Coffee and Cameras

Sometimes it takes falling to the bottom to realize what's at the base of it all holding you. Here I see that God is still there, and so are you. For all of your comments, messages, hugs, texts, quotes, advice, or just listening- Thank you.

I need it more than you could know. 

I'm sorry if I worried any of you, I promise I'm still alive and breathing. To prove that here are some pictures. 

sisters and best friends

I can't really tell you that everything is better or that I've got it all figured out. Most of everything is still in that I don't know box. But here are some things I do know.

- A drink is drink no matter which way you look at it -

We tend to define people or situations by which way you choose to see something- the glass half full or half empty. Is it good or is it bad? Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Which side do you choose to see? One of my friends said something interesting and it made me think differently about this concept...

"The glass can be half empty or half full, as long as I have something to drink." -Will Jorden

my ultimate battleship strategy

It's like this- most of the time when you're having a drink somewhere, there's someone that's with you. There's someone sitting next to you or across that table from you. And chances are, you're having a genuine conversation. You're not sitting there sulking or rejoicing over whatever is left in your coffee cup, or mug, or wineglass, or sonic slush (at least I hope you're not). And why should you? There is a person, a human being, sitting across from you. A person who needs you to listen. And chances are, you need them to listen to you too. 

At some point, your glass is going to be completely full or half full.

At some point, your glass is going to be half empty or just empty. 

But that doesn't dictate where the conversation goes or how your time is spent. 

Maybe that's how life is. 

I could tell you the parts of my life that feel empty right now.

I could also tell you the parts of my life that feel full. 

But more importantly, what matters is that I can tell you these things, and you will truly listen and love me. 

I can see my glass, but I can also see you. I think there's a balance in there somewhere. 

Doodle, my miniature donkey

I also can't deny that perspective is important.

-Sometimes you have to see life through a new lens-

my favoritest puppies

It's not always pretty or better or worse. It just is different. It takes a long time to figure out how to work a camera, how to focus the lens properly to take the picture you had in mind. It's not easy. Pictures come out fuzzy. You didn't align the aperture and the shutter speed in the right way. It's overwhelming. But you have to believe that sooner or later something will click. Maybe a beautiful background will fall into place and you'll capture it without even meaning to. 

Maybe you'll spend hours shooting without ever feeling like you captured what you wanted, and it isn't until days later when you upload the pictures to your computer that you see something you didn't see earlier. You couldn't see it then. 

Time takes time you know? 

And that's all I really do know for now. I'm not even sure how much of this I believe in yet, but I'm trying. I'm trying to accept that my glass can feel like something without that meaning I'm just an optimist or pessimist. And through all of that fuzzy glass, I'm still trying to see you. Because I do believe that when people stop truly seeing the people sitting across from them, we've lost meaning. 

My glass is half full and half empty, but I don't want that to be the only meaning. 

"Your friendships reflect the friend you are being... When you find your tribe, hold onto them. Respect them. Love them. Go find people who reflect back to you who you really are." 


"We didn't make a difference at all." -Amy Pond 
"I wouldn't say that. The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant." - The Doctor 


"It is dreadful when something weighs on your mind, not to have a soul to unburden yourself to. You know what I mean. I tell my piano the things I used to tell you." - Chopin 


"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day" - van Gogh

Beauty in Oklahoma, my home