So the last time I posted, it was the day the war started in Ukraine and my heart was just breaking.

I get very affected when I see my fellow human beings being mistreated in a horrible way for no reason!! I’m a full-on empath, so I can just feel the pain the Ukrainian’s are feeling. My heart heart aches for them. And I wish I could do something to stop it. Ugh!

That day also happened to be when we left for our beach trip to Destin, Florida for the start of the kids Mardi Gras break.

Yes…Louisiana schools gets a full week off of school the day Mardi Gras falls. I had no idea since I grew up in south Florida. Ha!

We got there that night and I was still in my funk.

But as soon as we woke up and we saw the beach outside our window, I just felt this comforting calm.

Like, it was this a huge visual reminder that God is in control, not people who cause such horrible pain and destruction!!!

Because…yes!! The beauty and love in this world is SO much greater than the fear that fills it.

At times, I’d still feel sad and guilty that I get to be here with my family, while the families in Ukraine are separated and living in so much fear.

But as our few days at the beach continued on, I felt like the Universe was reminding me (yet, again!) that when fear starts to overtake my thoughts, it’s a must that I get out nature!

Because nature ALWAYS has this amazing way of soothing my soul and reminding me that everything will be OK in the end.

Yes, I need to feel the sadness but then I also have to lift myself UP in whatever way I can, because that is the way I truly heal from all the horrible things that are happening in the world.

Nature always, ALWAYS!!, lift’s me UP!

Especially when it’s at my favorite emerald coast beach!

So, because I was still in my funk the first day, and I haven’t pulled out my DSLR in years to take pictures of nature that surrounds me, I only took one picture of the sunrise (above) that morning and then I used my iPhone for the rest of the day at the beach.

I love my iPhone, but as the kids were splashing around in all the beautiful water, I was like, “Dang! I should have brought down my DSLR!” Because it was just SO beautiful and the iPhone just isn’t the best at capturing how it truly looks in real life.

So I knew, that night, for sunset, I was definitely going to be bring it down.

And it did not disappoint!

I ended up taking a million pictures, because I had to basically re-learn my manual settings again because it’s been SO long.

And I was thrilled that my kiddos still allowed me to SAVOR them UP through my lens, all while I was waking my brain up to DSLR sunset picture taking again.

Because, yeah, those settings need to be on point when shooting directly at the sun and I had totally forgotten what my settings should be at and my head was hurting trying to figure it out again and I almost quit a bunch of times and though I’d use my iPhone instead.

But I AM SOUL GRATEFUL I didn’t, because oh my gosh, I get teary when I look at all of these photos I captured and the memories I get to look back on for a lifetime!

Yes my girl, nature is here to remind us that LOVE is ALWAYS there!!

And as I looked back at the water, I was reminded that THIS is WHY we come to Destin!

All the colors are just amazing and they truly have the best sunsets ever! Oh my gosh! And this beach just has a way of soothing my soul and making me FEEL oh, SO good! The white powder-like sand and the colors that look to me like watercolor, just calm me like no other Florida beach has.

And yeah, yet again, reminding me that LOVE is ALWAYS there!

Love you my little guy!!

Now, those last pictures are a little dark, because I was just starting to reconnect my DSLR dots in my brain, but when I turned around, I just couldn’t help but capture the water and my DSLR manual settings mind was starting to wake up!!

The pictures are brighter!! Yay! And those blues…they’re just amazing!!

Then I got to SAVOR UP my boy, like I always used to do when he was younger (and his sister!)…by just staying behind him and capture what I’m seeing him do and that makes me STOP and SMILE!

Oh gosh, I miss doing this!!

It’s been way too long!

I AM SOUL GRATEFUL I picked up my DSLR again!!

Yay! Yay! Yay!

He makes me smile and I always remember his 9-year-old beach loving self!

Then, my girl!

She’s 12!

She’s in junior high!

She’s way more into her friends than me these days and everything I do is cringy!

But she still wanted me to take her pictures!!!

Or, what I like to say, SAVOR her through my lens!!

She asked me to do a photoshoot for her and I HAPPILY said HECK YES!!!

She’s in LOVE with the beach and sunrises and sunsets and she wants to move to Hawaii which I know helped her come up with all these poses was doing without being told.

YASSSS, GIRL!!!! YASSSSS!!! :)

When I look at all of these photos I captured of her and her brother, I get teary because I’ve been SAVORING who they are through my lens for almost 13 years now!

I can’t believe it’s been that long already!

But it’s SO amazing watching them grow up! Bittersweet!

I AM SOUL GREATFUL!

But I AM also so sad that I have let the stress of my life get in the way of me continuing to pick up my DSLR camera in this way.

There has been some huge gaps.

But, not anymore…because this weekend re-ignited my love for photography!

This weekend reconnected me back with my manual DSLR settings AND it also reconnected me with my LOVE for WHY I SAVOR LIFE through my camera lens!!

Because when I SEE something that makes me stop, smile and fills my heart UP with LOVE and then I pull out my camera to capture it, I’m 100% connected to that LOVE FEELING that moment is bringing me and that FEELING and connection is SO needed (daily!) as life just keeps feeling like it’s getting more and more stressful and fearful…when really it’s not…it’s just what I’m choosing to focus on more.

It’s SO easy to see a moment for a second and then go right back into my to-do list head.

But my camera…it EASILY pulls me out my head and back into my heart.

It allows me FEEL DEEPLY connected to all the LOVE that surrounds me and to capture ALL that LOVE that surrounds me, especially when it feels like all the moments captured these days in the world are filled with so much fear, anger and division.

Well…as I started to walk back up to our condo, thinking I was done taking pictures for the night because my brain was feeling fried and I was tired from the long day of parenting on vacation (I’m sure you parents know what I’m talking about…kiddos, especially at the beach or pool…never want to take breaks! Ha!), I turned around and I saw this…

I thought they were right behind me, but they weren’t and I LOVED what I saw…my little family still enjoying the last glimpses of the sunset...that I just had to SAVOR…and then all of a sudden three huge pelican’s (MY FAVORITE BEACH BIRDS!!) dove down into the water and I was like OMG!!! Pelicans!! They’re SO close!!

I ran down to shore as fast as I could to try to capture them in the water, but I wasn’t fast enough.

But…I was still able to capture them flying away and my SOUL was SO happy and LIT UP!!

Oh my gosh! You have no idea how much I LOVE pelicans!! I just think they’re the most unique bird. I love the way they eat and the way they fly and the way they dive down into the water. They just make me SO happy when I see them, so this was just awesome!!

I would have totally missed them if I hadn’t looked back and started putting my camera away.

This is why the camera should NEVER EVER be put away, Renee!! Never!! Ha!

And, also, if I hadn’t looked back, I wouldn’t have been able to SAVOR her…

and that sky…one last time…before we did it all over again the next day! :)

And the next day…DID…NOT…disappoint!! OMG!!!

We woke up to cloudy skies and cold weather (a cold front came through), so we just hung out all morning.

We thought it would be like that all day, but nope!!

We were wrong!!! Absolutely wrong!! OMG!!

The water was SO calm!! The calmest I’ve ever seen it. And SO island-y BLUE!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!

So we headed right down there to enJOY it all…even if it was a little cold out!

Winter time is my favorite time to go to Destin. We’ve been during the fall, winter, beginning of spring and summer…but this time of year…February and March…is the best!! The water is SO clear…SO blue….and there’s no seaweed!! And best of all..it’s not crowded, which makes it even way more calming!!! Which is my kind of vacation!! Awwww yeah!

And on a calm day like this!!!

I just had to SAVOR it UP!!

I mean, gosh…Earth truly is the most beautiful canvas.

We are SOUL lucky we get to be here to witness it all!

Those details…

And that water…

STUNNING!!

And the best part…how the color changes depending on how the sun is hitting the water or which direction I’m looking in. I can’t get enough!!

Even my man looks good in that color! Ha!

My whole little family does!!

One of the restaurants we ate was called The Surf Hut. It was right next to the condo we stayed at and we could smell the food while out on the water. We had dinner there and it was the best little place! If you ever go to Destin, you gotta check it out. It’s all open air, great views of the ocean and really yummy food!

The clouds started to roll in again so we went back up to our room and oh my gosh, it was still SO beautiful!

We didn’t stay up there long, because the sun would keep coming in and out and the kids wanted as much beach time as they could get before we had to leave to go home the next day.

And, again, like I keep saying, it was still, oh, so beautiful!

And, how about this father-son, moment, too!? :):)

So fun and still SO beautiful! ;) ;)

And that hat shoreline beach water! SO BEAUTIFUL, too!

Ahhh…can’t get enough!!

And I also couldn’t get enough of my little family enJOYing all that this beach life offers!

So fun!! And SO beautiful!! ;):)

Once we went back up to the condo for the day, we sat outside on the balcony until it was time to go down for sunset.

Being out on this balcony was SO awesome because we would see SO many dolphins!!

One actually came up right before we went down and I was able to capture one right before we went back down for sunset!!

OH MY GOSH!!! THE BEST!!!

And I just LOVE that I captured the people down there seeing the dolphin as well. SOUL COOL!!

Once we headed down, the clouds started to disappear and the sun was full-on out and it was AMAZING!!

My favorite pelicans were out, too!

And my little family couldn’t get enough of that bright orange sunlight glow as well!

It was absolutely AAMZING and I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a sunset with the ocean so calm like it was.

Again, it was STUNNING!!

We ALL thought it was!! :):)

And we ALL loved SAVORING it though our lenses!! ;) :)

Awwweeee!!! This is 2022!! :):)

One more pelican for the win!!!

And…guess who made it into their picture!?

OH MY GOSH!!! SO SO AWESOME!!!

And then we…

savored those last little moments…

before day turned into night.

And it was BEAUTIFUL!!!

OH MY GOSH…I’m pretty sure that’s the brightest, orangest, sunset I’ve ever seen!

SO, SO BEAUTIFUL!

Once getting home and finding time to go through all the thousands of photos I took (because remember I’m super duper rusty and I’m just getting myself back into my photography manual settings water again) and editing them (which took me weeks to do…because again, I also had to wake up my photoshop editing brain again!!), I was absolutely moved to tears with what I saw and what I connected with deep, inside of me.

First, STOP keeping my DSLR up on my shelf collecting dust! Because it EASILY pulls me out of my stressed-out mind and back into my heart and helps me focus more on what fills me UP with LOVE rather than what fills me with fear.
Second, nature is absolutely stunning on sunny days and on cloudy days! Nature looks different every single day (every sunset on our trip looked different…never the same!). And it’s SO important to slow down and savor it!!
And third, even when life feels so hard, so scary, so sad, so frustrating and fills me with so much anger…it’s a must that I still do things that lift me up and nature EASILY helps me with this!!

Because, yeah…it’s SO easy for me to stay stuck in fear, but that doesn’t do any good for me or the world.

I can still feel sad, but getting out into the nature in this way, truly soothed my soul and it reminded me that yes, life gets super cloudy, but once those clouds go away, the sun is always there, shining oh, so BRIGHT!

And I know that the sun will shine again in Ukraine…once the darkness passes. It’s just super hard to witness all that darkness right now and I just want it to end right now …but it will end!

I AM SOUL GRATEFUL for my camera, the beach, nature and this life!

It’s hard, but thank goodness it’s filled with SO much nature to remind me to slow down, breathe, feel and SAVOR it all!

I AM SOUL GRATEFUL I pulled out my camera again, because now, as I look at these photos I’m reminded that when life gets me down, just keep beaching!

Or just keep naturing (I can’t always get to the beach and that’s OK…because natures’s beauty is everywhere!!)…because to me, it’s God’s way of connecting me to all the GOOD that comes from the dark and the light!

I mean…just look at those cloudy pictures…they’re just as beautiful as the sunny pictures!

And that, my friends, is a lesson that took me along time to learn.

I used to think if my life wasn’t always shining bright, then my life sucked!

But now I know, with age I’m sure, that it’s those cloudy days that bring so many life lessons to help make my life shine even more bright!

And, oh gosh, I can’t wait to see all the light that shines after the darkness calms in Ukraine!

I believe Ukraine will be shining brighter than ever!! That is what I hope for them!!

So I thank you Destin, I thank you, God, I thank you, mother nature, for soothing my soul and connecting me to this message.

And I thank myself for taking action on listening to that little voice inside of me that said put down the iPhone (I still love you iPhone camera..and you will still always be used to savor moments!!) and pick up my DSLR again because it just truly allows me to capture moments (and edit them!) exactly the way I see them (or saw them!) in person!

Moments that I can look back on and immediately FEEL like I’m right back there SAVORING the LOVE in that moment again!

I get teary that I have these memories of LOVE (and who my little family is right now, in this stage of life, we’re living in, too!)…for a lifetime!

So, when life gets me down, I will pick up my camera!!

Because it slows me down, gets me out of my worry and fearful head, and back into the moments that I LOVE and seeing all the LOVE that does surround me on a daily basis!

The camera is such a powerful tool.

Yes, it takes beautiful pictures, but it helps me to see all the dark and bright beauty that fills the world!

Until next time,

See something that makes you stop and smile. Grab your camera!! It'll slow you down, pull you into the present moment even more and have you SAVORing your JOY feeling even more!! And most of all, it'll connect you to your soul so you can SEE the things that you may have passed by (like your favorite beach pelicans that just dove in the water close by you!). The camera...it's powerful...especially when it comes to FEELING JOY and BEing more PRESENT! :)

That's WHY I take pictures!! The camera is one of my favorite creative tools that easily pulls me out of my frazzled + overwhelmed head so I can fully SAVOR (the feeling of) everything that makes me stop, smile and lights me UP with LOVE (something that's hard for me to do when my mind is running 100 miles ahead or behind the present moment)