Since April 7th...

I have decided to make it more of a priority on this blog to post more about life. When I first started this blog back in 2009, it was a way for me to let my family and close friends know what Scott and I were up to, with a few recipes and crafts here and there. I posted about things like how we paid off Scott's college debt, our picnics in the living room when it was raining, and growing tomatoes. Well, I don't remember the last time I blogged about just life. When Scott and I started our photography business and watched it grow before our eyes (faster than I EVER could have imagined), I honestly just neglected blogging about "life" because I didn't feel like I had much to say about it - other than taking pictures of people and Scott being in studio for 80+ hours a week....

But you know, that is life. We can choose to lull through the mundane, or we can choose to make every moment an experience. And that's what I intend to do. To live more intentionally. To live life more aware of what is going on around me, to really embrace what life happens to be in that moment. Even if I am just washing dishes. 

Now don't get me wrong, a huge part of what Scott and I find joy in is photography, cooking, baking, and investing time in our hobbies. So there will still be "recipe" posts and "craft" posts, but I hope to fill the in-between with tid-bits of the everyday.

Starting now.

Scott and I have had the pleasure of spending good quality time with our families the past few months, and taking little trips here-and-there on the weekends with friends. 

We went to Austin, TX, at the end of April to celebrate our dear friend, Kate's, birthday. She and her husband found an amazing townhouse right next to Barton Springs that 6 of us had the pleasure of renting for the weekend. We drank wine on the back porch, swam in Barton Springs, went on a hike in Zilker Park, and ate great food. All things wonderful :)

 Scotty made breakfast for everyone, of course :)

 Me and the hubby.

 The birthday girl!

And I was SO excited to see this guy!! 

My youngest brother, Levi, turned 21 in April! The last of us to become an "official" adult. Which means my parents are officially "old" ;) JK! You guys are the sprightliest parents I know!!

 I made the birfday cake! Italian Cream Cake...

Love this boy :)

I have been hugely blessed by the girls in my small group. Scott and I joined a smaller small group back in August, and just in the last few months the girls have been making more of an effort to spend intentional time together. It all started with a group thrifting excursion in The Heights back in April! We ended the afternoon with gelato :P

May brought my first vacation as a working woman! And the first Huddleston Family vacation in MANY years. After my brother, Jim, graduated from Abilene Christian University (with a 4.0 and highest honors, I might add :) Proud sister, I am! ), my family (8 in all!) piled into a 15 passenger van and headed West for a week in Colorado! 

 Our first night, we stayed at the Big Texan Lodge in Amarillo, Texas.

 The next morning, we back-tracked about 45 minutes to hike Palo Duro Canyon. It was stunning.

 Daddy and the bros.

 The whole crew!

 As we trudged along further West, we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch for some great photos and graffiti.

 We finally made it to Salida, Colorado, where we spent the evening at a hotel. The next day, the guys played disc golf while the girls went shopping! (and made cute jewelry at a bead store!)

 Our final destination was Breckenridge, CO. My dad's boss was so kind to let us stay at his vacation home there - a 3-story town house just outside of downtown. We played dominoes...

 ... hiked...

 ... had snowball fights...

 ... mountain biked... 

 ... hiked some more!...

 ... found a frozen lake at 12,000 ft elevation!...

... and took LOTS of pictures...

Huddleston family vacations are rarely restful, but we are able to experience so many amazing and beautiful things - it's totally worth the lack of sitting around :)

For Memorial weekend, Scott's family came to Houston and spent 3 days with us! There were 6 people crammed into our tiny 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment, but we made it work and had a blast! 

 We went blueberry picking at Chmielewski Blueberry Farm! 

 Scott and I got a little competitive excited, and ended up picking 11 pounds (yes, POUNDS) of blueberries!

We used about 1/2 a pound to make homemade kolaches with blueberry filling, and another 1/2 a pound to make blueberry mint iced tea (recipe to come!!). The other 10 pounds.... they are currently in our freezer. I still have nightmares of blueberries filling our apartment from floor to ceiling... I am forced to swim my way through the blue mass...getting blueberry guts between my toes... 

Blueberry recipe ideas would be greatly appreciated :)

And as for June, well, I have been photographing weddings! It has been SO fun, and definitely a learning experience. I love, love photographing weddings and hope for many more to come in the future.

Since May 29th, Scott has been working away at his summer internship at an architecture firm downtown. He really likes working in downtown, and is particularly enjoying this firm. He is currently working on building a model out of LEGOs. Yes. LEGOs. I will say that neither I nor he can complain about making over minimum wage playing with Legos.

Well friends, that is all there is to tell at this point! I plan on sharing that blueberry mint iced tea recipe with you later this week, as well as my personal experience being in front of the lens... that's right! I was the subject this time. Results to be shared soon!

Blueberry stains on my lips,

HK