my wildflowers

I'm just so blessed to be friends with the type of people who are sitting around hanging out on a rainy evening and then say, "Let's go pick wildflowers up in the mountains." Ummm, yes. always yes to picking wildflowers in the rain. And not only did the wet, flowered mountains smell amazing, the hanging clouds and the gorgeous light were a picture taking dream. (first and fourth shot by me, second and third shot by Austin Terry)

You can try and tell me you don't think this looks cool, but I wouldn't believe you.

I'd say I want to spend every day for the rest of my life romping through fields of wildflowers, but then I'm afraid it would take some of the magic out of it.

What is this a Lord of the Rings set or something?? Geez the clouds shouldn't be allowed to look this good.

Thank you mountains for bringing me such endless joy this summer as I've been trying to gain a little perspective on life and figure things out for myself.Whenever I need to feel a little rejuvenated, I am so grateful to be surrounded by such beauty. As easy as my summer has seemed (and yeah I'll admit I can't complain too much), that doesn't mean everything in every aspect of my life has been going perfectly, and sometimes breathing the air in the mountains is just a little easier than anywhere else. 

peace. love. and wildflowers.

my lavender love

My friend Katie and I heard that there were lavender fields in bloom up in Mona, so we decided to take another one of our mini adventures and check them out (oh how I am happy that I have found someone who is always down for whatever/whenever). I really want to say that we were not at all disappointed and that it was the most majestic thing we had ever seen, but turns out they harvested 3/4 of their lavender fields a few days before we got there. So being flexible humans, we settled for a lavender patch. Lavender patches although not quite as amazing and not the breathtaking sight we hoped for, are still quite nice and smell absolutely lovely. Alas, maybe next year we will be at least a little more on top of things and make it to see the fields in full bloom.

Let's all wear hats and lavender in our hair every day, okay? It sounds nice to me at least.

Don't tell the people at the farm that we picked their lavender and took it home in beautiful smelling bundles. They won't miss it. It's okay.

I've started to get a lot more serious about trying to find a job, but I am going to miss this adventurous life of mine. Not that I won't be able to go on adventures, I just don't know if I am ever again going to have quite this much freedom in my life. I think the best advice I could give to anyone at the moment is to not try to grow up or get your life going too fast. It's okay to spend a summer playing in the lavenders before you try to find a job and be an adult. In a weird way I feel so blessed that I didn't get any of the internships that I was trying so hard for this summer. Instead, I have met and become friends with some of the most incredible humans on the planet, gotten tanner than I have been since I was a kid (no that still isn't very tan and I'm going to be honest I miss everyone being pale because I actually think it's prettier, SORRY), read a ton of great books, fallen way more in love with Utah, and probably all around had one of the best summers of my life.

peace. love. and lavender.

my salty photo shoot

Since getting my new camera (affectionately named Helena because I have a weird habit of naming everything), I have actually been a little scared of it. I'm just still not entirely sure what to do with all the settings and what not. But, I've decided the best way to get over my fear of Helena is to get out there and start shooting.

Since I am driving a rental car for the week (due to a minor accident last week where my precious car Benny got rear ended), I figured it was the perfect time for a mini road trip out to the Salt Flats to play with my camera a little. I was pretty happy with the results. Also, you're about to be overloaded with pics because there were so many good ones that I had trouble choosing...

This is my stunning friend Katie who came along with me to help me take pics, to keep me company on the road, and of course, also to enjoy the salt flats.

I may not get tan, but I do get lots of freckles. Is it weird that actually seems better to me?

Yeah excuse the serious picture before this. Clearly I can't keep a straight face for very long. 

Sometimes I whip my hair back and forth. But actually, I'm pretty sure this was accidental which makes it an even cooler picture.

I was drooling over how blue and clear the sky was. Seriously. Look at it. So freaking blue.

 We were the only ones out there, so Katie and I had to use a self timer to get a pic together by artfully propped up my camera on my keys. One time we intentionally wore matching outfits and ever since then we keep on accidentally wearing matching outfits. We really aren't doing this on purpose, but we find it pretty hilarious, so I guess it's okay.

Pre hair flip...

..and hair flip! This is probably one of my favorite shots because just look at dat hair!

Taking pictures is hard work so I finished off by taking a little salty nap.

I think I feel a little less afraid of my camera after this and a couple other photo adventures I've taken recently. I'm trying to get a lot of practice in before my McCarty family reunion this summer so that I can take some good pics when I'm out in Oregon. So, like, who wants to go take pictures with me?

peace. love. and blue sky.