workshop.

a few weekends ago eight photographers from Westmont's Photography Club and I did a special workshop with local wedding photographers, Chris & Katie Humphreys. it was a blast. i learned a ton and it was such a treat to have my friends Chris and Katie hang out with us for a the day and show us some of their magical secrets. i was challenged and inspired. and am so grateful for their willingness to do this with us. here are a few images from Casey & Lara's engagement shoot we did during the workshop:

as i promised...more pics from my sunday photo adventure a few weeks ago:

lauren in action. she was getting people to make funny faces for her final photography project. so fun. 

wit.

i got the chance to take some photos at my friend Beth Segura's senior project's dress rehearsal last night. you all should totally go see it. it is INCREDIBLE. this woman is mad talented, so don't miss it. more info here also, look for the photos in the Santa Barbara New Press tomorrow. woo hoo.

bitter-sweetness.

so i just returned to santa barbara after a week-long spring break up in the sierras. it was wonderful to get away from the books for a bit, spend time with the fam, and simply rest. i spent WAY to much time in the big ol green chair in the living room, but hey, i think after four years of hard work, i am allowed to slack off a little. (at least that is what i keep telling my self).

and now, i am back at campus realizing that i only have 5 weeks left in this wonderful place and so much to do and get done between now and may 3rd. it is bitter-sweet. i am so ready to move on with my life yet am reluctant to leave the place that has been my home for the past four years. and i for sure do not want to leave my friends. ugh. I have gotten so used to seeing them every day, and the thought that they will be half-way around the world, state, or country is depressing. i was thinking the other day how my friends have changed me. they have impacted my life in such profound and incredible ways. i would not be who i am today if it weren't for the people who have held me in times of pain and brokenness, encouraged me in times of sadness, recharged me in times of exhaustion, prayed for me, laughed with me, spoke truth and wisdom into my life. ah, i love them...Larissa, Liane, Sonja, Elliott, Justin, Josh L., Brian, Eric, Josh N., Arielle, Nick, Lauren, Jess, Michele, Crystal, Robyn, Ashley, Chris, Sara, Jillian, and Amanda. thank you for the most incredible four years of my life. i adore all of you and love you deeply. let us cherish these last few weeks together. I want to spend as much time with you as I can. i need to store up for the long winter months ahead without you.

okay, i am sad now. i need a hug. and a treat from my easter basket. maybe, 2 or 5 or 10. yummy.

and i need to get to work. i have so much to do. ugh. research here i come. reluctantly and with chocolate covered fingers...

i love springtime sundays in santa barbara. there is something so restful and refreshing about them. perhaps that it why God purposed this day to be a sabbath. haha. i am not very good at taking a sabbath. actually, i rarely do. i know i should, but i never get enough done during the week to create the space and time to simply take the day off. i have too much reading to do, an exam to study for, photos to edit, people to see, places to go. i so rarely stop and rest. relax and breathe.

but i purposed sunday, march 9 to be different. yesterday was the closest i had gotten to a sabbath in a long time. it was wonderful and refreshing. i slept in. drank a smoothie. and spent the rest of the afternoon with a friend of mine, Lauren, taking photographs downtown for, um, FUN.

we had a blast. she was working on a final project for her photography class, and i was there to simply do something i love for the sake of doing it. Lauren finely crafted a foam board sign, lettered with black sharpie, that read: "make a funny face." We fashioned a make-shift "string" out of a surfboard-bag strap i had in my trunk and hung the sign about her next and walked up and down state street for hours, eliciting passers-by to give her their best funny face. the results were comical to say the least. what an interesting social experiment to be sure. we laughed a lot. i often lacked the boldness she did and would trot a few steps behind her, only to watch from afar or get distracted by an interesting shape or texture for my own "photo-project". an afternoon on state-street is sure to be filled with myriad of persons, sights, sounds, and moments worthy of being photographed. so alas, here are a few images from my sunday state-street adventures...(more to come soon).

bodie.

so my dog died yesterday. i am sad. it is crazy how difficult it is to lose a dog. it sucks. and i am totally bumming about it. ugh.

bodie has been an integral part of our family for nearly ten years. he greeted us at the door, drooled by our dinner table, barked at our company, slept on (and in) our beds, and travelled the country with us. he opened Christmas presents with us, napped at our sides as we watched movies in the living room. he made us laugh with all this quirky habits and fears. he wouldn't walk across the hardwood floor or the garage floor for fear of slipping. and if he mustered up the courage, he would only go one way. so we called him One-Way. when we were about to give him a cookie, he would make this hilarious noise that made us laugh every time. in the mornings, he would come up to the side of our beds and rest his chin on the mattress and exhale through his nose as if to say "I am here. notice me. and get up!" he would nudge and paw us for more pets and would sit on top of us if we sat on the floor. if we stopped petting him he would get grumpy at us and paw for more attention. bodie loved pancakes only if they had peanut butter and syrup on them and of course got the last bite of every sandwich. i remember when my parents first brought him home. he was so precious. he had the biggest head and paws. and all sorts of excess skin. that dog had more nicknames than one could imagine. bodie-bohanen. bovanovitch. bode-man. hansome. big-old-handsome-hairy-boy. bode. ophy. one-way. hairy-beast. possi-traction. bo-bo.

man, we loved that dog. he wasn't just a dog in the backyard. he was a member of our family and part of who we are. he has be there for so long and so many of our memories include him. i can't separate the last ten years of my life from him. he was my bud. my bodie. indeed, a man's best friend. he always was happy to see me. would get excited at the sound of my voice on the phone. and would happily greet me when I got home. we walked, played, wrestled, danced, cuddled--together. he was my bodie.

and now, he is gone. ugh. home will not be the same without him. i am so not looking forward to that icky feeling of emptiness and wrongness when i go home in a week...