HAWAII, ON FILM

It has been a while since I visited this small corner of the web that I call my personal blog. I started this page to write about my life in Japan. Since moving back to the states a few years ago, life has been moving fast and I haven’t been writing here much.

But a recent trip to Hawaii and the resurrection of film photography has me feeling the need to share it all here once again. We went for my dear friend’s wedding and had the most magical time. Palm trees, shave ice, cool breeze, hawaiian music on the radio, and that light tropical rain that you don’t even mind hitting your face.

Carrying my film camera around was a nice change of pace as well. For the first time in a while, I didn’t lug around my heavier SLR, and I simply snapped a photo when I wanted to freeze it in time- uncertain of the outcome but simply happy to be there.

Hawaii, thank you for sharing your beauty. Til’ next time, Mahalo.

Summer memories

One of my favorite memories of this past summer was getting the chance to travel up the coast with two of my favorite humans. We spent the first night in San Fransisco; just a few hours in the city as a landing point for our next stop, Monterey.

We drank good coffee, ate so many delicious meals, saw the city, the forest, the ocean, felt the sunshine, the laughter, the fresh air and the freedom of being on the open road.

With everything that has happened this year in our lives personally, as well as all that has been going on in the world around us, this felt like the most healing thing to do.

And it was.

These are the sweet summer memories I want to live in my mind, forever…

It's been a minute...

WOWWW…I haven’t blogged in forever! I guess you could say life has been moving quickly and a few new projects (TKI) have taken the place of this here blog. But, this space has been special to me since I began documenting life here 6 years ago so I want to keep it up.

Today felt like the right day to share some lettering work i’ve done recently. This project began really organically. It all started earlier this year, when Kyle and I were doing a devotional series through Psalms together. Such a powerful book full of wisdom in every single chapter. I found myself in awe of the poetry, the beauty of the writings, and the endless wisdom and comfort I found when reading. So the Lord led me to this idea…to do a design for every Psalm.

Here are the first few: PSALMS 1- 6

AN ADVENTURE IN ARIZONA

Recently, I was lucky enough to go on a little adventure!!

Kyle had a great idea to test out the limit of “remote work” by spending a week in Arizona with his uncle and aunt all while still working. He (being the wise and kind gentleman that he is) planned this trip around the kids’ spring break, which meant they were off of school and I was off nanny-teacher duties and could join him for the trip! Yay!

So, on a breezy Monday night we hit the road, stoped for dinner in Barstow (in&out of course) and arrived in Kingman, Arizona just before midnight.

The drive to Kingman was pretty easy - but who am I to say since I didn’t drive a single mile and instead was the DJ and snack passer-outer haha!

Our first few days in AZ were really relaxing. We chatting with Kyle’s aunt and uncle, shared meals with them, went out to Cracker Barrel, watched a few Marvel movies and enjoyed time together. It was pretty cool that Kyle would work most of the day, and I would work on my drawings and editing recent photoshoot I did as well - so it was relaxing yet also productive! win win!

Towards the end of the week we carved out some time to go on a few short trips…first up :

HUALAPAI!!!!

HUALAPAI is a beautiful mountain range just a 30 minute drive from Kyle’s aunt and uncles house. We took a scenic drive up into the hiking area and immediately saw some amazing views.

We chose a short hike to go on that got our heartrates going haha! This place really is a hidden gem because not only are the forest hikes beautiful but also - we saw maybe 2 other people the entire time we were up there!!!

The view from one of the lookout points!!!

So thankful for this adventure partner of mine!!!!

I never knew this much forest could be found in Arizona. WOW. After this hike we drove to a local Mexican restaurant to stuff our faces with chips, salsa and burritos. Perfect way to end the day!

The next day we headed to a more famous spot- yet one I had never been to before…

THE HOOVER DAM!!!!!

A little over an hour from Kingman is Boulder City where the Hoover Dam is located. It was really cool to see this massive man made creation for the first time and learn a bit about the history of it.

The bridge that they built as a bypass for cars and pedestrians is about 900 feet in the air AHHHH!!! Not gunna lie - it’s pretty scary to walk across but it’s worth it for an amazing view of the dam.

Some cool shadow lines...and a cool dude.

Really nice views out the car window on our drive!

Now…Saturday we woke up bright and early to pack up and drive 3 hours to the amazing …

GRAND CANYON.

We hadn’t initially planned to visit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, but it didn’t take us long to realize that the four of us are all quite adventurous and down for any kind of activity haha! So when Kyle’s uncle posed the question if we wanted to go drive to the canyon we both looked at each other and said , “hmmmm..OK!”

Gotta love some spontaneity in life!!

It was a CRYSTAL clear day out!!! We parked by the main hotel and walked along the rim trail. The good thing is, the canyon is so expansive and large that we didn’t feel like we were too close to many other groups. We did chat with one kind man who had a lot of running gear on him. He told us he just ran “a few miles” down the canyon that morning. We then asked, “how many miles?” and he proceeded to blow our minds by saying…. “30+” …UHM WHAT??!!! Turns out he is an ultra-marathon runner! It’s amazing the people you will meet. (That’s him in the red shirt towards the bottom right corner)

It is quite magnificent seeing the Grand Canyon. Every time I look out across the expanse at the many layers of rock I am just blown away by the work of God and His creative power. It takes my breath away!

Love this shot of Kyle in his element - with all his camera gear in nature!!

We hung out in the canyon until late afternoon, and then drove the 3 hours back to Kingman to eat pizza for dinner and watch a movie!!! It was an incredibly fun day and I am just smiling thinking back to this adventure with Kyle, Uncle Leroy and Auntie Angie.

The next day, Kyle and I drove back home early in the morning. We hugged his aunt and uncle and thanked them for an incredible week. We are very blessed by their love and hospitality. Kyle and I both came home refreshed and recharged. God is good!

Hm…where to next!??

SCHOOL AT HOME

It’s been a difficult year in many ways, but I am seeing so much good this year has brought about as well. One of the biggest blessing: more time with family! The kids have been doing school here since August and we are all truly blessed to see them grow on a daily basis.

A few weeks ago, I decided to carry my camera around and snap some shots of our day. When I look at these photos, I think about how some of the best moment in life are those simple, quiet ones… when you are with the people you love.