You may have noticed that the blog was a little silent last week, and that’s because I had the chance to go to Indiana to visit my family while Aaron was away on a work trip. It was so good to catch up with my parents, get quality time with my sister (and see the new house her & her husband just moved into), pick back up with several dear friends, and get some good visiting time with the grandparents. But one of the other things that did my heart good was just seeing the quiet, calm beauty of the Midwest. My sister lives 2 hours from my parents, and during my drive back from visiting her I couldn’t help but just soak in all of the surroundings. Sometimes you just need to go back home, you know? To remember where you’re from, and what a huge part of your life it is. I absolutely love Richmond, and I’m so grateful to live here, for the community I have here, and for the amazing photographer & wedding industry friends I’ve been able to build. I wouldn’t want to be living anywhere else! But it’s also the middle of wedding season and I just needed to take a deep breath and find some solitude. And that morning drive a week ago today was exactly what I needed.

I know a lot of people don’t find the Midwest exciting. Small towns, flat lands, and lots of cornfields. But the open skies make my heart soar. The green fields, and the red barns, and cows grazing. The sunsets uninhibited by trees. This is where I’m from, and I’ll always love it. Turns out that my favorite movie phrase as a child really does have a little hold on me…. There’s no place like home.