Why We Drove to Idaho (from Virginia)

Ya, call us crazy….I did! This past Christmas Bence and I decided to drive to Idaho from Virginia, it took 4 days, 45 hours, and 2,500 miles to get us there. We kept ourselves busy with great conversation, enjoying one anothers company, nostalgic Christmas music, and an awesome audio book. The days were long, and the miles seemed endless. But even when I got a little “car-crazy,” I continued to remind myself that it would be worth it.

“Sharayah, this will be so worth it!”

And let me tell you something, it truly was. You see, in Idaho, in a little farm town called Fruitland, lives my extended family. My Papa, aunt and uncle, and cousins…as well as many other great aunts, second cousins etc…. Spending Christmas together was all I really wanted for Christmas, and if the only way we could make it out there was to drive, pack food for the journey, and stay with friends all across American…then that’s what we would do!

By the time Bence and I arrived at Papa’s house, my sweet parents had already flown in from Georgia. All we had to do now was to wait for my sister and brother in law, and then the family gathering would be complete.

My goal while in Idaho, among other goals, was to document our time together both with candids and photoshoots (which I will blog a little later). Since I have just recently officially started my photography business, I wanted to start it off right, so I put some guidelines in place to protect myself from burnout and discouragement; I will  blog about each guideline individually in hopes that it may help other photographers desiring the same thing…and as a good reminder for myself!  The guideline that I want to focus on now is the importance of personal projects. Many professional photographers, like myself, started their business out of their love and passion for photography. I am so excited for the business aspect of photography and all that comes with it! But one of the guidelines that I set in place for myself is to never stop doing personal projects, for the love of photography.

We spent an amazing five days up at my Papa’s cabin that he built. The cabin is in Sumpter, Oregon…and it is a place that is near and dear to all of our hearts. Despite the fact that there is only one bathroom, one bedroom (the cabin is mostly open concept with a loft) and we can’t all fit around the dining table at once, it just simply does not matter when we are all together. We “lived beautifully together,” as my Dad put it, all 11 of us…plus the dog! The photos you are about to see are very personal and I will cherish them always, they are a sweet compilation of our time together as a family. Most of these photos are not staged, or posed, but just of our life being lived out…beautifully. I hope these photos inspire you to capture your life, just exactly as it is happening. These days go by too fast, we can’t always hold onto them, but we will always have the memories:

The one and only photo of me in this blog post is of all the “grandkids” with Papa. Ya….i’m the one in the monkey pj’s 😉