So I’m sure you all have noticed, but the blog was a bit abandoned. We needed to do a revamp, because a few months back we realized we are not wedding and portrait photographers, and that is what the website was totally geared towards. It takes a lot of time to work on a website and we were exceedingly busy and so I let the blog slide to the background. I didn’t want to be posting when our website was still “falsely advertising”, so I haven’t been sharing whats going on in our lives in the last few months! We finally are working on it and though its not quite finished it’s close enough to resume blogging.
I’m just going to back up to the beginning of the year, otherwise there will be way too much catchup to do.
January pretty much started with our two year anniversary getaway. John and I went to a beautifully adorable little cabin outside of Asheville for around five days. It was perfectly lovely. Sitting by the fire, reading and reading books, soaking in the hot tub, wandering Asheville, visiting our favorite restaurants and shops, and just spending some much needed quality time alone. 
Here is the lovely aforementioned cabin:
The last morning we were there we had a little dusting of snow! We were so delighted and it totally added to the charm.
We discovered this cafe that served international vegetarian cuisine – and it was out of this world delicious.
Our TOMS warming by the fire as we read on the couch. :)
And we could never go to Asheville without visiting one of our very favorite coffee shops – Waking Life -
Or trying out new coffee shops. This adorable little shop was inside of this charming London double decker bus!
One of my favorite shops in Asheville is The Chocolate Fetish. I’m pretty sure they make the best truffles in the world.
Did I mention we spent a lot of time in coffee shops?
I’ve started an adventure this spring – to walk 500 miles in just 90 days to raise $1,000 to build a well in Ethiopia. It feels crazy and overwhelming and sometimes impossible, but I know that when God lays an adventure on your heart, He gives you the means to do it. So a lot of my photos have been on walks and hikes and wanderings I’ve been taking in the last couple of months. You can read more about my campaign to build a well by clicking HERE.
Sometimes I have a hiking/walking buddy, which I absolutely adore, because that always makes the miles go by much faster and because hiking with a buddy is just infinitely more awesome than hiking alone.
TOMS love to be walking buddies, too.
My mom and I go hiking once a week. We try to get away into the mountains when we can but that’s not always possible because of the drives. So, sometimes we like to just hike around Lake Norman, which is so beautiful in its own way. Water is gorgeous, moving, powerful, terrifying, soothing and calming all at once. I love being around water, in water, and on water more than I can describe.
As Bilbo Baggins sings, “The Road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can, pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way, where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.”
One of my favorite hikes we’ve done so far was up King’s Pinnacle. It was a short little hike but oh so lovely. We even gained some elevation and got a bit of a view at the top! Being from the West, we yearn after views in the wooded mountains of North Carolina.
It even had a little tiny scramble at the top where there was no trail anymore, just a pile of boulders.
We had a fun little family reunion around Valentines with John’s family. His sister and her husband and his mom and youngest brother all got to meet up here for a weekend. Sadly his dad wasn’t able to make it but other than that it was the first time the whole family was together since October. It was short but really sweet.
Of course we had to hit up our lovely Summit coffee shop in Davidson, as his entire family are avid coffee lovers. And no, don’t worry, that’s not thin coffee, that is lemongrass tea in my cup.
It was really fun reconnecting with them again and just spending some time together. Especially with Ruth and Mahlon because they don’t make it down very often. Oh and here I am clutching my adored Valentines gift from John – a new smoothie blender!
Another highlight this month was spending an afternoon shooting at Lake Norman with my dear friend, the marvelous Samantha from Samantha Laffoon Photography. Check out her gorgeous photos- and if you need a wedding or portrait photographer in the Mooresville/Huntersville area, I highly recommend her. Oh and my adorable little sister came with us too, shooting some gorgeous photos on her brand new iPod touch. She’s sure it takes better photos than her Canon Rebel and after browsing through the shots she got, I’m thinking I agree. Pretty awesome little camera on that iPod. :p
Lake Norman has the cutest little seashells on the shoreline! I almost felt like I was at the beach. Just give me some surf, salt, and ocean breeze and voila.
I’ve always loved capturing the little details. I’m not sure why, but details intrigue me. Maybe its because you have to really stop and notice. And there is so much beauty just a glance away. So often we breeze through life without noticing those little things. And yet God has created so much beauty in the tiniest little places.
My latest adventure with my Mom was to the Reedy Creek Nature Preserve barely outside of Charlotte. It was so amazing to feel out in the wild, surrounded by trees and dirt and rocks under your feet, just moments from Charlotte. Escaping into nature is so good for the soul – it’s a soul detox.
It was cold and lightly rained on us nearly the whole time, but that only made it a little more exciting. It also made for an abandoned preserve – so we nearly owned the place all day. It was lovely and peaceful and quiet.
There was even this awesome old house from the 1700′s or so. It was crazy imagining what it would’ve been like to actually settle there. Those pioneers were so incredibly hardcore. For real.
Then spring came! It was 70 degrees, the sun was shining so bright and warm, the beautiful little pink blossoms are all blooming by the pool and it was just absolutely delightful.
Then not only half a week later, it SNOWED! I’m just saying, this is the weirdest climate I have ever lived in.
It was amazing to have snow. I grew up in the mountains of Colorado where you get feet of snow for months on end, you have to dig out your car in May sometimes, and every once in a while you get a blizzard in June. To say I was delighted about the snow is an understatement.
My dear friend Rebekah and I were stuck inside working the Online Campus at church, but we just had to dash outside for a few moments and marvel in it. The following photos of me are taken by Rebekah. You can check out her blog by clicking HERE. She’s an incredibly talented artist so please take a moment to awe over her work.
Life is short. Take a moment to notice the beauty around you. Breathe in. Feel. LOVE.
Peace – Bethany xoxo
