A Floral Wrap Skirt & A Desert Sunset

Last weekend Freddy and I embarked on a magical photoshoot adventure where we hiked up a mountain at sunset! 🏜 I’m so happy with how these pictures turned out and it’s all thanks to the vision Freddy had and his passion for not giving up until he got “the shot!” 📸 In all honesty, this photoshoot taught me a lot about perseverance, perspective, and pushing through even when it gets hard. “Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.” That quote by the late Cicely Tyson has been the wallpaper on my phone for the past week and it’s been so encouraging! This year I’m challenging myself to lean into areas where I’m not as comfortable and push myself to rise up when I feel like giving up.

I also want to be clear, I definitely didn’t hike up a mountain in this skirt or these boots 😂 so I thought it would be fun to share the story around how we took these photos!

There’s a small-ish, yet still fairly steep, mountain right by my parent’s house that I’ve seen and driven by for the last 25+ years, but the thought of hiking it has never crossed my mind. It’s one of those random mountains that’s part of the desert landscape, but doesn’t have a trail that clearly outlines how to scale it. As we were driving by it one day, Freddy came up with the idea to hike it and take some photos during golden hour ✨ I was very skeptical at first, since there isn’t a trail and you basically have to wing it, but the potential reward of amazing photos outweighed my fear. We set a date and made a plan to get our gear together to trek up the mountain.

Freddy has several large hiking backpacks from previous camping trips he’s gone on, so we used one of those and loaded it up with a quilt, my change of clothes, and our camera. I wore this bodysuit (similar here) with some athletic jogger pants, my hat, and my hiking shoes so that I felt more comfortable going up the mountain. We parked our car on the side of the road right near the base of the mountain and I followed Freddy’s lead as he forged a path for us. About 5 minutes in we reached a smaller crest that still gave us a great view and I felt comfortable stopping at that point. Freddy wanted to keep going until we reached the very top and I almost burst into tears at the thought of scaling the steep peak. Then I remembered that my Dad once told me he had climbed this mountain before, and I suddenly felt a sense of peace and determination to keep going, knowing he was with me and would be so proud of me for not giving up.

As we climbed up, up, up to the top, my breath quickened and I felt my muscles tensing up since I was nervous about falling or possibly running into a snake ha 🐍, but Freddy kept encouraging me, telling me we were almost there and that I was doing a great job! When we finally reached the top, I was overwhelmed with relief and we were greeted with the most beautiful view of the valley below us. I had never seen the place I grew up in from this perspective before and it was such a magical experience! I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for the fact that I grew up in such a beautiful place and that I didn’t fall down the mountain 😅 Sometimes it’s easy to get into a rut or the mundane routines of life - now that I’m working from home full-time I rarely leave our apartment during the week and feel somewhat cooped up - but having this opportunity to view the beauty of the desert from a different perspective, I realize how truly blessed and lucky I am to live this life, despite the hardships and struggles that come along with it.

Once we finished our pictures, we descended down the mountain, which was definitely much easier than the climb up! Sometimes it takes facing our obstacles head-on and seeing them from a different angle to realize that we had the strength and courage within us all along, and we can certainly rise to the challenge again. Sending you much love as you head into the weekend! 💛