š She/Her
š Working hard so I can live in my van down by the river!
āµļø Also, Iām on a boat.
šø Owner of @hellophotola
šLong Beach, CA - usually.
We OFFICIALLY purged and renamed our boat today! After our offerings to Poseidon and the Wind Gods, we presented āFjord Explorerā to the Court of the Sea. May she bless us and protect us on every adventure here out. š¬ļø š„ļø
My neighbor, Ashley, and I woke up to the sounds of water wooshing and our boats being bumped so we rushed outside to see 2 harbor seals playing in between our boats. Good Morning little cuties!!
Come with me on a little boat tour! Welcome to our new floating home, a 1982 Sunnfjord 42 weāve named āFjord Explorerā (weāre naming the dinghey āFjord Escapeā). Every day weāve asked ourselves, did we really just do this?? Weāre loving getting to know her ins & outs, the fur babes really approve, and our views of the mountains in the Olympic National Park are unreal!
š„: iPhone and @campsnapcamera
To celebrate moving here 1 week ago we walked over to Golden Gardens, a really beautiful park attached to the Marina. Iām not sure Murphy knows this is home yet, but he seems to really enjoy it here!
I left a home, to go to a homeā¦ and Iām still in a whirlwind from it all. We caravanned with our friend Daniel for two whole days and hit some crazy weather, but saw some beautiful scenery! Walkie-Talkie chatter, sour patch kids, coffee, and animal head scritches definitely made the long road trip doable.
Yes, we did move to Seattle! BUT I will not stop coming back to SoCal for photography work. š Iām still here to capture your memories, so while there might be a few more miles between us, Iāll still be here for you.
Hard to believe we actually did thisā¦ butā¦ We Moved!! From our lovely Long Beach community to a marina in Seattle! Weāre excited to see what the PNW has to offer us. The air is different, the views are incredible, the boat is amazing, and the animals are happy. Home is truly whenever Iām with Marshall and my furry boys.
2/12/26 - At 2:32am I am startled awake at the song Free Bird playing very loudly in my head and also because my phone was ringing. The phone ringing, in the early hours of the morning, is the sound you donāt want to hear because the news is never good and once you answer you know things wonāt be the same as they were when you went to bed.
I answered, to hear my Mom trying to tell me Dad had passed, but the screaming guitars of Lynard Skynyrd were making it hard to hear and process everything she was saying. It was so loud, like a speaker sitting next to me that I couldnāt turn down or mute. Once we hung up, I went outside and sat, watching the ocean and clouds, Free Bird still as loud as ever, looping around in my head. I tried to go back to bed, and that didnāt work, so I finally got up and told Marshall I was really sorry, but if I didnāt play this song right now I might go crazy. As it played, I pulled up the lyrics that I already knew by heart but just watched the black and white words on the page, feeling them and letting them sink in.
It makes sense that he would send me a song. Over the years weāve emailed each other many songs, some we just liked the rhythm of, some had deeper lyrical connections. This is how we spoke to each other without having to use words. It worked for us.
And so now, while I donāt have the words to say, Free Bird is still playing in my head, but a lot quieter now, a gentle background reminder of what he needed to tell me without saying anything at all.
I love you, wonāt you fly high, Dad, my free bird.
7/21/53 - 2/12/26
Itās a very special day for our boy, Murphy! 12 whole years together (so heās about 13) and still acts like a puppy. Weāre delighted by him every day, but today is extra good!
