I’ve said it to so many of my friends, and it forever rings so true for us… we left our heart in West Texas.

I have been warned & chastised by my peers for posting so much personal stuff on my blog… but I’m here to tell you that I could not–would not–be able to keep these to myself. I’m sure you remember that just a few days before leaving for this trip that my husband adopted my daughter, and this was our celebratory vacation. This was us being together in the middle of nowhere and forgetting any troubles, and rediscovering ourselves as a family. And I swear that somehow West Texas ended up being the best place for that to happen… who knew?!

My favorite memories… in list form, so as not to bore you with the many many details of our trip:

… We stayed at El Cosmico in a teepee, in the wondrous & quirky town of Marfa, Texas. Not only was it the most comfortable & comforting accommodations, but darn are those teepees photogenic! The last photo of us was taken by our new friend Jason, whose photos I took and posted a few days ago… see them here.
… We visited Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, which was about three hours from Marfa. I cannot stress this enough (and sorry to all of my friends who I’ve practically yelled this to!)… you must make the Carlsbad Caverns a part of your bucket list! It was (no joke) seriously the most amazing natural wonder I have ever been to or seen. I actually have had to ban myself from talking about it because my heart starts palpitating & my arms are bound to get sore from all the sweeping motions I use when describing it. I used up a whole roll of film while down there, but I cannot show them as they actually totally suck… so here is a link of photos that do it way better justice than I can. But I kid you not. GO THERE.
… We road tripped all throughout the Big Bend National Park, and were so unexpectedly blown away by the beauty of it. We stopped in the ghost town of Terlingua, where the cashier at the general store gave us a map of Big Bend, but hand-wrote on it where we needed to stop and what we needed to see… we drove back on what is called the Big Bend Loop, and spent most of the day driving along the famed Rio Grande. In fact, at times we were literally a few feet from Mexico. It was super exhilarating, to say the very least!
… Our favorite collective memory of West Texas is that everyone is so dang friendly!!! Everywhere we walked or drove, people waved at us, and we were even offered drinks of water by some bikers on the Big Bend Loop… and people were genuinely interested in where we were from & where we were going. Michael keeps saying, “even the border patrol were friendly!” It was so refreshing, and I swear the sunshine & big skies brings it out in people.

There you have it folks… Texas. West Texas, to be more exact. The place where we discovered something incredible.

I generally do a photo shoot of her for her birthday, but this year Madeline has started to come into her own as a photographer, so I thought it was more appropriate to publicly highlight her talent. She is talented beyond where I ever was… she has an eye for the abstract that completely defies how the world shows itself to me, and I constantly find myself in awe of her creativity. Beyond that, she can meter a shot like a boss, and her photos are always so wacky & fun while maintaining a strong composition.

Needless to say, I am one proud mama.

Obviously, I took the very first photo of her… but the rest are all hers. Even the wedding party shot, from when she worked as my assistant, loading film, shooting details, and taking random BTS photos of me. To say that was the proudest day of my entire career would be an understatement… forget awards & accolades! Having my sweet child shooting alongside me at a wedding was the greatest gift a momtog like me could ever ask for! I’m not afraid to admit publicly that she & I have our struggles… especially recently as we navigate through the murky, emotional waters of the teenage years together. She recently told me that I only say I’m proud of her in public, so I was hesitant in posting this. But I am sitting here typing this, after compiling all of her photos from the last year & revisiting so many photos I’ve taken of her… my heart is overflowing with pride, and I want to shout from the rooftops, “MADELINE! You are extraordinary & I am SO PROUD OF YOU!!!” And I hope that one day she remembers & knows with all of her that I couldn’t live a minute of my day without feeling overwhelmingly proud to be her mom.

I’d love for you to visit the blog post from her last birthday, where I remember & share the day she was born and the many days in between… but this birthday, I say it’s all about Madeline. The child I once carried in my belly, the laughing baby who rarely cried but was almost always smiling, the crazy tree-climbing tomboy who once obsessed over spiderman only to trade him for a pair of cowboy boots that she rocked solid for almost one full year… who has now grown into an almost-adult, and has carried along with her the same fun-loving, creative, imaginary spirit through all her transitions in life.

Happy Birthday, my love. My Madeline.

All of these photos were taken at El Cosmico, the campsite we stayed at… these guys stayed in the trailer across from our teepee. Which may sound like a dream, or the beginning of a bestselling novel, but in fact it’s merely the humble beginnings of what is now a lifelong friendship… the very best kind.

I cannot express to you how much in love with West Texas we are… but man, do these photos make me want to go back.

Even the hot dog guy was partying… yes, there was a hot dog stand for the late night shenanigans. Which was my other favorite thing about the wedding.

Thanks to my girl Stephanie Haller, who brought me along on this wedding right before she moved across the country… so this was both a happy & sad day for me. But! I decided to post this wedding in honor of her impending visit back to Seattle in the next few weeks, where we will have to replay the drinking & dancing & hot-dog eating parts of this wedding.  You can see more photos–from her!–by visiting her blog.

Enjoy your day!!!

Leading up to her birth, the room was dark & quiet, loving & more peaceful than I could have ever imagined… and when she arrived, she let out the squeakiest little cry, and all anybody could do was laugh & cry along with her.

To my fellow film geeks out there who follow my blog (thank you!)… this set was shot with my Canon 1v & my Hasselblad H1 on Kodak TriX 400 pushed to 6400 & to 1600, respectively.

And to our dearest friends, Billy & Sarah… you two are going to be such great parents, and it was the best gift to watch you transition into parenthood with such peace & grace.  We love you!

Me!

As you can see, my job as FIND‘s workshop producer is all work & no play… no group hugs, no baby snuggling, no “band photos,” no sleeping on the job. Obviously.

(photos by Emily Steffen & Jonathan Canlas & Dan Depew)

As in, hot damn.

And because I can’t take the heat any longer, these two will conclude my run of photos from my trip to Atlanta. If you’re interested in learning more about the ins & outs of film photography, how to make it work for your business, and how to make your business work for you… and you’re interested in meeting some super rad people… please keep up with the goings-on of the Film Is Not Dead website. 2012 spots are all sold out, but in 2013 we’ll be taking it to places as close as San Francisco, and as far away as the Philippines & Germany.

FIND4Life.

And if you can handle any more cuteness after this post, please head over to their blog & take a minute to watch the small slideshow that is their blog header… it’s where I go when I need a little pick-me-up.

Who knew Atlantans could be so darn cute?

These two put the F U in fun… I wish I could’ve photographed them all day & all night.

Film Is Not Dead … HOTlanta.

FIND Atlanta was a trip. I’m not joking when I tell you that we stayed in a house that was named “The House of Integrity.” And that we did some late night shopping at a store aptly called “Murder Kroger.” And I will tell you that Atlanta is indeed, HOT. Both literally & figuratively. A huge shout out to my new FIND friends… who coincidentally were all from east of the Rockies, and mainly all from the South. A seriously huge thank you goes to Zack Arias for letting us use his studio, and who sat down with Jon, Joe & I and basically schooled us in less than 45 minutes. And to his manager Dan Depew, who showed Joe & I things that we will never be able to remove from our memories… whether or not they were good or bad, I have yet to figure out. It was an unreal week that I spent there… probably the most real Atlanta experience we could’ve ever asked for.

HOT.