Don't mind just little ol' me.

The first day of the 31 day blog challenge has me introducing myself with a "recent photo". This was taken back in December, but I still consider it recent. Hair is longer now, and the bangs grew out... hoping to get that taken care of in a few weeks. Just in time for my Disney trip mid-September.

How do you introduce pure awesome? I don't know, but if I could... well... okay, honestly? I wouldn't consider myself awesome. I'm just your typical Alaskan Grown woman trying to live her dreams, and be the best version of herself possible.

I was born and raised in South Central Alaska and still live here. After living on my own for a time I am back living with the parental units. I'm slowly but surely becoming "an adult" as I near that "dreaded" (at least by most) milestone of 30. Just a few months now. I've never really feared it, I'm more that girl in 13 Going on 30... I'm waiting to embrace it. "Thirty, flirty, and thriving!"

I am a tv and film junkie. My heroes are Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg. At one time my dream was to become a film director, but life has a way of changing priorities. I'm a photographer - have been since I was seven - and that's how I choose to tell my stories. I love my craft and am always trying to better myself at it. After 20+ years I know I will never tire of learning.

I'm outspoken, I'm honest, and I value loyalty above all else. This can be a blessing and a curse as I definitely do not trust easy, but once I do trust there's nothing I won't do for a person. I don't see this as something that I need to work against, but one that I need to acknowledge and use to my advantage. But I can see where some people think I've an unhealthy view of life. I'm not depressed or a recluse, but I could live as a hermit quite easily in today's world of social media!

While I try to be guarded, I still wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm quicker to temper than I'd like to be, and I'm not good at hiding my feelings even when I do hold my tongue.

I've been hurt, I've been scarred. I've learned that trust must always be earned and not given. That blood and family mean everything, but can also be the biggest hurt. That working through that takes time, and means more hurting - and more changes - than you think possible. There's so much I have inside me that begs to be let out, but can't due to things beyond my control. There's so much within me that wants to talk about it, but to those that I can talk about it they don't want to hear...

All this to say I'm a walking contradiction. But by the grace of God I move forward and move on and am blessed beyond measure. I'm random, rambling, and quite dull (ha ha?).

Anyway, I'm not sure how good I am at introducing myself. I'm not super creative with these sorts of things (just see my bio). So I apologize if this is boring, or redundant, or just stupid. It happens. 

And, just because I can... Michael Raymond-James being adorable as
Britt Pollack in the short lived Terriers on FX.