One Second Every Day + Photo Prompts: Photography Week Three

Project One: 1 Second Every Day

At the beginning of the month, I listened to a Podcast about a guy named Cesar Kuriyama.  He is involved in an on-going project of documenting his life by filming one second of each day in hopes of creating lasting memories of the year, in one six minute video.  Though at first I thought this was a little silly to be filming one second every day, I was intrigued by his thought process behind this idea.  With only taking a few seconds out of his day, he was able to capture something that truly reflected his every day life- the good and the bad.  It wasn't about capturing those "picture perfect" moments (though sometimes those do happen!), but it was about capturing little bits of his daily grind.  Capturing these moments by video added a whole different aspect over just taking a photo.  Hearing the sounds, and seeing a live moment in time can trigger memories that a photograph may not.  Anyways, this guy turned his idea into an app called "1 Second Every Day".  I downloaded the app and decided to give it a go.  I started on a Thursday, and decided to see where it took me.  I decided if I didn't like having to commit to this, I would simply not continue with it...

Chiang Mai Junk Market: Photography Week Two

Let's flash back to this past September of 2015.  I arrived in Chiang Mai after 36 hours in transit by myself.  I was jet lagged.  My short term memory was embarrassingly terrible for those next few days(who else experiences this when they're jet lagged? Zack literally had to repeat everything to me), and I felt a little confused with my decision to pack up and move across the world to a foreign country.  I couldn't understand what anyone was saying and I didn't understand why people were doing the things they did.  Though my memory was lacking for the first few days, there are a couple memories that stand out in my brain as I wandered around trying to absorb my surroundings.  One of those memories was my visit to the junk market.  

Market Life in Chiang Mai: Photography Week One

If you've ever visited a market in Thailand (or Asia for that matter), you'll know that it can be senses overload.  The sights, sounds, smells (good AND bad)... it all adds up to be quite an experience.  So, for my first photo project of the month, I decided to head to Wararot Market here in Chiang Mai.  This place is like a travel photographer's dream.  There is always SO much happening.  You can find anything from hand woven goods to live frogs to colourful fabrics and Thai apparel... you name it, it's probably there.  Markets like these seem to have a culture of their own.  Some markets here in the city are open all night long (not this one in particular), and it's not uncommon to find someone sleeping behind piles of bananas and coconuts.  I've found myself wandering through yards and yards of fabric, I've encountered fluffy dogs dressed in sweaters (some nice and some unfortunately not so nice), and have been caught of guard by finding live turtles and eels in buckets.  There's lots of food to try and lots of smells to be smelled.  Zack and I have come here a few times to just wander and take it all in.  This week, I tried to capture the many colours, textures, and culture I see when I visit Wararot Market.

Tonsai and Railay: Sea Kayaking and a Hippie Haven

This post is a continuation of our Christmas holidays in the south, continuing on from the beaches of Krabi.  (click that link to read where I left off).

As we unloaded our stuff out of a creaky wooden long boat, ankles now deep in water, we looked around for any other signs of existence.  Though only 15 minutes away from Aonang beach (a more populated and tourist packed place), Tonsai felt so... remote.  We said a quick goodbye and thank you to our Thai boat driver, and I looked down towards each end of the beach.  There were definitely no sun bathers. I saw plenty other longboats, a Thai guy renting kayaks, and what looked to be a small corner store about 50 metres off the shore.  At the far end of the beach, I noticed some movement scaling the steep rock cliffs.  I looked more closely and noticed that this "movement" was from humans!  In front of us were rock climbers that came from far and wide to climb these world famous cliffs.  But I wondered... where do all these climbers stay?  The bay looked deserted, and surely not all of these travelers could afford staying at the pristine Railay bay around the corner...

2016: A year to Grow

As I revisited my 30 before 30 list, I realized in order to help me achieve my goals, I needed to see them in front of me. I also came to recognize that I wanted smaller goals to achieve every month, week and even day. I follow a blogger who I originally used to help plan our Europe trip. She just wrote a year in review post and in it she talks about how she did in achieving her goals. She had a picture of a daily checklist for her goals and I loved the idea of seeing progress. Interestingly enough, the calendar is created by a blogger/podcaster that Sarah listens to and gains insights and ideas for her work. I decided to choose a few things that I could measure and work towards.

30 Before 30 Revisited

Last year for my Birthday/New Years I decided to write a 30 before 30 list. Things I wanted to do/accomplish before I entered into what I considered real adulthood. A few weeks back I was excited to reflect back on this list to see how I was doing. In all honesty though, I wish I would have printed this list and displayed it somewhere for me to see every day. They say if you want to accomplish something, make sure you are reminded of it daily. I plan to do that this year to make more happen (along with some daily/weekly goals). I can't complain though as it has still been an awesome year full of so many adventures, travels, and blessings.

2015 Year in Review

Wow, what a year 2015 has been.  From ringing in the New Year in Spain, to life in England, and then a bold move to Thailand, this year has been everything I could never have imagined.  As 2016 rolls in, Zack and I thought it would be nice to take some time and reflect.  Through all the adventures, the challenges we've faced both personally and professionally, we are reminded just how lucky we are.  My mom always tells me that we must have some "golden horshshoes" following us around because somehow through all the situations we find ourselves in, it always works out in the end.  Well mom, I think you're on to something there.  We definitely are most defintely being taken care of by the big guy upstairs, because honestly Zack and I sometimes feel completely lost.  But somehow we find our way and we've come to learn that you don't know unless you try.  So with that said, here's 2015 in review:

To be honest, I think January was one of the harder months for us.  After ringing in the new year in Palma, Spain with my parents (which was awesome), we found ourselves back in England later that day on January 1st thinking, "what now"?  For me, goodbyes aren't the hardest part- it's after the goodbyes have come and gone that's the hard part.  The excitement of living somewhere new was wearing off, and I found myself longing for a room full of family and friends.... for familiar faces and familiar feelings.  Those feelings were overcome however, and though January in England seemed to really drag (cloudy days and dark nights aren't my favourite), it wasn't all that bad.  Here are some highlights of the month: