LISTEN TO ME READ TO YOU HERE

When I moved back to my hometown of Midland after a 3 year stint in Austin, I had lots of friends and acquaintances asking if I was happy to be back. If you are not from here, let me clarify why I’m asked this. Midland is not known for its lush green landscape because it’s pretty much non-existent unless you want to have a high water bill. We don’t have a huge variety in seasons other than hot and hotter, accompanied by a freak arctic cold front every once in awhile. But you’ll experience some of the most breathtaking sunsets in your life, almost on a daily basis.

 

Depending on who you ask, Midland can be the best place to raise a family, or it can be the hardest to find a community where you feel welcome. I could say I’ve experienced both sides of that coin, growing up here and now coming back, I choose to see the good and the growth we’ve experienced thus far as I find my kind of people here. Just like everything, it depends on where you look, and what you focus on. Choosing to bloom where you are planted often provides an overwhelming amount of gifts, if you are open to receiving them.

 

One of the things we were most excited about moving back was how close we’d be to some of our favorite places. Midland is called mid-land because it is just that: a spot in the middle of the West Texas landscape that feels like a thousand miles from nowhere (Gotta love me some Dwight Yoakum). We are the closest airport to some of the most highly sought out terrains in the states: Big Bend National Park, Marfa, Balmorhea, and the Sandhills to name a few.

 

 

Just under an hour from Midland, the Monahans Sandhills is a place I grew up going to almost every summer. I spent one of my favorite birthdays sliding down those dunes with my elementary school friends. It’s something so easily accessible, unqiue to our landscape, and almost always taken for granted by the locals.

 

One of my clients named McKenzie grew up out here, and like many of us born and raised Midlanders, moves on and out to greener pastures. She reached out to me for a last minute engagement session out at the Sandhills. Even with 40mph wind and sand that ended up just about everywhere, it didn’t stop us.

 

Congrats to McKenzie + Kevin on your engagement!

 

P.S. Y’all are HOT.

 

TO THE WOMXN:

the makers
the dreamers
the lovers
the creators
the fighters
the nurturers
the leaders
the teachers

may you never diminish your light,

may you always use your voice for good,

and may you courageously stand in the fullness of your power.

 

 

LISTEN TO ME READ TO YOU HERE

B E L O V E D
do you know how magnificent you are?
do you know the sacredness of your very being?
do you know the breath moving your chest is a work of art?

 

B E L O V E D
can you see it, radiating from within you?
can you feel it, the bass note of your existence?
can you taste it, the sweetness of your soul?

 

B E L O V E D
do not hide from being fully seen as you are.
do not whisper when you are meant to roar.
do not withhold, diminish or belittle that which makes you whole.

 

YOU, my dear one, are B E L O V E D.