It's happening... life is changing. I just walked Natalie to the door and said goodbye. She was the last of 36 roommates I've had (36... yes you read correctly... that's a whole other set of stories) and I turned around to the empty apartment and reality hit... Almost 4 years ago I arrived in San Francisco on my own. I had no idea what or who awaited me here, I just knew I had to come. When I cried out what I was to do next, God had whispered "San Francisco" on a beach in Thailand. So for no other...
Read MoreFor the last few year, I've tried to celebrate the beginning of a new year with a new adventure... 2008: ran across the golden gate bridge (san francisco) 2009: biked up tiburon hills (berkeley) 2010: hiked to the top of mt. diablo (walnut creek) This year, I wanted to spend the first day in 2011 on either the water or in the snow. Since Preston can throw a frisbee into the ocean from his apartment, we opted for the sea and spent the first day of the new year on a boat to Catalina Island. Kind of like a merge of Italy and Hawai'i...
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Processing on Cloud 9
I'm engaged... I--a-m--e-n-g-a-g-e-d. It must still be sinking in as I've found myself mentally living in another world since Saturday. I week ago while celebrating my birthday in Santa Fe, Preston asked me to live the rest of life with him as his wife and best friend. I said YES! without a moment of hesitation and haven't stopped staring at my finger since. (I've also missed my BART stop by 5 stops and spent 20 min wandering around the parking lot looking for my parked car.) The beautiful photos taken by Austin HERE, capture all my excitement and joy of the...
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Married on a Sunday in east bay's Fremont, Fred and Sonja tied the knot in Ardenwood Farms with a touch of comic book style. Fred, nicknamed the "Green Lantern" and Sonja, also known as "She Hulk" added their fun and personal touches to their day An easy-going-roll-with-the-punches kind of couple took the day in stride and immersed themselves in the moment and all of the people who came to share it with them. I loved seeing their joy as they returned down the aisle and they beautiful ways their families have melded together. The reception truly was a celebration and...
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Jody and Emily are two of my favorite bay area people. They value the process more than the product and the questions more than the answers. Over the past year, Preston and I have shared with them late night dinners, brunch discussions, and intense games of Risk and we're better because of it. I guarantee you, if you get the chance, time with them is time well spent. They recently finished their masters degrees and wanted to celebrate the milestone and their new chapter in life. We re-lived all the late nights studying, walks on campus, and coffee shop discussions in...
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in the past 2 months, i've slept in 20 different places... (trust me, i counted). i've crashed on airplanes and airport floors. i've slept on the roof of a house and on the sand of the arabia. i've shared rooms with 6 others, beds with friends, and even slept in the rooms of stranger artists. i've stayed with new zealanders, texans, and i even bedded down with the little mermaid in her island home (no, i'm not joking... if you know lisa, you know what i'm talking about). i've seen the arabian sky, snow skied in the desert, and baked...
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Chelsea and Loren met each other at one of my photography shows last fall and I count it an honor to photograph them in one of the most intimate and naturally beautiful weddings I have ever attended. Surrounded by a circle of family and sheltered by the towering redwoods, they they came together to share their simple but sincere vows. Loren's eyes remained fixed on his bride's face and Chelsea, a dancer, moved in her beautifully unique way towards him. As tourists walked about and snuck peaks between the trees, they made a decision to dance forward into a...
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It's been ten years since we began our architecture education in Manhattan, Kansas but I still call these friends some of my favorites. When it came time to leave, we had our pick then of jobs and the possibilities of our dreams were limitless. We scattered to different corners of the world... each one of us taking our own unique approach to our trade. We've gone to far off lands and stayed to explore known places; we've ended jobs and begun new chapters in our education. In the course of these years, we've gathered others along with us in the journey....
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06.16.10 // Twenty-Five Toes // Lira Uganda I believe the phrase goes, ‘If these walls could talk, oh the stories they’d tell.” As I sit here with these children, I wonder what stories their feet would tell me. How many miles have they walked without shoes over rocky roads and uncultivated fields? How many times have they fetched the day’s water or run under a tree for shelter from the rain. These feet have built callouses to protect but also to survive. If their feet could talk, I think it would leave mine speechless.
His eyes are so intense, staring back at me like a little warrior. I wonder what he thinks when he looks at me so intently... Does he wonder why I am here as much as I want to know his story? Does he want to meet my family in the same way I want to know his sisters? Is he curious about my white skin and curly hair as much as I am intrigued by the dirt on his dark face? I wonder what he's thinking. But the only words he speaks are with his eyes. There comes a moment in each life experience where you must decide if...
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[excerpts from my observations, field notes and analysis at Page Street from January 25 - May 7 though names have been changed. all photographs taken with permission]
I’ve attended Page Street Center’s food distribution program almost every Monday for four months. What began as ethnographic research and language observations of an urban center turned into a relationship with the people that superseded a school project.
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me
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after several months of waiting, i finally know where i’ll be researching this summer, Lisq Oman! (i’m not going to lie… i had to look it up on a map.)
i’m in a program that focuses on qualitative research. gathering more information on behaviors and perspectives, we investigate the why and how rather than numbers and data. working with an in-country organization and interpreters, our research will focus on the following questions/themes:
Which moments have shaped me?
… learning to drive a standard
… conversation with an eldery nun in india
… seeing the ocean for the first time when i was 20
… summer as a camp counselor
… learning to let go
… living without a car
… falling in love
… being hurt by love
… watching the sunrise over the himalayians
… spending a week in a foreign hospital
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Life is forever changed and more beautiful with Isabella in the Inskeep clan. After recording their life together as an anticipating couple, I was also lucky enough to spend a morning with Tana and Steve and week old Isabella. I attempted to capture her small size and baby beauty by taking more photos than I ever had in a session... I just couldn't help myself! Using a warming pad under blankets, we kept her little body warm and she sleepily cooperated with us moving and shifting her around. Steve and Tana, you've given an incredible gift to the world through this...
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i’ve found a new iphone app that i love and have been enjoying the freedom of photos on the go. after 3-see.com, i was a bit burned out by a photo a day and the expectation i had to take a photo everyday with a “real” camera. but with photo/editing/posting in my fingertips without putting my fingers on my computer, you better believe, a photo a day hasn’t stopped. Read More
spring arrived in the bay area. i think it must have traveled in with daylight savings time for they seemed to make their appearance at the same time. the green of the plants and the blue of the sky wave at me from my bed and invite me to begin the day with more energy and purpose than the gray of the winter emanates. and with the sun comes forth an energy of a new start, a fresh beginning. at the new year, we feel the same potential, but it is more internal, a latent hope for what could be....
Read Morei used to fill whole journals in a month. writing was not a chore or a task but a tool to process... a way of working through the seemingly insignificant and the knowingly significant moments of life. i didn't know what i was thinking until i took the time to write it out and process it by pen. but today, my journal remains empty. wait, i take that back. it's full, but not as it used to be. you see, i divided it into two parts: internal and external the external contained the tasks of my day, the lists of my projects, the...
Read Morei spent a year with eric in india... now he spends his years in a boat he owns in washington. when he's not civil engineering the world, he's making music... and i now know... he's making it with his boat. enjoy his creativity and thoughtful lyrics. you can find some of his other clever creations HERE. and notice the album cover? i was happy to help out!
the first month in 2010 has contained more than any january i've ever had before... 'read' 9 books for two january-term intensive classes. fav HERE and HERE officially starting a consulting company. kellen paul turned me into an aunt. drove to the sequoias but never got to see them. bought a new camera. spent a week in the biggest LA rainstorm ever. made many new protege friends. had a positive net worth for the first time in months. began volunteering at a food distribution center. enjoyed celebrating the new year with him. decided i'm going to collect antique colored bottles. found security in losing control. rebranded for Rebuild Sudan (old website) bikram 'hot' yoga... 110 degrees with stinky sweaty bodies. hiked mt. diablo on new...
Read Morethe first time we walked by, there was just the mommy snowman. the next time, the baby had arrived. we thought it only appropriate to creatively complete the trio with a snow dog.
i visited the Cathedral of Christ the Light (click on photos in the gallery on the left of the page) a few weeks back to hear the architect from SOM tell about the project. it's the first time i've gone to a lecture about a building in the building and it really got me thinking about what a different experience that was. rather than show photos of the 4 stories of wooden slats, he just pointed to them. when he spoke of the white light panels at the entrance and the ceiling, we turned around to see them. and when...
Read Morei haven't met him yet, but i already love him. is that possible? can i feel such protection, care, and emotion for a little man i've never held in my arms? he and i, we introduced ourselves over the phone the first few hours after he took a breath. i declared my love to him for the first time and he responded with emotional tears (or maybe those were just hungry... pooping... or sleepy tears... i wasn't quite sure) regardless, i know he heard me. kellen paul sornson, i know that though there's a lot of new stuff happening all around you...
Read MoreI stepped into the classroom and immediately realized the enormity of the moment. For you see, Christian Theology marked my first official “religious” class. Of course I have been apart of small studies, attended workshops, even taught a little myself. But to sit in a classroom, to intentionally study and read not just for personal development but for a grade, was a situation I had yet to encounter. The development of my faith has always been a personal pursuit and not something which could be qualified in a percentage of excellence. How will this change things? I wondered to myself,...
Read Morei wish i could describe to you the complete and utter joy that comes as a photographer when you get a new camera. my previous faithful friend was on her last leg (she was a 7 year old hand-me-down, refurbished piece of 10D canon wonderfulness). and thanks to an unnamed donor, she was finally replaced to go enjoy shooting fields of flowers and butterflies in camera heaven. may she rest in digital piece. and without delay, a new one was ordered and sent my way. i waited by the door like a child at christmas. i made sure i had my...
Read Moreit's a good start to a new year with word that two of my pieces have been selected for a permanent gallery! while at k-state in manhattan, ks (aka the little apple) i received a minor in leadership studies. this new year is the grand opening of their new facility on campus and they wanted to fill the halls with work of previous students. two of my recent pieces from africa have been selected by the leopold gallery to fill the hall. Little Warrior | Lira, Uganda His eyes are so intense, staring back at me like a little warrior....
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it was his birthday. and birthdays are always reasons to celebrate. upon his request, we dressed up. i pulled my little black dress out of the closet. and realized it fit better now than it did then... a lot of things have changed since then... life fits much better now.
I want to love God and not my idea of God. I want to love my neighbor and not my idea of my neighbor. I want to love myself and not the idea of myself.
