Hey, I’m Hannah
I was born and raised in Logan, Utah. It’s the central city in a small Rocky Mountain valley. If you’ve ever watched Napoleon Dynamite, you have a pretty accurate picture of where I live because the movie was filmed here in Cache Valley, just across the state border in Preston, Idaho. Logan isn’t as podunk and quirky as Napoleon Dynamite makes the area seem, but I’ve got to admit the portrayal is pretty spot on for the smaller surrounding towns! I’ve always loved that I live in a place where driving a few miles in any given direction will take me up the pine tree studded canyon, or to Utah State University, or through patchwork quilts of farmland, or to the hospital or grocery store. While I loved the experience of living in a bigger city, Phoenix, Arizona, for four and a half years, Cache Valley has always called me home and I’m grateful to have recently moved back. I’ve always been a perfectionist and my eye for detail serves me well in my work as a commercial food photographer and stylist. When I’m not working, I love to go hiking and camping, draw or paint, play games with my family, watch Alfred Hitchcock movies, dream about traveling the world, and stay up really late lost in the pages of a book that I just can’t bring myself put down.
As for my family, I’m descended from several European immigrants (British, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swiss, Norwegian, Danish) who joined the Mormon pioneers that immigrated to the Wild West during the mid-1800’s. I’m the oldest of a Brady Bunch-esque gang of siblings—three boys and three girls. My dad is an electrical engineer and my mom was an elementary school teacher before she started raising a gaggle of six curious, energetic kids. My parents are both very educated, hardworking, devoted to faith and family, and raised us to strive for excellence in all we do, while at the same time, loving us and being proud of us no matter what. My siblings are my best friends even though our ages span over thirteen years–we always have so much fun together and I love them so much. Four out of the six of us are married and have started our own families, and it’s just really fun to see our family grow, have in-laws and babies join our family dynamic, and yet have the close-knit friendships I have with my siblings remain the same and just grow and expand as we all enter new stages of life. My own little family and I recently moved back to Logan after living in the Arizona desert for four and a half years. My husband is a mental health therapist and works hard to help families and individuals of all ages who are struggling with mental health issues. We have a cute four year old daughter who keeps us young and makes us laugh everyday. She is our miracle girl who came into our family through IVF after years of dealing with unexplained infertility, so we are extremely grateful to have her and find so much joy in the journey of raising our daughter.