The past year couple years have been tough. No joke. I feel like Satan has taken everything he’s got and thrown it at my husband and I. Through all the crap that has happened to our close friends, our families, as well as ourselves, I am continuously reminded of God’s love. Sometimes it’s hard to see while I’m in the middle of whatever is happening. But at the end, I can always look back and see His hand over me in every situation. Through the past two years, I’ve also been reminded how much I love my family. Keith and I have the best parents and siblings anyone could ask for. We love them dearly. Seeing them is like a breath of fresh air. I’m also extrememly greatful for our friends. We have amazing friends all over the country who model God’s love for us (and to us) on a continual basis.

So, the past few years have been hard. But I cling to the words of James 1:2-4 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

My prayer is that through trials I won’t give up. That I’ll grow in my faith, develop perseverance, and that I won’t forget what I’m thankful for.

**Disclaimer- This post is straight from my brain to your eyes. No proof reading has been done. I apologize for any grammatical errors, run on sentences, or misspelled words. I want you to hear my heart, as it is. Misspelled words and all.**

I’ve been reading a book lately about living in a spirit of gratitude. It seems like that, coupled with the amazing week I had last week at both a photography workshop and ImagingUSA (more on those later) has caused me to focus inward on myself: find out who I am, what makes me happy, what brings me the most joy. Who is Erin Alaine? Not who do I think I should be, or what I think other people think I should be, or even what kind of pictures I think people think I should take, but who am I really? Strip away all pretense, all social “dos” and “donts”, all “but so and so does it this way.”

My goal in doing this soul searching is to bring what I find into my images. I don’t want the pictures I take to be just pictures, I want them to be extensions of myself. I want them to convey all the love and emotion (and even fear) that I feel…that my subjects feel. “Well, how are you going to do that?” You ask. I don’t know. Not yet. But I’m on my way to finding out.

To help facilitate this, I’m going to be twittering every day for the next 10 days, little snippets of things that I’m picking up as I’m learning about myself and about who I am. Some of them may be enouragment to you, some of them may be something I’m just realizing about myself for the first time, but all of it will be things that have resonated with me and I am in the process of making my own and living it out.

If any of you are on the same path as I am, I challenge you to do the same. Make sure you @erinalaine me with your first twitter so I can follow your journey! I hope some of you do this because I’m excited for my journey, and hope to encourage you in yours!