1/365

Happy New Year indeed! Today marks the first day of many things: the first day of the new year, the first day of the year I will be both graduating and getting married, and of course the first day I embark on my 365 Photography Project for 2017! And I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend it than with these lovely faces. I've come to learn quickly that life is incredibly fragile... you never know what's going to happen or who you'll have to say goodbye to next. It is a constant reminder to me on how important it is to love the ones around you and to constantly remind them that they in fact are loved. 

This year... my life will change... big time. Things are already starting to change and keeping in contact with friends I've known for years will become increasingly harder as time goes on. But even if there comes a time when our lives have gone their separate ways, at least I have memories like these, full of fun, laugher, and shenanigans to look back on. These people helped to make me into the person I am today... and I love them so much for that.

2/365

Today, I'm uploading a bit early. This will be a normal thing on days like these where I don't have much to do or when I'm really bored. 

I didn't do a whole lot today, so I went around the yard, snapping pictures here and there. So here is the end result. I really hope to start experimenting with Photoshop and Illustrator through out this project so pictures like this one will be a recurring thing. 

Hopefully with this project, I'll be able to motivate myself to actually go out and shoot more interesting things and hopefully have more interesting stories.

3/365

Winter's coming back! Oh how I love a good fire in the fire place. :) 

Again, not much went on today, so I just snapped a few pictures of the fire place and called it a day. 

4/365

Today's photo is a bit of a throwback to my first 365 Project. I took a shot similar to this one. It quickly became one of my favorite photos in the entire project, mainly because I felt it vaguely captured exactly what I was going through at the time. Even today, I still remember everything I was thinking, feeling and going through at that moment in time. I was depressed. I hated everything about me: my personality, the way I interacted with people, the way I looked... everything. I felt like I had to live up to everyone's standards, but not matter how hard I tried, I couldn't. I was also having severe trust issues, even with my closest friends. I tried desperately to distance myself from people because I was afraid of getting hurt. This of course only made things worse and damaged many of my friendships. Sheesh... I was a mess.

I look back at those times and the way I handled everything. I was so far from God... I was so lost in the worldly things and trying to please everyone around me. I'm amazed at how far I've come. I'm thankful that no matter how far I ran from God, I always fell back into his arms again. The journey didn't get easier from that point, of course. There were many hardships, many tears, and many panic attacks that follow after that year... but I'm still here.

I've come along way. I've learned to trust others. I've learned to love myself. And though I still struggle with depression and anxiety, I'm honestly the happiest I've ever been. Sometimes I look back and wish things had gone differently... and other times I'm just glad after everything, I'm still here. I couldn't have done this alone.

Also, after editing this photo, I realized that if my photo1 professor were here, he would've gotten on my case about how dark and underexposed it is, even though that's what I wanted. That's what I love about personal projects; you get to do whatever you want. ;)

Photo I referenced: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1756759552025&set=a.1712936616479.94631.1030074362&type=3&theater

5/365

I almost forgot to get a photo for today. Lucky for me though, I've got a decent tripod as well as a cool little laser light that my fiancé gave me to help me get some late night photos like this one. (Thanks Kevin :)) Anyway, I messed around with the color a little bit to make it more interesting.

6/365

It snowed today! Which makes for a happy Rachel! Although I wish I was in Lubbock at the moment, I always loved the way campus looked when it snowed, it would've made for some great pictures. But I still managed to snag this one! My dogs aren't very fond of the snow so when my dad let them out, I rushed as fast as I could to grab my camera and take a few pictures. When I finally got outside, two of my three dogs had already ran back inside and one was making his way to the door. However I caught him right after he had been rolling around in the snow and managed to stop him before he could get to the porch. I snapped 3 pictures; the first two were incredibly blurry... and then I got this one! Still a bit out of focus, but I love it! I love that derpy face!:D

7/365

Today I turned another year older. Yep, I'm 23 and I still don't match my socks, or iron my clothes, and I watch We Bare Bears (cause it's the greatest.) Forget adulting, I will always still be a kid at heart. 

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes! I love you all so much, from the bottom of my weird and childlike heart. :) <3

8/365

I'm back in Lubbock now... land of the dust. I was either hanging out with people or driving today so I was only able to snap a picture for today when I finally got back to my apartment. Something sweet and simple. ;)

9/365

I had work pretty much all day, but I didn't want to just snap a photo of something around my apartment. So I explored around campus as the sun was setting and took a few shots while battling the Lubbock winds. Here's one of my favorites.