A Hike of a Week

Hey guys! Look I'm getting better at posting sooner. Not that you guys read anyways haha. This has been the most beautiful weather of the year so far here in Atlanta. It was low 70s and nice and cool. Oh yes. Christina and I decided to take advantage of it by going to Stone Mountain on Saturday. She had never been. So we packed a few PB&Js and chips and grapes and set our course for the big rock. I kinda felt like a kid on a field trip with his PB&J but it was yummy. It costs like $8 each to ride the tram to the top. We decided to hike it, rugged style. Let's just say we dominated that mountain on our feet. Definitely worth the experience. I hadn't been since high school. There are some gorgeous views from up there. Downtown Atlanta and Buckhead and the surrounding counties. Just very pleasant. It was definitely quite a steep hike towards the top. We thought it was funny that trying to talk to each other got harder since we also tried to capture oxygen to breathe. Here is a sample... "Christina, I think...that to...night....we should...watch...a movie." Yeah the pauses are reserved for big gasps of air haha. Ok maybe it wasn't that extreme, but you get the idea. Here we are after the hike in front of the mountain.



It's just weird cause not even a week ago it was snowing here and we got 3 inches. We even made a snowman to enjoy it. It made me miss home and Virginia snow. It never snows down here, so this was rare.

We're having a really great time together so far. It feels like we've been out longer than a few weeks. The first weekend in April I have to go to North Greenville for a photo shoot and she is going to go with me and I'll show her my college. Then she is going to Nashville with me for Easter with the entire family. That should be a joy!

This summer is going to be crazy busy I think. I'll have weddings just about every weekend in May and June. Not to mention my trip to Kenya June 18-27. Plus balancing school on top of it all. Yeah I like the challenge. The one weekend in May I have free is Memorial Day weekend, but Christina is going to a wedding in Orlando and wants me to go. So we're also going to hit Disney World before we come back! I'm stoked about that cause I haven't been since maybe 8th grade. As long as we get to see Goofy I'll be set for life. But I couldn't be happier about things right now. I felt like such a dork because I cried in front of Christina the other night just sharing about how blessed I feel and how far I've come since graduating from NGU. I just never would've thought I'd be here in Atlanta in school and with this amazing woman. You'd just have to understand I guess to know why I cried. I just feel like 100% different. Christina is so similar to me in that we're both very open and understand one another. It's so great! So far...hahaha just kidding. We're just taking it day by day and week by week. God knows what will happen. We're just along for the journey together.

This week is Studio Week at school. I feel like I'm halfway done with everything. Should be done with a lot more today and tomorrow. I'm honestly thrilled the end of the quarter is here. 3rd quarter should be awesome...I hope. One assignment that is proving to be a headache is my composite image for Photoshop class. This is where I have to shoot a background and people individually and then put them all together to make it seem like it was shot in one photo. My story idea for the shot is Jesus washing people's feet on the street corner. This is what it looks like so far.



So let me explain the tiring process of the photo haha. First I shot this wall downtown Atlanta. Then I had to shoot everyone in the studio separately. Jesus with his bowl of water. I shot him with his hand out and open so I could place the girl's foot in his hand on the computer. Then the soldier is pouring sand out of his boot from Iraq onto the sidewalk. Then the business woman (Christina) who is getting impatient with things to do. It's going to be awesome when it's finished, but I have to go in and match the lighting color to the same tones as the wall, add their shadows in and spruce up all of the other details. Very detailed, but I think it will be cool when it is finished.

The other tiring assignment is my 12-page brochure I am designing for my computer design class. It's been my favorite class of the quarter. Just frustrating because I don't know much about design, but it's getting there. We'll see haha. I should be done Wednesday with everything but the printing and framing to do, and that takes no time at all. Praise God! I'm not sure when my Critiques are yet next week, but I'll have 3 this quarter. One for writing, one for photography and the other for my computer design. Should be fun! I'll keep you guys posted. Have a great week!

More to come.

A Lot Has Happened

Wow! Almost a month since I've posted on here. Crazy! I'm honestly at a loss of where to begin with this update. The most exciting thing that has happened, to me anyway, is I am now in the beautiful company of a new girlfriend! :) Her name is Christina. We met through church groups here and it's been going really well. It kinda surprised us both. We participate in Fusion which is kinda like a small group of sorts from the church of people our age. We met there as volunteers and kinda just slowly talked. Then about two weeks ago, I was trying to find someone to go to Cirque du Soleil with me and my parents who were coming down. So, being the outgoing random soul I am, I emailed a bunch of girls from church to prod the waters and see if anyone was interested in going. Apparently she was interested the whole time, but waited til last minute to say so because she didn't want to seem eager haha. So she braved the night with me and my parents and the four of us went to see Cirque here in Atlanta. It was awesome! (Cirque wasn't bad either ha). We even went out to eat at Maggiano's. Yum yum. We just hit it off amazingly well (and quick too). The next night she went with me to the Dave Barnes concert and that was great. Held hands ha. I know I sound like a middle schooler. Don't judge me ha. But yeah we've just been taking it really slow. We knew we would be together and made it official while we go slow. Still hang out in groups just as much as we're alone. We both shared so much about our past and our lessons learned. It's just nice to be on the same page and happy together. I'm overwhelmed and blessed to say the least. It's been great. She is from Florida. Went to University of Floria. (Already has given me underlying messages that I need to start being a Gator fan haha). She is in Atlanta now as a student at Emory where she is getting a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. But we're very similar. Very happy. God has just really shown me some amazing things over the past year. I love the learning. :)

Second quarter of grad school, believe it or not, ends this week. We're in our final week of classes. Next week is "Studio Week" which is basically a week of free time to get your assignments done, and the week after that is Critique Week. The dreaded week I call it. I can't believe school is almost over again. It has seriously flown by. I have a lot of stuff to get done over the next week. Nothing like last minute pressure, amen? I think my writing has gotten a lot stronger since last quarter. My photography, on the other hand, I don't feel good about. It's a long story that has been promised to be resolved next quarter. I'm really excited for next quarter.

Over the break I'm going to Nashville for about a week to visit some friends out there and stay with my brother and his family. I love family! I'm really excited cause I love and miss Nashville. Also at the beginning of April I'm going to Greenville to shoot some Bridal Portraits for my friend Brittany. Christina is going to go with me so I can show her my college (polar opposite of her's ha) and maybe even hang around a bit before coming back here to Atlanta. She also gets to go with me back to Nashville when I go Easter weekend! Yay! Like I said. I love family!

I can't remember if I told everyone, but I'm going to Kenya in June. I think I told everyone. We had our first team meeting a week ago. There are 29 of us signed up to go. I'm the unofficial photographer for the trip. You'd better believe I'm going to photograph the junk out of that place, too! Not to mention it'll allow me to get another global phrase tattoo on my arm. Score. I'm really praying about if I can go though. Trying to juggle the finances for school plus the $3500 needed for the trip with church and also emergency money for car issues or anything else that might come up. So please keep me in prayer. I appreciate it. Some of you might be getting a support letter too. I hope you can help me financially during this bad economy we're in. I know God provides for every calling.

Well I'm actually typing this in class, so I better get back to business. I hope you guys are well, and I'll be sure to update you guys sooner than a month. As well as post a picture of Christina and I (which you can see already on my Facebook). Have a good weekend! God Bless!

More to come...