Day 120

     I have adorable little cousins. As I was packing my suitcase to *finally* go home, they thought it would be really fun to play dress up with its contents.

Day 119

     This morning was the last morning of our trip. A pack up and wave goodbye to glorious weather and heading back to the gloomy clouds and snow and rain and cold. I'm ready to go home. But I've really loved this trip. And I just plain love camping. What a wonderful week it has been.
     And evidently, not only can dirty cars be written on, but clean cars can too. I feel like it's waving goodbye to the sunshine, the junipers, the red sand and the delicious dutch oven cooking.

Day 118

     Today was the one day that we did not hike on this trip. Instead we meet with some people holding our future jobs, and talked about our futures. Every time we have one of these meetings, I get so excited for the rest of my life. It's going to be the best one I could ever have! I am so very blessed in every single respect! Every time that I open my eyes, I see something beautiful.
     And so our boots got some rest. And I love this lens.

Day 117

    Today we hiked a few slot canyons. They were so extraordinary, and so fun to be in. What an incredible world we live in! I definitely believe that there is beauty everywhere we go.

Day 116

     Today was a day for Zion National Park! It is so beautiful here. We did one of the hardest (mentally) hikes I've ever done, but with an incredible view. For any visitors (who are not extremely afraid of heights and in fairly good shape) I would recommend hiking Angel's Landing. As the bus warned us as we approached "fatalities have occurred." We got to eat lunch up there, sitting on top of the world, as the park rangers were working on the chain leads we would cling to, joking that they were removing them. What a great, hot, sweaty, beautiful day.

Day 115

     On a trip to Southern Utah! And my, the rocks are beautiful! Even in black and white, with the loss of their rusty red color. With all the extraordinary rocks, I feel as if I am in an extraterrestrial world.

Day 114

Day 113

     Today I got a new lens to rent. I played with it for about half an hour, and am already in love with it. It's the perfect portrait lens! 50 mm, f/1.8! I wish that I could have it more than a week.

Day 112

     Today I was cruelly forced to say goodbye to the rest of my friends. It's so surreal to think, that these girls that I've been living with for 8 months will suddenly disappear out of my life, and only a few will I get to see again come August. I have some wonderful friends.

Day 111

     Bye Brittany. I will miss you.

Day 110

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Day 109

     What better sign of spring than a duck?

Day 108

     I just love rain!

Day 107

Day 106

     These are the days for bare-footedness.

Day 105

"Good Looks courtesy of Mom"

     On portraits, I don't believe in eye sharpening or skin smoothing or selective saturation. That being said:

In other words: this little boy really did look like that! With those same beautiful eyes!

BONUS! I just wanted to share an extra. Even though it is not as sharp on his face, I just love his adorable expression.

Day 104

     Such a lovely day outside. I want so badly to just lay in the long-awaited sunshine. But I am stuck inside, inside behind the curtains, studying.

Day 103

     The days are getting warm and I am ever craving ice cream.
     Short response, I am off to get ice cream.

Day 102

Day 101

     Beautiful day. Beautiful enough to wear short sleeves and shorts! As I came out of the library and saw it was overcast, I expected it to be cold. But it wasn't. The flowers were out and it was extremely nice. These are from a Magnolia tree, some of my favorites on campus.
     While I was sitting on the benches under these trees, doing homework, a man came over to me, as he had seen my camera, and we talked for a good half hour about photography. I don't know his name or how old he was, but it was extremely pleasant to talk with someone about a shared passion. Amazing how much you can learn from other people, particularly strangers.

Day 100

     Hmmmm... What did we spend a lot of time talking about today?

Day 99

     I fell in love with the Mojave desert. Red brome is bad, Joshua trees are awesome, I held Kangaroo Rats, Pocket Mice and a baby Jackrabbit. My feet were neither warm nor dry along with my hands and the sun came out just once. I laughed a lot and learned some stuff. I was convinced that country music is actually fun to listen to on dirt roads late at night and makes me want to just dance. I found some of the craziest things to do at night are some of the most fun. Like watching 20 college students rocket out of a van after a Heteromyid past midnight. I found out it's fun to hang out with people with the same passions as you, and that sometimes I act like a know-it-all. I got to camp again and it was heaven.

Just one final view of the beautiful ranch we stayed at...

Day 98

     It was really hard to choose a picture from this day...
     It was fairly cold all day, but at night, we had a big beautiful bonfire. I got a lot of good images but I chose this one out of them all. Just feel the heat through the screen...

Day 97

     Did some work out in the desert today. Helped put together some fences that are going to be used in a study conducted this summer. Even though it's been cold and cloudy this whole trip thus far, it has been good for my photography!
      And I love Joshua Trees. They are so amazing. They remind me of summers spent at my grandma's house, sweltering hot. And they are just some of the neatest things on this planet. And despite their pokiness, Desert Woodrats still eat them! How neat is that?

     And since this has been quoted so many times on this trip, I decided I want to share one of my favorite YouTube videos with you...

Day 96

     I love those days where the shadows grow long and the light is warm.

Just a Shout Out!

   I am off to a field trip, in a remote corner of the state. So I won't post pictures for the next couple days (not that that's unusual). Don't worry, I will take plenty of pictures for you.
     I also wanted to thank people who look at this. I originally didn't intend for anyone other than family to read it, and keep up with my progress, but I think it's awesome that others have! Thank you!

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Day 95

     Spring popped! Where there were buds yesterday, there are blooms today!
     Zero grain. I zoomed in 200% and couldn't find any. I am so ridiculously excited.

Day 94

     It was hard to pick just one image today. There were other, more fancy ones, but I just love how this one pulls you in. Simplicity.

Day 93

     Got to go to my cousin's house for dinner today. And of course that means, lots of cute kids. It was hard to decide which little one to feature today. But I decided on the charismatic Leo. He was sitting by the window, and turned towards me as I walked by, staring straight into my lens for a good minute. He's got to be a natural model. With big beautiful eyes. And awesome parents.

Day 92

     Took a nice drive today with my sister and my dad. Sometimes it's nice to get out of the valley, up into the mountains and away from the people.

Day 91

     Went to a Hindu temple today. It was just absolutely gorgeous. I played with the llamas while peacocks strutted the grounds around beautiful statues and parrots talked from their cages. I have been around peacocks before (at the zoo) but I don't ever think I heard them call out. Now I know where they got the inspiration for the bird Kevin in the movie UP. For whatever reason, I wasn't really thinking, and instead of taking a beautiful image (which I am kicking myself for at this moment, realizing how cool my idea was) I kind of went for the cliche peafowl pictures. They are beautiful birds, so almost every picture possible of them has been taken. Almost. And I could've been the one to take the new one. Next time I happen to run into a peacock on a farm, I will do my best.