A Weekend with the Mah Family | Canmore Family Session

This family is so special to me. Jeff is my cousin and him and his partner, Hilary have worked really hard to build a life where they get to do what they love - run The Yoga Lounge in Canmore. I love going to visit them because they are so encouraging and supportive about pursuing your passion.

I got to spend the past weekend soaking in their family life and it was so much fun. Between playing shop, pretending that there were fires that Firefighter Clara had to put out, and bouncing around on the couch, I didn't want our time together to end.

Las Vegas x Arizona x Los Angeles

As we have gotten older, I've been seeing less and less of my siblings. Both my sisters live in different provinces right now. Even when they come home to visit we still don't get to spend the same quality time we did the past. Although my brother lives in the same house as me, social lives and age differences keep us separate. So it was pretty nice being able to spend a full two weeks with all of them, with limited wifi so we were forced to hang out with each other. We did a little circuit - landed in Los Vegas, drove to the Grand Canyon and spent a night in Flagstaff, explored Sedona for a day, spent a few days in Phoenix and another few in Los Angeles, then ended up in Las Vegas for the last leg of the trip. Spending so much time with my family made me realize that although sometimes they drive me absolutely crazy, I do love their company so much. My siblings are so ridiculously funny and so good to talk to. While I do enjoy my own personal space, a small part of me misses sharing a bed with my two sisters and all the time spent driving in a minivan.

I want to make sure I remember all the little things that happened this trip, because it'll be months before I get to see my sisters again. The first night in Las Vegas my younger sister and I stayed up till three in the morning looking over my food pictures on my phone. On Christmas we ate at Denny's for lunch. My mom yelled at me for jumping by the rail at the Grand Canyon. We rode Space Mountain for the first time ever. I cried laughing telling my older sister about something silly that happened regarding my younger sister and a coat. We watched Love the last night we were in Las Vegas and could not stop talking about it. I'm so, so grateful and thankful that my parents took us on this trip and I'm so glad we got so much out of it.

Miles

Dan and Jess had Miles about six months ago and it's so amazing to see how much love they have for him. It pretty much bursts at the seams and when they hold him you can just tell how proud they are to have such a beautiful boy. He's so lucky to have such great parents.

The Gwilliam Family

Josh and Danielle's daughter, Presley, turned one and so they decided to commemorate it with a photo session since before this all they really had were iPhone pictures. There's nothing I love more than a family that loves each other like this.

2012

Before this year I didn't really act much on what I really wanted to do. I would just imagine what my life would be like if I were a photographer. I would take photography seriously but not serious enough. It was always "what if?" and "maybe not". It was just a hope, always in the distance. I was studying something I really, really did not want to do and even though I tried to grind my way through it, there was no way I could lie to myself and think that I was actually happy in the field I was in. I was miserable. It was not what I wanted to do. It finally got so bad that I snapped and suddenly this wasn't a dream, suddenly this was the only thing I wanted to do and it weighed so heavily in my heart that suddenly all my fears were nothing. Yes, I'll switch majors. Yes I will practice and get good at this and the maybe's started becoming definitely's. One night at two in the morning I made a website. I bought a new camera. I spent a whole summer saving up for the only thing I've really wanted to do since I was sixteen.

Looking back on the year, 2012 was pretty big for me. I put myself out there and really tried, and I'm pretty sure it's working. I've never been happier, really; I've met so many great people who have helped me out a ton, both in giving me advice and encouragement and in pushing my limits in what I can do. I've started taking pictures that I am actually proud of. I've got a whole bunch of people I love and who are so supportive sometimes I just lie in bed at night and think about what a lucky person I am. 2012 was very good to me and I'm really excited to keep moving forward and seeing where I end up a year, two years, ten years from now.

I'm just really excited about life in general, and before this year, I don't think I could have really honestly said that.