a Maryland alpaca farm maternity shoot

Ashley and I met at spin group about a year ago and I think I'm speaking for us both when I say that we just hit it off from the beginning. You know when you meet someone and somehow know that you'll resonate incredibly well without even having talked for ten minutes? That was her. 

We live an hour away from each other, but it's so nice to have a friend who's interested in fiber arts. She and her husband have an alpaca farm where they raise their own herd, breed them for fiber qualities, and board alpacas in need of a good home. This year she pulled Spring's first cria out by hand after a difficult labor, and they're expecting more baby alpacas around the time that her two-legged baby is due! 

When she asked me if I'd take some photographs of her belly... ON her farm, can you guess what my answer was? There wasn't even a moment's hesitation! 

If you're interested in learning more about Ashley and Jack's farm, take a look at their awesome website and make sure to "like" their facebook page for an onslaught of adorable newborn cria pictures! 

our community

Ever since Julie and I talked about putting Seasoned on the shelf, my brain has been slowly returning to normal. I didn't realize just how much time and organizational energy I was pouring into the quarterly until I stepped back. I can't imagine how much of her own energy she had been exerting... after all, I was only the art editor! 

If you haven't yet read Julie's story about letting go and moving forward, I strongly encourage it. After I read it, and even though we share most of the same emotions about the decision, I still found myself feeling so motivated by her bravery. I have been even more motivated by the outpouring of support and thoughtful sentiments shared in the comments. I love that because of this blogging network, we're all kind of going through this big life together. We experience many of the same hurdles and joys at the same time, and we have the power to inspire positive change in each other. That's pretty awesome and I want to say it again, thank you.