Belinda Olsen Photography » Utah Wedding & Portrait Photographer | Logan, Utah | 435-881-2184

I really admire my husband.   That’s part of why I married him One extremely challenging thing my husband and his family went through was losing his mom to ALS at the age of 9.   Part of this difficult disease was watching her body deteriorate for nearly five years prior to her passing.  I cannot imagine what this was like for anyone involved.

One day I was speaking to Craig and my sister in law, Wendy.  We were talking about the difference between loss and tragic loss.  All loss is difficult.  No one is disregarding that.  They went on to tell me that nothing can compare to the loss of a parent, sibling or child at such a young age.  This really settled when we went to my mother in laws grave and I saw my husbands name listed as one of her children.  No one can prepare a child to lose their parent as such a young age.
As you leave the cemetery you pass through a gate and see this tree.  This tree isn’t really that beautiful.  This picture isn’t going to make millions or be loved by anyone but me.  However, at this moment I swear my mother in law was there with me.  Just a calm, peaceful, loving being.  Even though I’ve never met you, I love you Carolyn!

Last weekend I had the opportunity to guest write for another blog, Writing with Shelly and Chad.  It was fun Shelly & Chad have been friends of mine for many, many years.  They are a blast to be around and always find the positive in any situation. I love to read their blog, it is very reflective of their personalities: fun and uplifting.

One really powerful read was when Shelly & her amazing extended family was raising money for St. Baldrick’s. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a childhood cancer charity funding, doing research to help find cures for kids with cancer. If they reached their goal donation of over $10,000 they would shave their heads.  It was touching to read stories of how other people donated, their young cousin Tyson and his battle with cancer as a child, Chad’s beautiful Ode to Shelly’s Hair and the images of everyone shaving their heads.  I love to stay updated on how Tyson is doing through his mother’s perspective.

Thank you to my friends, Shelly & Chad! If you’d like to read my blog post about finding inspiration, you can find it HERE.

I shouldn’t really joke about scarlet fever since I had twice as a baby and my parent’s thought I’d die from it.  (sorry mom if you’re reading) All my other attempts to be witty included references to Scarlett Johansson and they weren’t any funnier.

The February Ruby Snap cookie of the month was delicious Scarlett! It was a yummy red velvet cookie with cream cheese frosting.  It was heavenly!  Three months of my Ruby Snap bucket list down.  Nine more to go and a whole lot of gym time

I won’t lie.  After I typed in the title of this blog post I kept singing songs from  ’Fiddler on the Roof’.  :)   One of the things on my 101 in 1001 was to photograph a sunrise and sunset in the same day.   As we drove to Fillmore, Christmas morning, I realized that I would have the chance to photograph both of these events.  I quickly pulled over to the side of the highway just outside Brigham City and took these first two photos.After our Christmas celebrations with the Olsen familia, I recruited Craig and my brother in law, Ryan, to go with me to photograph the  Fillmore sunset.  I  like the progression of  colors throughout these photos.It’s amazing the difference a half hour makes.

I loved taking the time to slow down the pace of life and have some time to meditate and enjoy the simplest gift of a sunrise/sunset.