kinfolk vol 7 || a giveaway + some thoughts

Today is a milestone day for this special little corner of mine. It has been two years since I clicked 'publish' on my first post on this blog & a couple of months over that since I started blogging. In a way, it does not feel like two years. But that is the strange thing about time. It changes you. Slowly, but surely. You don't usually realize it while it is happening, till one day, when you turn back & peer down the small dirt path behind.

I have changed a lot since I started blogging. I am not that girl who used to spend an hour adding 20+ effects to a photo on picnik. I am not that girl who used to post almost everyday in order to get more followers, & not because she really cared about sharing her thoughts. I am not that girl who thought Blackadder ITC was the most amazing font ever & used it in her blog design. I am not that girl who used to use colour selection & thought her photos looked amazing. I am not that girl who used to get frustarted because her flash kept popping up & she had no idea how to stop it. I am not that girl who thought she looked 'professional' just because she had a dslr around her neck. I am not that girl anymore.

Sometimes I just want to delete my blog archive. I blush every time I think of all those silly blog posts I published, once upon a time. But I won't delete them. They show how much I have grown & changed, in both photography & blogging. And though there is SO much more to learn, I don't ever want to forget how much I have already grown & how I started out.

I want to say THANK YOU to all the wonderful, lovely, sweet, & brilliant people who have followed me along on this blogging journey. This is going to sound totally cliché, but I would not be here writing this post right now if it wasn't for all your sweet comments & encouraging notes, emails, messages, letters, & cards. I really mean it! There were times in the past when I considered deleting my blog because I thought it wasn't 'good enough', but you wonderful people kept me going. I just love you all BUNCHES! <3

And here's a little giveaway for all my lovely friends (& also for the ones I haven't met yet :)...
a Rafflecopter giveaway hugs,
e

p.s. this giveaway is open internationally. ends 4/2.

dear winter

I like you. I really do. You are full of beauty, the still & silent kind, the kind that makes people want to stare in wonder. I like the pink roses you paint on cold cheeks. I like cuddling up in a blanket with a cup of hot cocoa & watching as you cover the world outside in brilliant white. I like snow days, building snowmen, racing down snow-covered slopes, & breathing in your fresh, icey scent. You are a wonderful, glorious season.

My dear winter, there is something you should know. Today is the first day of spring. I know you like overstaying your welcome here up north, but really, just this once... please make way for spring. Please. I beg you with all my heart.

sincerely,
e

portraits of my sister || the beauty of stories

Once upon a time there lived a girl who loved books. She loved hearing the crackle of a book's spine when she opened it for the first time. She loved the feel of the pages & the simple joy of turning them. But most of all, she loved the stories. She loved them so much in fact, that she spent many a moment wishing... wishing they could come to life.

But as she was gazing out the window one day, thinking about all the characters she had come to know over the years, she realized... they were real. She thought back to all the times she had laughed when they laughed & cried when they cried & rejoiced when they rejoiced. Yes, they were real. They had always been. Even after their stories had been told & even after she had long closed the back cover of their books, they still lived on. They lived on inside her head. Her imagination brought them to life & that made them real.

She realized that as long as stories were remembered, as long as people cared, characters would live on. Brought to life simply by the fact that there was someone left who cared enough to remember them. That is the enduring beauty of stories. They live on even if there is only one person left who cares... you. And they can always be passed on.

hello again

read. listen. remember. make.

This feels good. To be typing a blog post out again. It's been a while & I have missed it. But the truth is, I needed this impromptu break. I did not want to admit it to myself for the longest time, but I really did. As much as I love blogging, it had become way more of a duty than a pastime. I needed to step back & refocus a bit. And I have. I have taken more photos this past month than the last couple combined. I'd forgotten the joy of shooting! It feels so good to be shooting photos for the sake of moments & memories and not for that half-written blog post. I want my blog to revolve around my life, not my life to revolve around my blog. I'd forgotten all that. This month-long break helped me remember. And now it is so great to be back! :)

I have an abundance of photos + exciting things to share with you all in the next couple of weeks!  Ahhh, I can't wait!!!

hugs,
e