"Bonjour Madam" is mostly what I heard as I wandered the streets of Paris alone for 4 days, with the exception of the few times that I met up with my good friends the Tunheims. Annie and I have traveled more together in the last year, than I have with anyone else ever in my life. She has become a good friend, a confidant, a comfort...a sister of sorts...we fight, we cry, we laugh uncontrollably, we explore, complain, share, and travel. Our first travel began in Bangladesh. We ventured out day after day to explore our new home in Dhaka. We took our cameras, taka and sense of adventure out on the streets! How could you not bond by learning a new city together. From Bangladesh to France, and all in between...Annie, what a year it's been. This picture captures who you are beautifully. I love you and I look forward to more adventures together! It's hard for me to imagine what international teaching will be without you and your family right upstairs, but no doubt, we will find some corner of the globe to meet again.

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After 4 freezing days in Paris, I traveled to Bergen, Norway where my brother has been living for 5 years. I visited him this summer, and the sweet sunshine and warm colors of the city drew me back, well of course, and my brother being there did too! I didn't need much convincing, as it is always fun to see my lil' bro. This time, we were going to spend just 2 days in Bergen and travel up north to Lofoten, which is the archipelago of the NW of Norway, in the Arctic Circle. We celebrated Christmas with his new Fiance's family, who were just lovely. This picture was taken on Christmas Eve, just before we sat down for traditional Norwegian dinner of Halibut, potato, veggies and a delicious Norwegian desert called Kransekake. 

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Warming up by the fire.

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That's me and my soon to be sister-in-law. Guri's family was a wonderful Christmas host, serving traditional food and involving both me and my brother in their 200year Christmas traditions of holding hands while skipping and singing around the christmas tree, heading to church and discussing the history of traditions of northern Norway.

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In December, in the arctic circle, there is limited day light. Okay, about 1 hr. 2 at most if it isn't cloudy. As we drove along, both my brother and I yelled to Guri's brother, Sven, to STOP, and since Sven has "good brakes" haha, we were able to spend a few minutes capturing what you see below!

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That's my brother John. He is the one who has inspired me to take pictures. He has helped me along my journey, every step of the way from setting shutter speed, to ISO (and what the heck is that), to composition and to ALWAYS "find the light" (that I hear every time I take my camera out). He is the reason why I began taking photographs. Maybe it was a way to find connection to not only him, but to myself and the world around me. It was a way for me to find and take perspective. I'm not sure. I'm still finding out what really drives me to take the photos that I do, but in the meantime, I know that my brother is a huge part as to why I even started in the first place. Thanks Bro. You rock.

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In the town of Henningsvaer...a short drive from Guri's hometown of Kablevag.

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Over the 5 days that I spent in the small village of Kablevag, just west of Svolvaer, this was my most cherished time. On Christmas day, the skies cleared and my brother put on our cold weather gear, dragged the tripod and our tired selves out the door to see if we could capture the, sometimes, elusive northern lights. Well, what a gift the universe presented us with. As I had never shot the night sky before, or used a manual setting on my camera, my brother patiently helped me get things set up to capture the mysterious, ever changing northern sky. It is a special moment, that I will always hold near and dear to my heart.

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By this time, the northern lights were changing quite rapidly, and my camera battery was dying and we both were freezing. My brother continued to try different techniques, like shining his flashlight over the water to add light to his photo, and I just kept playing with different shots and angles. My camera battery died soon after this, and both my me and my brother and the northern lights had vanished.

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