One week ago Sunil and I returned from one of the greatest adventures we've ever taken: exploring the ancient cities of Turkey and Greece! As with all world travel, it's a breathtaking experience and SO hard to describe! You learn so much about other cultures, how big the world really is, and become overwhelmed with the history of other nations. (If you've never left the country, DO it. It's an incredibly world-expanding experience!)

I, of course, took my camera along with, and (as always) took way too many photos. :) SO many photos, in fact, that I'll have to break up my trip photos into three blog posts! This is the first installment and covers the first several days of our trip in Turkey. 

We were uniquely privileged to travel with a group from our church (I'm on the media team there) and the main purpose of our trip there was to record on location footage that will later be developed into some upcoming sermon series for our church! We visited and filmed on the locations of the 7 churches written to in Revelation 2-3, as well as Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus!

A few other friends and family decided to join us on our big adventure and I was thrilled when my mom took a risk and joined our crazy, sarcastic little bunch! (Traveling with people you know and love is the best.)

Our first stop was to the ancient city of Pergamum, and included a troupe of wild puppies waiting for the tourists who inevitably feed them snacks... Just look at their adorable faces! (PUPPIES!)

Traveling with friends means you always have someone who will give you a hug. Or two or three. :) 

As always, photos will never fully capture the views perfectly or accurately....

The ancient temples were exquisite!

As a musician, it's become one of my life goals to perform in an ancient theater... check out those seats!! 

Some people (I won't say who) were surprised to learn that the food in Turkey is excellent, delicious, and inexpensive.... ;) 

And their bread is amazing!! #GlutenFreeOnlyWhenInAmerica (I had to try all the things, and my body cooperated! All the praise hands!)

Our next step was the ruins of Thyatira - smack dab in the middle of a modern city. 

It was fascinating to imagine the people and places that once existed here! 

Americans? What Americans? We never stick out. We perfectly blend in always. 

Always. 

The following morning (after some evening adventures involving bathrooms, blood, and stitches... it's a long story!) we woke up early to catch the sunrise over the ruins of Smyrna which is now the modern city of Izmir. 

It's such a peaceful and beautiful city! 

Archways for days! 

The sunrise was gorgeous! 

As I mentioned, I was part of the crew that filmed several talks for some upcoming sermons at our church. It was an amazing challenge to arrive at a location you've never seen, quickly learn as much as you could, then pick a location to set up your equipment and shoot for as long as time allows! Our team did an amazing job - and we all got quite the adrenaline rush! 

Next, we headed towards the city of Sardis! 

An extensive amount of ruins and buildings remain in tact! 

Nearby Sardis is one of the ancient Temples to the god Artemis (we later visited the famous one in Ephesus!). 

The peaceful mountains nearby and the glorious views quickly made it one of my favorite stops. 

Our sweet guide, Shebnem, kindly offered to get us a group photo - and I love the series of photos she captured! 

(I think this is us being sad?)

(Being peaceful?)

(Striking a modeling pose?)

(Mostly just being all sorts of crazy...)

General goofiness... 

Pay no attention to the tape and gauze on the back of Aaron's head. Remember that whole blood and stitches thing? Let's just say he's a trooper to not only sustain a head injury but to carry on with the trip as though nothing happened. #LikeABoss #HeISMyBoss

When in doubt.... travel with your friends. And the more friends the merrier. Next time, I'm taking my whole tribe of people! :) 

Also, always make sure to travel with a friend who is a photographer.... ;) 

Staircases! 

The ancient location of the church of Philadelphia was small... but still beautiful and inspiring!

Even if some people were sleepy... :) 

Stay tuned for photos from our next few days in Turkey - and my personal favorite: the ancient city of Ephesus!! 

Everyone has stuff.

We accumulate many things over the span of our short little lives, but some things carry more significance than others. Some of our belongings are discarded quickly when they become outdated while other things carry delightful memories and must be kept. Treasured. 

You can learn a lot about someone from their stuff. 

When my dad passed way in October, we began to slowly go through some of his belongings and distribute them among our family. The process is long, emotional, and yet somehow intriguing. 

One of my tasks was to go through his old camera equipment and decide what to keep, donate, and let go of. 

My father began teaching me about photography when I was in high school. I remember our technical talks about apertures, stops of light, and temperature of white balance like it was yesterday.  

He learned photography early on from his own father and began shooting sporting events in high school for the school yearbook - it's where he met my mom and their story began.

You could say it's become a third generation family tradition now. 

Needless to say, I didn't have the heart to get rid of any of his equipment - especially since some of it was passed down from my grandfather. I packed it up carefully and brought it back to my home to be displayed in my office and around the house; old film cameras that I don't even really know how to use... but they're connected to me in some small, meaningful way. 

Partly because my dad's face was pressed against them when he photographed my mom for the first time - a pom-pom girl on the sidelines at one of the sporting events he was covering - almost 50 years ago. 

And partly because they represent his love for me and his deep, intentional involvement not only in my life but in the lives of the rest of my siblings. He never pushed me into photography but thoroughly enjoyed my interest to learn - something the two of us shared for the rest of his life. 

It became our thing. 

Daily car rides to and from technical college consisted of figuring out lighting angles, ISO sensitivities, and manual flash settings. After I was married, our long distance phone calls regularly turned to editing techniques and posing tips. And somewhere along the way, he joked that he had nothing left to teach me; that I had passed him up completely. 

Regardless of his continued ability to teach me new techniques, his legacy has left me with the reminder that you can make a difference in someone's life by simply being interested. Intentionally, deeply interested. And now every time I see his cameras sitting on my shelf, I'll remember.... 

You can learn a lot about someone from their stuff.