Life in Ecuador

While I was in Ecuador, my sister was supposed to do a project for school, and she was going

to be using my camera.

The day that she was supposed to take the pictures, she got really sick. 

Since she was supposed to document an average family in Ecuador, she had asked our maid if she could document their life. 

Therefore they had a day planned and since she felt horrible canceling, I went and took some pictures for her. 

I've known these people for my entire life, I'm pretty sure. 

Isabel's mom was my family's first maid, and then when Isabel was old enough,

she became our maid. 

She has two kids... Katherine and Jonathan

I grew up with them. 

I remember when Jonathan was a baby and he would come to our house with Isabel

and he would just walk around in a walker, and play with us. 

This is their home.

Their dog

The family

Isabel

Katherine

Jonathan

Senior Photos: Take 2

The second part of the senior pictures I took of my sister were taken at the beach... and here are a few :)

This was a fun place to do a photo shoot, but because it was the first time I didn't have too many ideas to go with it. Now I am always thinking of different things I SHOULD have done.

Thankfully my sister is gorgeous... which made the pictures wonderful :)

Senior Photos: Take 1

Isn't my sister beautiful?!

The BEACH!

So we're back from the beach and I leave TOMORROW to go home. Woaaah. I have to admit that it will be nice to get home. It will be nice to get back into the routine of things, and see the sweet boys that I nanny. I missed them. I'm excited to see my friends, and I have a feeling this semester will be a pretty good semester. I have only early childhood education classes and a photography class. I would consider those "fun" classes. I'm glad I don't have to take another general education class. Those are usually some of my least favorite.

This is not to say I won't miss my family. I know I will. I will miss having my sisters to talk to, vent to, and confide in. And I will miss watching my little brothers grow into young men. I will miss having my parents around to talk to, ask for wisdom and guidance and play games with.

As I said when I wrote about arriving in Ecuador, no matter where I go, or what I do, I will  always miss someone. But, I've realized that this just means that I have been blessed immensely. This means that I have people who love me all around the world. I have people who love me in Colorado Springs, Chicago, Quito... and many other places.

Anyway, the beach was great! It always is. This is the first time that I saw my parent's condo that they bought last spring. Before we moved to Colorado in 2006 my parents had bought a condo with 5 other families at the same resort that this condo is at.

I realized as I took pictures that there really is no way to capture how relaxing, wondrous, and beautiful the beach in Ecuador is. It has to be one of my favorite places to go!

The sunsets at the beach are AMAZING. 

So gorgeous

Thankfully my sister Julianna was very willing to be my model pretty much whenever I asked. That's her silhouette.  

view from our apartment

The girls looking at the pictures they took

None of us did this, but there were a lot of people on the beach who did

this is a strange crab like creature my siblings found

We lounged around on the beach 

and we tanned by the pools

these are a couple of the pools at the resort, and you can see my family swimming in one of them :) 

There were some GORGEOUS flowers there

And everything was so brightly colored

This guys is really starting to lose his teeth. 

We played lots of keepaway

It's a good way to let out any aggression you have towards any of your siblings ;) 

I miss you

I wrote "I love you" in the sand and Micah automatically goes: I'll write David for you. That was not my plan, but thank you, Micah ;) 

Best friends

I also did a photo shoot of my parents, since they don't have very many pictures of themselves together. 

Once I edit them I'll probably put more up, and I'll crop the guy in the speedo out of this ;) 

boogie boarding

One of the few pictures of me. Like my tan line?

The family in front of our apartment building. This was the second picture, and right before it was taken my mom said to do something different. So I thought she meant to make a funny face. I think Katelyn thought that too. 

This is my first blog post that I have done on my own computer since I arrived in Ecuador... YES! my computer is fixed :) They had told me that they retrieved 100% off of my computer (I was only really worried about my pictures) but I have only been able to find pictures from 2011, and it looks like some of them have been corrupted and so they won't open. So it looks like I only have a little bit from my old hard drive. Everything is really disorganized, so maybe I'll still be able to find it.... Things could be worse though. I got some of my old photos, music, and documents off of my old hard drive, and my computer was fixed for free.

I've learned my lesson though... I NEED to buy an external hard drive. No more excuses.

I also hope I can figure out how to get lightroom back on this computer, because I miss it!

So, enjoy my unedited photos :)

Radical Truthfulness

Tomorrow I head to the beach with my family for nights. I'm excited to soak up the sun, go boogie boarding, read some good books, spend time with my heavenly father, take neat pictures, and eat good food. I do believe that we will have some good times.

Furthermore:

I ran across this quote today. I love the truth within it.

"We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe, and at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the only kind of relationship that will really transform us. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God’s saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God’s mercy and grace." - You Never Marry the Right Person


We are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.  That, my friends is amazing. 

You can read the rest of the article here.

Happy Weekend, folks! 

Carrying your Camera

You know what can be really frustrating? Carrying a camera around. I've always thought that, but today it hit hard. My family decided it would be a (insert sarcasm here) blast to climb a 15,600 foot mountain. I decided that if I was going to go, I might as well bring my camera to record the fact that I climbed a mountain. The downside of that was it was raining. So, I had to find a ziplock bag that could fit my camera, and I then put my camera into the bag, found my camera case, and put it in the case. Let's just say it was a very snug fit. When we got to the point where we would start climbing, it was raining harder. So, I put my camera case over my shoulder under my rain jacket. I then stuff my case between my body and the rain jacket. This makes me look like I have this weird squarish growth protruding from the side of my stomach. We start walking. and walking. and walking. Every time that I saw something cool, I automatically wanted to take a picture of it. And every time that I took a picture I had to tug it out of the case, take it out of the ziplock bag, and then I was able to use it. Once I finished taking pictures, I had to open the now damp bag, stuff the camera in, and try to fit it back in the case.

I'm not saying this to complain. I'm saying this to be honest. The con of bringing a camera everywhere, is that you have to bring it everywhere and it can be such a nuisance.

Would you all like to know the pro of bringing a camera everywhere? You get some really great shots and memories.

And so, I encourage you to take your camera everywhere. It's not easy, especially if you have a big heavy camera, but it really helps you capture the little things in life.

Happy Wednesday, ya'll!

Babies & Adoption

Orphans have been something that has always been on my heart. I began working at the orphanage when I was only 12. The hardest part about going to the orphanage and loving the babies there is leaving them. They cry every time you put them down. They have this desire, this hunger.... to be held. To be loved.

I can't say that I will adopt. I don't know what my future will look like. But, if I am ever in the position where I can adopt, and if I am ever led in that direction. Then I will gladly follow through. I would be more than happy to give a baby (or two... or three) a loving home.

It's been nice, because the house my family is renting (our old house) is right down the street from the orphanage.

They look sweet.... but they are even sweeter than they look. Precious boys. 

Little Michael... or Sumo as we call him

Viviana

Jennifer was so sweet. She constantly wanted to be loved. So that's what I did. :) 

Tiffany is living in Ecuador with my family for the next 3 months. She holds a little one barely over a week old. 

Julianna with sweet little Mario

This little boy stole my hear. Martin has down syndrome. I don't know if I could handle any special needs kids, but if I happened to adopt (or have) a child with down syndrome, I think I could handle it. Downs children are the sweetest little kids I have ever met. 

He had the cutest little hands

When I put my hand up he would put his hand on mine. Such a sweetheart. 

After spending only a few hours with these kids, I love them already. And, this is only one house at the orphanage. Another building houses toddlers, and the third building houses all of the special needs and older kids. The oldest kids there are probably older than 18.