Setting Fire to the Rain

Courage is a tricky thing, really.  Being brave.  Doing what you know is right even as a sea of voices is telling you otherwise.  I am not good at courage; living life out loud. Being brazen. Individual. Me.


All that changes.


Right now.


Some say it took courage to move my family 1100 miles for a job.  But it didn't.  Not even a little, actually.  That choice was easy.  Money, career, big house and fast cars, designer clothes, blister-causing red-bottomed shoes, prestige, clout.  All the trinkets of a trivial life that society tells each of us we must strive for. Pine for. Lust after.  Taking steps to get all that was simple. Moving to Texas to fulfill a once sought-after, haughtily fought for, perfect career didn't take courage at all. Moving home? Leaving it all to pursue a life where I can spend all my time creating pretty things? Art? That is going to take some courage.


I'm scared. Terrified, really, but I am doing it anyway. Moving home, taking action, playing the lead role in my life. Even in the presence of fear. Regardless of it. Because of it. Because one of the marks of a gift is having the courage to fulfill it. I am moving my family back to Minneapolis. So that my kids will have a life outside of their parents.  So that my husband will have his chance to find a career, a passion, and pursue it.


So that I can pursue photography.
So that I can be a photographer.
Every.
Single.
Day.


If life really is about the choices we make, I want to choose wisely.  I want to choose what's important to me, and be guided by it. I want to think big and make things happen.  I want to surround myself with people who believe I can, and more than that who, instead of asking, "why?" are quick to say, "why not?" People I don't need to impress in order to stand amongst them and hold my head up high. Friends. Family. You.


This decision, to uproot my life, leave a cushy job for my old one, making less money, working more hours, and sitting behind a desk all day so that I can focus all my extra energy on photography, was surprisingly easy. Making it was like choosing to breathe.  Natural. Intrinsic. Still, I'm scared. Terrified. But in the most amazing way.

Money, after all, is just a thing. If I lose a little, make a little less, struggle, or even if it pours for a while, I don't care.  I have every intention of setting fire to the rain.

Always Love,
A

Longing

The last two weeks of my life were spent in pure, perfect, unadulterated bliss. From Austin to Minneapolis to rural Wisconsin to St. Paul to Madison and back again, I enjoyed every jam-packed second of my time back home.  This place, this land of crazy weather and football feuds, cheese curds and microbreweries, is a part of me. My soul. The very fiber of my being.  I didn't take nearly enough photos. Which felt nice, at the time; To be able to set my camera down and just .... be. But now, a few days since we arrived back in Austin, I feel rather empty. As if I somehow enjoyed too much and captured too little.  Or perhaps, the emptiness is a sign of what I am actually missing--pieces of myself left on the bittersweet smiles of loved ones waving goodbye....

To all of you who made my trip so amazing, so very special, my sincerest, deepest, and most appreciative thanks. I sit here, behind tear stinging eyes, missing each and every single one of you.  Longing for a future where our time together isn't divided, slotted, scheduled ever so carefully, between vacation days and holidays. When a phone call is all it takes.


Because a phone call is all it should ever take.


Always.


Always Love,
A

Rebel, Rebel

I'd like you to meet Quinn.  Quinn Rebel, actually.  Although he's five weeks old already, when I first met him earlier this week it was womb wrenching, cuddle inducing, hair smelling love at first sight.  He is one of the reasons why I absolutely, wholeheartedly, without question love my job.

Congratulations Selah and Pete, on your amazing little boy.

I can't wait to watch him grow.

Xo

A

Kristin & Dave: An Uptown Engagement

They met in college.  At a party, to be precise.  Kristin saw him from across the room and was drawn to him instantly. It may have been the drinks, or Dave's piercing green eyes. But there was just something about him that had her wanting to know more. They got to talking and discovered they lived in the same apartment building. Naturally, Kristin asked Dave to walk her home (safety in numbers, duh!) They went on an official date a week later, and the rest, as they say, is history.


Kristin and Dave are hilarious. They can not stop smiling and the chemistry between them is...how do I explain it...perfectly awkward.  Exactly them. Wonderful.  They were such a joy to photograph. We managed to escape the late afternoon Minneapolis crowds and found some privacy, pretty light, and a whole lot of laughter.


Here are a few of my favorites from our evening together:

Kristin. Dave.
Thank you.
For putting up with all my hijinks.
As well as my bad jokes.
I cannot wait for your wedding next spring.


Always Love,
A

Baby Blues

I'd give all wealth that years have piled,

The slow result of Life's decay,

To be once more a little child

for one bright summer day.

 ~Lewis Carroll

Nicole+Aaron: A Saint Paul Engagement

Nicole and Aaron are two of the most amazing people. Fun. Energetic. Sarcastic. In love. They are, for all those reasons and more, ideal clients.  Of course, home made Sangria and a willingness to jump in a fountain certainly helped to up the ante in their favor. But I digress.  Nicole and I have been in contact, via the wonderful world of technology, for a few months and I was crazy excited about a couple bikes that Nicole found at a garage sale. When she asked if I thought they'd work for the engagement session, I squealed.  Which, obviously, means, "Duh! Yes. Yes. Then more yes."


We rode around their St Paul neighborhood for a while and found some pretty just-before-the-storm light. After a quick outfit change, and another glass of Sangria, we headed to a local park with an amazing fountain, and more filtery soft about-to-tornado-so-take-cover-already light.

Nicole + Aaron: Thank you. For everything.


Always Love,
A