Alabama Hills

We had a great Christmas with our family... It was busy (typical, right?), but great.

The day after Christmas we felt needed a little adventure. Things have been a little hectic, a little stressful - nothing like a little trip to the Eastern Sierra to get you feeling good again. But, I will admit, it was too short- the medicine was just starting work and it was over.

I could only handle one night. The high during the day was in the 40s, and the low at night was low 20s. COLD. I am not used to cold weather, so I was hurting. Not to mention, we had wet wood and we couldn't get the fire to start for two hours, two long hours.

We are definitely going back to the Alabama Hills, there is much more to explore.

We went down the road called "Movie Road" - which has been the set for many a Western movie. The place is amazing, the rock formations are so cool, and the back drop of the Sierra was beautiful - especially with all the snow.

We drove down many dirt roads, we hiked to an arch, we ate in Lone Pine, we stopped by Fossil Falls, we stopped by the Indian Wells brewery- it was a good, fun-packed two-day trip.

I have a feeling we are going to need one more before I go back to work on the 4th.... we'll see what we can squeeze in.









Did you have a good holiday?

Christmas Card

Our Christmas Card this year...

Merry Christmas!

I painted this when I was 6 years old... with a little help from my talented grandma. Back then I wanted to be an artist; I wanted to draw and paint; I wanted to be like my grandma. That path never worked out for me, I think either you got it, or you don't. And... I don't. But I've found other things I'm decent at and that I love ... those things I will do.

Kim & Blake

I love any excuse to take photos... and with Christmas I have lots of opportunities to take photos of cute little kids and families - its that time of the year, I guess.
Last week I called my cousin Kim and said, hey, want me to take photos of you and Blake... right now? Luckily she was up for it, so we rushed over to the park to snap a few photos before the sunset - the golden hour, right in between rain storms.





So I've been thinking more about my photography, and I'm wanting to get out there more. Make myself more available for sessions and shoots... people, stills, travel, food, whatever... I've had so many cool opportunities over the last few months, but I'm eager for more - bring em on!

Rain and Sunshine

It rained all weekend.

And it was great.

I did a lot of this:

I love the rain, but what my favorite is the sunshine after the rain - seems to clear that LA air.

We went to our little spot in Eaton Canyon (which turns out to be a lot of people's "spot," hence the graffiti and litter - but we still like it nonetheless.) It's our little get away. And right now, the water is flowing, the temperature is just right, and its beautiful!

It's Beginning to Feel...

It was weird being out of the country, and not celebrating Thanksgiving. When we got back it felt like everyone jumped ahead to Christmas.

But yesterday my family was nice enough to have a Thanksgiving 2.0 for Justin and me. After having our mashed potatoes and stuffing, all is right. (Right now I have a Thanksgiving-Left-Over-Pot-Pie in the oven, mmmm, can't wait!!)

Now... we have the tree up...


I made stockings:


I bought this ornament last year from Ten Thousand Villages, and then last week I got to meet the artisans who made it!


And now its officially boot weather (although, I cheat and wear them whenever I can, no matter the weather)


Today has been cold and rainy, I love it, and Southern California needs it.

And it's a welcome change. Feels more like late fall/winter, feels more like the holiday season. (Although, not the consumerist holiday season, no black Friday, sales, and shop, shop, shop. Handmade gifts are so much better... Here is a good resource about all this.)

Eid

(warning: graphic photo below)

I'm home, but still recovering from jet lag. I'm. so. tired. I have had no energy to upload and edit all 1200 of my photos from our trip! Hours and hours of fun editing, which I really do enjoy, but can't imagine doing it just yet.

So, I am a little late posting about our last day in Dhaka, but here it is. It was the Muslim holiday Eid, and it was so great getting to experience Bangladesh on that day. To my vegetarian friends, be warned. This Eid holiday was a day for sacrifice, and literally every other house that we saw, out front they were sacrificing either a cow or a goat. I dare not say "kill," Justin was corrected, "We are not killing, we are sacrificing." Fair enough.

While walking down the roads, some gutters were literally running with blood and the smell, imagine a warm butcher shop. Despite this being hard to stomach, me being a some-what vegetarian, it was still a beautiful day. When emailing a contact in Dhaka about the holiday before we arrived he described Eid as a day where "everywhere is joy." And it was.

Early in the day we went to visit a beautiful mosque. We didn't expect to go inside because we weren't sure if we were allowed, but a Bangladeshi man named Bashir insisted that we go in and that he show us around. At one point some men at the mosque wanted to sit and talk, Annika and I were told, "for gents only." So, we found a little spot on the ground and sat, and waited for the men to have their visit. The men at the mosque made sure we were comfortable, they came by and gave us cookies and water, they even came by to anoint us with oils - it was very sweet. They were also explaining to us that despite what we believe, we are the same, we are human; and peace is so important. It was beautiful.

We couldn't tell what the men were talking about, but I knew Justin was loving this cultural experience, especially since the men only new Arabic or Bengali, and of course, Justin nor Ty spoke either of those.

That night, before we left for the airport, our sweet friend Suraiya invited us to her family's home for dinner. It was wonderful to celebrate in a home. Annika's story here.