family – Mackenzie Billington

Thanksgiving

November 26, 2016 by Mackenzie

“G I V E T H A N K S T O T H E LORD, F O R H E I S G O O D”

Psalm 107:1

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday now that I think about it. It’s such an incredible day to spend time with your loved ones and to be reminded of how blessed we truly are (even in times where we seem to be focused on the bad instead of the good). I know that I take a lot of things for granted at times, and one of my upcoming New Year’s resolutions is to spend every single day like it’s Thanksgiving. Being thankful is something that can be incredibly difficult during hard moments of our lives, but counting our blessings can remind us how fortunate we really are. Lately I’ve been taking the time to count my blessings, even the tiniest ones, every single night before I go to bed.

Something I am especially thankful for this year is baby Lili, my third cousin and the newest addition to our family. She is absolutely precious, and I am so glad that we got to celebrate her first Thanksgiving with her. Lili is beautiful , and she is definitely a big blessing.

I wanted to share some photos from my Thanksgiving. I took almost 700 photos yesterday, so I did my best to narrow it down to my twenty or so (which wasn’t easy, especially because baby Lili is crazy photogenic). Thanksgiving this year was one of the best I think our family has ever had. With the gorgeous weather, we celebrated outside and enjoyed the lovely day together.

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For those that have been asking about my camera/photography, I am a huge fan of Canon. But for me what makes the most prominent difference is shooting manual and understanding light! Getting the perfect shot is a lot about manipulating/learning about your camera settings, finding the perfect lighting, embracing creativity, and being in the right place at the right time. Find what inspires you. I’ve also been getting a lot of questions lately about my editing, and my best advice is to find a unique style that works for you & practice every single day. Practice makes perfect, and I learn new things daily. Over the past few months, I have fallen in love with shooting photos of the wonderful people and places around me. It’s such a blessing to be able to capture so many beautiful moments of my life and the lives of my friends and family.

I have been shooting family portraits pretty much every single day this week. Though I am booked for the rest of the Thanksgiving break, I do have some availabilities in December/January if you are looking for affordable portraits (whether it be family, senior, engagement, etc.)! Don’t hesitate to shoot me an email 🙂 I’d love to work with you!

lili

Thanksgiving 2016 was definitely one for the books. So thankful for my wonderful family and friends. Thankful for the ups of life and the downs that help us grow and prosper. Thankful for my health, for the places I have traveled to, for the friendships that have carried me through my worst moments, for the family that loves me unconditionally, and for Jesus’ love. Additionally, I am so thankful for each and every one of you and all the support I have received over the past few years. I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

xoxo,

Mackenzie

Texas State Fair

October 22, 2016 by Mackenzie

Happy Saturday! I am currently in Texas for the weekend, and I wanted to quickly share a few photos from yesterday’s Texas State Fair adventure.

xoxo,

Mackenzie

Saturday in the City

July 11, 2016 by Mackenzie

necklace (sold out; linked similar) // layered crop top

Sausalito

red paisley dress // sandals // denim jacket (linked similar)

Hello, hello! It is most definitely past midnight here in California, but alas, I am awake. This weekend, my parents came to visit me in Northern California! We had a wonderful Saturday biking the Golden Gate Bridge with friends, exploring Sausalito, and enjoying sushi. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. I am so grateful that my parents got to finally come visit me this summer, and we had such a blast in San Francisco!

xoxo,

Mackenzie

P.S. riding a bike is much harder than it looks!

Sparks Fly

July 6, 2016 by Mackenzie

crop top (similar, cheaper dupe here) // star shorts // liquid lipstick (in ‘kitten heels‘) // necklace (similar) // red star sweater (shown on my mom- sold out, linked similar)

Hello, hello! I hope that you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! The 4th of July is definitely one of my very favorite holidays of the year. It was so nice to spend the weekend in Laguna with my family, eating hamburgers and exploring the city! My parents are going to be in the bay area this weekend, so it will be really nice to enjoy two weekends in a row with them.

Let me know what you did for the 4th of July!

xoxo,

Mackenzie

Salt Hair, Don’t Care

July 4, 2016 by Mackenzie

my mom hated this candid photo, but I love it so much because they look so happy.

Laguna beach

watermarc restaurant

“Beach or mountains?“, my mom asked my dad as we made the hike up the hill after watching last night’s gorgeous seaside sunset. “Beach. 100%”, my dad answered with no hesitation at all. “Same! Definitely beach”, I told them. “Nobody asked you, Mackenzie. We all already knew that one!”.

If I could live at the beach every day, salt in my hair, watching a gorgeous sunset every evening, I would be the world’s most content human-being. I am so thankful for summer nights spent with views of the ocean and great conversations with my favorite people.

P.S. how cute are my parents?! #goals

xoxo,

Mackenzie

Spotted by the Sea

July 3, 2016 by Mackenzie

Hello friends & happy Sunday (wait, is it Sunday already? Weekends fly by so quickly). This weekend, I am with my family in Laguna beach to celebrate the 4th of July! We spent our first day here catching some rays and enjoying margaritas. It’s been a month since I have seen my parents, so it’s always nice getting to spend quality time with them & catching up!

I hope you’re having a fantastic weekend! Let me know what your plans are for the holiday weekend.

xoxo,
Mackenzie

Welcome to Tanzania

June 28, 2015 by Mackenzie

Our ‘Christmas Card Picture’ ft. a Land Rover Defender

Thomson Safaris campsite

Impala horns

Relaxing at the camp before a traditional African dinner

Wearing our matching VV shirts before an afternoon Safari

Shirt: Vineyard Vines (c/o) • Shorts: Patagonia • Sandals: Hari Mari (c/o)

Welcome to Tanzania.

I have spent about eleven days in Tanzania, and it’s been a wild, but amazing ride so far. When you travel to a new country, sometimes you have absolutely no idea what to expect. I’ve been to the continent of Africa before to visit Cairo, but Egypt and Tanzania are not even comparable. Our journey to this incredibly unique place began with a 24 hour day of travel. Running to your terminal to barely catch your next flight and having your luggage lost are just some of the struggles travelers face. When we finally arrived to Arusha, a city not far from our campsite, my mom and I realized our luggage was not at the baggage claim. Our four bags were ‘missing in action’. Never in my many years of travel have I ever experienced the challenge of losing all of my suitcases. It is an unpleasant experience I hope to never go through again. Luckily, my bags were eventually found later during the week. My mom’s suitcases are still not here yet, but that hasn’t prevented us from having an amazing trip.

We spent a night near the airport and then headed off to catch a small prop plane that would take us to the campsite. I am not much of an ‘outdoor girl’ myself, but this camp was quite gorgeous. On the drive from the landing strip to the camp, we saw so many animals. It is such an incredible experience to just see wild zebras, giraffes, elephants, impalas, and wildebeests casually strolling by your car. We decided to use the Thomson Safaris for our trip, and everything they have done so far has been perfect. Thomson has campsites all over the country of Tanzania, and they are each so, so different. We decided to stay at camps for the first two places, and then stay in lodges for the next two. Though I probably prefer the lodges more, it’s definitely been nice to experience the campsite life. Our daily schedule in Tanzania has been pretty routine. We wake up early and pile into the Land Rover Defender that has a safari pop up roof for excellent animal viewing and picture taking moments in search of animals in their natural settings. During the day, we eat a boxed lunch before continuing back to our safari endeavors. Around three. we head back to the campsite to nap. Dinner is usually around seven and typically consists of fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat.

In Tanzania, they speak the language of Swahili. Here are two phrases we have learned:

Hujambo = hello

Asante = thank you

Later this week I will be posting pictures of the Masai people, our hot air balloon adventure, the lodges, and all of our animal pictures! Thank you so much for checking out my blog- hope you all are having a fantastic weekend!

xoxo,

Mackenzie Kendall

Going off the Grid

June 18, 2015 by Mackenzie

Hello friends! Today is the day! I am leaving this morning to fly to Tanzania with my family! We will spend the next two weeks traveling all around the country on a safari. My mom and I are going to also spend a few days at an elephant park while my dad and sister climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. I decided to wear my elephant dress this week out of excitement for my safari getaway! I picked up this dress a few weeks ago from ShopRiffRaff, but sadly it is not available anymore. I linked some similar animal-themed dresses below!

So I will be ‘off the grid’ for the next two weeks, but I will have internet/service again when I move to London for the rest of summer during the month of July! I will be back really soon!! Thank you so much for y’all’s constant love & support!

Have a wild & awesome week! BRB!