Luxembourg {part 1}

until I get to editing all of the pictures from my trip, I decided to share it in parts. here's the start of our crazy&wonderful adventure - sitting/drawing/talking in a coffee shop, making a waitress in Charles burgers upset, walking around Luxembourg at night - because we're lazy and we spent the days in the house. 

home, fall, gratitude.

I live in a breathtakingly beautiful place, and I have the most beautiful women in my life, inside&out. and so this day was overflowing with beauty. me, my sister, and my mum were left alone at home that day and we made the most of it by taking pictures outside, going for a walk and having great conversations. I'm posting this late, but who cares.

Janka

this could easily be another story post, if I asked my dear sister a couple questions. but I decided to write a short story post of how I see her not just through my lens instead. something about us. this absolutely breathtaking and warm sunny saturday morning in our backyard was more than I could ask for. the fall in all its beauty. I really hoped to get my sister infront of the camera. as soon as I found out she was coming I was preparing myself for the hours of trying to convince her to let me photograph her, because she rarely ever lets me. but as I laid down on our couch that morning, uninterested to do anything at all, she comes down asking me to go out and take pictures with her. I honestly thought I heard that wrong. but I didn't. and I got to spend the morning doing my favorite thing, photographing this gorgeous girl. and it's funny that I say a girl, because she's a woman now, and even I will soon leave my teenage years behind, but she's my sister, and I still haven't gotten used to the fact that we've outgrown our home and we don't share a room anymore, and she doesn't even have the same last name anymore. I'm still not used to that. 

stories: Olča&Martin {engagement}

(posting the original in czech, until I find time to translate it...)

trochu se zpožděním, ale to snad nevadí. poslední dny trávím úpravou svatebních fotek těhle dvou super lidí. a zároveň jsme konečně všichni tři našli čas na dodělání tohohle příspěvku, který se chystá už od června. to jsem totiž s radostí vyjela do Prahy, abych zachytila předsvatební příběh Olči a Martina. o pár měsíců později jsem zachytila ten svatební. na otázky mi každý odpověděl zvlášť, aniž by věděl, co řekl ten druhý. takže je tenhle příspěvek tak trochu překvapení i pro ně :)

our imperfectly perfect fall hike.

it's been way too long since I last blogged, it's been way too long since I got up early on a saturday and went on a hike, or made new good friends, or took pictures for myself and actually edited them, or overflowed with love for where I live. but here I go, finally.

this sweet girl, whom I've known for a while now but never really had a chance to get to know better, came to visit me yesterday. me and Maru planned to go on a hike and enjoy the beautiful colors of fall, a day that was supossed to be filled with sunshine. but as the day went by we had every reason to be disappointed. the sun never even came and we walked through this thick fog all day, I got us lost the very first five minutes of the hike, it was freezing and we underestimated our outfits a little (I did for sure), I carried a blanket to have a picnic on which was impossible in the mud that we walked through the whole time. I could probably go on. but not even for a second did we let that ruin our day. we had the most perfect hike, appreciated the mysterious beauty around us, laughed and shared our joys as well as struggles as if we've been friends forever.

but I find it hard to write this blogpost now, because we got to talk about how social media, including blogs, only shows the "perfection" of everyone's lives, causing jealousy, impossible expectations, giving us the wrong impression. we all try to make it all look so pretty. ever since I started taking pictures or blogging a little it's always been about honesty for me. I've always tried not to make my life look perfect, but even in trying not to I've made it look like it. and I've had people come up to me and say that they wanted my life, and I didn't know how else to show them that my life is so much more than what they see on there, than what I show, than these pictures. there are so many days inbetween, there are so many dull moments, there's always something more to it. but I guess that even as I try to include the imperfections of everything in my posts, others will still see it differently. I guess the imperfections in lives of others can never seem as real as ours. because as you scroll through the pictures and read this post you'll see the good parts in the comfort of your warm home. you won't get your shoes dirty from the mud, your fingers won't be freezing, you won't be trying to find your way through the woods, and you won't wonder if the fog is going to fade a little. you also won't share your heart with someone and laugh with us, you won't see the deer I didn't manage to capture. and it's okay, because you should have your own imperfectly perfect moments in life. and I know you do. some of us just like to share them, capture them, write about them. but that doesn't make our lives any better from yours. and I need to realize that as much as you do when I scroll through other blogs that seem perfect to me as well. because there's a real life behind them too. 

so please, as you go through this post, enjoy it, but don't get the feeling I so often get of wishing to be that person, doing that exact thing, living that exact life. because that person has probably wished the same thing. and it's not worth it. go and live your life in your own imperfectly perfect way.

Anička {stories}

a while ago I visited my dear, dear Anicka in the beautiful Ceske Budejovice. it was a goodbye before she left to spend a semester in Dublin. she took me to her favorite cafe, which I fell in love with instantly, so we could share our thoughts on anything and everything. she's my soul-mate, we figured that out soon after we became friends, we just get each other, and always respond to the other one's sentences with "I know, me too!". she's such a beautiful soul and I'm thankful that she finally let me photograph her and even answered a couple questions for me, so you can get a glimpse of what an amazing human being she is.

I miss you already, little bird.

the Hasik family

today I'm about to share something really special with you. I'm sharing so much joy. I am just so moved and honored that I could capture this wonderful family and their simple yet such special moments. that I could capture something that I know is dear and special to them. and yes I say special a lot because it simply is.

I met Jane almost three years ago when she walked me through the process of becoming an exchange student. little did we know the day we met that her life would be turned upside down a couple weeks later. and little did we know that we would become dear friends along the way, that Jane would be such a blessing and encouragement in my life, and that her family would grow to be so dear to me. God has taught me so much through this family, through Martin and Jane. their honest journey through the valley has been such an inspiration to me. a reminder of how to keep our eyes on God even when we don't understand. to be honest with our struggles. to be real. to enjoy the little joys of life to the fullest. to appreciate the moments. to give everything up to the One who blessed us with it in the first place even when it's so hard... you can read about their journey here.
I treasure every time I get to see them, when I get to hear about their little joys, see the girls overflow with energy and laughter, see Martin play with them all the time, ask Jane for advice and talk about life, and stick around for hours because they don't ask me to leave and I love hanging out with them too much. I don't really have good words the explain how dear they are to me, the pictures will have to do! I just thank God for what a blessing it is to know these guys!

the farewell to summer. and Drábek !

the summer came to an end.. you never know the last good day filled with warmth and sun is actually it until it's over and with this day the summer slowly shifted into grey and cloudy days, welcoming fall. I'm glad my last days of summer were spent with this awesome human being. I'm not going to write another touching post today, because this time she did, hah. anyway, I'm so happy we didn't give up on this crazy "long-distance / see you in a few months (hopefully) / hey I will live in Belgium now / write one letter a year" friendship. go check out her (freaking awesome) pictures too because she makes me look good in them haha.