As I prepare to close the books on my first year of being a flower farmer, I’ve been reflecting a LOT about what I’ve learned, what needs to change, and what my plans are for next year. While I’ve done side hustles before — including doing part-time photography work for years — I’ve never thrown …
Some Reflections on Serving an 18-Month Mission in a Foreign Country
Ten years ago yesterday, I wheeled my two suitcases into the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, said goodbye to my family for a year and a half, and began what will surely remain forever as one of the greatest adventures of my life–the chance I had to serve a religious mission for 18 months …
Lazy Gardening Hacks Learned From Our First Year of Having Our Own Yard/Garden
Here in Northern Utah, the nights are getting COLD, and the days are pretty brisk as well (we’ve been around 45 degrees for a lot of today). As it’s clear that our growing season is quickly coming to a close, and I’ve been harvesting the last of our vegetables and trying to savor the joy …
What Your Photographer REALLY Wishes You Knew Before Taking Family Pictures
Historically, fall has always been (by far) the busiest season for family photographers, at least around here. With the trees bursting into fall colors and the temperatures down to a more comfortable range, autumn has always been the darling of the family photography world. This year marks my fourth year in the world of doing …
Why My New Morning Routine Might Just Change My Life Forever
For years I’ve read countless blog posts and magazine articles touting the life-changing magic of set morning routines–from CEOs to famous yogis, prolific writers to politicians, it seemed that everyone was jumping on the morning routine bandwagon, and it made me feel, for awhile, that because my day didn’t start with a green detox smoothie …
Open Heart Surgery
No, this is not a post wherein I reveal some devastating medical scare (thank goodness)— This is a post where I talk about a book that, at just over 100 pages, has managed to change my life…probably forever (and I mean that literally). In fact, it was this book that caused me to stay up …
Simple Living Has to Be About More than Closets and Schedules to Be Fulfilling
Two months ago, I attended a church meeting that has had me pondering its messages ever since. A couple times a year, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints meet together for something called Stake Conference, where all the local congregations of the Church meet in two general sessions over a weekend …
Learning to Embrace Plan B
Every fall for the past three years, we’ve made a yearly tradition of going to a local apple orchard as a family. It was part of The Plan that this tradition would be long-standing and annual, with nothing or no one standing in the way of us getting our yearly cider fix and hundreds (!) …