. 

My "something that I miss" is Zambezi. The list of things I miss could go on all day, so I will only stick to a few things.

I miss chetengues.
I miss journaling by headlamp-light.
I miss walking to the river for sunset.
I miss Davies.
I miss my computer students, who showed up early for lessons and would stay as long as we would let them after class to continue learning and to have access to the technology they so strongly desire.
I miss power outages.
I miss professor and reflection time, where each day we would learn something new from our peers and then reflect on our days/experiences/friendships/difficulties.
I miss being so frustrated with the portrayal of Americans, because assumptions about the United States as a whole are very skewed.
I miss eating bananas for a majority of the meals.
I miss holding hands with so many children.
I miss the children's excitement for books and learning (as opposed to cell phones, Twitter, Facebook, Instragram, etc. in the U.S.).
I miss reading the comments from home (and sometimes crying over them, because sometimes we forget the kind of support we have).
I miss Mudondo more than anything else in this world. And Nancy. And Daniel, who took pictures on my camera for a majority of the trip, and I have him to thank for many of the wonderful photographs I have now.
I miss being called "MEGA" instead of "Megan."
I miss sunrises.
I miss water pumping parties, where two or three of us would take turns pumping our water clean through these little tiny pumps that were a pain in the ass. I appreciated every sip of water, especially after being sort of stranded in Dipalata with no water pump and no water... which meant we drank sterilized dirt water from a well. Literally, it was dirt and water and we drank it and it was delicious..
I miss playing volleyball and basketball and spending so much time outside with the children.
I miss traveling by dugout tree canoes across the river.
And, perhaps most of all, I miss the simplicity of our lives there. It was such a blessing to take a step back from having to do all of the (mostly) meaningless stuff that occupies a lot of our time at home, while focusing on maintaining lasting relationships with the people of Zambezi. I am continually reminded about the bonds I made when I hear from my Zambian friends via Facebook.

Those are just a "few" of the things I miss from Zambezi. And although it is hard to describe, I am a better person because of all the experiences I had in that community. We all struggled. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't easy in any sense, and it wasn't all beautiful, but in the end, it was so worthwhile. I discovered a love worth fighting for, and that in itself is a beautiful thing.

the "climb mountains not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world" blog. day NINE!

For the past few days, I have been struggling. I struggle with my photo concepts and having faith in myself even when I get the assurance from people around me. I am struggling to have a positive outlook for my own passions, even though I manage to be positive for others in my life. I struggled to find the words to blog yesterday and the day before. But most of all, I think I am struggling because I am scared to continue to put myself out there. I'm learning from this experience, because I am allowing myself to be vulnerable. I am allowing myself to tell the world exactly how I am feeling every single day of my life, and I am putting on display for anyone who wants to look my ideas of beautiful through this picture project.
But you know what? I also think I am struggling with being selective about which images I want to take because I have so many in my head, I can't commit to one. I want to do all of the photo concepts at once, which is not what the purpose of this project is. Coincidentally, this is a great metaphor for my life, because I have always been worried about making the wrong choice at the wrong time in the wrong place with the wrong people.  I spend my life wondering, "What if?" I have been looking for a graduate program for the last two years and I can't seem to find one that I want to commit to, because I want to study so many things, and I want to move to so many different places and meet so many different people, that how can I just pick one? Or worse, what if I pick the wrong one? What if I say the wrong thing? What if I make the wrong move? Or, simply, what if I drive the wrong way to work and I'm late? To be honest, I'm sick of wondering what if. I'm sick of over-analyzing every little thing. I'm sick of doing exactly what I'm supposed to do, because I have done that my whole life. I've been conforming to norms and expectations that I project on myself. I have always believed there is no universal "normal," so why do I try to be normal ALL. THE. TIME.? I'm not normal. Anyone who knows me knows that I go to bed whenever I feel like (usually by 9 p.m.) and I cancel plans a couple of hours before they are supposed to happen because I "just don't feel like going out" and that I couldn't wait to be an adult and now that I am, I just want to be young and have no responsibility.
So, tonight, I am declaring to the wonderful world wide web that this blog is solely for my own growth. The blog serves as a medium for me to express myself, and if you want to walk with me on this journey, I love company!

On that note, today's concept was sunshine! So, I took a little drive around dusk and captured these two lovely photographs. I'm a huge fan of the tree silhouette one, but my brother promises that the sunset one is "sick," so here they are. Thanks for reading!

the "your journey is unfolding exactly as it should be" blog. photo challenge 8.

Good evening y'all! I was struggling to stick to a concept today, and I considered even skipping blogging today. But as I was going through my list of possible challenge concepts, I ran into one that stuck... I thought, "When you are feeling uninspired, photograph something inspirational." My best friend Melissa was over, and I disappeared in my room for a minute and I photographed several inspirational things that I have in my room. One is a quote on some metal that I have on my bookshelf, another is a sign I have hanging above my bookshelf, and two are from a long list of things to do to be happy on a canvas. Needless to say, I found my inspiration :)

the "wherever life takes me, you'll find me with a smile" blog. ONE WEEK.

The challenge today was to capture CHANGES TO COME, which was such an easy concept for me because my brother had his last sporting event ever at North Central High School today. He has a ton of changes coming his way in the next six months, and I am so proud of everything he has done. It all started for him four years ago on this varsity baseball team, and tonight he played at NC's field for the last time in an Indians uniform. For those of us who have made it through high school (and college, and have life experience), we know how big of a moment this is. He is saying goodbye to a world that will never exist for him anymore, even if he does continue on to play college baseball. Jordan is a leader like no other, and he lives his life by the quote, "Wherever life takes me, you'll find me with a smile." He has learned to deal with hardships and losing seasons his entire career, but he still goes out every day and tries his best. I look up to him in more ways than he will ever know. Be proud of how far you have come, Brother Bear, and remember how much further you have to go. #workhardplayhard :)