oregon

Portland is a convenient 4 hour journey from me, so, when I found out my freshman year roommate// friend, Sara, was coming to the area, I jumped at the opportunity to see her and Portland in one trip.  And, turns out, there are a lot of old friends from North Carolina living in Portland - it ended up being more like a North Carolina reunion in the Pacific Northwest.  Most of our time was spent catching our minds up to the fact that we were all seeing each other for the first time in 1 - 2 years .. . on the other side of the country.  With the first sunny days beginning to show we spent the time lazing in the park and exploring the city - everyone was so cheery- someone just gave me a free Voodoo doughnut in the street after smiling at him!
And the second night Sara got a groupon for a little place on the Oregon coast - we got a room with a fireplace and a view looking straight out into the ocean.

sweet potato burgers.

The best way to spend a Saturday is to make sweet potato burgers, brew up some iced honey mint tea and take it to the lake to share with an old friend.

dwellings.

I was driving along and found a magical college campus that taught to make treehouses and cobhouses and little wooden cabins. Upon walking onto the land I immediately knew I was going to want to transfer and be another student living on the tent platforms on top of the mountain.  These hidden bits of magic are what I love most about Vermont.

where I live now.

Montpelier has a river running through it and houses all along, so sometimes I can pretend like I'm actually just living in Venice.  And then if I travel up the hill a bit I get the beautiful mountain landscapes I missed so much from living in Asheville.  And journeying outside of the town a bit I get all the idyllic red barn farm scenes I always hoped would happen if I lived in Vermont.  

Rocks.

Looking through all my recent photos I realized I just like hangin' out near rocks and water with my friends.  

minnesota.

Minnesota time has been filled with lake-swimming, flower-picking, the friendliest people, family time, and 5 cats.

film.

Film's what I'm spending all my money on these days.  I love the intimate feel of the photos, the suspense in waiting to get them developed, and really taking care to make sure each shot will be worth the 75 cents+ that I'm paying.  So, here are a few more from my 1st roll on the trip south.  

I'm on my way back north now.  This trip held ups and downs, but ultimately it gave me exactly what I wanted. My mind is clear and I'm feelin' pretty ready to clean up and begin getting ready for the next chapter. *cliffhanger*

finally, asheville.

I feel like I'm back where I supposed to be. Asheville holds a lot of my best memories.  I've been able to catch up with old friends and mainly spend a lot of time reading and writing on a rock in the middle of a stream.  I wish I could just live this life forever.

rivers & bridges.

With two busy days of work and a muddled head I really needed to get out of the city.  Luckily, a week ago I promised my grandmother I would finally make a trip up to see her, even if it were only for a couple of nights.  To make it even better Melissa met me here too.  We had the best (sunniest) day with breakfast on the porch and a drive along the river. We stopped in thrift stores along the road and found silly dresses that we had to change into right away.  All the mountains and streams, the comfort of my grandmothers house, and the presence of my two really wonderful people and I feel so much better.  Makes me think I should move here or something.

films (part 2)

All this sunny weather and I used a whole new roll of film.  I think I've found a new (expensive) hobby.

my first (successful) films.

So, I've been trying to use a real film camera for a little while now, and I finally had a roll that didn't turn out grainy or completely black exposures! Instead I have lots of little moments from my trip to Vermont, solo bike adventures, and mainly really nice photos of Melissa captured in the loveliest way.