Hazel's Roots Photography

When your incredibly gorgeous and creative friend says “can we do our engagement photos in all black and white”? YES! (But had to throw one color in too because my favorite meadow was popping).

Cannot wait for your big day

We’re headed to Wyoming today. Why you may ask?

Because years ago we decided we were going to try to make it to all 50 states before the boys went to college.

Will we make it to all 50? Probably not. But it’s forced us to find little excursions and reasons to spend time together. Like there’s a place in Iowa where 3 states all come together! We’re going! And we’re going to stand on the corner of each state and know we made it, together. Illinois✔️Wisconsin✔️Iowa✔️.

Arkansas is only 30 minutes from our baseball tourney in Branson, MO? We’re going.

It’s been such a fun way to explore together and also quietly count down the years until they graduate from high school and walk out into the world on their own.

Everytime I do I senior shoot like this gorgeous gals I think…..how many more will we check off our list before my own senior is in this same spot.

Anyway, when you see some random images from the Wyoming state capital or a local buffalo farm you’ll know it’s because we’re filling up our list with states and family memories while we still can ❤️

Happy spring!

And flashback to my favorite moment of flowers created by for .

“20/20”

I met an equine therapist recently who was explaining to me why horses seemingly stand around so much. It’s not that they are lazy or even tired or anything. She told me that because they are prey animals, and constantly on guard, they have to preserve their energy.

They have to keep their bodies and their hearts as calm as possible so that when a threat arrives they are ready to RUN and protect themselves. If they….dare I say…..”horse around” all day wasting their energy on things that don’t matter they won’t have enough left for the things that do.

This fascinated me, firstly because it hit so close to home. Like “am I actually a horse”? Is this why many of have only 2 speeds? 150mph and zero? And how to we know when we’re wasting our energy on useless distractions and then trying to show up, completed depleted, for the things that actually count?

A horse has to trust you to be willing to be vulnerable around you. To be willing to, for instance, to pick up a leg and briefly limit their ability to run. This horse I met this morning gently closed his eyes as I pet him. He seemed to communicate that for this moment we are both safe in each other’s company. He trusted me and I trusted him. And together we took a deep exhale out and inhale in, taking in the peace that will allow us to get through whatever comes next.

It’s back! The 2026 Intention ceremony is live and this year were preparing for the year of the Fire Horse which symbolizes a year of passion, freedom, and dynamic change.

I don’t know about you, but its been a long year already. And the fire house requires us to focus on balance, movement, and self-care so we’ll do just that.

Let’s take the opportunity to circle up by candlelight and dream up what we want our 2026 to look like.

We’ll start off with yoga led by our incredible singing swede Sofie Woods of to get our hearts and bodies moving, followed by guided journaling, creating our vision boards and a Mayan cacao ceremony.

We’ll sprinkle in healthy snacks and drinks and the incredible support of this community of women.

Use code “11off” for $11 off your ticket for the next 48 hours.

I hope you can make it 💕💕

How to be happy……

Some of yall may know that I recently went back to school. Not because I have some big plan about what I want to do with the extra education or anything but just because I deeply yearn to learn more about why we humans do all the things that we do.

Anyway, I’ve been studying happiness and wanted to share this really fascinating thing.

I’m definitely a pretty woo-woo gal but I find it so powerful when science backs up what we seem to already know in our bones. It can sort of give us permission to lean into our more dreamy, creative, and cozier sides without feeling guilty or like it’s not a worthwhile endeavor.

This amazing researcher, Martin Seligman created this idea called the PERMA model. It outlines 5 areas that contribute to happiness and well-being (each letter of the model stands for one of the components). The idea is that when you work to develop and maintain these 5 areas that you can increase your well-being. Here they are

1) (P)ositive Emotions
Gratitude journaling and mindfulness activities can help with increasing the amount of positive emotions we have as can positive affirmations!

2) (E)ngagement
think creative activities to help your mind escape and enter a place of flow. This could be anything from watercolor to dancing to just discovering something new out in the world.

3. (R) Positive Relationships
this one kind of speaks for itself but you know just a reminder to spend time with people who bring you up and bring you joy and or never stop building the communities you need to support you through all the different stages of life

4. (M) Meaning
uncovering your values and or journaling on what’s really important to you is a fun place to start

5. (A) chievement
this doesn’t even have to be “new” achievements but just recognizing all you’ve done and or all you’ve learned is a good place to start.

Cont’d in the comments

Flashback to when my own kids would let me take their photos…..

Her little feet tho’ 💕💕

When I was young, I fell in love with horses. My best friend Jolene rode them, wrote all of her book reports about them and would tell me all about how amazing they were. We used to sneak to the outskirts of our neighborhood to talk to the horses that lived in the farm that backed up to us, one of the last remaining hold outs that had yet to sell their land to a suburban Kansas real estate developer.
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There were at least 2 or 3 horses on that farm. Jolene and I would stand on the outside of the splintery wooden fence and call them over to us. We knew that if we could just get close enough Jolene could surely mount one and ride it ba****ck all over the pasture.
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One day she got up the nerve to climb in and get close. I, being ever the rule follower, stayed on the outside of the fence where I couldn’t technically be charged for trespassing, to stand watch.
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Jolene kicked her legs through the fence posts, and made her way towards the largest of the horses, a black stallion with a long black mane. She spoke gently to him, easing him towards her. She wasn’t worried about getting muddy or getting hurt, or getting caught, as I was, she only wanted to be as close as possible to the magic of him.
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Here is where the story gets murky. I know that most likely she barely pet him and then we made our way slowly back home, but my mind.....my mind likes to remember that she was able to get close enough to grab his mane. That she was strong enough to swing her leg over the top of him, mounting him ba****ck somehow with her tiny 9 year old body. That he took off in a gallop and that her long light brown hair whipped behind her as he ran across the field, with me hooping and hollering from the sidelines.
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It remains one of the most beautiful, wild moments of my life and like it probably never really happened that way. My limitless imagination may have been what provided me that amazing memory, but either way my love for horses and all things wild, taught to me by my wildest friend, remain. 🖤

Visual thoughts on motherhood. 💕

Boulder, Colorado or Provence, France?