Erin & Brent: Baby's Coming!

There's something so special about having someone you grew up with ask you to do maternity photographs for them, when they're five weeks away from giving birth. Especially if that someone was like a big sister to you growing up. Erin and Brent, I can't wait for baby Ben to arrive. Yesterday's shoot was way too fun, and with him around I'm sure the next one will be even better. These are only a small selection of the shots. I'll leave the parents-to-be to enjoy them privately.

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." - Elizabeth Stone

All shots taken in and around Fernie, BC. 

Sam & Emmett: engagement shoot

"You know you're in love when you can't fall sleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." - Dr. Seuss 

Today I had the pleasure of doing an engagement shoot with an old high school friend, who is getting married in May. I drove to Cranbrook and we made our way to a nearby park, the dry grass from last summer still blowing in the wind. It was a fun outdoor shoot, with great lighting, a slight breeze, and some fun colourful backdrops to choose from. But shooting people who love one another is easy. Thanks Sam and Emmett for a great first shoot! Can't wait for the wedding.

Challenge Day

Today, as a part of my work--but also as a part of what I feel is important--I attended what is called Challenge Day. The program, meant to provide youth with the opportunity to feel love, connection and change within and outside of their schools, runs from morning to mid-afternoon and (as I was forewarned) is packed thick with emotion.

I arrived early as an adult volunteer and wasn't sure what to expect. Hesitant and distant teenagers, who would be embarrassed to open up and be themselves in a large group? Reluctant youth scrambling for the nearest exit? I was quickly proven wrong.

The students in this group were astounding--all participated in different games and activities designed to build a sense of trust among the group, and all, at some point throughout the day, opened up to their peers about the struggles they face in their lives. Some have witnessed abuse, others have lost a loved one, many have felt alone at some point. All are courageous, and all are inspiring.

For myself, it was a test of endurance, how long could I hold out my emotions before letting what I feel and what I think completely engulf me. It didn't take long. Before I knew it I was crying with the others, embracing my fellow peers and divulging into my own balloon of worries and insecurities. It turns out that there are things in my life, too, that are at times difficult to maintain and compose. And it felt good, to cry about those things.

This program blew me away and left me feeling empowered and hopeful. That youth who struggle with family, friends, self-esteem, have some sort of outlet for their emotion and that--given the right support--will grow to feel loved, proud of who they have become.

Challenge Day's vision: that every child lives in a world where they feel safe, loved and celebrated.

We need to give more love. Every day. We need to hug and support and encourage those in our lives, even when we feel they don't need it.

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - Dumbledore

visit www.challengeday.org for more info.

Antigua, Guatemala

We visited 15 cities during our three-month backpacking trip, and still Antigua was my favourite. Colonial, cobbled streets, fresh and vibrant colourful buildings and incredible cathedrals; if there had to be a Central American city Antigua would be it.

Landslide in the mountains of Guatemala.

We arrived here after moving around for days between Mexico, Tikal and Semuc Champey in the middle of October. On our way here we encountered a landslide, which haulted our trip for more than three hours along a crowded highway, where indigenous and Guatemalan people alike stood in amazement at the chunks of earth that had fallen over the road. After switching buses and walking through property, where we were charged a toll of $1Q (about 25 cents), we gladly settled into a hostel for two nights before moving in with a local Guatemalan family. Anna Maria, a short and stout Guatemalan woman who has lived in Antigua her entire life, was our homestay mother for a week while we studied Spanish at a local school.

Our homestay mother, Anna Maria.

Day after day we would get up to a nice warm-milk breakfast, with scrambled eggs and toast that Anna Maria had prepared for us before heading off to our morning classes. We studied and then returned for lunch before continuing on in the afternoon. Not only was this a great way to learn Spanish, but it was also a great way to get to know the people of Guatemala. Proud and enduring, the women of this country showed me more tolerance and acceptance than I've ever known women to face. With no option to leave the country, single mothers who's husbands have abandoned them raise children with such vigour, it makes our North American opportunities seem petty. Rosario, my Spanish teacher, told me of her struggle to raise two boys in Antigua, and she befriended me quickly. Anna Maria's family was so welcoming that at the end of our week-long stay, I didn't want to say goodbye.

The archway, classic Antigua crafts and a little girl with her bunny rabbit.

The women, and the people in Guatemala, are proud and strong. They endure a corrupt government and police force and still find time for family dinners, laughter. They welcome two Canadian strangers into their home without the least bit of hesitation.

Learning at our Spanish school,
with our teachers.

We toured the city and visited tiny shops, markets filled with Guatemalan quilts and toys, and indulged in banana splits night after night at a local ice cream shop. It was such a fun time to relax and see the city, which is surrounded by volcanoes. Thought to be the 'protectors' of Antigua, the volcanoes save the city and its inhabitants from peril and natural disaster while other cities often struggle from floods during the rainy season. That, and it's such an incredible sight that it's nearly impossible not to summit one of the surrounding volcanoes. Which we did, and of which the story is soon to come.

As I sat on the rooftop of my school one day, I looked out to the volcanoes that surround the city and noticed one was erupting smoke. The sun was shining, the teal-green walls of the school shone bright in the daylight, and it dawned on me that I absolutely love Guatemala.

The cobbled streets of Antigua, with the Antigua Cathedral and
the Patrimonio Archway in the centre of the city, with Volcan Agua
in the background.

Semuc Champey: paradise

Friends of mine are travelling to Guatemala this month, and after my insisting they visit Semuc Champey, I've promised to blog well enough to convince them to listen to me.

Semuc Champey is unlike anything I've ever seen before on this earth. You drive on remote Guatemalan side roads and arrive in Lanquin, a tiny Guatemalan town situated in the thick jungle of the highlands. And just a short drive from Lanquin, up some winding roads and past indigenous farmland, hidden amongst the jungle vines and in a deep valley, is this turquoise-blue waterfall paradise that doesn't seem like it could possibly exist.

The entry of the river that flows beneath the limestone
bridge that is Semuc Champey.

Semuc is a series of pools and waterfalls created by karst topography - mainly over thousands of years limestone has eroded away and left these incredible pools. A river flows beneath them, and the pools are spring-fed, making the water the clearest aqua blue you could ever imagine. You jump from pool to pool. It's paradise.

And there's the cave adventures too. After the pools, a Guatemalan man (no more than 18 years old) hands us candle sticks and leads us to the top of a waterfall, where we head into a deep cave. With nothing but candles (and headlamps, for those who brought them) he leads us directly into the cave, where rushing water pours out. There's a waterfall within the cave that you walk underneath, and for the more daring, a small cliff jump into a deep pool before turning around and heading back out.

Semuc Champey is understatedly the most incredible place I have ever had the pleasure of seeing in my life. That is why, Leah-Rose and Rachel, you must visit it during your four weeks in Guatemala.

Stay at El Retiro Hostel, where they feed you dinner each night and you rest in a tiny thatch-roofed hut (you may have to kill a few cockroaches here and there), and soak in all things Guatemala.

The hut we stayed in at El Retiro Lodge, and my and two
friends from Vancouver, who ironically met up with us in
Semuc Champey.

The book list, and great books

Over my three travelling months I had the pleasure of reading six books (and one terrible harlequin romance), all of which contributed to my crossing off my book list, 25 Books to Read Before I'm 25. I'll talk about them in a minute, but I just finished reading such an incredible book to complete my list, that is deserves first attention. Even though I did not meet my required deadline of March 6, the day I turned 25, I am only 20 days behind and glad I was able to finish with such a great read.

Into Thin Air, written by renowned journalist and mountaineer Jon Krakauer, had me from the get-go. A first-hand account of the Mount Everest disaster in 1996, where 12 mountaineers and guides lost their lives in an attempt to summit to the highest place on earth. It was gripping, moving, and saddening, to read of the determination that leads man - and woman - to his untimely, frigid death.

I don't want to give too much detail, but the author takes us into the trying weeks of an ascent up Everest with guides and fellow clients, as they are pummeled with altitude sickness, freezing temperatures, and - on more than one occasion - with death.

Krakauer wrote this with such emotion only months after he arrived down Everest that it's impossible to read without feeling the pain and suffering that climbing to such an alititude presents. As a journalist, he does an incredible job of introducing the sport of climbing, so that even those unaware of the dedication and determination that one such climber carries with him/her are able to have some understanding. His research, interviews, and self-accounts of May 10, 1996, at more than 29,000 feet, had me not wanting to do anything else but read.

"People who don't climb mountains -- the great majority of humankind, that is to say -- tend to assume that the sport is reckless, Dionysian pursuit of escalating thrills. But the notion that climbers are merely adrenaline junkies chasing a righteous fix is a fallacy, at least in the case of Everest. What I was doing up there had almost nothing in common with bungee jumping or skydiving or riding a motorcycle at 120 miles per hour... Above the comforts of Base Camp, the expedition in fact became almost a Calvinistic undertaking. The ratio of misery to pleasure was greater by an order of magnitude than any other mountain I'd been on; I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium, and suffering, it struck me that most of us were probably seeking, above all else, something like a state of grace." (136)

As a journalist, I am both envious and saddened with how Krakauer came to tell this story.

** Other books I read while travelling:


The Help by Karen Stockett - incredible read, I couldn't put it down and would recommend it to anyone.

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Both were incredibly adventurous classics about young childhood and adolescence. Great reads.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Walls - Not my favourite by any means. It felt tedious to read and I never felt any connection with the characters.

The Reader - Good, about a young German who falls in love with a Nazi war criminal unknowingly. I believe it's better oriented for the male audience, but not a read-again type.

Memoirs of A Geisha by Arthur Golden - This book was so incredible. I had no idea of the selling of girls in Japan only 50 years ago, nor did I know to what extremes these young women would have to endure. Highly recommended.

i pledge to read the written word. always.

Reese Peanut BBB!

Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Sometimes you happen upon something so delicious that you can't help but make and bake it. Thanks to Pinterest, I came across this decadent twist for banana bread. I bought, I baked, I ate with a glass of cold milk. It was delicious. Recipe below.

Ingredients:
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz bag of Reese's Mini cups

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan with butter or shortening.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In large bowl stir bananas, peanut butter, oil, egg and sugars.
4. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Batter should be lumpy.
5. Pour in Reese's Mini cups and spread batter into pan.
6. Bake for 1 hour approx. or until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.

(I found the top was browning a little too much, so halfway through I covered the loaf with tinfoil.)

Guatemala, Tikal

Going to Guatemala! By boat, in Flores.

Of all the countries we visited during our three months in Central America, Guatemala was my favourite. From the moment we stepped into the country via a small wooden boat on the flooded Usumacinta River, to the seconds before we left Antigua for Nicaragua, Guatemala was filled with exploration in the deep jungles for hidden paradises and sites that I don't believe I'll ever see again in my life.

On top of Temple IV, with other temples peaking
out of the jungle at us.

We left Palenque on a whirlwind escape on a collectivo bus to a place called Frontera Corozal (a town that sits along the river that separates Mexico's state of Chiapas from Guatemala). We hopped in a cab, and then a launcha (boat) upriver to Bethel, an off-the-map transit 'town' with a few huts and even more pushy money handlers trying to exchange the pesos you have for their quetzals at an outrageous exchange rate. We then paid $100Q's (about $12) for a five hour bus ride through rural Guatemala, on a bus with four big Guatemalan man, one of whom chatted with Ben about guns and made an attempt at saying some english words with us. We saw a small crocodile resting next to a pond, and kids fishing in a flooded river with makeshift snorkels.

Old carvings, my feet on the temple, and a toucan in the jungle trees!

And then we arrived in Flores for a night, where it poured rain and we had a room with a view. And then, we went to Tikal.

By far one of the most incredible archeological sites in the world, Tikal carries with it mysteries and sky-high temples more than 2,000 years old. Unlike most, who take a day trip to the site and arrive mid-morning, Ben and I chose to stay overnight at a hotel at the site. It cost us a bit more, but the money we paid was entirely worth it. We stayed at the jaguar Inn for around $60, and woke at 4 a.m., dressed and walked towards the park entrance, which did not open until 6. Unless, you pay a guard carrying a loaded shotgun $100Q's right on the spot, then he'll let you into the park before it opens. And so we did.

Temple I in the main plaza. Two people died when they fell
from the stairs of this temple a few years ago.

We wandered through Tikal before the sun was up and the howler monkeys were asleep. Toads leaped on the path at our feet, and we only had our headlamps to guide us as we wandered amongst the ruins hidden in the dark. It was somewhat terrifying to hear the monkeys howling like jaguars, but exhilarating all the same. The park is spread out, with the highest temple, Temple IV, at the back end, so we decided to head there first and watch the sun come up. We climbed the steep stairs and reached the top, 64 metres high and towering above the forest canopy. We sat there for a couple hours, ate our breakfast and watched monkeys swing from tree to tree, toucans squacking, and even a jungle fox who came up the temple for a visit.

We then ventured through the rest of the park as the rain began to fall, heavy and wet. We found an enormous pyramid temple, and made our way to the Plaza of the Seven Temples, the Main Plaza and other acropolises. The city is so incredibly rich in history that as you wander through it you find yourself feeling infinitesimal. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tikal dates back to 4th Century BC, and was built over hundreds of years-one of the most powerful states in ancient Maya culture. It's believed that nearly 90,000 people lived there at one time.

Go see it for yourself. Guatemala is so beautiful, and Tikal is just one of the many highlights there.

17°29′2.33″N, 92°2′46.79″W

Palenque, Mexico.

When you've just spent the night in a thatch-roofed hut next to a trickling creek in the middle of the jungle, and are then awoken by the sound of jaguars roaring in the trees (which quickly turn out to be Howler Monkeys) exploring some Mayan Ruins is about the only way to start your day. This is Palenque; an ancient Maya city that has been eaten up by the fast-growing jungle. Two per cent of the ruins is excavated and the other 98 per cent is still hidden underneath more than 2,000 years of growth.

I don't feel the need to elaborate much; it was incredible to walk around the site and up the steep steps, through a city built by slaves for ancient kings. It was our last stop before leaving Mexico, and a good end to our Mexican adventure.

16°49′54″N 93°05′38″W

The canyon, with the Grijalva River running through it.

Sumidero Canyon: We took a day tour to the Sumidero Canyon while spending a few days in San Cristobal. It was both incredibly amazing and deeply disturbing. The canyon, formed by the Grijalva River, was created around the same time as the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The Grijalva weaved and eroded canyon walls as high as one kilometre, making looking upwards at them a big pain in the neck. The tops of the walls were covered in cloud.

Waterfalls in the canyon.

The tour had us in a boat fit for 30 people; some from Mexico, others from around the world, all unsure of what to expect as we sped through the muddy waters of the Grijalva. As we made it into the canyon, we saw American Crocodiles laying on the mud banks, their teeth jutting out the front of the mouths, not bothered by the boat that slowed to gawk at them.

The canyon walls were lined with waterfalls; one here, another a few hundred metres away, all spitting water out from deep within the cracks in the rock, cascading down solid cliff through emerald green forest. One particular waterfall had an almost Avatar-like fall line; giant canopy plants that overhung from the rock face.


And then we reached a turn in the canyon, and entered upon a section of the Grijalva blanketed with debris... and trash. The nearby heavy populated city of Tuxtla (with the biggest population in all of the state of Chiapas) is largely responsible for the plastic that floats amongst logs in the canyon. What gets thrown onto the ground gets washed way down to stream, and then flushed into the Grijalva. Recycling is not a popular activity in Mexico, or most of Central America for that matter, and thus, the banks of rivers become dumping grounds for human waste. Mexicans salvage wood in the area, but leave the plastic bottles, bins, coca-cola crates and prescription pill jars to float on.

The garbage scattered throughout the canyon, with salvagers
working to collect wood. Plastic stays in the river.

The Grijalva is one of the five most polluted rivers in all of Mexico, it's headwaters beginning in Guatemala to the south. As our boat driver cut through the debris with his second propellor, I couldn't help but think about how the earth provides such an incredible wonder, and we (humans) manage to do everything we can to destroy it. Or at least, we don't change the way we produce and consume. It was an eye-opener to how we should and do, do things. #Thirdworldproblems.

Despite the upset of pollution, the canyon tour was great.