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Where to even start talking about this day and this couple! Stefanie and Dalton were one of my lucky couples who never had to change their wedding date due to covid this year, and they definitely deserved the amazing luck they got! These two are just about the sweetest people I have ever met! Stefanie put SOOO much work into making the wedding of her dreams, full of symbolic messages and super personal meaningful details. She decorated each table with hand painted lyrics from meaningful songs, old fashioned keys, beautiful toy cars, and personal details for each table. Stefanie told me... "I made all the parts of the centerpieces at my dad's garage with my family where we trimmed, cut, tacked, stained and sealed all of the "boxes". Dalton loves cars so we incorporated that as well and the antique keys that are hanging from the cars on tables 1-12 are all mine that I collected for my "birthday's plaque", so each key has the initials and family members birthday date on an engraved tag. Family means a lot to us and I'm glad we were able to incorporate everyone." SO THOUGHTFUL There were keys and arrows incorporated all over the place, the key was Stefanie's symbol and the arrow was Dalton's. She even handmade a beautiful copper key and arrow for their ceremony arch and Dalton helped surround the arch in more copper cables. And these things weren't a part of their wedding. because they are pretty and cool, just trust that almost every bit of their day was done with personal significant meaning. Stefanie explained that... "the arrow and keys are a symbol for me (key) and him (arrow). The arrow was always his favorite symbol because he is an archer, something I also have gotten into and we enjoy doing together. But 9 months before we got together, God gave me a picture of an arrow over and over and I never knew why until I met Dalton and he told me that was his "symbol". God was preparing me for him. I see it as God reassuring me he was the right man for me." OMG SO CUTE Copper was incorporated everywhere to celebrate Dalton as an electrician. Stefanie even hand made copper bracelets for all her bridesmaids (and hanging decoration for her bridesmates, aka brothers). Each handmade copper gift was twisted into a word, a specific word chosen for each girl with an explanation of why she chose that word. I didn't read any of the personal messages she wrote to her girls but they all cried so that told me all I needed to know. On top of the bracelets she also gave all her girls water bottles with tons of personally chosen and significant stickers, a notebook with beautiful words to them already written in there, and many more things. Seriously, I cannot express enough how thoughtful and amazing Stefanie is! Then there was Dalton, just all day the sweetest person ever, always making sure everyone was doing well and that things were running smoothly. He thanked me for my work and told me how much they appreciated me so many times throughout the day, it was sooo nice, just the caring kind nature around Dalton was like the warm bubble of happiness! They seriously are SUCH a good match! The whole day just flowed together, everything was beautiful and meaningful and joyful! There were many beautiful dedications to loved ones lost, Stefanie wore Dalton's mother's cross and they had the memorial table for Dalton's mother and Stefanie's little nephew right next to the cake behind the bride and groom table. They had toys for all the kids to play with. They just really put so much thought into everyone being included and happy. I could go on and on about how amazing and wonderful their wedding day was, but I guess I can just let the photos speak for themselves, I cannot wait to finish the rest to keep sharing the joy from this day!! Congratulations Stefanie and Dalton, you deserve all the happiness!

Heather and Ian had such a fun, joyful, unique, beautiful wedding day! With all the pandemic wedding complications that these two had, their wedding had felt so far away for so long! These two definitely deserved the amazing wedding day that they had, I am so so happy for them! The amount of love, not only between Heather and Ian, but between all their family and friends there with them, was incredible! Everyone wore masks, (even the bride and groom wore masks as they mingled with their guests), everything was outside, everyone stayed socially distanced between groups, and all of this just made everyone actually feel closer. Everyone was so respectful of everyone else's comfort levels and needs, all brought closer together by their shared love of Heather and Ian. Heather had a few of her bridesmaids not be able to make it due to COVID, one of these bridesmaids however was still able to be a part of the ceremony through facetime, Heather had another friend carry the phone down the aisle with them so that she could be included. This wasn't the only caring personal touch she had in regards to her bridesmaids however. Heather had each bouquet, including her own, custom made out of everyone's favorite books from Etsy site My Cotton Branch, my favorite was the Harry Potter bouquet, I recognized the chapter font instantly! (Oh and one petal said Hagrid!) Ian had plenty of personalizations between him and his groomsmen as well. Second wedding I've ever shot where the men's formal wear was full Scottish kilt formalwear and I loved it! Ian even had a sword that he used to cut the cake, on which were little D&D cake toppers that Ian hand painted himself. It was so fun hearing all the wonderful stories loved ones told during toasts. So many people wanted to get up to the mic to share their love for Heather and Ian, I am telling you guys the love was literally overflowing at this wedding! Later in the evening, a spontaneous caber toss started up, and that really just seemed to define the vibe of their wedding, fun, relaxed, spontaneous and joyful! Venue: Fur Trappers at Vallecito Hair and Makeup: Mikayla Charnly Cake: Jamie Meltz Dress: Azazie Kilt: Kilt Rental USA DJ: Aiko Aiko Sound

Ashley and Josh had such a beautiful wedding with friends and family at River Bend Ranch this past weekend!!! They had so many cute details and decorations, so many personalizations! They had fun signs for their taco bar, bottles that told the guests where they were sitting, table numbers that showed the bride and groom at different ages, a cute polaroid camera guest book, personalized hand sanitizers and masks, so many things! It was clear they put a lot of thought, time and effort into making this day as amazing as possible, and they were extremely successful! The day was beautiful, sun and clouds, a slight breeze to ward off the heat. The sun came out just as the Ashley made her way down the aisle, it was perfect timing. Made perfect by the flower girl and ring bearers for taking their time down the aisle, it was sooo cute, as the flower girl would throw her petals one of the ring bearers would dutifully pick up each petal and them back in her basket. The ceremony was beautiful, they had a friend who had introduced them as their officiant and he did an amazing job. Their vows were both beautiful and humorous. Everything was just amazing all day, the day was jam packed with fun and beauty. Congratulations Ashley and Josh on such an amazing wedding day! Venue: River Bend Ranch Dress: Blue Bridal Hair and Makeup: Sarah York with ReyLynn's Flowers: Bloominous DIY DJ: Mr. Soul Entertainment

Shanda and Vince are the definition of adventurers. Check out any of their social media accounts and you will find amazing imagery of far off beautiful places. They love nature and spending time together in the outdoors, and that was exceptionally clear through all their amazing wedding decor. Shanda and Vince made, MADE, themselves, practically all the cool wooden decorations for their own wedding, Vince found and cut all the wood, and then painted and beat up each piece to make it look older, I think everything came out sooo amazing. Wooden mountains were placed at every table, each mountain had a name, and each person had their own personal mountain with their own name that let them know which mountain table they were to be sitting for dinner. There was beautiful pieces for their guest book table, gift table, welcome table, reserved signs for the ceremony, door signs for their getting ready cabins, the list goes on! Seriously, it is absolutely incredible how much time, effort, love, and skill was put into each little piece of this wedding. One of the details I absolutely loved was their ring box. Not only was it beautiful and very in touch with their adventurous, outdoorsy theme, but it was incredibly meaningful as well. Their ring box was made from a tree, a very special tree, a tree that was planted when Shanda's son was born. Vince was able to carve a heart shaped hole into the piece to hold their rings, and I just love how it brings all these special things together. A few more beautiful details, honestly I felt like there wasn't a single detail that didn't have personal significance and a beautiful story, but all of Shanda's jewelry was also very meaningful. In particular she had a beautiful bracelet that was a family heirloom that had been worn by many family members, including her two cousins, on their weddings days. Two special family brooches from her two late aunts, were also carried in Shanda's bouquet, so many beautiful personal details!!! Their whole day was just so beautiful, everything was close by, you could see the ceremony location, reception location as well as both getting ready locations from one spot. Echo Basin really made everything so accessible and close. It gave another level of intimacy to their whole day. Their ceremony took place under a beautiful gazebo, adorned with amazing flowers made by friends and put up by Vince and his groomsmen. They included multiple close friends in their ceremony, sharing stories and love. Their reception was also full of special moments, not only did they do the traditional first dances between bride and groom, father daughter, and mother son, they also had a dance between Shanda and her son, and switched around dancing with each other's parents because they are all one big family now! I loved that. All the words spoken about Shanda and Vince throughout the day, in the ceremony, in toasts, and even just in passing, all reinforced over and over how amazing they each are and how wonderful their love is together. Congratulations Shanda and Vince, I am so excited for you to keep exploring through life together!

I cannot express enough how magical Jessica and Corey's wedding evening was. I admit I may be a little bias because there were so many elements that reminded me of my own wedding, the intimate nature, the backyard scene, the stress free environment of just close family, the eloquent officiant who went above and beyond with their stories and connections, the involvement of guests and family in the ceremony itself, it was just all so magical and beautiful and meaningful. So as I am sure you picked up on, from the title and my connections to my own wedding, Jessica and Corey got married in their backyard. Though I feel like that statement is a bit misleading, I don't know about you but when I think of backyard, I think fenced in, green grass, a few trees, maybe a patio or something, but that is not Jess and Corey's backyard at all. No, Jessica and Corey's backyard is tons of beautiful, natural, southwestern land. They have beautiful trees, grassland, cliffs, rocks, even a little valley is on their property. Their ceremony was surrounded in beautiful trees, near the edge of a beautiful cliff, all bathed in beautiful light. Their ceremony itself was amazing, Jaime Becktel of Southwest Ceremonies did an incredible job getting to know Jessica and Corey, getting to know their story and the history of the land we were on and she just wove together such a beautiful intimate ceremony, here is just a little taste of how personal Jaime gets in her ceremonies as she tells the story of Jessica and Corey.... "They met in 2011 at a wine bar in Kennebunk, Maine. Corey had just begun a PhD program and Jessica had just moved back to Maine from Rhode Island. They fell in love, and started getting after it... backpacking, hiking, road trips, running half-marathons, collecting rocks on the frozen beaches of Ogunquit, Maine; buying and refurbishing a home, planting flowers and vegetables; coordinating mini vacations around each other’s trainings and conferences. They kayaked the Florida keys, they stayed on a rice farm in Chang Mai Thailand, visited an elephant sanctuary and Thai temples. They continued their individual education and the expansion of their careers - Jessica opening a massage studio and traveling to India to study yoga and Corey finishing his PhD before accepting his current position at Fort Lewis College. All of that in 9 years of life. They were engaged in 2017 in Mt. Hood Village, Oregon, in front of a fireplace in the "Happy Nest" cabin where they celebrated with champagne and walked to the nearby roadhouse for dinner and live music. Corey moved to Durango in August of 2019 and later that fall they sold their home in Maine, Jessica moved to Colorado in December and in March they closed on their new home… just in time to maneuver the coronavirus lockdown. From the time they moved in they have been extremely busy making their house a home and tending to the land, and this time, along with the entirety of their timeline illustrates how well they support each other - as individuals and as a couple." Their whole ceremony was this personal, this in depth, this meaningful. Imagine all these beautiful words, meaningful stories, special promises and unique moments such as Jessica's father playing a song for them on his Native American flute, her mom also read a beautiful Apache prayer as well as Jessica and Corey planting a tree together that will grow in their new home, just as their love grows in the years to come, all this surrounded by beautiful natural surroundings in magical light, surrounded by those closest to you. I hope the imagery I captured can show even just a percentage of the beauty that this evening held. Congratulations Jessica and Corey on such a magical beginning to the rest of your lives!

Julia and Tyler had an amazing little ceremony, "minimony" up at Dante's at Purgatory this past week. Their ceremony and day was unique to me, I mostly had communication with Julia's mom up until the week before their big day because the wedding was being put on FOR the couple and not BY the couple. I had never done a wedding like this before. Normally the couple is putting on a wedding for them and their family and friends, not the other way around, but I totally relate to their style. Because of this Julia and Tyler really only had one expectation for the day, that they would get married. No worrying about flower or decorations or seats or food, they only had to focus on what was important to them, which really was signing that marriage certificate and starting the rest of their lives together! Julia and Tyler met in the Peace Corps, so they are no strangers to adventure! And Dante's is definitely a beautiful adventurous location. A bumpy dirt drive up to a beautiful view of the mountains, surrounded by forest, with a ski lift chair just in reach for a few fun photos. The love coming from all their guests, who due to covid had to be carefully selected to meet gathering requirements, was so powerful! The air was just buzzing with love of all kinds. I got some of my favorite photos of guests and wedding party members of all time because everyone was just so genuine, happy, and full of love all day! I couldn't fully tell this story without mentioning one wedding party member in particular, the flower girl Olivia! She was so adorable, practicing her twirls and flower throwing skills in the dressing room before the ceremony, after she had three assistants helping to get her all dressed up for her big role! She definitely added to the joyful buzz filling the air. I just feel so special to have gotten to capture this unique day, and wish I had better words to fully capture the unique feeling that the day brought, but maybe the photos will tell what my words cannot. Congratulations Julia and Tyler! Off on the next great adventure!

I love the mountains, I mean who couldn't living in Durango. I am constantly in awe of how lucky we are to live so close to such natural beauty. I just couldn't believe how gorgeous these photos of Sarah and Nate were, already in the first 20 minutes of their engagement session, we had enough amazing imagery that we could have wrapped up for the day and been totally satisfied, that's how beautiful everything was! But of course, if you will give me more time to photograph beautiful couples in beautiful scenery I will do it! So not only were Sarah and Nate adorable and up for anything the whole shoot, they brought their adorable fur babies along to help them celebrate their engagement! And they had these cute little bandanas for them that said "our humans are getting married" so cute! After we frolicked in the mountain for a bit, Sarah and Nate were willing to go on a little adventure with me to cascade falls! I love this spot because it is relatively easy to get to and it feels so magically beautiful. Really all the locations we went to on this adventure engagement session were magically beautiful and all easy to reach from Durango. I just can't believe we are so lucky to have these amazing views and locations so accessible, practically in our back yard! Thank you Sarah and Nate for going on this adventure with me, I am so in love with your photos so far! I can't wait to edit the rest!

LOVE IS NOT CANCELLED Love is just beginning Chloe and Andrew just had the most wonderful joyous energy all day, they were just glowing! The energy in Chloe's beautiful getting ready room at River Bend Ranch was just pure positive, chill, happy vibes. Chloe and her girls all did their own hair and makeup, and I have to say they did an amazing job! Chloe was giving me some serious royalty vibes in her gorgeously unique dress and AMAZING family heirloom veil! You guys, this veil, was, AMAZING! Her grandmother MADE it, it has three layers, AND the longest layer is removable!!! I mean seriously, most amazing veil I have ever seen. I don't want to blow by the dress though, because as amazing as her veil was her dress was also incredible. It looked like vintage meets modern meets Chloe. It was like a little tighter fit flower lace dress with a flowy polka dot sheer dress over it, it is hard to describe so I'll just show you. Andrew and his groomsmen were dressed to the nines with all the amazing little details, kilts, pins, special sock ties, small daggers, personal fur belt pouches, bow ties, so so many cool details! Not to mention Andrew's amazing hair!!! This wedding is my first 2020 wedding that still ended up happening on the same date it was originally scheduled, which is SOOO special because this date (7/9) happens to have been their 7 year dating anniversary! That same date with continue to be their anniversary for the rest of their lives! So you see why it was so important to these two to keep their original wedding date in spite of covid. They did have to pair down their guest list quite a bit, and lots of quarantine prep work had to be done, but it was all worth it! Because now their anniversary date for the past 7 years can be their wedding anniversary date as well! I mean how freaking cute is that! There was one particularly unique moment, a little less on the happy side, that we had during Chloe and Andrew's portrait time. Chloe and Andrew traveled to Durango with their two little dogs, but sadly they will be leaving with only one. Upon arriving to Durango one of their fur babies sadly passed away. Luckily Chloe has family ties to River Bend Ranch so they were able to give him a beautiful little burial site not too far from their ceremony site. So after the ceremony and formal family portrait time was over, Chloe, Andrew, their other pup Freddie and I headed over to "Caesar's Spot". We were able to still include him in their day by visiting his grave and taking photos with him in spirit. Laying what would have been his wedding day doggie bow tie on his grave, we were able to include him in a formal photo after all. Dogs played many roles in this wedding day. In fact there was a little dog show during the reception. Chloe and Andrew had the most entertaining reception I have ever been to, and by entertaining I mean they had a lot of entertainment. Not only was there a dog show, but they had a family member do a beautiful dance performance, there was an aerial lyra performance and even magic! There were so many fun things to watch throughout their evening! Chloe and Andrew just had the most beautiful day, so full of love and joy! Their love and connection was clear through every detail of their day, and after 7 years together, I think it was the most beautiful way to celebrate each other in marriage! Congratulations again Chloe and Andrew!

DISCLAIMER: I am white, so as outraged as I can be, I will never have the same experiences as BIPOC. So don't just read this, read opinion pieces written by BIPOC as well, read everything you can, keep educating yourself and finding ways YOU can make a difference. As I have watched the news over the past weeks unfold, I couldn't help but make parallels between the riots and the injustice and the frustration of REAL LIFE right now, and similar themes in many of the books, movies, and shows that capture our attention. Recently I have finished watching a show called Humans, based on a science fiction book series of the same name. In this series there are two groups, to make it simple. There are humans and there are synths, synthetics, robots created to act as slaves to humans. As with all science fictions shows of this nature, West World, iRobot, etc. these synths start to develop consciousness. They feel, and think, and emote. They become pretty much identical to humans. They are humans. But people are scared of them because they don't understand them. So, the synths must cater everything they do to the comfort of the humans around them (sound familiar?) They are treated horribly, but if they fight back they risk the humans labelling them as violent, and destroying them all. But if they don't fight back the humans just walk all over them, take their rights, treat them like shit. The peaceful integration of humans and synths is so slowww. The government is so slow at putting anything in place that will help the situation, and regular people are slow to understand, so they focus on fear of the synths and attack them. So when the synths are attacked they have two options, fight back and be labeled a violent threat, or not fight back and still risk their lives? They can do everything they are "supposed to", and still see no progress in their right to live, so, of course, they start fighting back (also familiar I hope). As a viewer of a TV show, the situation is obvious. We see into the lives of the synths and see that they are like real people. They do have feelings and thoughts and deserve the same things all people do. There are peaceful synths and violent synths, but just because one is violent does not mean they all are, and as a viewer we get that. We understand the frustration. In Harry Potter we love Hermione, and when "pure bloods" harass her for having a different home life and upbringing, we are on her side. We see the injustice and we support the side of the oppressed. In The Hunger Games, we see how unfair and upsetting their whole system is. We see the need for outrage and when in the end they burn down half the city, we cheer because we recognize that the burning buildings represent the fight for justice, the oppressed rising up to fight for their rights as people. We can connect to all these stories, we understand why violence happens when peaceful protests are not met with actual change in a galaxy far far away. We understand why they let Hogwarts crumble to fight Voldemort and his death eaters. We understand why The Capitol burned to destroy a corrupt system. You know why we can connect to that in all these stories? A few reasons. First, because they have white main characters, we see ourselves reflected there, and we relate with the oppressed community in these books and shows when they look like us, even if their lives are completely different. We can relate and connect to them because, for the most part, they share our skin tone. But also because these are stories. These stories aren't real, and they are clear cut. We see who is evil and who is good, and we can disconnect anytime without guilt if we want to. Problem is, these stories don't come from nowhere. These aren't original themes. These are metaphors for real life injustice, real life prejudice, real life oppression. What is happening right now is not just another story. So why is it that we seem to all agree that synths in Humans deserve rights, that "mud bloods" in Harry Potter deserve the same respect and freedoms as "pure bloods", and that the burning down of buildings in Hunger Games is warranted because nothing else seems to be making a difference. But when it comes to real life, REAL people, REAL injustice in our REAL world, we as a society seem more upset about the burning buildings than the reason they are on fire. Why can't we see the parallels between these stories we all love and cherish and what is happening in real life. It is a lot harder to connect when, in the real life story, we see our faces reflected back at us in the oppressors, not the oppressed. So we feel uncomfortable, because nobody wants to be the bad guy. So when we see these real life stories that show white people as the bad guys, it is easier to get mad about the burning buildings than admit what is actually going on and the fact that, if you are white, the probability that at some point in your life you were part of the problem is very, very high. Another issue is that we watch these news stories from the other side of the screen, which makes it easy for us to disconnect. Personally I am watching all of this from my beautiful house, in a small mountain town that is predominantly white. It is easy to feel like when I turn my TV off, the story goes away just like the stories of Katniss and Harry don't continue when I close the book. It is easy to shut off that feeling of awkwardness, the uncomfortable realization that you are part of the problem, when you can literally just turn off your TV and it "goes away". BUT THIS IS REAL LIFE. When you close your computer, or don't watch the news, these stories don't stop. These real living people are still oppressed, still have to deal with racism and fear, but we get to keep living our much easier white lives in our safe houses in our safe neighborhoods. We don't have to teach our children how to deal with police so that they don't get killed. We don't have to change our behavior and keep our wits about us just going out for errands to avoid potential harassment or violence just for existing. So why do we seem to care more about fictional characters than we do about our own fellow humans. Why do we side with the burning buildings and a rich disconnected white (orange) man who doesn't know anything about what it is like to live in the real world? This seems to show a sense of apathy in addition to disconnection, because us white people are so privileged that the rights we have been protesting about in the streets, are things like our "right" to get a haircut during a pandemic, when BIPOC people have had all their basic human rights challenged every day for the past... forever, every normal day of their lives. It has been a few months, MONTHS, long months but still just months, that everyone has had to rethink their actions when they go out. For a few months we have had to live with the slight discomfort of wearing masks in public or not being able to do EXACTLY what we want to all the time. And you know what happened? Everyone has been losing their fucking minds! Protesting against a virus that nobody can control, getting angry that we can't eat in restaurants. BIPOC have been dealing with having to over think everything they do for the comfort of those around them their whole lives, and us white people can't even handle doing it for a few months. We can connect to stories decently well. We can get outraged about oppression and racism and injustice when it is laid out by characters we can relate to with an evil we can easily identify. It would appear, however, that we cannot connect to real life unless it is literally on our doorstep. We cannot connect to this real life story because in many situations we are the "bad guy" of this story, not the oppressed population. There is some barrier that we can't seem to break through to understand the connection between these fictional stories we've grown up with, and the real life injustice story happening every day. How do we break this cycle? How do we make people see this real life story the way they see tv shows and books? Nobody is writing a book about how a bunch of white people couldn't get their hair cut for a few months so they risked the safety of those around them to protest in the streets about their right to have shorter hair, because honestly that is a terrible stupid book. If you burn down a building because your hair is scruffy, ya I am going to focus more on the burning building than your problem. But if you burn down a building because you, your friends, your family, aren't safe driving to football practice, going to the grocery store, having a beer out with your buddies, just because of the color of your skin, I am going to see that fire as a sign that we need to change, we need to listen and make a difference. Fire gets attention, and I understand it is not peaceful, it is not positive, because peace and positivity have failed. We didn't pay attention because it was easy to ignore peaceful protests, so out of desperation the next step is fire. What would you do if you fought peacefully for your rights for decades and nobody seemed to notice and nothing changed? What would you do if your brothers and sisters were being killed and it felt like nobody was taking any action to stop it? What if you had to teach your six year old child to show their hands and recite a script about how they are not dangerous, please don't kill me, so they would be safer from the police? The people who are supposed to protect you? Peaceful protests? Well then... What would you do if your story was warped and manipulated so your peaceful message wasn't getting across? What if you knelt during the anthem as a sign of respect for your fallen brothers and sisters, just like a flag at half mast, and all everyone saw was you being anti-America and you got fired from your job? What if you marched peacefully down your streets and you were met with gas and rubber bullets, or even real bullets. Remember Dr. King was killed as he peacefully protested for the rights of his people. What would you do if it felt like no matter what you or anyone else did nothing was changing? You would burn. The fire inside you would start to rage so intensely you would need to let it out. So, that is what is happening. We can't focus on peace and light and love if that means ignoring the uncomfortable, dark situation that is racism. Prioritizing positivity and peacefulness over the truth of what is happening, over human rights and senseless death, is not helping. I hope we get to the point where we can focus on peace, love, light etc. but right now is a time of fire. Sometimes we need to burn the whole thing down, for new life to grow. It is a difficult situation. Peace hasn't appeared to work. There is no guarantee violence will either. So what is the solution to this situation? Is it educating ourselves, but many won't do that, especially those who need it the most. So what do you think? What is the solution? What are the next steps here?

Here are some fun ways to get creative while you are staying safe at home! I have been finding that my best moments in quarantine are those where I am being creative in some way, so I wanted to share some things to do to tap into your creative brain and make something while you are staying safe at home! Got some old magazines? Put together a mood board or just fun collage. Work on your photography skills chasing cool light around your house. Take some self portraits to explore both photography and yourself! Paint! Paint an old mug, or a wall, or mix this with your collage work. Take an online painting class or tutorial. Bake something fun to make and to eat! Like those colorful cupcakes! Get creative in your yard, landscaping or decorating. Rearrange a room in your house! Try out some of the cool video apps available to create a story of your quarantine! Do you have tons of T-shirts that are sentimental but you don't wear and now they just take up space, make a T-shirt quilt! Make up a new game to play with your quarantine mates. Try your hand at a recipe you have been meaning to try! Make up a new recipe with ingredients you have available. Check out creativelive.com to see what kind of fun stuff you may be interested in learning to stay creative. Create some fun cards to send out to healthcare workers or seniors stuck at home! Write a short story or a journal of your thoughts and feelings. Whip up some peanut butter play-dough and sculpt some fun creatures! Keep finding ways to stay creative and have fun!

With all the craziness happening I almost forgot to blog this AMAZING engagement session I had right before we started shutting everything down. I had SOOO much fun on this engagement session with Katie and Clay. We got to go out and explore the desert area around Navajo Lake, and when I say explore I mean we were really going way out there into the landscape and having an adventure. This was such a fun experience for me because everywhere we shot was a new location I had never shot before. Clay knew the area really well from work, so they had some great little hidden locations they knew about and had had significant relationship moments in. I LOVE when couples choose locations that are sentimental to them, it brings the shoot to a whole other level of meaningfulness for the couple. We got to climb around on fun rocks, dodge little prickly pears, and chase the sunset. These two were such an adventure couple, willing to go just about anywhere to get a cool shot, even close to cliffs! I had so much fun getting to know them and hang out with them as we drove on hidden mystery back roads from place to place. They are just the friendliest, most awesome kind of people. When the sun had gone down they gave me even more of their time to go out and show me some amazing ruins out in the middle of nowhere I had never seen before, it seemed so magical to just seemingly happen upon some large impressive ruins in the desert. I would have never found them by myself they were so out of the way. They had just brought me there for fun to show me something cool, not expecting to take any photos there, but I couldn't help myself! So make sure to scroll to the very bottom to see our final fun bonus photo of the shoot!

Quarantine is a rollercoaster of emotions. It feels kind of like weather in Colorado, how it can be sunny, then rain, then snow, then sleet, then be sunny again, and then the clouds come back, all in one day. Everyone is dealing with it differently, everyone feels it differently. Some people are quarantined in their houses with their whole families, lots of people to interact with, or be annoyed with haha. Being with people in quarantine can feel like a pressure cooker if you aren't used to being around those people all day every day for weeks on end. But being alone in quarantine is a whole different monster. Being alone all day is something I actually do often, as a photographer a lot of my business is on the computer, editing, emailing, working on my website, marketing, writing blogs, learning new things, expanding my business, networking, etc. But I am used to all this alone time with the computer being broken up by shoots, by coffee dates, by meetings, by game nights, by seeing and interacting with friends and clients. I have always seen myself as an extroverted introvert, so my job as a photographer videographer is perfect because I get energy from being alone and being social in small doses of each. I do love my editing days where I stay at home and edit photos and watch Netflix, and I love my shoots being active and interacting with people. Now my balance is kind of off though, and so even though I have all this time to be productive it's proving to be very hard. I feel like being alone all day and being alone all day during a pandemic are different kinds of alone. Having a normal day, or even week, where you are home alone all day every day can feel fine if you can go out, you know there is a world out there waiting for you, that there are possibilities. It is so different being alone all day every day knowing you can't really leave. Suddenly your thoughts aren't about just this moment, this day, this week, even this month. You're trapped alone thinking about how this whole thing may affects all the different pieces of your life, you are no longer just thinking about right now, this is the rest of your future that is being altered. Being quarantined for me has really taken a toll on my motivation. A regular day alone I might be able to knock of a bunch of to dos or at least one large to do off my list, now it feels like I have these bursts of motivation where I want to get tons of things, I feel empowered by a podcast or a post, I want to make a difference, I want to put a dent into my business work and keep getting things done! YES! I can finish painting the house, and knock out some blogs I have been meaning to write, I can update my website, and polish up my client workflows and..... then my motivation doesn't even last through the first thing I try to do. Negative thoughts start to creep in, like what is the point, when will this end, are these to dos on my list even worth it? Questioning what I even should be doing, getting overwhelmed by the number of things I could and should be doing. Trying to keep up to date on all these podcasts and webinars and live streams about how to keep up with my business during this time and things I need to do, all the things I need to read and try and implement and think about and... so I end up doing nothing. Well wait, not absolutely nothing, I can't just let myself chill on my couch and binge watch a show without feeling guilt about the things I need to be working on, feeling like I should at least be doing a workout while I watch, feeling guilty about being given all this time to get stuff done and then I'm doing nothing. I feel stuck between having little to no motivation to do things, bursts of motivation that don't last long enough, but then not even being able to give into not doing anything. This results in me half or almost doing things all day feeling like I got nothing done. I need to learn how to let myself do nothing, recharge, even though that sounds silly because what am I recharging from I'm not doing anything! But mentally we are doing things, we are worrying, we are panicking, we are planning, we are absorbing, we are stuck alone with our thoughts. Alone with our thoughts. Is that the worst part of being quarantined alone, is that why I have to keep doing things but can't get anything done? Am I trying to distract my thoughts but listen to them at the same time, push them away but also make more. Suddenly entire life plans are coming into question. Feeling like every day that passes is wasted not being able to meet that person, or do that thing, or go to that place, or achieve that goal. Grief, panic, anxiety. All these emotions come into play during quarantine, and then there is guilt for feeling these things when things are so much worse for others. I feel guilty about doing nothing because my husband is out there working all day in this stressful environment, because I have friends in the healthcare industry who are on the front lines working hard, and what am I doing? None of this is healthy for our brains. I need to accept how things are now, that I am doing my part by not leaving my house, by doing what I can, but also that I need to focus on my own wellbeing before I can even think about how I can help others from the safety of my own house. We need to accept that it is okay to feel how we feel, and figure out how best we can take care of ourselves and our families first. If it is just too stressful to try and teach all your kids math, then just play a game together. If it is too stressful to try and watch every webinar about how to survive and thrive during this, then maybe just pick one, or none and watch Netflix instead. Maybe just go in your backyard and feel the sun, or try something totally new and creative, or try a new recipe you've been meaning to try. Find your own way to keep yourself mentally strong, your own way to keep things together. Don't let your negative alone thoughts take over, find ways to stay positive, people to talk to, outlets for your stress and sources of joy and calm. We might all be locked up in our houses alone, but in a way we are all alone, together.