baby bump

i can't wait to meet the little love and future resident of camp hope in this woman's belly. ♥.

a tent col de sac

walking through camp hope

water

Water is a precious thing in Haiti and this little girl knows it.

sunset over camp hope (haiti)

One week.

It went so fast.

I blinked and I was Haiti.

I blinked again and I am home.

Yesterday, I was in 95 degree weather and pretty sure my skin would just melt off of me into a puddle in the dirt only to dry up and disappear fifteen seconds later.

Today, I woke up to three inches of snow outside my window and giant fluffy snowflakes in Portland. The past week has all been very surreal.

Side note: remember in my last post when I said crazy things happen when I am in Haiti? Engagements happen when I'm in Haiti. My good friend Leisha got engaged to her man, Fred. So excited for them. They live in Africa but will be getting married and celebrating in Portland. I'm so excited to share in the celebrations with these two.

It was so wonderful and good for my soul to be at Camp Hope, to see those beautiful faces again and to meet many more. I loved the work I was there to do, to meet and capture the faces and world of those living in the camp and to give them back those memories and share them with you all.

I felt good about the work we were there to do. I have some conflicting thoughts about how some of the other work is being done down there but I'll save that ranting for somewhere less public.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip.

I am so glad I was able to go back and I can't wait to go back again.

I want all my friends to experience Haiti.

Maybe you could join me?

Mid-June

Think about it.

send me on my way

Can I start this post by saying real quick that it was SNOWING when I woke up this morning in Portland. I haven't really seen more than 4 snowflakes all winter and it was just comin' down this morning.

I looked out the window and started laughing.

Big things happen when I leave the country.

Karyn and Annie both got engaged when I left for Haiti in September.

Who knows what craziness will happen when I leave this time..

Friends, at this very moment. I am en route to Port Au Prince, Haiti. Well, currently I am sitting in a PDX airport Starbucks using the free wi-fi (love it).

It's been so busy these past couple months that I don't even think I announced via blog that I was heading back to Haiti. I haven't even had much time to think about and pray about what's in store for this trip until now.

I'm so stinkin' excited to have the opportunity to go back so soon. I wasn't even really thinking about a return trip until the summer rolled around but life throws funny curve balls sometimes and here I go, with a paid week of vacation and enough money fundraised for my last trip to pay for a bulk of this trip. I just love when God busts the doors wide open. I respond well to that. GO!

Okay, here I go!

vs.

THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU MAY BEST BE USED AND MAKE A WISE DECISION.

Um..I could do this...I could go there...Or what about there..?

Most of the time I just need that neon sign, that 2x4 that makes the road ahead unmistakable. I got that neon sign so here I am on my way.

Carly (a friend I went to Haiti with last April) and I will be returning to work on a portrait project in Camp Hope, an IDP camp about an hour outside of Port Au Prince. We'll get to see patients that we worked with before and continue building those relationships.

Basically, our time will be mostly going from tent to tent talking with families, hearing their stories and taking pictures. Carly is going to do some colored pencil art projects with the kids in the camp and I am hoping to lead some mini photography classes for some of the amputees. I've got a handful of disposable cameras and really want to see them take the world into their own lens and see the world through their eyes.

In my world, this is a dream come true.

I cannot wait.

Just, three more airports and stops between me and Camp Hope.

love actually is all around.

Here's a collection of lovey pictures I took over the year and a couple quotes.

Love is tricky. It is never mundane or daily. You can never get used to it. You have to walk with it, then let it walk with you. You can never balk. It moves you like the tide. It takes you out to sea, then lays you on the beach again. Today's struggling pain is the foundation for a certain stride through the heavens. You can run from it, but you can never say no. It includes everyone.

-Amy Tan, The One Hundred Secret Senses

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around. -Love Actually

Happy Valentine's Day

You are loved.

You Are My Sunshine, The Civil Wars at Eddie's Attic

So. Good.

I am so incredibly grateful I got to see these two when they came through Portland.

This was always my favorite song as a little girl. My favorite stuffed animal was this little lion and I could wind him it up and it would play the song. I never knew that the actual lyrics were so incredibly sad until The Civil Wars sang it. I love sad songs though, so in that way, it makes sense.

BTW- The Civil Wars just released their album Barton Hollow. You'd be a fool if you don't get yourself a copy. Don't be a fool :)

The other night dear, as I lay sleeping
I dreamed I held you in my arms
But when I awoke, dear, I was mistaken
So I hung my head and I cried.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

I'll always love you and make you happy,
If you will only say the same.
But if you leave me and love another,
You'll regret it all some day:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

You told me once, dear, you really loved me
And no one else could come between.
But not you've left me and love another;
You have shattered all of my dreams:

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

In all my dreams, dear, you seem to leave me
When I awake my poor heart pains.
So when you come back and make me happy
I'll forgive you dear, I'll take all the blame.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away

hope

My lovely roommate and friend got married yesterday. It was such a beautiful and perfect day, perfectly them. I loved everything about it and I loved that I could be a part of it. They are truly a gift of a couple and I am so happy for them and their new life together.

Karyn gave each of us bridesmaids a unique necklace made my a local artist. This is a picture of the one that she got for me and I cannot even tell you how much I love it.

I'm a little slow sometimes, you'll see..

This is how it went down...

On it's front, there are dots and dashes.

"Oooh, I love it!! It's engraved and unique with that brushed metal. Cool dots and dashes.."

I flipped it over and gushed that it said HOPE.

"Oh yay! It says HOPE, that's my word! I love it!"

...

"It looks so pretty with those dots and dashes on front, like that the hope part is like a secret on the back."

...

"Oh! Morse code?! Does it SAY hope in MORSE CODE?!"

"This is the coolest necklace of. all. time."

help

I spotted this cart full of belongings on a walk to get some coffee before my friend's wedding on Saturday morning. As we ladies walked by, filled with talk about the big day ahead: photos, dresses, dancing, ceremony etc, I couldn't help but feel the heaviness of this plea.

There was no cart owner to be seen, but man, perspective comes at me like a two by four sometimes.

Faces of Haiti at Elliott Bay Book Co.

Friends, my best friend Steph and I have our images of Haiti up on the walls of Elliott Bay Book Co. in Seattle, WA. I couldn't be happier and more thrilled to share this piece of my heart with the world, with friends and family, with strangers.

It's an amazing feeling.

After we hung our work on the walls, we just stepped back teary-eyed and emotional watching people bustle by, stop and read our write up, really look at the images, engage with friends about the pictures.

It was a beautiful moment.

I wish I lived in Seattle this month, I would be at this cafe all the live long day just soaking it all in and reliving those memories of friends at Camp Hope in Haiti.

But I won't have to relive the memories for long because I am headed back two weeks from today.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

If you're able to stop by and see it, please do!