Stay with me here...

Okay, so my plan to post one picture a day fell smack on its face right at the beginning. Such is the nature of things in my world! Stay with me, I'll keep making an effort.

Here is a picture I did not take but thought was an awesome idea. Someday when I have my own lighthouse I'm totally putting this in one of the bedrooms.

A photo a day...

A photo a day keeps the boredom away!

My Texas Adventure Begins

At the beginning of July I moved to Austin, Texas and I have been indulging my inner cowgirl ever since. In the last few weeks I have jumped head first into my own "Texas Immersion Program" and I have enjoyed some uniquely Texan experiences - tubing the river at Don's Fish Camp, perusing the goods at Wimberley's Market Days, sampling the food trucks on South Congress... I've been checking out bands downtown, discovering the heavenly culinary concoction known as queso, and two-steppin' at The Broken Spoke.

I've decided that queso needs to be it's own food group, there is no such thing as bad music in Austin, and my two-steppin' needs a little work. ;)

Here are some photos from my explorations around Austin and the Hill Country.

Downtown Austin from Lady Bird Lake (which all the locals still call Town Lake. FYI.)

Walking the path around Town (Lady Bird) Lake.

 Food trucks on South Congress.

 I love me a shady porch. Pioneer Town near Wimberley, TX.

Some of the locals at Pioneer Town.


Conclusion? This is a great place for me. xo

For more info here are links:

Don's Fish Camp for tubing: http://www.yelp.com/biz/dons-fish-camp-martindale
P.S. there really is a Don and he's a character.

Info on the charming town of Wimberley and all the fun stuff going on there: http://www.wimberley.org/

Two-steppin' at the Broken Spoke: http://www.brokenspokeaustintx.com/

Have a great week y'all. I'm off to find more fun Texas stuff to do this weekend!

The ruins at Quarai Pueblo, NM

On Friday I had the opportunity to visit the ruins of Quarai Pueblo near Mountainair, NM. This village is part of the Salinas Pueblos National Monument. It was occupied between the 1200's to the 1600's and endured its share of conflict as the native Pueblo peoples, the Spanish colonists, the Spanish government, and the Catholic church all collided here.

Here are some of my favorite shots of the ruins.

As with the other pueblos and ghost towns I have been to, it's awesome to walk amongst the fallen bricks and imagine the lives of those who lived there. You can feel the presence of those who once called this place home.

Let the Light Shine

The light is inside of you. Let it out!
Careful, don't burst.
Can you feel it?
Let it burn and seep through your pores,
a million beams of light shooting out of you.
You'll glow just like a flame.
Just like a star.

Pasadena Wine Festival, Fall 2009

Celebrating the Closing of a Chapter

Tomorrow will be my last day at a job I have held for over 5 years. That's the longest I have ever been at a job! No regrets, it's been time to go. I need to open myself up to more good things in my life and in order to do that I have to get rid of some things that no longer serve a purpose.

It is an ending but instead of being sad I choose to celebrate it. So as this day comes to an end along with a chapter of my life I share with you some of my favorite sunset photos I've taken over the years.

This photo and the one below were both taken in Eaton Canyon, Pasadena, CA in the winter of 2011.

A winter sunset on the farm. Enumclaw, WA 2008

Santa Barbara, CA winter 2010

An iconic SoCal evening.

Venice Beach, CA as the sun goes down. Fall 2010.

The sun will come up tomorrow and who knows what the day will bring? On to new adventures!

A Light in the Dark

I love lighthouses. To me they have always seemed such heroic structures, standing sentinel alone, sometimes in the most desolate places. They shine their light into the dark, beacons of hope in the storm.

Pt. Vicente Light, Palos Verdes, CA

I'd like to live in one someday.

Pt. Fermin Light, San Pedro, CA

"Pew told me about Salts years ago, when wreckers lured ships onto the rocks to steal the cargo. The weary seamen were desperate for any light, but if the light is a lie, everything is lost. The new lighthouses were built to prevent this confusion of light. Some of them lit great fires on their platforms, and burned out to sea like a dropped star. Others had only twenty-five candles, standing in the domed glass like a saint's shrine, but for the first time, the lighthouses were mapped. Safety and danger were charted. Unroll the paper, set the compass, and if your course is straight, the lights will be there. What flickers elsewhere is a trap or a lure.

The lighthouse is a known point in the darkness." - Jeanette Winterson, Lighthousekeeping   

Lions Light for Sight, Long Beach, CA

Keep your lights shining my friends, and be a known point. 



New Mexico Sunsets

Happy 2012!

After an almost year long hiatus, I'm back.

I spent my holiday break on my family's ranch in the enchanting state of New Mexico. Out there in the middle of nowhere you can see for miles, and a winter sunset looks like it was painted with fiery watercolors.

This next one is a favorite. The sliver of a young moon was rising over the mountains and a bright star was welcoming it to the heavens.

I wish you all a joyful and beautiful year. See you again soon!