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.