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Family

Lent, Life, and Learning to Love God

The following is a guest post by my wife Megan.

This year, I approached the Lenten season very differently than I have in the past. For the last 6 months my husband has been in and out of the hospital from intense chemotherapy and the day-to-day grind and “restrictions list” we have had to cope with seems like a grueling mile long survival guide.

When Ash Wednesday finally came about it was the day after his latest hospital stay and I was exhausted. As I contemplated Lent, all I wanted was a little comfort rather than accepting something else I would have to give up. You see, we have been living the “giving it all up” part a lot lately.

Over the course of this last year, we have lost a lot – a sort of dying – to the comforts and reassurances and general “things are going OK” feeling that life can sometimes have. I personally have had to face the reality that at the end of all of this it could mean losing everything I hold dear, everything I would consider “my life”. So, I have been forced to face the slow, reluctant, painful peeling off of each layer of life I thought I wanted and needed so very much and confront that raw and vulnerable place between just me and God. Continue reading →

Art / Design / Family / Life — No Comments
6
Feb 12

2 Year Anniversary

Today Megan and celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary, and I have to say that it has been the best two years of my life. Even though it’s been full of lots of challenges and struggles that we could never have seen coming, I wouldn’t change it for anything and would have made the same decision in a heartbeat.

I made up this art piece based on a song I wrote for Megan a few weeks ago, just to say I Love You!

Family / Life / Poetry — No Comments
18
Jan 12

Oh, To Be Awake!

Oh, the pains to come awake;
to part from the fancies of dreams,
and the pleasures of rest;
only to climb out of evening’s darkness.

Oh, the burn of the sun and its rays,
Only first light, so dim compared to midday,
yet still too bright for tired eyes,
How I wish to stay and not look into the sky.

The wakers claim the day,
they speak of the purpose of their toil,
but I don’t want to trade all of my comfort,
only to suffer the joys of a waker’s light.

Don’t they know the satisfaction of a dream?
To control one’s destiny into folly or flight,
And escape with a wondrous thrill?
And to rest in the shadows of the night.

Even if I were to climb the slopes,
and agree to lay aside my rest,
Oh, the great pains I would endure;
The sacrifice I would have to make!

Yes, the light asks so very much,
to come and concede to the daybreak,
and give up all my fancies here,
and to come awake, Oh, and to come awake.

Alas – the sun – it is rising!
The brightness, it pierces me to the heart!
How quickly do my dreams break under the weight,
In a daylight so devoid of the shadows of night.

I catch my breath, as if to breathe for the very first time;
My eyes are alight with the colors of the dawn,
And oh, I come awake! Oh, to be awake!
And have not slept the day away.

——————————–

by Megan Watson

Family / Life — 10 Comments
31
Dec 11

2011 Year in Review

2011 is nearly gone, and I as think back over all that has transpired in the last 12 months, it feels like a whirlwind of so many things that it doesn’t even feel like it happened. So I thought I would take a few moments and look back over some of things that actually did happen, for no other reason than to do so.

So I submit for your viewing and reading pleasure my 2011 Year in Review.

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1 Year Wedding Anniversary

Megan and I celebrated our first year of marriage together on February 6, 2011. Like most February days, it was pretty cold, but we ventured down to the Plaza to eat at Brio’s. One thing we both remembered from the wedding reception was that we didn’t really have time to enjoy all the delicious food, so we essentially recreated the menu and had a chance to take it all in properly. Amazing food with an amazing wife, how could it get any better than that?

Marrying Megan is the best decision I have ever made, and she has been a constant source of strength, encouragement, love, support and so many other things over this last year, and I simply could not imagine a life without her. It has been a blast to get to know her more, to grown in our love together and to enjoy the time we get to spend together. Continue reading →

Family / Life / Photography — 2 Comments
21
Dec 11

New Camera

So for the last year or so I took on a bunch of freelance projects for the specific purpose of saving up some money to get the Canon 5D Mark II. Over the past few months, because of all the things going on with me, that kind of got put on hold, but was also complicated by recent rumors floating around concerning the Mark II’s hypothetical successor, the as yet unannounced Mark III.

In patience I decided to hold off on a purchase to see if something materialized, but all indications now point to a late 2012 release, if even then.

Fortunately, I was able to borrow my friends Alex’s Mark II for a day and instantly feel in love; even for a three year old camera it is an incredible piece of equipment. The warnings on Amazon.com about not renting or borrowing one are completely accurate. Continue reading →

Design / Family / Life — No Comments
19
Dec 11

Raindeer

This year I decided to make Megan an early custom Christmas card, since right now every day seems to blend together and dates and times seem to not have as much veracity to the calendar as in the normal times of life. Continue reading →

Family / Life / Photography — No Comments
25
Oct 11

Megan’s Photos

A couple weekends ago Megan and I headed out to Ironwoods Park to take some pictures. She loves photography about as much as I do, and she got some really compelling shots, so I thought I would share.

Enjoy! Continue reading →

Family / Life / Photography — 1 Comment
5
Aug 11

Megan of the Corn

I am always on the lookout for photo opportunities, and I found one that was just too good to pass up. On my way to work are these fields of corn, and they probably grow to about six feet high. I’ve always wanted to do some pictures in a cornfield, but I’ve never really had the chance. Well, yesterday as I was driving home from work I noticed that there was already a swath cut through this one field, and it was conveniently located right off of the road. Score! Continue reading →

Family / Life / Photography — No Comments
8
Jul 11

The Door

Two days ago Megan came across an amazing find at the Prairie Village Antique Mall- an actual barn door! And not just one, but two!

The best part was that the door itself was only $30. Score.

Now, inquiring readers may at this very moment be wondering what the discovery and purchase of a barn door would provoke such an exclamatory burst on an otherwise unassuming and toned-down blog.

Basically, we’ve been looking for something like for quite some time. In case you didn’t know, Megan has a food blog, and we are always looking for great backgrounds for foot photography set-ups. Old wood functions wonderfully for this purpose, but it’s not always easy to find, at least in a size big enough to be useful. Old and worn wood is great for food shots because it is somewhat of a neutral background which doesn’t cast unwanted colors onto otherwise colorful food, and it is fairly non-reflective, which aids in focusing the eye on the subject rather than bouncing around to all the reflections and ambient occlusion that occurs. Continue reading →

Family / Life / Photography — 2 Comments
28
Jun 11

Photography: North

This past week Megan and I headed up north for a little bit of a vacation.

Our first stop was in Cincinnati, where we visited my brother Joel, his wife Brooke and my niece Ashlyn. Among other auspicious events, we attended the Berry Festival, which was notable for having only one actual instance of anything related to berries. At any rate, Ashlyn had some fun on the rides, and particular the Foam-tastic pool, which was basically a large portable pool filled with foam.

A couple days later we headed up to Cleveland, and then immediately ventured north of the border to Canada. Megan’s grandparents took us to Niagara-On-The-Lake, where we stayed at an awesome Bed & Breakfast. Naturally, we spent a few minutes at the Falls, but probably more time in both the Irish and Scottish stores. Continue reading →