A new place to hang out

Hey peeps! Thanks for visiting my blog! I have moved to a tumblr account so that I can do more with photography. The new site is jenloser.tumblr.com I'm working on a year long photo project where I share a photo (or two or three) per day. I hope you join me on my beautiful adventure in the northwest.

Cheers!
Jen

Ps. Here is a glimpse into what you'll find on the blog :)

Aurora bridge

Underbelly of the Aurora bridge

Fremont boats 

Can you believe I live so close to the water??

Christmas cookies!

We made amazing Christmas cookies and treats last week! I thought you should see some pics! Merry almost-Christmas!!!

Chocolate covered pretzels! 

Silly cousins!

Gluten free twix! So good...

Dip those goodies!

Faunia frosts cookies!

Carmel goodness

So melty

The finished product 

Cookies a la Faunia

Keira eating pineapple 

The cutest god son in the whole world

Maybe I'm biased, but I think this little guy is just adorable.... and strong willed. He just had to wear my sunglasses! 

I'm giving it a shot

Back in March I got a fancy new camera. I mean fancy! It's a Canon DSLR and I can't believe it's mine. After holding that little beauty in my hands for the first time I was determined to post my pictures on my blog. As you have seen this has not come to be.... I've posted very few pictures. Until now.

The month of August I'm going to regularly grace the internet with a shots from my very own awesome camera. I hope you enjoy what you see!!

Taken on a neighborhood stroll 

A shout out to my friend in heaven

I got the call from Dani telling me she had bone cancer on a warm spring day my sophomore year of high school. At that moment the temperature became irrelevant. In fact, the whole world suddenly disappeared and all I wanted was to turn back time. 


Dani was the kind of friend a teenage girl can only dream of. She brought such joy to my life and so many others' through her selflessness and witness to hope. Our friendship was special because she saw something in me which I didn't see in myself and drew it out with kindness, generosity, and sincere love. Furthermore, she always remained sure of the goodness of our Father, even in the midst of great suffering.

Danielle Hosford 

Today is the 9th anniversary of her death. Her family calls it her "angel birthday" and it's no wonder why. She is in heaven with the angels and is constantly drawing our hearts up to join her.  Her love for Jesus is being satisfied by a union with Him that I can't fathom. 


While I'm so happy for her and grateful for the time we had together, my heart is breaking today and feeling the ache of our separation. I want so much to hear her laugh, her thoughts, and to just listen to the radio while driving down the road with her. 


Ironically, when I opened my computer this morning the lyrics from Sufjan Stevens were playing, "Golden rod and the 4-H stone The things I brought you When I found out you had cancer of the bone."His words pierced my heart because he so accurately describes the ordinary nature of seeing your friend's life pass before your eyes. I'm sad that I can relate so closely with his song about losing a friend to cancer. 


Thank you, Danielle for your love, your kindness, and above all giving me hope that we will be together again on the other side of this vail of tears. 
  

Present State: Middle School

Hello again! It's been months. Literally, months since I've posted on my little blog. I've been in a creative dry spell. Blogging creativity has been pretty low on my list of things to do. This is partially due to the blog posts I've been writing for FOCUS (Three Things You Can Learn From the Spiritual Life from Being an Artist & What the Karate Kid Taught Me About the Rosary) Writing for such a big audience each month has taken a lot out of me. I find myself having to remain determined to be faithful to myself and not try to write or be like someone else. It's exhausting.

Partially, though, I've not written been because I'm in a phase of interior growth and it's been tough to remain creative. I almost feel like I'm in middle school again. I don't quite know where I fit in, I feel socially and physically awkward, and I just can't quite figure out what's coming next. In my experience Middle school environments are not friendly for fostering creativity. It takes all my energy to just function. Thus the title of my post and the creative drought.

Ironically, even though it takes so much effort, writing might actually help with the whole middle school of life thing. It's often by finding our own stories that we are able to fully enter present challenges. By understanding who we are, where we came from, and how to impact the world around us we are able to see the present struggles for more than just the pain they are causing. For me the process of writing draws upon that story, validates it, and shares it with the world. And that's a courageous thing to do in the face of insecurity.

One final note, I am realizing how important it is to take little moments of creativity even in the face of time crunches, soul searching, and fear. I have found time to do a tiny bit of creativity in the form of photography and I'd like to share some of my shots: 

Lake Powell

A photo I caught of the perfectly displayed raspberries at a bridal shower

The Side of Z Cuisine in the Highlands 

Paleo Nachos

Being grain-free has made me miss the crunch of nachos so today when I couldn't bear it any longer I had to be resourceful! 

Check out these delicious and easy to make nachos that totally satisfy the need for crunch! 

Paleo Nachos!

1. A red or yellow pepper cut into large pieces 

2. A handfull of cherry tomatoes, halved

3. Browned chorizo or hamburger seasoned with cayenne pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder 

4. Guacamole (I just stir up avocado, a jalapeno, a squeeze of lime, and cilantro)

Layer it all together and use the pepper slices to dip! Voila!