Memory Lane

Today is the last day of age 25! It is a bitter sweet moment. This by far has been the best year of life since 21! The only down side is that I don't get to spend the day with my mom, grandma and brother, not to mention all my great friends on the east coast!
This year I was blessed to travel so much with my fiance, I got to see places I only dreamed of! We cursed through Alaska, I got my first stamp in my first passport :) I got to finally see Montana and Up State NY, I got to see the Grand Canyon also! Not to mention we made it back home twice this year! I also got proposed to in such a great way to the man of my dreams! I have to honestly say this year was full of love and adventure! I am so blessed to have all these amazing people in my life that make it that much more special!
I had a best friend leave town and I got to visit her when she needed it most, I was able to spend moments with her when she came home ( I know that you are disappointed in yourself, but you shouldn't be love - you made a leap that most are scared to do - you will get your moment to shine {WITH US IN NY}) I have had a lot of stress as well, but it was all worth it.
Age 26 is an eye opener to what is important to me in this stage of my life, I know people think it is crazy that I am freaking out - but here is why - I have realized that life happens so quick and the moments of each day are important. I never thought that I see/do half the things I have - but I am also question what I have done - I am about to be 26 and I am planning a wedding with the man of my dreams - but what happens next? I don't want life to go to fast and not do everything I can possible! I have no career, but I have a good job - I don't have a brand new car, but I own mine - I don't have a fat savings, but I'm out of "stupid debt - I am not physically with my east coast family, I am always with them in my heart. There is so much that I haven't done, but I know there is time!
I have learned and I have grown, and all the things I have done and seen are what makes me who I am!
I am loved, independent (not completely but you know what I mean), I am strong willed, I am blessed, I am in love and happy! HAPPY is the key part, Life is an adventure in itself!

Tomorrow is a bitter sweet day - I leave a great year behind to make room for another adventure and fun-filled year. I get to spend another year with the man I love and we get to plan what happens next! I get to see more places this year and I get to embrace new experiences! I get to go on this adventure with him by my side

Embrace with me - see what I see - I am only freaking out because I realize this is adult life - not in a bad way, by actually feeling as though High school and College life is over and REALITY is here! Tomorrow is more then just a birthday it is the year that I realized to embrace life and roll with it!

Me & my lovely Fiance 

Lover and Family! Brother & Sister

Last Years Birthday Dinner! 

Best Friends

Thank you all for all you do for me! I love all of you in my life! I wouldn't be who I am without your love and support!! BRING ON YEAR 26!!!

The start

There was a girl, a young girl that was to worried about what she would wake up, she was so afraid that some nights seemed to last forever. She was lost inside a world she didn't belong. She always ready for a fight and never felt like anyone understood. She hid the home life and became good at putting a face on. She had a great role model though, her mom was good at holding things together as well. There were days she prayed that God would save her, ask " why me". 

This girl learned at a young age more than people realize. It's true what they say, that young ones hear and see more than adults think. She was not only a daughter and a sister but also a protector. She would hide the true man from her brother just so he didn't grow the same hate in his heart as she had. She tried so hard to protect her mom and brother, that she forgot herself at times. 

When it got to be to much she reached out for things that numbed her. At times it was alcohol, other times drugs, and don't forget boys. She knew how to numb pain easier then others her age. She was good at hiding it most of the time.

Friends never knew and classmate never understood, but when it came out people thought she was making shit up. Truth be told the hell was something she thought was a nightmare. She made decisions that weren't right, she hurt people that shouldn't have been hurt, but most regrettable was she didn't say what she should have at times to the one that caused so much pain. She was scared at  the time, not for herself but for her mother and brother. If she had would things be different? 

After years of hurt, blame, anger and tears she found the answer she had been searching for her whole life. It wasnt her fought, she did what she could, in the end the man that caused so much pain would never change, never understand and never man up to the fact he never was or will never be a father! He was just a lesson brought into her life to show her what she didn't want, need or deserve.

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We don't choose the cards that are handed to us, but we do choose the path we desire to take in life. - rachael 

Moments

I am currently awaiting my 26th birthday. It has been such a rocky road full of laughter, stress, tears, failures, success and roads. I have traveled and I have been blessed to find that one person I can not live without! 

If someone would have told me just 6 years ago that the life I have now would be my life I would have laughed it off. Truth is I never thought I would ever find this kind of happiness, comfort and closure. 

This blog is going to help with my struggle and hopefully help those that have been or are currently are in a place I once was. I hope it helps and brings dreams alive for people that are similar to myself. 

I was lost for a long time, wondering if dreams come true, if happiness was just in the movies, if where I came was the only way to be- I found through alot of tears, lonely nights, empty bottles, and a lot of screaming into pillows, a life that is real, that is amazing and that is mine! 

I am a daughter of an amazing mother who at 16 took a chance and that chance was me. As a single mother raising two kids ( myself and my amazing brother), who gave up dreams for us to have ours. A mother that doesn't get enough credit for what she has done and who she is. 

I am sister to an amaIng brother who has always been my rock, who fought and still fights to be the man he has become. My best friend for life, one of the men in my life that no matter what i choose to do, he was there for the failure or the success 100%. 

I am a fiancé to a wonderful man that has brought love back into my heart and my dreams alive. He is my world and I am blessed to have him by my side. 

Love comes in many shades and the love for these people and more as you will discover through my stories are who have built who I am today! They love me for who I was, who I am and who I will b, not because they have to, but because they believe in me and support me. 

Life is unpredictable and everyday is uncertain. I hope I don't upset anyone, please understand this blog is a story of my life, what I believe and how I feel! 

Thank you, I love you!

Life is simple but we insist on making it complicated- Confucius 

Quotes/ Inspiration

As a child, one has that magical capacity to move among the many eras of the earth; to see the land as an animal does; to experience the sky from the perspective of a flower or a bee; to feel the earth quiver and breathe beneath us; to know a hundred different smells of mud and listen unselfconsciously to the soughing of the trees. 

- Valerie Andrews

You didn't come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. 

You are not a stranger here.
- Alan Watts

Graduation Prep...

This quarter is all about the landscapes of AZ. I have some images that are from PA and VA. Most all the images that I will be images that I will photographing this quarter are located in Northern AZ. 

Please joy me on this insane journey :)

Sedona, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Sedona, Az

Sedona, Az

Sedona, Az

Sedona, Az

Sedona, Az

Sedona, AZ

Sedona, AZ

Sedona, AZ

West Fork, Sedona AZ October 2012.

Trees adapt to change every year. The seasons change and the leaves go through the life cycle.

They keep their beauty all the way through until the end. Then they cycle back to 

a beautiful green life. 

Body of Water 2012

Body of Water: Oak Creek, Red Rock State Park

Sedona, Arizona

Soon to come: Red Rock and some plant life from the same location. 

Enjoy

City Scape 2012

These images are from Tempe Town Lake in Arizona. I know it is a popular place to photography, but I enjoyed it. I can say I would have liked to be down there when it was empty.