I always talk about how nature is beautiful; but so are many man-made things. This is a crumbling sidewalk I found at one of my favorite parks. I feel like no one appreciates it, and I thought it was really cool. 

It's simple man-made things like this that I really love. It blows my mind how simple yet pretty things like this can be, and how people can create things like this. 

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

- Revelation 21:4 

I know I probably shouldn't make a religious post, but oh well. It's a big part of me. It isn't just a religion to me either; it a lifestyle. There's so many things to say on this subject but I think it will become a little ranty. 

Anyway, the main reason I posted this one is to remind myself that there is hope. The water might be choppy now, maybe stormy, but if you keep swimming, keep trooping on, you will eventually come to that gorgeous horizon where the sun shines and the stars sparkle all for you. 

This picture makes me hope. 

I think pictures of flowers are always my best shots. 

My grandmother, who practically raised me for 3 years, died recently, and one of her things were flowers. She loved flowers. She would make it a point to point out flowers every time I was out an about with her, and I can almost hear her say even now that flowers were one of God's greatest creations. 

I agree. 

Flowers make me feel peaceful, and happy. I think a big reason I love them so much was because of her too. I just love how something so small, so seemingly insignificant, can be so gorgeous. Each one is completely different from te next, and yet each still beautiful. 

Why can't we view people like that? Each person is beautiful but in their own separate way - just like flowers. 

I make it a point to get the best shots for flowers. I really want to try to bring out as much of their beauty as I can. 

Thanksgiving is honestly normally one of the hardest holidays for me. I find it really hard to be thankful for what I have even though I do really have it good. My life may not be perfect but I have a lot of things tht I really should be super thankful for. I know I've posted a day late but this Thanksgiving was a really fantastic one, an I didn't want to pull away from the magic. 

Aside from the most wonderful people that I'm so lucky to have in my life, I'm thankful for my photography. I would be completely lost without it. It's probably one of the only things that keep me sane. And on top of that, I'm thankful for all the beautiful things God has put into this world for me to capture, and I'm thankful for the opportunities to photgraph them. I'm so thankful to have the amazing camera I have. That's probably the one material thing I wouldn't want to lose; it's practically always attached to me! 

This picture especially is important to me. It symbolizes recovery, and how wounds can fade to scars with the help of the beauty in life. Some days I feel very depressed, but that's a part of the process. Scars may never fully go away, but they will always tell the story of what happened to you and how you overcame that. And that's why they're important. My grandpa says that scars are natural tattoos with stories and memories and feelings attached to them. I think it's important to have scars to say that you've lived, and that you've enjoyed life, and that the moments you don't enjoy it were overcome. 

Today was a tough one, really. But there will always be days like that. You just have to hold on to hope, and believe in better days. It's so important to be thankful for what you already have too, and I have a lot, even though it doesn't seem like it sometimes. 

I'm so blessed. 

Especially with beautiful pictures from sights like this. :)

First of all, how cool is this flower? Nature does some weird things! I found this outside of a Dunkin Donuts and I thought it was fake at first. It's such a weird and beautiful flower. 

But at the end of a long hard day like today was, it's important to find things like this to brighten it up a little bit. I try to find something beautiful every single day, whether it's a flower or a poem or a feeling, so that I have something to be happy about. And even when I can't find something, I can look back at my pictures a remember the joy these things brought me, and that is my thing to be happy about that day. 

This is exactly why I love photography. On days where I can't find anything beautiful, I can look at all the emotions I have captured in a picture, and that is enough. 

For this one, I was actually lucky enough to be able to get it from a seventh floor balcony. This was in Daytona Beach; since it was a youth retreat, we were required to get up super early, and it was amazing being able to see the sunrise every day for five days in a row. Even now once in a while I will get up early to watch the sunrise; they're just as beautiful as sunsets, and much less appreciated. 

The thing I like about sunrises is that they symbolize a new day, a new hope. If the day before wasn't good, then you have a new day to start out fresh and be happy. If something went wrong you can start again. I love not only the sheer beauty of the sunrise but what it symbolizes as well. Although at the time I was not happy about having to get up early, once I saw that sunrise I was immediately thankful. It had changed my perception; I look forward to each new sunrise.