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.