in the words of mister ralph waldo emerson.

"in my walks, every man i meet is my superior in some way, and in that i learn from him."

i've been thinking a lot lately about this quote and my travels and how they've so profoundly impacted me. i've been reflecting about where i have been, who i have met, and what i have seen. i've found goodness all around the world-- sometimes, in the most surprising of places. and i've learned a great deal from all of the people i have met and from all of their goodness.

i don't want to forget what i've seen, the cultures i discovered, and the lessons i've learned. i'm starting a series called tourism thursdays. though my posts lately have tended to generally be centered around my travels, i'm sure that real life will sneak back into my posts {cause lots has been happening here in the usa, you know!}, so i want to make a point to keep sharing little bits of goodness from my travels.

this set of images is from one of the single-handedly most life-changing days of my life. traveling through the bush with open arms' community outreach program taught me so much about the reality of life, the vastness of the world, and the resilience of the human spirit.
don't worry, there's more {so much more!} where this came from.

today was one of those days...

that i could've really, really used a hug or two from some of my kiddos and seen one of these precious little faces:

i said goodbye to my best friend // sweet brother for two full years today,

and it was really, really hard.

but you know what?

i'm so grateful he's bringing so much sunshine to the {already sunny} state of hawaii.

i've enjoyed his cheer for the past nineteen years; i guess it's time i share him with the rest of the world. 

just like my bebes from around the globe have shared their sunshine with me, time and time again.

saying aloha to elder gleave.

sometimes, you blink for .2 seconds, and your (not-so-little-anymore) brother is completely grown up, into a remarkable, kind, and admirable man. 

he's quite independent and determined and ready to go serve the Lord for two full years. 

i know it's cliché to say, but i really never have been prouder of my younger brother, bennett. he's sacrificing two of his "most exciting" years of school, of friends, of family to serve others and to bring them to Christ and to a gospel that he has grown to love so dearly. he's ready to face challenges, to work hard, and to love. 

i've always been so lucky to have my best friends also be my brothers and also some of my greatest examples. i love how benny makes everyone around him smile and is constantly full of such happiness and love. he epitomizes happy-go-lucky and has a way of making people feel comfortable and completely at ease.

and it's for these reasons i know he was hand-picked to go to hawaii. he will have such an incredible influence on the people there as he serves with love. i cannot wait to see the people he touches, the growth he experiences, and the happiness that he shares.

he's going to be one heck of a missionary. and the cutest one out there, at that!

love you so much, bennett! and i look up to you more and more every day. 

smitten with stockholm.

as part of our european tour,
my dear friend hannah and i stopped by the land of the vikings for a few days to explore the territory of my ancestors,
and we instantly fell in love with stockholm.

there's something {or a lot of things, really} inexplicable about stockholm that i am so drawn to.
maybe it's the cleanliness or the unique architecture
 or just that very distinct scandinavian vibe oozing out of every street corner. 

or maybe it's the well-dressed, tall, handsome people {and the fact that half of the people looked just like me, or like they could be my first cousin twice-removed or something}
 or the waterfronts at the end of nearly every street and all of the bridges and water ferries and boats. 

or maybe it's the ultra-high-tech metro system,
 or the swedish meatballs, or the bilar.
yeah, the bilar definitely has something to do with it {as attested to by the fact that we finished our first bag of this delicious little candy a mere twenty minutes after stepping foot in scandinavia}. 

no matter what it was that made me fall so hard {and so fast!} for stockholm,
 i couldn't get enough of this city. even amidst well-below-freezing temperatures.
and that's saying something!

don't you worry!
if you think this is the end of my stockholm photos/stories/adoration,
you're quite mistaken.
you can expect a few {thousand} more stockholm photos very soon! 

but until then, i'm headed to the nearest ikea to pick up another bag of bilar...

a rainy afternoon at the sydney opera house.

i think by now you all know how much i adore my mother {and her individuality and strength and kindness and sacrifices and a list that never really ends.} so to celebrate mother's day, i'll tell you a little about one of my most recent {and forever favorite} memories with the lady that has had the greatest impact on my life.

i'll start out by further explaining how awesome my mom really is. she works for an airline one day a week so we get all of the flight benefits, and so we end up traveling constantly {talk about my dream, i know!}

because of this, she's met up with me in crazy places like germany and peru, and when she found out last month that i was going to be exploring australia more or less alone, she saved the day again.

talk about the best e-mail a girl can receive before boarding a trans-continental flight: "i think i'm going to meet up with you in sydney!" 

best mom ever.

bridals: indie + country inspiration.

sometimes, you end up surrounded by insanely gorgeous people {in this case, your cousin}, and so you just can't help but photograph them over and over again!

this past week, i was in idaho for a wedding, some other work, + some family events. 

so naturally, kaileigh and i had to take advantage of the gorgeous sunset over the {surprisingly not potato} fields of idaho for a quick bridals shoot! 

we were inspired by a relaxed shabby apple dress, a vintage turquoise ring, and a few wildflowers, as well as kail's unique style. 

this stylized shoot perfectly marries indie with country to make for excellent bridal inspiration.

and yeah, i still might be drooling over that sunset...

thanks for the fun evening shooting, kaileigh!

XO.