Blog Relaunch: Born Running

I was born a runner. Some days I run from people, pain, memories, and fears. Some days I run towards progress, goals, others, and Jesus. I'm seeing that there's nothing wrong with being a runner; I just have to monitor my direction. I'm an 110%, all in kind of gal with a drive for perfection and a hunger for raw authenticity wrapped up in beautiful messiness. This little space on the World Wide Web has been less than perfect and all kinds of beautiful messy. I started as a hobbyist photographer and today I find myself running on in life with a desire to go in a new direction with this little space on the web.

                Dear gals [soul sisters, cravers of beauty, and lovers of insanity]

                Welcome to Moriah Mari!! It is a place of inspiration, encouragement, and healing for gals who long to live life to the fullest. It's for those who sometimes put too much on their plate, get excited about new opportunities, and desire to make the most out of life. It's for those who've grown weary when they didn't want to, been broken when they least expected it, and lost what they didn't think they would.  It's a place of healing because we're living in a world with a heart breaking from an ache too great to carry.

                What will you see here on the blog? A lot of inspiration and hope. I'm praying that every post will bring rest to your soul, whether it's a tasty new recipe, creatively inspiring photo shoot, or words tumbling out of my heart and hoping to be heard with grace by yours. I'd love to see this as a place of connection. So, please reach out, leave comments, and send e-mails.

               I'm here to live a story of insane love. Come join me!

Moriah

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Over Coffee (or tea) : A Favorite Memory

It's a series about hearts, the raw, and beauty.  It's the lights stuff and the hard stuff.  It's what we might share if we were sitting down over coffee (or tea).

When I asked for questions, Haley commented and mentioned the word "memory". That inspired today's post.

I was two years old when I made a decision.  I don't remember how I made it or what inspired it but it must have been the same thing that inspires hundred of other big sisters. I wanted a little sister. I began praying, they were two year old prayers that grew to six year old prayers.  Two little brothers and four years from that big decision the last child in our family was born and that baby was a girl! I remember being incredibly excited.  I can still distinctly remember when my dad came down the hall at the hospital and told us that it was a girl.  I remember seeing her for the first time.  She looked nothing like me (she still looks nothing like me:).  I have dark hair her's is blond.  I have green/hazel eyes her's are blue.  Yep, we stick out but we're okay with that.:)

She's my baby sister and I'll probably never forget that moment when I found out God answered my prayer!

 This is us one year ago. Photo: courtesy of my wonderful aunt.:)

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My Sister : Portrait Session

There's lots of wonderful jobs out there (I know, I have three of them:) but I think the best part of any job is touching other people's lives.  As a photographer it's my mission to "To capture beauty.  To tell stories.  To touch hearts."  There's something rewarding about someone loving their pictures.  There's a knowledge that it's really an honor to document someone's existence, to tell their story through pictures and then also through words here on the blog.

This is my little sister. She's fun and full of personality. An expert at interjecting humor into a tense moment, she has a delightfully quirky sense of humor and she loves nothing better than a hair raising adventure. She's special for so many reason, there isn't any one thing that makes her her rather it's all the crazy, incredible, real things combined that make her the beautifully unique individual she is.  She's the girl who loves late night sleepovers and dreams of someday skydiving.  She's also the girl who is crazy about organization and is looking at graduating two years early.  She is a special young lady and I can only imagine the amazing things the Lord may see fit to do in and through her!

She has A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. eyes!!

I love you girl!

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On Curly Hair and Being A Photographer : Personal

I really wanted curly hair.  My friends had talked all about this curly girl thing.  I read the book.  I  researched and researched ('cause I love research).   I tried the methods I listened to the experts and somehow success just wasn't meant to be mine.  Greasy hair, crunchy hair, those things I could achieve but gorgeous curls, they weren't happening.  Years later I looked in the mirror.  "When did I get this curly hair I'd dreamed of?"  I wondered. 

"Is your hair naturally curly?"  It's the question every girl dreaming of curls is wishing she could hear.  It's a question I hear now but not one I used to (believe me:).

I worked so hard to have curly hair but my curls weren't achieved in an instant or even in the 6-8 weeks the experts promised.  My curls were achieved through time, consistence, and finding my own rhythm.  Believe it or not, everyday still isn't a perfect hair day for this curly girl.  Some days my hair is just sad.

I think it sounds a lot like photography.  I can read the articles and research, research, research.  I can listen to the experts and try to copy them but I won't be a good photographer until I spend time just clicking the shutter, until I forget a few of the rules and find a rhythm.

I kind of forgot about my perfect curls obsession and it was somewhere in the forgetting that I got those curls.  Maybe it's somewhere in the forgetting of the perfect photographer that we start to really craft our art!

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