In Honor of Irvin Kershner

Seen @ UrbanInfluence

My Heart in Haiti

My Fiancé is in Haiti right now doing relief work. She left Thanksgiving night and won't be back until this Friday.

I miss her so much, but we've fortunately been able to communicate here and there via Facebook.

(Her at Sea World, where she took me a few weeks ago for my B day)

So far I've heard -

There's political unrest

There's giant spiders

The children there maul you

And it's amazing!

I can only imagine what's it's like over there.

So send all of your love and best wishes to Meghan, her family, and our church family out there.

They'll be back soon and I can't wait to see my lovey again.

-23RD-

On November the 8th, I celebrated my 23rd birthday.

We had a great time! Thank you all for the birthday wishes and

coming out to celebrate with me.

One of the best things about this weekend was this...

Meghan rode a beach cruiser with me.

To say the least, I smiled a lot.

I was also given a picture frame for this photo print

an amazing photographer gave me years ago.

It was nice to finally be able to frame it :)

I was also given what has been referred to as a "gentleman's knife"

The bead was hand-crafted:

Awesomeness.

And lastly, a wood skin for my Mac

This is made out of 100% Cedar.

Check them out here.

Thank you so much everyone for the awesome gifts and more than anything:

wonderful times

(Coming soon to the blog: A long-awaited date with the woman I love.)

Great Thanks

I've recently received two wonderful gifts

One is a beautiful and simple watch from my loving fiance.

The other is a hand-made wallet from a great friend.

The details on this wallet are awesome.

Hand stitched and stamped with my initials, this wallet

has found a special place in my heart.

Both of these are treasures to me,

and have become essential parts of my every day carry.

Thank you both, again.

A N N I V E R S A R Y

September 24 marked the first anniversary of Meghan and I. We had an amazing weekend to celebrate and were able to each treat the other to a day of surprises and fun.

I gave Meghan this book that has letters I wrote to her the week before I proposed.

Friday was my day to surprise Meghan. I took her out to L.A. (where we first fell in love a year prior).

We had dinner at Miceli's, which was amazing. The waiters/waitresses sing

and the food is beyond great.

Also, Meghan walked six blocks in heels to get to this restaurant,

she deserves some acknowledgement for her bravery.

After dinner, we went and saw Phantom of the Opera at the Pantages Theater.

I've never been to that theater before and it is really cool.

To say the least, we had a great time.

Saturday was Meghan's day to plan our fun.

To start off, we had a nice relaxing lunch and watched a movie.

After lunch, she surprised me with tickets to the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long

@ the Hollywood Bowl.

This was my first time ever seeing the movie, and I really liked it.

I've been singing the songs from it ever since we went.

She also bought us a really cool bucket full of goodies and snacks

including my favorite trail mix.

The evening came along with a large number of interesting people,

as indicated by the post-known official sponsor of the event.

It is L.A. after all.

I got to fall more in love with the girl I didn't think I could

love any more, and thanks to her, I get to do that often.

It was an anniversary I'll never forget.

Hand Hearts

This is a quick little project I've had in the works for a while.

I finally had some time to get to it.

(1)

(2)

Anniversary

This upcoming weekend, Meghan and I will be celebrating our first anniversary.

It's amazing to think that this week last year, I was head-over-heels in love with a girl who had no idea (okay, maybe a small idea) that I was in love with her.

Now I get to proudly say that I'm marrying that woman and I've fallen even more in love with her.

Thank you Meghan, for being the love of my life, my everything.

(Us @ Mary Poppins on Broadway in New York)

Idaho: Boise

Meghan, her sister Caitylnn, her mom, and I recently did a road trip up to Boise, Idaho for a wedding.

We had a great time, and we all fell in love with the city.

I've loved the North-west ever since my first trip up to Seattle.

Boise is like a mix between the young-cities of Oregon and Washington

with classic mid-west conservatism.

The scenery was beautiful, and everyone there

was so friendly.

Some of my favorite things about the trip were:

- The Weather

- The People

- The Open Space

- The Slower Pace

-Feeling very American

- The Food

I've got access to so many sub-cultures just by living in the U.S.

And it's great to be able to come in contact with another

group of people who are nothing like those where I live.

Instax Mini 7s

I got this little guy a few weeks ago.

I'm still figuring out what works/doesn't as far as the pictures go,

and it's all a lot of fun.

The coolest part is being able to see the photos develop right in front of you.

Here's some of my first.

There'll be lots more to come!

P.S. If you're interested in getting one of these yourself,

go here. It's way to expensive everywhere else

Mega Pixels

If you have noticed that the quality of my photos have gone down recently,

(from about 15 down to 2 megapixels)

it isn't just your eyes catching extremely

specific visual information.

A few months ago I was at Disneyland with

two of my favorites (Meghan and my G10).

To make a long story short,

I left my G10 at a show, realized

I had left it there after we left the park,

went back, and it was nowhere to be found.

I was surprisingly calm for the situation at hand,

but I think I was just in denial.

(no intentional reference to cheesy jokes made on the Jungle cruise)

So recently, my photos have all been from this

which is my phone.

Although the pictures are surprisingly clear,

they're nothing compared to my G10.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel,

my dad has attempted to mention a few cameras in

passing, and our theory is that he's gonna get

Meghan and I one as a wedding gift.

I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a Canon T2i.

Anyway, I apologize for the poor quality,

and I look forward to having a nice camera

again soon. To compensate for the lack

of a quality camera, I'm getting something

fun in the mail this weekend.

A post about that soon to come.

until then.

Traveling

I've always wanted a globe. They remind me of
traveling and how much I enjoy this beautiful
place we live. So one trip to World Market
and one 40% off coupon later, I have my globe.
(the little bike came home with us too)

Watch the Tour

Only Three Days Left!

Watch Here

Simple Project...Nice Touch

Here's a simple bank I came up with when my other (slightly out-grown)
bank broke.




If you'd like to create something similar, just find:
\\ Small square box (like a small shipping box)
\\ Shoe box lid
\\ Newspaper
\\ Tape/Stapler/Scissors
\\ Sharpie (optional)

Wrap the square box in the newspaper and tape accordingly.
Next, cut the shoe box lid so that it makes a nice lid for the other box.
(This may take a couple tries and a little figuring out with folding and stuff)
Wrap the lid in newspaper
Cut a coin/dollar size hole in the lid
Write whatever you want on it.

Now you've got yourself a cool little bank that has a nice personal touch to it.

Inspiration ----> Production

So I got the urge the other day to get a wall hanger with hooks on it. I found this one at Target that I liked a lot.

I almost bought it, but, on a whim, was inspired to do something more DIY. I wanted to make something similar, but with a more "me" touch to it, and I wanted to do it for less than buying the one from Target. This unit costs 29.99, so that was my budget. And this is what I ended up with.

I love how it turned out. It was fun to make and the wood log idea came out just the way I saw it in my head.
Here's the cost breakdown:
Hooks: 4 @ $2 a piece ($8)
Wood: Roughly $1 for the piece I used
Wall mounting Hardware: $5
Grand Total = $14

Not only did I save $15, but I got some wall hooks that have a special touch to them. I'm currently using this to hang my jeans.

I've got some more projects coming up soon.

Inspired

Good Vs. Ultimate

I recently listened to a teaching called
"Source of Joy"
by Britt Merrick.

This study produced a self-analysis unlike ever before. Simply put, we (as a people) tend to take very good things and make them ultimate things. The difference is very distinct, because when something is good, we can all celebrate and be happy about it. Yet when something is ultimate, happiness only exists within that thing (person, idea, object, etc.) Making God our ultimate everything (not a simple task) is the only way to avoid the heartbreak and destruction that comes from making other things our "ultimates."

A few good quotes:

"The fact that He loves you has more to do with Him than it does with you."

"It's not that God loves us because we're valuable,
we're valuable because God loves us."

Click Here to listen to the study, it's about 50 minutes, but all worth it.

Needless to say, God spoke to me in a way that I needed to be spoken to.

We're Engaged!

I proposed to the most amazing girl I've ever met on Friday, May 28th, 2010.

Here's the story

Our Engagement from Georgia-Des on Vimeo.

Re Read

I have a few things to recommend today:


One is: Read This Book



It has changed my life, and I'm reading it for a second time, and it is once again changing my life.

The second is: Read books more than once. There is always something more to learn from a sentence you've already read.

The 3rd is: Never forget that beauty doesn't exist independently, but only points us to something that is truly beautiful. (Learned from doing steps 1 and 2)

Summer Days

So I haven't been the best blogger lately....or in the past few months. But I have recently been inspired to get back into blogging. Here's a few things I've had my eyes for summer while I've been gone:

I really want a pair of these:
















And I really want this:

















And I've also been on a hat search, but I think that's going nowhere fast. But that's okay, summer is at hand, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to it.

So far planned we have:

/Love
/Lots of Beach Days
/Star Wars Viewing (for first-timers, can you believe it?!)
/Great Novels and Non-fiction
/Cheap Movie Theater Visits
/Park Days with Dogs
/Disneyland!

And that's just to name a few. To say the least, I'm excited. I hope you are too.

Happiness

School has started!

Everyone is already a few weeks in and it's going to be an interesting semester. For me, there's lots of writing classes. Writing for broadcasting/film, Writing for Public Relations, an online Radio/TV/Film class, and a Pop Culture class (that is more a cultural studies class than it is what you would think a pop culture class would be). Not only are the classes full of excitement, but there is a trip to Haiti being planned! I'm very excited to have the possibility of going and I hope and pray that I am able to get the funds and make the time to go do relief work over there. I was able to design a T-shirt for the trip.




I thank you all for any support (be it cash, prayers, stuff to send, etc.) for the trip and I hope God can do something great through it.

Everything is going great in life outside of school. I'm am still deeply in love with my beautiful Meghan (with my current plans, there will be MANY blogs about her soon...) Things are great with my family and friends, and I hope I can see all of you soon enough.

God is good. I've learned that if I trust Him, He will do amazing things. And the happiness that He has provided me, with just that thought alone, is more wonderful than anything I could ever imagine.

I hope you all are enjoying the rain and have a beautiful week!

Love

It's interesting being in a serious relationship, one that is headed toward marriage, and finally having that special person I've always dreamed of. I've found that my preconceived assumptions about love were far off.

Love is often something quite painful, and possibly unenjoyable. Love is truly about the other person, and not me. Love is letting go of things that I'm comfortable with so that I can make her comfortable.

Yet Love is so amazing I can't describe it. Love is knowing that someone is there for me regardless. Love is having that person to hold, look into each others eyes, kiss, and just be with because that's what you both love doing.

I know I still have a lot to learn about love, and I have a feeling I'll never stop learning. But I know that I'm happy that I am in love, and I wouldn't have my world any other way.

New York City

Cold times, fun times, crazy times, and loving times. New York City was a blast. I could have never imagined NY for what it really was before my visit. It's a fast-paced (faster than LA) town with people who aren't afraid to share their opinion. It's a place where you tip everyone. It's a smelly place. Everyone is trying to make a dollar off of you. Taxi's are expensive and subways are scary. But with all the hustle and bustle of New York, there is so much fun to be had and there were many sites to be seen. And the best part (for me at least) was being able to spend it with the love of my life. I've always wanted to travel around the world with the woman I'm going to marry. Now that I've found her, it's great to finally say we've started our traveling journeys. (We've gone to Hawaii as well so far). There's nothing more wonderful than visiting a fun and exciting place with the most fun and exciting person in the world. I can't wait to see where our love will lead us next.