Love is a messy thing. If I've learned one lesson in this past year, my intro into motherhood, it's that love makes a wreck. When you truly, deeply love someone that love comes in and turns everything upside down. For me, love always comes slowly. The first sign of feeling love's crazy emotional roller coaster isn't thrilling for me, but sobering. I see myself going up and up and up, knowing there is about to be a crazy ride down, then up again, then down again for the rest of my life. Love, for me, is saying  "yes" to all of it. My personality can easily make love's wild ride seem steady by looking at the bigger picture, but it is chaotic nonetheless. Love grabs me and takes me through it all. It turns and whirls unexpectedly, and it has made a mess of things before I even realize it at all. Love is a messy, wild thing.

Savannah is such a romantic city. The feel I get when walking along the old cobblestone roads is one of nostalgia. Oh, if those streets could speak! It's almost as if I can feel the years that have past and sense the stories housed in the old walls and trees. If I was a writer I would certainly go there to be inspired. Jonathan and I decided to add a few days onto my work trip to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. Bringing Eleanora back again was a joy as well. I look forward to showing her these memories of our time together one day. Whenever I travel my heart feels the dichotomy between taking in the beauty of things behind my lens and the pull to be completely unencumbered to focus on experiencing it with those around me. I took my camera with me on just a few outings and then left it back at our place for the rest. It was the perfect balance between my two worlds. I feel so passionate about being both an artist and mother, and discovering how to do both with excellence. This trip was a huge part of that for me.

This year, my good friend Ashley and I decided that instead of presents we'd make a point to spend time together somewhere. Living in different cities can be difficult when it comes to friendship if you don't make a point to connect. Ash and I have been through so much together that we always pick up right where we left off. Sometimes we talk everyday, sometimes we don't talk for a week or two. She's a gem of a friend.

"Much of the beauty that arrises in art comes from the struggle an artist wages with his limited medium." (Henri Matisse)

When the nearly uncontrollable urge to create something new in my space hits me, (as it does every few months...or weeks) I often like to challenge myself to only use what I have. Like everyone, I can succumb to the craving for more stuff, things I don't actually need at all. One of the ways I combat that is to force myself not to buy anything when I get the itch to rearrange. It is both frustrating and thrilling to have work and rework things until it's just right. Most of the time I walk away more satisfied than if I had bought something new. It happened just last night with my office space and I couldn't be more pleased with the result. My limitations have the potential to make room for more creativity if I let them. In many ways, confines are where the an artist can find the most inspiration. I never thought of limitations as a gift until a few days ago. I started thinking that maybe the things we feel limit us are actually where our lives and art can be the most authentic and beautiful.