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adventurous hearts

Just a few moments from an adventure I took with some friends this week.  I think these may be some of my favorite shots I've taken in a while.  Enjoy!

What kind of adventures have you been having?

Portland: In Books and Food

In October I got to fly to Portland for SocalityPDX and when I wasn't surrounded by hundreds of picture-snapping-Instagram-lovers, I was wandering the city with my mom and my niece, Kenzie.  Two words can define my favorite experiences: books and food.  

If you are in Portland you pretty much cannot miss Powell's Books.  It's literally every bookstore you've ever been in smashed into one giant maze of books.  Basically, heaven. 

If you're ever in Portland, you absolutely have to go to Lardo's and eat copious amounts of amazing fries.  I still dream about those fries---and I'm not kidding.  It's even an experience just sitting there and watching the customers.

The Salt & Straw is one of the greatest experiences in ice cream history.  Every person gets to sample any and every one of the flavors of homemade ice cream on silver spoons---and with flavors like Pear & Blue Cheese and Almond Brittle With Salted Ganache how could you go wrong?  Yes, I know that probably sounds way too strange to be ice cream, but it's amazing. My personal favorite was Honey Lavender.  It's swoon worthy in my book. 

Have you been to Portland?  What was your favorite part?

Twenty Lessons Learned

This year has been a fun one, full of new experiences and friendships.  Here's a list of fifteen lessons and randomness learned over the course of 2014.

one

Set alerts for anything and everything or else you just may find that you slept through your ACT (true story).

two

Always double check for mailboxes that sneak up behind you when you back up.

three

Sometimes "fake it till you make it" can be a motto.

four

Never underestimate the power eyeliner or lipstick has on your mood.

five

I'm a last second gift buyer.  Unfortunately, that's not a good thing. 

six

I crave authenticity, not pep talks. 

seven

If I am contemplating chopping my hair off, it's probably Taylor Swift's fault.  I mean, her hair is brilliant.  And did I mention her clothes? I love them.

eight

Once you find the people you click with, spend as much time with them as you can.  They will change you and mold you into a better person.

nine

Sometimes the power lies in knowing when to let the picture pass. 

ten

My car will probably become my second closet in college because I love clothes way too much. Way. Too. Much. 

eleven

What you hold onto is just as important as what you let go. 

twelve

The coolest thing about being 18 is the fact that I can now check out movies at the library. woop, woop.

thirteen

Community is the backbone of who we can be.

fourteen

If you can incorporate GIFs into all texts, you definitely should.  

fifteen

God sends people into your life exactly when you need them.
sixteen
Colorado holds a part of my heart.
seventeen
Adam Levine is Jewish.  Why anyone needs to know that, I don't know, but now you know.
eighteen
You don't have to be good at something to enjoy it.
nineteen
If you find something you're passionate about, pursue it with intensity.  You'll thank yourself later.
twenty
"Two good ol' boys behind the wheel, chasing down bad guys in Lucille" is always a good song to bring out.  Especially when you're riding in Lucille. If you're totally confused about this one, look up "Leverage chase music" on YouTube.  You can thank me later.

Taking the Risk

Risks.  It's a difficult word, one that evokes a sort of panic in our brains wondering if this particular idea is going to kill us or not. Well, maybe it's not that bad, but come on, most of us aren't sitting here thinking "well what risk am I gonna take today?!?"  If you are, bravo, my friend. You officially have more of your life under control than me.  I love watching people take risks.  I love the tears of joy when everything comes together and the masterpieces that are pulled out of the miry months of worrying over whether or not people will like it.  Risks are beauty-makers and soul-changers---and risks are varying degrees of nerve-wracking.
I'm not the kind of person who would rather die than do something outside my comfort zone.  A lot of the time I enjoy pushing the boundaries of what I can do, but when it comes to pushing my relationships with people, I can falter a few times before taking that first step.  Trying something on the dance floor I would never normally try is a breeze in comparison.  People have opinions.  People can reject you.  But people can love you too.

In September, I stumbled upon the phenomenon of Instameets.   An Instameet is an event Instagrammers plan in order to meet the people in their community.  As I scrolled through the hashtags from meets held in Dallas, San Francisco, and Orlando, I bemoaned that fact that no one did them here.  It didn't even dawn on me until later that I could hold an Instameet as easily as anyone, and the more I thought about it the more excited I became.  When I asked my friend what he thought, he was skeptical, "Great! An Instameet for two: you and me!"  It was true. Only a few of my peers even knew what an Instameet was, let alone would want to come to one, and yet I put out the information for the Instameet anyways.

On October 4, nine people came out and spent four hours getting to know each other, shooting portraits, and laughing.  People have been asking me how to get involved ever since, and I knew we wouldn't be able to stop.  On December 12, my aforementioned friend hosted our second Instameet, bringing out a grand total of nineteen people.

Taken with an Iphone 6.

Before that first meet I was a ball of nervous energy, bouncing between worrying that no one would show up and hoping that people weren't thinking that this was a dumb idea.  Looking back at it now, I see a community that is growing.  People are being inspired to get involved and finding that they fit perfectly into the community we are creating.  I've had conversations with people from different states about their desire to do the same thing, to create their own community through something as simple as an app.

I'm astounded by the amount of response that I've gotten from people.  It was two months between our meets and yet the talk never died down.  I've made new friends and have gotten to know them better.  These people have affirmed my vision and any nervousness I held was all for nought.  
I guess what I'm trying to say is that risks are beautiful.  They are worth the worry every time; and after my experiences over this past year, I've realized I cannot build a community if I never step out of my comfort zone to create it---because if I won't, who will?
So, what risks are you struggling to take?  What community are you building?  And who are you reaching out to?   These are questions I'm learning to ask everyday, questions I hope you'll ask too.  Because after all, what is life if not an adventure?  And what is adventure without people?

     

Photo taken by Jacob T. Rex.

If you're interested in getting involved, want to start hosting your own Instameets, or just want to talk about the risks you have or are taking contact me on Instagram or email me!

Molly: A Portrait of Friendship

I've known Molly for a little over a year now, and she has become one of my favorite people.  She is a world traveler, acquiring languages at the rate I acquire junk from Goodwill, and the only person I know who literally spends every penny she's got on plane tickets and books.  Her intense desire to see and know inspires me to the core.  She's not into dressing up or shopping all day but can get lost and found again like nobody's business.  If you want to go on an adventure, she's the girl you call at a drop of a hat and she'll be in.  

Her hands are always full of little finds: leaves, feathers, pebbles, or glass. 

She understands that silence is beautiful, and that words hold power, and that one must never lose their wonder---but most of all, Molly knows what she wants, and her whole heart cries out for it in such a way that you understand that she knows who she is and what she's about.  Not in such a way that her whole life is planned, but in the way that she values things.  People and experiences are what she craves, and her passion is at the forefront of everything she does.  

This is the first of what I hope will be many posts in my A Portrait of Friendship series.  I want to show the world the people that I live life with and the friends who inspire me to create a good story.  You need to know them,  and so I will endeavor to show them to you.  I only pray I can  capture accurately who they are and what they mean to me.