Sarah and Omar: A Winter Engagement
There are not enough words express the beauty and enjoyment we received from photographing this incredible couple. Their love was shining and it was our pleasure to capture those moments with our cameras. It was an evening filled with laughter, merriment and precious memories. We gaze with excitement towards their future and the journey they will share.
Liz and Jimmy’s Wedding
When people try to tear you down,
I will be your shield,
I’ll be your guardian,
I’ll be your everything.
Love is like a river,
Taking me down to the sea,
And when I fall into the ocean,
Tastes like heaven,
Just like heaven.
This Heart of Mine: Spokane, Washington
I wandered through the cool of the evening, with the gentle hush of flowers blooming around me, and in the clearing of grass, a ballerina was leaping through the air. The growing dark seemed to only bring more magic to the fantastical place. I was in a perfect moment in time, and my heart was full with love and life. I longed for it to stretch on. In this piece of heaven, how could I not have joy?
I wasn’t in some mythical land of fiction, but in Spokane, Washington.
The nature photos were taken late in the evening on an August day at Manito Park, and that was where the magic occurred. The park is truly something to see and it is a gem in the area. There is the rose garden, the Japanese gardens, acres of green grass, walking trails, and even swing sets and play areas for your children to explore. It was a dream of a place. I imagined Mary Lennox from “Secret Garden” may have had similar feelings as I had in the beauty, complexity, and yet also simplicity of nature. 
I didn’t have as much time in Spokane as I would have liked, but I tried to still explore and was sure to take a walk downtown to photograph their streets before leaving.
I stayed in a hotel called Ruby2 and it was perfect. It only cost $62 dollars a night by booking through AirBNB and I was happy to be in the downtown area. The hotel itself had stunning rooms. They were clean, spacious, and equipped with a desk area. There was also a luxurious marble shower, with complimentary scented soaps of rosemary, chamomile and bergamot. When I stepped out of the shower, I was kept warm by the wall heater and wrapped myself in soft, fluffy towels. It was easy to get ready with the provided blowdryer and my toiletries spread across the expansive vanity. They also served breakfast downstairs and used local coffee which I found refreshing.
A dear friend of mine lives there, in Spokane. We met up early in the morning since she had work and shared a cup of coffee. I shared many stories about life back in El Paso, TX and she told me how things were different in Washington. It was good to see her as well as to hear about her life in the northern part of our land. I was sad when she had to go.
Spokane seemed a place I could have spent days exploring. I wish I had planned more time there, but I pray I will be back soon. Seattle called and I couldn’t stay. I was off to the next chapter of my trip.
I will post again in a short time and share more of my travels and places in the cities I went and enjoyed most. For now it is back to life in Texas, and getting settled back into the everyday workings that make up this home of mine.
A Journey
Before me is a road, where it goes I do not know.
What lays beyond I can not see, I give no pause and follow thee.
———-
The evening air grew crisp and the buzzing of the bees faded to a dim whisper as the chirping of birds grew in volume. I was sitting on a hill, a blanket beneath me and food messily spilling from bags. It was a lovely picnic and I sprawled out soaking in the lingering rays of sun. It was serene and I drank in the mountain air and admired the work of nature.
I rolled over and fumbled for my camera then propped myself up on my elbows to steady my Nikon and document the moment. The photo I posted above was my view that evening. Though I am proud of my work, it doesn’t quite do the actual sight justice. It does however remind me of my emotions at the time. I felt loved, enveloped by caring arms and hands.
I have been on a journey these past few weeks across the greatest country to ever exist, searching for questions and answers alike. When you are given a moment such as the one I received that evening you find a certain understanding. You may not be sure what it is and will still have to work and seek the answers but you do learn you are not alone.
There is always someone who loves you, cares for you, and will draw you close to their hearts and offer you comfort from the trials you have faced.
I still am off wondering the land but soon this little adventure and chapter of my life will close but with every turning page and bump along the road I know I am loved and love in return. If I place my faith where it needs to be and continue with hope what new and wonderous beauty awaits?
For now I close simply by saying, “God is in front, and I follow behind.”
Jillian
Minions’ Photography
P.S.
Please forgive any grammatical errors. My wonderful and amazing younger sister is normally so kind as to look over my work but since I am traveling my sloppiness will have to do!
A Journey
Before me is a road, where it goes I do not know.
What lays beyond I can not see, I give no pause and follow thee.
———-
The evening air grew crisp and the buzzing of the bees faded to a dim whisper as the chirping of birds grew in volume. I was sitting on a hill, a blanket beneath me and food messily spilling from bags. It was a lovely picnic and I sprawled out soaking in the lingering rays of sun. It was serene and I drank in the mountain air and admired the work of nature.
I rolled over and fumbled for my camera then propped myself up on my elbows to steady my Nikon and document the moment. The photo I posted above was my view that evening. Though I am proud of my work, it doesn’t quite do the actual sight justice. It does however remind me of my emotions at the time. I felt loved, enveloped by caring arms and hands.
I have been on a journey these past few weeks across the greatest country to ever exist, searching for questions and answers alike. When you are given a moment such as the one I received that evening you find a certain understanding. You may not be sure what it is and will still have to work and seek the answers but you do learn you are not alone.
There is always someone who loves you, cares for you, and will draw you close to their hearts and offer you comfort from the trials you have faced.
I still am off wondering the land but soon this little adventure and chapter of my life will close but with every turning page and bump along the road I know I am loved and love in return. If I place my faith where it needs to be and continue with hope what new and wonderous beauty awaits?
For now I close simply by saying, “God is in front, and I follow behind.”
Jillian
Minions’ Photography
P.S.
Please forgive any grammatical errors. My wonderful and amazing younger sister is normally so kind as to look over my work but since I am traveling my sloppiness will have to do!
Splintered but Whole
I may be broken, pieces of me splintered like wood, yet I remain whole. I am capable of withstanding the storm, the bleakness and trials this life deals out like a magician with a card trick. Though I am weathered, I sense that I am being molded and tested to fulfill a greater purpose I have yet to understand. I stand firm in my faith and look heavenward to arms I know will love and comfort.
I have begun a new journey. One I did not expect to take but am willing to tread. Who knows where this winding adventure will lead me or what heartaches and joys I shall undertake, but I am here to undergo them all.
I am taking two weeks to travel and photograph our nation that I love. I feel it will take me along a path of self discovery and also allow me to appreciate the beauty of this world God has given us. I am impatient to begin, yet also tentative. I feel if I take these steps I will traverse into the unknown, which is both an exhilarating emotion as well as a scary one, for at the beginning of every path there is that moment where you wish to turn back to the safe – to the ordinary – and yet here you are gazing at the future, heart pounding.
Your hand outstretches and you know God is in front, and you follow behind.
Each Day is a Gift
Through Your earth I walk, gazing at Your works of art. Reaching out to touch the clouds I feel that heaven is within my grasp. I am no longer alone, nor do I feel the pains of the world surrounding. You are by my side to protect and defend but also to show me that life is beautiful.
This particular sunrise, as well as the sunset I had the privilege of photographing as the day drew to a close, was something spectacular to see. There have been struggles lately in my life as well as my family’s and yet despite it all, when I wander the peaceful places of the earth, I find that I can embrace the trials and grow from them – learn from them.
It isn’t easy and it takes time but soon you find the burden you once carried lighten. You gaze around at all the marvels before your eyes, the talents and gifts you were given and you try to discover the best way to utilize them. Yet it is hard because how do you apply the gifts and when? What do you do with them and how do you please God and follow His will?
You must journey alone many a time to discover what it is that will bring you happiness and fulfill the life you were meant to lead.
Frozen in Time
Sunrise Over New Mexico
A moment is forever captured in time by a photograph. It is entrapped and frozen for all future generations to see what the photographer stood and saw those years past.
If only every moment in life were captured like a photograph so every memory we cherish would remain, as always in our mind, fresh and new like the day it happened.
This sunrise was unexpectedly beautiful. I was taken on a scouting excursion in New Mexico and had the privilege to photograph God’s great earth. It was something I had never done before, tramping across various mountains and landscapes. The scenery was impressive, and climbing over the rocks while balancing my camera to get ever higher made me feel as though the world was in the palm of my hand. It was an almost indescribable feeling of freedom and peace wrapped into one.
It brought a desire to go off adventuring more often and I have set my mind to do more tramping around on photography excursions.
A Wandering Musician: Chapter 4
Dark are thoughts with little faith,
Bleak are minds missing grace.
Sadness looms inside us all,
Without Him I would surely fall.
Chapter 4:
“Lorraine, aimlessly I have been wandering. I am full of questions but receive no answers. I am lost, my love: drifting in this ocean of uncertainty. When shall I be free?”
Grant tucked a note into his beat up suitcase then gazed in awe at the sight before him. He wished to capture the moment in his mind; the sound of birds swooping through the air while the sun and its beams peeked through the wood of the pier.
The noise of the lapping waves was welcome and pleasant. Almost like a mother gently humming a lullaby to her child. Grant smiled. He had no place to play tonight, nor a place to rest his head, but out here in God’s world he was hearing a symphony, and it seemed to bring some small joy to his burdened heart.
He took one last, longing, look then headed up the sandy beach. There were two lovers walking, their hands intertwined and the woman’s laughter echoed like the chiming of two glasses touching. He thought of how they made a beautiful song and he wished to write one for them. He had written many about his Lorraine and perhaps two other connected souls needed a hymn of their own.
He found himself in a bar that night. Grant asked the bartender if he could use the piano that sat on the stage. The man shrugged and said he didn’t care so Grant took to the stage and caressed the keys.
It was on a Sunday so there was only an occasional patron who would come and disturb the bartender’s reverie as he listened to Grant play. It was like the musician was weaving an enchantment across the place and though the barkeep had placed many years between the girl he loved and the present, he thought of her then as he listened to the song. It didn’t cause him pain but it was pleasant to see her face laughingly dance before his eyes and he was filled with a happiness he hadn’t known for a long while.
“Lorraine, when I sing they leave me––the questions and the answers I seek. Also all the thoughts that weigh me down get left behind. The music seems to take the sadness away. Even though many a time I sing a mournful tune and it makes my heart heavy, it seems to express what I feel better than words ever could and so while I play, the torment has a release.”
*Note: This is a fictional story of a musician named Grant. It is loosely based on the places I traveled as a musician in a band. I was inspired by the photographs we had taken over the years as we went from coast to coast and North to South. Another source of inspiration was a song called “Suitcase Full of Sparks” by Gregory Alan Isakov since it brought to mind all the miles, joys and hardships of life as a musician.
I hope you enjoy it.
A Wandering Musician: Chapter 3
The bells are ringing, the choirs are singing,
Another year has gone by.
The Father above, in his Heavenly love,
Sent his only Son to die.
Chapter 3:
“Love, Christmas is here. There is no snow but occasionally it feels cold enough you can imagine that it might come before the day is o’er. Church on Christmas Eve was a heavenly thing. I swore the sky had opened and it was the angels who were singing the hymn of “O Holy Night.” I prayed and found for a moment my heart was at peace.”
Grant was sitting at the corner table, sipping his coffee and watching the sun through a glass ornament. It was a quaint coffee bar. He would play to the few people who had nowhere to go and no loved ones to spend the season with. They smiled and tipped him what they could before they left to wander again aimlessly, not knowing where they shall go.
It was growing dark and the shop was closing but they were allowing the musician to sit and enjoy his hot drink while the barista cleaned before leaving for the night. Grant sighed as he stared at the note resting before him: his scrawl–spidery and large. His gaze returned to looking out the window and smiled as a family ran by all holding hands to get out of the cold.
He hummed a Christmas tune as he wrapped the scarf around his neck then buttoned up his coat. He shook the hand of the barista and went out into the cold still humming the song.
“Lorraine, do you believe in miracles? I do, because a woman such as you loved a man like me. This year has been long and our time apart hard but I am learning how to be patient. I will see you again soon.”
*Note: This is a fictional story of a musician named Grant. It is loosely based on the places I traveled as a musician in a band. I was inspired by the photographs we had taken over the years as we went from coast to coast and North to South. Another source of inspiration was a song called “Suitcase Full of Sparks” by Gregory Alan Isakov since it brought to mind all the miles, joys and hardships of life as a musician.
I hope you enjoy it.
Minions’ Photography Gallery
Merida: “Touch the Sky” – From the Disney Royals Collection by Minions’ Photography @ minionsphotography.com
Snow White: “Make a Wish” – From the Disney Royals Collection by Minions’ Photography
Elsa: “My Soul is Spiraling” – From the Disney Royals Collection by Minions’ Photography @ minionsphotography.com
“The Iveys” By Minions’ Photography
Minions' Photography 