This last week marked a new step for me in the realm of photography. I had my first “baby” photo shoot. I put baby in quotes because Finley is about a year old, and boy oh boy was she a mover. Baby photographers just went up a few notches in the respect level. It is a tough thing to capture images of a child when all they do is move. I am pretty please with the images I did get and so were the parents! So, enjoy and let me know what you think.

Two posts in less than 12 hours… I am on a roll! I doubt I can keep that up, but I would really like to post something on here at least once. if not twice a week.

Anyway, I am skipping around because my cousin’s senior pictures were more important to get edited and completed than my personal vacation pictures.

As many of you know my family and I rented a place on Lake Superior this last week and spent some time just relaxing, reading, and being. It was quite nice. We also spent some time hanging around Grand Marais, MN. For those of you who have never been, it is a cool little town on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It is basically the last major town before you reach the Canadian border. One night we ate at an amazing local restaurant called the Angry Trout. This restaurant was created for me! Everything on the menu was locally produced (to the best of their abilities), it was all organic, and everything was served sustainably with clay dishes produced by a local artisan! AMAZING. I had fresh Lake Trout, on a bed of wild rice and portobello mushrooms, a fresh salad with all local ingredients including fresh wild raspberries and my new favorite vegetable, parsnips. I also had a cup of chowder that had whitefish and salmon in it. INCREDIBLE. I had a pot of tea and a wild blueberry torte for dessert. Needless to say, I was pretty full after that meal. To top it off the sun set just as I was taking my last sip of tea and a full moon arose over the bay surrounded by pink, orange and blue clouds. A perfect end to a perfect night.

Enough about vacation, aside from the forthcoming photos. I titled this post Grace and Water because there are so many ways in which water reminds me of grace. Obviously the concept that, “Grace is like water, it flows down to the lowest of places.” is a well known quote. I chose the title to this post because most of my pictures are of water. I am obsessed with water. It is healing for me to be near it or even think about it. Maybe it is because I grew up living in the land of 10,000 lakes!!

The clearest image of this liquid grace for me is its constant pounding on a lakeshore. As my family and I hunted for Lake Superior Agates, I came across so many stones that had been tossed and turned, pummeled and pushed around by the waves that they could have been as smooth as glass. I am reminded that grace can hurt sometimes as it pushes you around and moves over, but yields an experience that you can now use as lens to look through life with.

Night after night this last week I would fall asleep to the relentless pounding of the infamous Lake Superior. It was nice to have noise… I know it sounds weird, but my home in Tacoma is surrounded by sirens, people screaming, the neighbor fighting with her boyfriend, kids crying. My neighborhood is a cacophony of noises reminding you that you are indeed alive (probably awake) and that you are surrounded by life. This is the opposite of my room at my parent’s house in MN. We are in the middle of the silent suburbs. These waves lapping against the shore in a weird way reminded me of my home in Tacoma. Then the sound began to soothe me. It made me feel like I was surrounded by life and that I myself was feeling more alive.

I think this is like God’s grace. It is infamous, it can sink people, pounding against them relentlessly. Grace isn’t always a nice feeling, but in the end it is good.  Sometimes it even awakens life’s pain to bring about healing. Sometimes it rings the noises of life in my ears so that I can hear what I need to hear. It helps me see what I need to see. I will take a pounding just to remind me that I am alive, that I am surrounded by life, God’s grace, and the new life in His son.

May that grace be with you now. My it rise up and abide in you. I know that when I look at these photos below I will try to remember those feelings of renewal and be reminded that in my low times, even a crashing wave of liquid grace to the chest will always be welcomed.

Enjoy the photos of the beautiful area where I grew up:

While I was home this summer I had the opportunity to photograph my cousin for his senior pics. We had a fun time, especially when we found the Old Mill Ruins in Minneapolis. This photographer’s playground was on the city side of the Stone Arch Bridge. Click the image below to enjoy the slide show!

Click image for slideshow

My family and I are venturing up to cabin in Northern Minnesota this week. I am pretty excited to spend some time in the great North Woods and chill aside Lake Superior for a few days. What I am most excited for is the fact that I will be technology free for almost a week! It will be just me, fresh air, the lake, a comfy adirondack chair, and a few good books! So, needless to say, if you don’t hear from me for a few days, do not worry. I will get back to you all sooner than later.

These times are very important to me. I think it is vital for my being to get away, and unplug for a while. Detachment isn’t always looked at in a positive light, but for me it is necessary in order to recharge my energy and my spirit. I hope that in the midst of out busy and chaotic lives that you too can find a place to rest, relax and recharge. May you find rest and clarity in the midst of chaos and even find the ability to embrace the chaos.

For those of you who don’t know, I am in MN visiting family and friends for most of August. Last night my friends Ryan and Heather, who just moved out to Minneapolis from WA, my long-time friend Jeanne, and I had an AWESOME dinner at one of my favorite pizza places in the Twin Cities Pizza Luce (Davanni’s takes 2nd). We had their Baked Potato Pizza, The Wrangler, and Idacado Pizza which was one of the specials. It had chipotle cream cheese as a base, then a bed of garlic mashed potatos, then a layer of pico de gallo and finished off with a blend of cheeses, sour cream and an avocado crema! I know they all sound weird, and they are. I promise they were all good though. We felt that the Baked Potato and Idacado tied. Surprisingly the Wrangler came in last. It just goes to show that there can be surprising rewards in the absurd! 

After that, we went to see Ryan and Heather’s new place then decided to drive up Central Ave and ended up exploring the Holy Land Market. After that, Ryan was craving bubble tea and then so was I. So we headed to Dinkytown and went to The Tea Garden to finish off the night. Below are a few pictures I snapped of Ryan and Heather there. 

All in all, it was a fun night. It was great to hang out with friends from Washington and Jeanne from MN. It felt like my two worlds were colliding. I hope that happens more often. I think it will now that Ryan and Heather are living out here. If you are from the area or just interested, check out the church they are planting in the Twin Cities called, The Crux.