smiling in bright lights.

All it takes is an adventure through the snow-packed woods with a few old friends, and suddenly you feel beautiful. Man, I wish I was beautiful (love Counting Crows). Photos of mountains are great, but sometimes we need photos of ourselves.

We all want something beautiful.

My friend Andrea, pictured above, came through to Fernie today from Manitoba. She's a truly dedicated friend who would literally go out of her way to see you, even if only for a few hours. And she's a photographer, so the three of us went out and snapped some shots at the Hosmer mine ruins.

"She's looking at you. Ah, no, no, she's looking at me."

It's been a great few days in Fernie, and spending the afternoon with friends on my last day here was truly so wonderful. We fell, Renee crash-landed in the snow, and we sunk up to our knees with freezing toes. The dye in my shoes ran into my white socks when we were done. But we are goof balls, and being goof balls is the only way to be.

When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely.

Having a timer on your camera also helps. I really try to avoid sentimentality when I blog, because readers don't usually indulge in it, but it's days like this that I simply cannot avoid it. I love my friends, and I love seeing them through the lens of my camera.

Dreadlocks can be so beautiful.

So, tomorrow it's back to Van-City and in search of a real job. But now, with degree done, I feel an entirely different feeling that I had prior to finishing school. A sense of relief, a sense of fun, and huge change.