For many of us, December is a month of urgency and expectancy. Finals will soon be over, vacation is around the corner, presents will be given, and a new year will begin. But as with many of us, we aren’t very good at waiting. Dietrich Bonhoeffer points out in his Advent reflections, “Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten.”

He goes on to say, “Whoever does not know that austere blessedness of waiting – that is, of hopefully doing without – will never experience the full blessing of fulfillment. Those who do not know how it feels to struggle anxiously with the deepest questions of life, of their life, and to patiently look forward with anticipation until the truth is revealed, cannot even dream of the splendor of the moment in which clarity is illuminated for those.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent & Christmas, Day 2)

This weekend, Preston and I participated with others in an event in our community called “Broken Liturgy.” The intent of it was to be reflective on this season and truly experience expectancy and anticipation of the birth of Christ, God in flesh, remembered by the celebration of Christmas. As my contribution to the event, I made a photo essay from photos I have taken that I felt conjured up ideas of expectancy, anticipation, waiting, and hope.

ex·pect \
1. to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the coming of: I expect to read it. I expect him later. She expects that they will come.
2. to look for with reason or justification: We expect obedience.
3. Informal . to suppose or surmise; guess: I expect that you are tired from the trip.
4. to anticipate the birth of (one’s child): Paul and Sylvia expect their second very soon.

an·tic·i·pate
1. to realize beforehand; foretaste or foresee: to anticipate pleasure.
2. to expect; look forward to; be sure of: to anticipate a favorable decision.

wait \
1. to remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens (often followed by for, till, or until ): to wait for the bus to arrive.
2. (of things) to be available or in readiness: A letter is waiting for you.
3. to remain neglected for a time: a matter that can wait.
4. to look forward to eagerly: I’m just waiting for the day somebody knocks him down.

hope \
1. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.
2. a particular instance of this feeling: the hope of winning.
3. grounds for this feeling in a particular instance: There is little or no hope of his recovery.
4. a person or thing in which expectations are centered: The medicine was her last hope.
5. something that is hoped for: Her forgiveness is my constant hope.

Which of these photos communicate these words to you most?
If you made a photo essay, what photos would you add to these?

See the full gallery HERE
 

In summary, the A Better World conference aims to connect students, professionals, and individuals from a variety of disciplines in order to build a global community of socially conscious and passionate innovators. It was primarily composed of students and faculty from the Brown University and RISD design programs, but since it’s creation in 2008, it has quadrupled in size and influence. It is still planned and run almost entirely by students which in and of itself is an incredible feat to add on top of an ivy league coursework.

Often the content of the sessions was geared towards undergraduate students just beginning to grapple with the concepts of “social design.” There were, however, a couple speakers who significantly stood out in their depth and experience from all of the others. Dr. Wofgang Feist, the originator of the Passivehaus concept and method was teleconferenced in from Germany to present on his projects over the last 40 years. Elizabeth Johansen of Design that Matters (DtM) presented some fantastic case studies of their products that “allow social enterprises in developing countries to offer improved services and scale more quickly.” Their organizational model of collaboration and partnership is definitely one to note and follow. As an evolving ethnographer, I was especially intrigued by Panthea Lee and her work with Reboot. Their process of Immersion Research, Collaborative Design, Iterative Development, Training/Monitoring, and Evaluation is the exact model I think should be applied to humanitarian design projects.

One of the most complex and rich presentations was by a panel discussion the “Future of Zero Energy Architecture.” Dror Benshetrit shared some incredibly simple but powerful structural systems by Studio Dror and Peter Yeadon of Decker Yeadon, focused on material and smart technology that can address issues of water and energy conservation. But perhaps my favorite set of speakers were those gathered to discussed “Socially Engaged Architecture” of the built works for underserved and neglected communities. I heard from Rural Studio (as presented by Elena Barthel) speak for the first time about their faithful work in Hale County, Mississippi. Also, having recently learned of the work by MASS Design, I was excited to hear founder Michael Murphy share of their healthcare design work in Rwanda and Haiti. Someday soon, I hope Rebuild Sudan is speaking in this group and of our work with local communities in South Sudan.

In addition to these great input sessions, I met some fantastic people! Tino Chow, one of the original founders of the project and current Partner at Big New Ideas (look for their work as the elections draw near in the Creative Action Network and with #OccupyDesign), Matt Girgsby founder of Ecolect and owner of Anchor in Providence which also houses Asher Dunn of the incredibly beautiful furniture design firm Studio DUNN. Sheena Yoon of REaction Strategy Group, John Bielenberg of ProjectM, and Amanda Coen who is a photographer and writer for Inhabitat. Look for Amanda’s name more on this blog as she and I are conspiring on a web project… more on that soon!

All in all it was a fantastic and inspiring weekend. Ideas were flowing from all directions and I can only hope they begin to grow legs in the months that follow because a better world cannot be created by design alone.

Since this blog ultimately began as a travel blog, here is abridged the timeline of our travel, with some of the highlights and photos to come at the end of the week!

09/30 – Preston to LA for work and I to Providence, RI for the A Better World by Design Conference
10/04 – Return to Bethlehem, Preston’s parents (Leah & Wendell) & grandparents (Ken & Mary Lou) arrive a visit to see our new home
10/06 – My parents arrive (yes, that means we now have 6 ‘rents in one place!)
10/08 – Off to Gettysburg & DC to see Lawson (Preston’s brother) & Wendy (Lawson’s girlfriend)
10/10 – My 30th Birthday celebrated in DC (and ironically visiting a cemetery… ha!)
10/11 – Preston returns to PA and I journey with my parents through the Shenandoah Valley, VA
10/12 – Say goodbye to my ‘rents as they continue on their leaf peeping journey and practicing for early retirement. I drive with my classmate to Detroit where we pick up another classmate
10/13 – Attend and present at the Association for Integrative Studies Conference in Grand Rapids, MI as well as a visit with my new in-laws (the Michaels)
10/16 – Return to Bethlehem ahhh… it feels good to be home for at least a few days
10/22 – Preston leaves for Los Angles for a plant turn around (aka they shut down the plant and for 2 weeks he works 12 hours a day getting projects done)
10/25 – I join him in LA, ah sunshine and waterfront views from the hotel!
10/26 – Off to San Diego for some business development
10/28 – I drive down to Santa Ana for a LEED workshop
10/29 – Halloween party (I went as sushi and he as a ghostbuster)
11/02 – I headed off for a few days in SF, both business and pleasure
11/08 – Back to Bethlehem and enjoy our first weekend home since September!

In all our photos, the following is one of my favorites. As I get older and live further away from home, time with family becomes all the more precious. I have no idea if the 6 of us will ever be gathered again so I’ll forever cherish this photo because for at least one moment, we were.

So when it came time to register for our wedding, we both cringed… not only did we have to pick out “stuff” but then we had to invite people to give it to us. Though this was a normal practice by all other standards, it still felt awkward for us non-gift givers. But as we looked around at our hand-me-down-pots and eclectic sets of dishes, we knew some new things would be in order. As our first gifting option though, we strongly encouraged people to give to a cause so important to both of us, education and Rebuild Sudan. (As many of you know, I have served as Board President for this organization for the last two years. Never have I been a part of a project I believed in more or felt better fit to serve.)

We had an overwhelming response from this alternative gifting option. I think non-givers and givers alike appreciated a more creative and intential way of giving. Many gave more to Rebuild Sudan than they ever would have spent on a household gift. To date, we’ve raised nearly $3,000 and I can think of no greater way to commemorate the beginning of our lives together than contributing towards something we care so much about.

We’re not the only ones who have used donations to Rebuild Sudan as a way of celebrating milestones. Last year, Sarah Gerber (our Director of Communication) and her husband, David Gerber (who joined our trip in 2009), gave to Rebuild Sudan on behalf of each of their guests instead of a traditional favor.

This year, after meeting Michael Kuany at an event in DC, Amanda Frayer and Dan Schramm also felt drawn to the organization’s mission. They decided to forgo a registry entirely and asked their guests to give to Rebuild Sudan (see the page HERE). Though their nuptials are over, the money has kept coming in and to date, they’ve raised over $2,500 for the organization! (you guys rock!) Kevin Knox, the board’s Vice President, is turning 31 this year and is asking people to celebrate creatively by giving $31 to Rebuild Sudan. What a great way to embrace age for with each year, comes another dollar!

So, whatever you’re celebrating or whatever milestone you may pass this year, think about how you could use Rebuild Sudan gift your gifts. May you commemorate in such a way that it’s impact outlasts your experience and its purpose extend beyond your day.

This article was originally published on Rebuild Sudan’s blog on 23 September 2011

I’d like to propose a name for a new practice, the quasimoon. Rather than plan yet another event right after their Big Day, many couples are starting a new tradition and are only taking a mini vacation right after their wedding and waiting to indulge in their blissful honeymoon escape several months later. Some do this for logistical or financial reasons, while others want to enjoy the time after the wedding when friends and family are still together.

We, on the other hand, took a quasimoon because we didn’t have any other choice. A week after our wedding, Preston was a groomsman in a childhood friend’s wedding in Indiana and 2 days later was scheduled to begin work in Pennsylvania. Thinking practically, we decided to make a quasimoon adventure of the 3,500 mile roadtrip we knew we had to take. With all the changes and events of this summer, the quasimoon turned out to be the best thing we could have done and eliminated the need to plan one more thing!

For me, the trip also seemed therapeutic. Not only were we now married, but we were moving to the other side of the country, I had just graduated, and we were leaving a community we had invested in for several years. Stepping off a plane in a new place with a new name and new life would have been too abrupt a change for this internal processor to process. But with each mile we traveled, I was able to let go of our life in California and anticipate what awaited us in Pennsylvania. We tried to recall all the events, people and memories we wanted to take with us into the next season but also talked about patterns we wanted to reset for the future. It was a physical and mental transition from one world to the next.

Along the ride, we saw some of america’s most beautiful countryside. We stopped for moose on the road in Utah and watched buffalo roam in Wyoming. We swam under the big sky of Montana and felt patriotic at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota… We read books out loud and had bad dancing parties in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes we sat in silence enjoying the view with the sweet thought of the other sitting next to us until death do us part still sinking in. In three months, we’ll indulge in a honeymoon of our own in New Zealand and I have a feeling the blissfulness will have only multiplied.

Ah… Home sweet Home!
See all the photos and in larger sizes HERE.


p.s. what road trip would be complete without photos of state signs?!

But then there are some days where I sit at the same computer with the same Adele Pandora radio station playing and holding the same warm cup (with of course fresh coffee), and all the people have disappeared. Usually these days are rainy mornings that are cool enough for cozy sweatpants but still warm enough for bare feet. After a review of my to do list and emails from yesterday, I find the day’s tasks will be full but manageable, giving my mind permission to turn them off for a few moments of internal silence. As my work world sleeps quietly in the Pacific time zone and the noisy neighbors upstairs have already stomped out the door, the rain overcomes my often anxious state with a blanket of peace.

In this apartment with more window than wall, my office is flooded with soft light and the rhythm of rain. I used to sleep through these introverted mornings and take them for granted. But with this new season, comes the potential for new patterns. Instead of driving me between the covers, my fingers are drawn to the computer keys. Inspiration comes in abundance on these days and the words are easier to find. Water can be cleansing, but so also writing.

first, the quake. i know i know… you west coasters are scoffing at all the attention a little 5.8 quake brought. but seriously, it was bigger than any other i felt during my time in california’s bay area. additionally, when you’re not expecting it, the experience is all the more unsettling. unaware a quake could shake us on the other side of the country, my architectural instinct told me that our 150 year old building’s foundation was giving way. the walls shook and i was certain a footing was crumbing and with it, our exterior brick walls. a quick call to preston at work confirmed our building wasn’t alone. suddenly, all news of the revolution in libya was replaced with accounts of this quake and tectonic shift felt from georgia to canada… at least until the second round of mother nature came a few days later… hurricane irene.

the 24 hour news cycle probably fed my fear but my usually overly prepared husband was surprisingly unconcerned about any worst case scenario preparations. i tried to follow his experienced lead but gave in to buying extra bread, canned peaches, and cheese-its. saturday evening we joined a hurricane party with friends as the rains came in. we overpowered the sounds of the winds with the digital cheers from wii sports and matched inch for inch the accumulating rain with sips of our red ale homebrew. not wanting to get stuck away from home, preston and i ventured onto the empty roads at midnight and skidded our way across the now pooling streets. with electronics unplugged and phones fully charged, we slipped under the covers and began our 12 hour hibernation. others told us the winds and the rattling of the windows kept them up most of the night. but our 2 foot think walls and windows so tight i cannot shut them on my own, insulated us from any such thing and the rains provided the perfect sleeping morning day.

by early afternoon, the romanticism of the storm changed as the power went out. although the rains had stopped, the gusty winds kept us inside. to avoid boredom, we quickly went to work checking off a few of our to-do’s cleaning the apartment and raising the height of our table (photos to follow soon) with a few saw cuts and much drilling, no doubt annoying our quiet neighbors. preston pulled out his guitar for the first time since we moved and serenaded me with his tunes (we’re unsure if this subdued our now annoyed neighbors or aggravating them more). we played a few rounds of darts, sipped on a local brew and soda, only to end the afternoon with a few games of bannagrams.

we ventured into our city’s downtown when the evening sun broke out only to find the creek along the road to our house over flowing its banks and the colonial industrial quarter just 3 blocks flooded and submerged (see photos here). we feasted at Mama Nina’s and laughed with other friends who survived the week only to return to a pitch dark apartment.

24 hours later, we are still without power and with no promise of it again for several days (see story here). the sun is out and life is returning back to normal for most except for a few things. i now charge my phone in coffee shops and preston takes cold showers before heading off to work. we’ll most likely eat out to join the rest of the electrified world instead of feasting on peanut butter sandwiches and cheese-its. my fingers are crossed the down time will improve my dart game and i’ll be able to get preston to crossing off a few more projects on our honey-do list. we’ll enjoy this electricity and technology detox, remembering life is not dependent on our availability of wi-fi nor is our sustenance tied to the microwave. these are the kinds of first year married stories we’ll tell for years to come and perhaps even wish for the time again when we had no other distractions from each other. or perhaps we’ll be happy to never experience a hurri-quake week again.

oh, so you really want to do this forever thing? how about you begin it by planning the biggest event of your life. of course you can have anything you want, it’s your day. just remember, everyone has opinions, ideas and criticisms. oh, and because most people have been to dozens of weddings, good luck with trying to be unique. and if you survive, then happily ever after awaits you on the other side.

and some how we made it. perhaps a glutton for punishment, we did it all again (this time at a smaller scale) for our kansas reception 6 weeks later. though people seemed to praise the events and the BIG DAY was truly one of the best days of our lives, it’s also so good to have the milestone behind us. happily ever after isn’t the same as they show it in the movies, but so far, marriage is one of the most amazing adventures i’ve ever embarked upon.

wedding memorabilia now hangs on our wall instead of sitting on our “to do” list. my mind is no longer spinning keeping track of RSVPs and my fingers have recovered from fashioning a bouquet made of wire. the veil was lifted and with it, the joyous burdens that unavoidably accompany it. but before the moment passes too far behind us, i want to be sure to publish content we created during the process so that this blog has a piece of this unforgettable season of life.

JACKIE COOPER PHOTOGRAPHY

As a photographer myself, I know that wedding photography is not just a business but an art. Understanding the events of the day is only the beginning. The emotion, the significance, and the power of weddings requires a photographer who understands the deeper layers of his or her assignment. A photographer can understand those layers better when one connects with the wedded couple. The more comfortable I am with the family, the more natural the photos become and the more emotion I communicate through my photos. For all of these reasons, there was no better photographer choice for me but Jackie Cooper Photography. Jackie understands this higher calling in her work and rises to surpass it. She puts you at ease and becomes a gentle presence throughout the day that allows you to be yourself. Seeing not only the big picture, but also the details, she zooms between the array of scales at such monumental events and doesn’t miss a moment. The photos she produced from our wedding are both editorial and personal, picturesque and intimate. The day may have passed, but the photos and the memories they stir up will remain. Jackie is one of the only I know who will produce something with an air timelessness which I am confident will last our lifetime together.

JESSICA NOELLE PHOTOGRAPHY

Jessica Noelle Photography came recommended by Jackie and after viewing her work, we whole heartedly agreed she was perfect for our wedding. We wanted the two photographers to work as a trusted team and we now know we couldn’t have picked a better set! Jessica became not just one of the vendors for our big day but quickly became part of the family and truly celebrated with us in our intimate setting. I saw Jessica capture moments between the staged sets that most people miss and her photos connect strongly to the spirit of the day I’ll always want to remember. The articulated style in her portraits and poignant images communicate great attention and artistry in her work.  Her technical know-how matches her asymmetrical compositional strength and the uniqueness in her photos sets her apart. I am honored our paths crossed and hope the whole world will discover the gifts she has to offer.

WOTOGRAPHY

Additionally, I’ve married into a family of photographers. Austin Kurtz of Wotography is always present at events to capture the love and fun of the Kurtz family (in addition to high end weddings in Switzerland and Hawai’i… lucky guy!) Though he was “off duty” for ours as part of the bridal party, he still captured the days leading up to our BIG DAY, especially our family sailboat outing. We are so grateful for his unbeatable technical skill and presence always at the perfect moments.

GALLERIES

Photos available for purchase until September 27, 2011
>> WEDDING DAY SLIDESHOW
>> WEDDING DAY
>> PREWEDDING by JACKIE COOPER
>> PREWEDDING by WOTOGRAPHY

Now for some of our favorites…

and here are the details according to megan and photos courtesy of Jackie Cooper Photography:

“This ain’t a threat but I think I better warn ya, Gonna fall in love if you go to California.”

Greener Printer: Berkley, CA
150 invites | 150 programs | 325 dollars
one week production
105lb reincarnation matte book – 100% recycled, 60% post-consumer waste processed chlorine free, FSC certified paper with soy inks

When Jill and Preston asked me to design their wedding materials, I was thrilled. They’re an amazing couple with overflowing creativity, so it has been an honor to be deemed worthy of such a project.

The wedding took place right in the woods lining Lake Tahoe. Preston had once told Jill: ‘I’m your anchor, you’re my sails.’ and this combination instantly became the inspiration and theme of the print materials.

invitation set

The logo point to the exact location the wedding took place on the map of Lake Tahoe.

While away in Oman, jill opened a letter a day from Preston, where he affirmed the attributes he loved about her:
to the girl : from the boy
to the dreamer : from the realist
to the architect : from the engineer
to the introvert : extrovert the extrovert
…
They wanted to utilize this long list, making clear the beauty of the union about to be made; celebrate differences.

production party. took quite a few hands, and I’m grateful for the help.

song lyrics fill the back following the fold lines.