A few weeks ago, Kelv and I went to Portland with Kenton and Ally for a week. Before we went, we gathered a long list of recommendations thanks to good ol’ social media and then we planned our trip around those spots. We ended up spending 2 days in the city, 2 in nature, and 2 on the beach, which was definitely the way to go! We lucked out on the weather big time, had delicious food, found the best coffee shops, and definitely had the best company! Here’s to great adventures with great friends!

   

Being self-employed as a photographer for the summer, has given me many free days where I have intentionally wanted to get out of the house and take a break from editing. Each week, Shannon, Liv, and I try to find a new place to adventure to and enjoy the beautiful outdoors.

Last week, we went to Granville Island and went down to the ferry docks. When they asked us where we wanted to go, we said, “We don’t know! Where should we go?” A little while later, we found ourselves exploring the streets of Yaletown.

As primarily a wedding photographer, I find that I am usually taking photos in nature, so getting to explore the city added a fun, creative challenge for me. Plus, adventuring with Shannon and Liv always makes for a memorable day!

              

Adventure Day = Success!

At the start of the summer, I decided that I wanted to be intentional about exploring and adventuring in our own backyard. Being both a teacher and a photographer, I find that my weeknights end up being relaxing from a day of teaching, and my weekends often include photoshoots. Now that I am just doing photography this summer, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get outside and explore this beautiful place we call home!

Conveniently, Shannon has Thursdays off so she was able to tag along. We drove out to Harrison and enjoyed the lake, some trails, and a delicious lunch. We then drove around and found a lake that we had to scale down the side of the highway to get to (ha!) and ended up being well worth it. We then ended off with Cascade Falls; a beautiful spot to enjoy a short walk up the trail to see the incredible falls! Such a great day!

                     

A few weeks ago, my husband and I set off for a two week road trip, travelling throughout Alberta with his wonderful family. Our first week included a few nights at his Nana + Papa’s ranch in Nanton and then we headed up to visit Kelvin’s Dad’s family in Edmonton + Canmore. As both a photographer + a Canadian, this was such a great trip. I learned so much more about the beauty of our country and I got to capture it through the lens. So incase you have ever wanted to drive to Alberta but didn’t want to be in a car for 11 hours, hopefully you can experience the trek to Alberta vicariously through these photos 🙂

The next morning, we started off right with a stop on the side of the road for some Okanagan cherries! The ladies that ran this stand were hilarious. They insisted on you sampling the cherries before you bought them, which we were perfectly okay with. Just when we thought they would hand us 1 or 2 cherries, the lady passed us each about 7 cherries of the same kind. She then proceeded to do this for every different type of cherry, leaving us with heaping handfuls of the most delicious snack! So of course, we bought some!

Alas, we arrived at the ranch!

Kelvin’s always made friends easily 🙂

Raining outside? Have no fear! Oven baked s’mores to the rescue!

Happy Birthday Twyla!

It was then off to the Stampede for us! We started the morning with some pretty thrilling miniature horses, and ended the evening with the rodeo and then chuck-wagons. Such a wonderful day!

Simply the best company for the day!

Be right back mom, just going to walk across a tight rope that’s on fire without a harness… 

We then got to head up to Kelvin’s Aunt + Uncle’s cabin on the lake! It was such a restful few days – lots of games, amazing food, and afternoons on the lake!

We had some fun 🙂

  

We then got to visit Kelvin’s cousin, Kaden, at the camp he is working at! It involved quite a random combination of little furry friends (some much cuter than others as you will see below…)

  

No matter how long we spent driving past these fields, I still couldn’t get over them!

First timer at West Edmonton Mall right here!

  

Stay tuned for Part 2 – Adventures through Banff!

A few months ago, I said to my family “Hey, we should go to Disneyland.” Their response somewhat shocked me, as they simply responded with “Okay.” A few months later and we were on a plane to go see Winnie the Pooh! It was the best because Kelvin, my husband, had never been to Disneyland and was convinced he would never go – so this was quite the victory!

His first Disneyland ticket ever!

I’m pretty sure they made this ride for me… It’s called the “Jungle Cruise” and is essentially a boat ride founded on puns. Even though I have been on it at least 10 times, I’m still usually the loudest person laughing.

It’s not a Disneyland trip without getting “It’s a Small World” stuck in your head for several hours…

The girl in front of us had the best name 🙂

If you ever want to check out the latest Stroller styles…Disneyland is the place to look!

    

Since Disneyland is celebrating their 60th Anniversary, they had a new parade called “Paint the Night” – it was amazing!

  

My sister found her new favourite ride…no joke.

Bob Goff, the author of “Love Does” was hosting the “Living Room Sessions” in the House of Blues, the restaurant in this photo. You had to pay to be part of it, but we hoped we could run into him – sadly this was as close as we got…

The Cars ride was definitely a family favourite – and as close to a “thrill ride” my Mom got 🙂

Proof she did it!

Turns out the kids meals aren’t quite as worth the saved money as planned…as expressed through the tube of applesauce that is thoroughly being enjoyed.

The Legendary Dole Whip.

Two delicacies of Disneyland – turkey legs and churros! (the hot model is just a bonus)

A brand new World of Colour show, also for the 60th Anniversary!

No better place to celebrate your 24th Birthday!

Mint Juleps and Minnie Beignets – 2 more family favourites!

On our last day, we got to go to the World Premiere of the Frozen show!

Until next time Disneyland!

It was the beautiful Jennah Dohms’ birthday last week, which for us – was an excuse to go hiking and camping together 🙂 There is something so beautiful about being outside in nature with the people you so dearly love. We went up to Cultus and soaked in the sunshine, sights, and scenery!

Anna just discovered the selfie stick…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNAH!

Here’s to all the adventures to come this summer!

So our dear friend Shannon is getting married in approximately 2 weeks (so exciting!). Little did we know, us saying yes to being part of her wedding party, also meant a trip to San Francisco to go dress shopping! Definitely one of the best decisions I ever made… 🙂

The trip was back in October, and am sadly just getting to posting them now. But hopefully it excites you as much as it did me to see the beautiful sunshine which we will hopefully be seeing more of now!

We stayed at an average hotel…

Olivia’s creative ways of entertaining herself…

SHE SAID YES TO THE DRESS!

…which meant goodbye dress shopping and hello exploring!

Photos are always better with random shirtless men in them…

 

We went up to the top floor of our hotel and couldn’t believe the view!

And then naturally had a mini-photoshoot which seemed to offer the workers a great deal of entertainment.

Shannon in her finest…

Whatever they saw was super exciting…

Classic San Fran tourists… The House that was used to film “Full House!”

 

The crooked street!

     

So I made us do as cheesy of poses in front of the bridge as possible… they were a big fan. I think we got some great results… 🙂

My vision was to have Shannon lying on the bridge… I think we nailed it.

Double win.

So the dress was bought, the photos were finally posted from the trip, only one thing left to do: Get Shannon & Steffan married!

My husband and I are currently on Spring Break so we have been able to do some exploring! We had the most hilarious adventure down the States that all started with an orange… We decided to pack a picnic to bring down, forgetting that you aren’t allowed citrus fruits through the border. Our border guard agreed, and sent us in to talk to the “Agriculture Officer.” After he inspected our cute little picnic basket, he then asked for the car keys. As he was walking to the car, Kelvin thankfully remembered we had a trunk full of wood rounds still from our wedding that we completely forgot about until this very moment. They were the centrepieces, and we had just recently lent them to our Church and hadn’t taken them out of our car yet. Thankfully, my brilliant husband ran over to tell the guard that we forgot about these rounds. He came back after his inspection, got rid of our highly dangerous oranges, and then wrote us a slip to send us back to Canada as you are not allowed firewood through the border. We took the drive of shame back through the border, and when asked how long we were in the states for, we shamefully said “Approximately 10 minutes.” Who knew the adventure would begin before we even got there?! But the good news is, we got rid of the wood, turned around, and made it to Deception Pass! Wahoo!

The park is home to this tree, which is 850 years old. It was so fascinating to see how it had so intricately grown over the years, continually finding new and creative ways to expand.

Livin’ the life… And a shout out to our friend Jen Newman for giving us this rockin’ picnic basket!

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For my birthday, my husband gave me the gift of a weekend away at a retreat centre on Bowen Island called “Rivendell.” He had been there once before on a leadership retreat through TWU, and found it to be such a restful experience. I find that I thrive in a fast paced setting, so the idea of resting is often very hard for me. It turns out, it was exactly what I needed and definitely something I feel that we all could use more of. There was a silent retreat going on, so the building had an emphasis on silence. Though me not talking is virtually impossible, we did get to enjoy the beautiful sounds of the rain hitting our ceiling, the fire crackling, and the kettle boiling. Rest is a beautiful thing.

I spy a squirrel…

The picture of coziness.

There was a sanctuary just a few steps outside our door. It was intended to be a place of communal rest, worship, and quietness.

The teacher nerd in me got so excited when I saw this. We are doing an ecosystems unit in Science right now, and I just taught my students about ‘decomposers.’ I actually got excited when I saw these ‘decomposers’ in the forest…I think I was meant to be a teacher.

“”For a while the hobbits continued to talk and think of the past journey and of the perils that lay ahead; but such was the virtue of the land of Rivendell that soon all fear and anxiety was lifted from their minds. The future, good or ill, was not forgotten, but ceased to have any power over the present. Health and hope grew strong in them, and they were content with each good day as it came, taking pleasure in every meal, and in every word and song.” – Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

My husband, Kelvin, and I are preparing to head into our 8 weeks of teaching full time in our full immersion practicum. It’s crazy to think that we are only a few months away from being fully certified teachers! With our unit plans done, we decided we needed to enjoy a day of being refreshed by the great outdoors; something we often fail to do as often as we should. This hike reminded us of the importance of closing our laptops, shutting off our phones, and taking a moment to remember how much beauty surrounds us, if only we take a moment to see it.