Enjoy the Journey!

"Enjoy the journey!"

Simple advice, simple message. It seems easy enough to enjoy your own life and the people in it. Right?

I find it odd that I have to remind myself to enjoy the journey. It just seems like a concept that would come naturally. Unfortunately our busy lives make it so that we do have to make a conscious effort to enjoy the beauty in our lives. The small and simple things are what bring me the most happiness.

The fact that it is August and the summer is rounding to an end is driving me crazy. I headed out into the sweet, summer light with my daughter, perhaps out of complete desperation to capture a piece of this summer before it is gone. The lazy days of summer are not necessarily how we roll at our house. In fact, they should probably change the saying because I think most families do just the opposite. We pack every possible adventure into the three months that we can. We work more so we can play more and rest very little. :) It all gets spinning so quickly that I do not know how we keep sane. Maybe we are not!

The opportunity to sit on a country road next to the most beautiful patch of sunflowers with my amazing daughter was a good way to bring everything into perspective. "Enjoy the journey!" Oh, yes! I must remember to do this more often. :)

She grew up on a side of the road
Where the church bells ring and strong love grows
She grew up good
She grew up slow
Like American honey

Steady as a preacher
Free as a weed
Couldn’t wait to get goin’
But wasn’t quite ready to leave
So innocent, pure and sweet
American honey...

There’s a wild, wild whisper
Blowin’ in the wind
Callin’ out my name like a long lost friend
Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh nothing’s sweeter than summertime
And American honey


I can remember my mother humming everyday as a child. It made me feel loved, at peace, and completely content with the world. My daughter must have inherited this gene because she does the same thing. As she played with sunflowers and spun down the country lane she was humming the sweetest little melody you can even imagine. Ahhhhh! Thanks, mom, for passing this along.



*All of these pictures were taken with natural light. They were all shot wide open between F1.8 and 2.2. I used my 85mm 1.8 lens. I always love the depth I get with this lens and it has the most beautiful bokeh. I love sun haze and flare in any picture. My hubby can not figure it out. He can not understand why you would want to flood a perfectly good image with haze. :) He's just going to have to get used to it because I'm not gonna quit.