love.

my baby sister and her fiance. we did some engagement shots in Waco this evening.

cheater.

I took this last night...

more photo 365

As promised...

love peace life

Fail

So, I already failed this photo 365 thing... I'll put two up tonight to make up for it... :) Promise.

love peace life
mh

something old for something new

Photo 365 part 1. This is part of the set of The Dazzle at Baylor University Theatre. My photog partner and I were hired to do the photo call stuff so tonight we went and played with cameras and the scenery. I love the old piano...

102

You may be curious as to why that specific number is in the title line... let me tell you. It is the temperature in this lovely town today. Ridiculous. You know, 8... oh heck, even 9 months out of the year, I love Texas, and normally we don't get highs like that until July. However, this year, we are receiving this wonderful gift of hot hot heat in June. The middle of June. Awesome. All this to say, I am so grateful for A/C. For real.

I was re-reading Jonah last night before I went to sleep. It's such a great story and there's so much in it. You should read it again... with the eyes of someone on the other side of 8. It was a great story then about a whale eating a man, but on the other side, it's a beautiful narrative - providence, obedience, God loving us enough to show us what's best, being reminded that it's not about us, but completely about Him. Think about it a little. I feel like Jonah most days... Go read it.

In further Wednesday news, I am considering writing a list of things to do before I die - a bucket list, if you will. I'm not sure what to put on this bucket list. Ideas? ALSO, I'm thinking about starting a photo 365 project, but it feels like it would be intense. I'm not sure if I would be able to update it ever day either. Maybe a photo 52 project...? No. I will try this photo 365 thing. I will chronicle my senior year of college (I love college...), my eventual move, and my possible trip to China. Starting tonight... Does photo 365 count if you're working a photography gig? This week, it totally does. So look for exciting pictures coming your way soon! :) Maybe this means I'll post twice today...

love peace life.
mh

Excitement.

Professionally, this week has been AWESOME. A company asked for my resume AND I got a photography gig. Beyond excited.

Also, I realized today that I only have a couple weeks left of Astronomy. There has been an ongoing project in this class to make it fun for me (or at least mildly entertaining...): I am making a playlist for the planets. That's right. A planetary playlist. Awesome. Here's the rundown:

1. Go Outside (Robbie Seay Band)
2. Sun - A Shining Star (Atomic)
3. Mercury - Hot and Cold (Katy Perry)
4. Venus - Under Pressure (Queen)
5. Earth - Home (Phil Wickham)
6. Moon - Bad Moon Rising (CCR)
7. Mars - Diamonds and Rust (Joan Baez)
8. Jupiter - Rock You Like a Hurricane (The Scorpions)
9. Uranus - Blue (Eiffel 65)
10. Neptune - Under the Sea
11. Pluto - Come Sail Away (Styx)
12. Drops of Jupiter (Train)
13. Champagne Supernova (Oasis)

But can you tell me why these songs? ;)

love peace life.

something calm.

Case of the Mondays

Today is Monday. It's one of those Mondays when I don't want to be in class... oh wait... It was a weekend at the lake, which, I'm sure, feeds into this whole I don't want to be HERE. Here's my thought on why...

Sunburn. I am sunburned. On some lake weekends, I don't come back sunburned and Monday isn't so bad. When I do have a sunburn, however, I am constantly reminded of where I was over the weekend. On the lake. In my swimsuit, I wasn't as hot or itchy, because it has the lines that are now burned on me. Monday morning comes around and I have to put on legitimate clothes, and they kinda hurt. Then, my hair is fixed and not in a ponytail... and the sunburn.

Currently, instead of floating on a raft in the lake and soaking up the sun, drink in one hand, book in the other, I am in a fluorescent-lit room, looking at the screen, listening to Dwighty P and the slow hum of the fluorescent lights. All reminding me that the week has only barely started.

Of course, Monday brings opportunity and freshness. That's amazing.

Day of Boredom.

It is barely 11am. I'm ready for at least 11:15. I'd prefer 5, but I'll take what I can get.

I'm in astronomy, the summer class and I'm job searching/blogging/building the rockinest playlist ever. (Jared, don't be upset). One of Saturn's moons has a dirty black region, who knew. And Ice is the rock. I am the walrus. Whoa.

OK. It's hot, and I know some of you reading this live north of the lovely state of Tejas (which I love, but about 3 months of the year, the heat gets me), so go outside and enjoy the summer weather (that won't give you heat stroke). I will head outside and melt... I wonder if that would get me out of class. Probably not. Dwighty P would just use me as some sort of example of mush or something...

Today

Is tuesday. God is good, but this week is kinda lame.

This week seems to be going by painfully slow. Even my bosses have peaced out of here for a couple days, which has left me to my own devices in the office... basically, I'm bored. You'd think, working at a university, I'd have tons of fun at my fingertips, but you'd be wrong. All the fun I can think of would probably get me fired. Did I mention that I work at a private Christian school? Awesome... So this has been possibly the most boring week ever. Yesterday, the most work I did was open letters for a prof. Just open them, I didn't take anything out, I just made sure he could get to them without having to actually open them. I'm not sure if that chalks up to a fail or win. It was just lame. I'm really hoping one of the profs gives another test so I can maybe grade that...! Wow. I live on the edge.

Did I mention I'm taking astronomy this summer? I am. It's been... I'm ready to be done with basics, which is probably good, since I'm a senior. Today, I learned about the planets. I think it's all mildly interesting, but... it's class in June.

So here's a breakdown... for those interested.

1. Mercury is close to the sun. And sort of tiny.

2. Venus has pancake volcanoes.

3. Earth. It has a molten core. The layer of the earth that we actually walk (the crust) is only about 10km thick... or thin. When I was little, the teachers unknowingly had me convinced that I was going to be one day struck with lava when it came out of the extremely thin crust layer... I'm imaginative as an adult, I was WAY more so as a child.

4. Mars. It may have had life at one point or another. maybe. It's red. Because it's rusting. Really, the color comes from Iron Oxide. Thus ends the terrestrial planets... now for the Jovian Planets.

5. Jupiter. It is super bright and WAY huge. It's more than twice as massive as all the other planets COMBINED. OMG. The bands that it looks like it has come from the wind patterns and it's red spot is really just a hurricane that's been RAGING for 300years. NBD.

6. Saturn is large with rings. If you look through a telescope, you can see the rings. Nifty, huh?

7. Uranus was discovered in 1781 by Herschel and is the first one to have been in modern times. Originally, it was called Georgium Sidus, but after King George went a little tyrannical, it got a name change. Uranus is the earliest supreme being in Greek mythology - a personification of the sky. It has lots of moons.

8. Neptune is blue... and by far the coolest looking planet... at least that's what I think. It's the picture at the beginning. Galileo thought Neptune was just a star when he saw it in 1613 near Jupiter. It radiates more than twice as much energy as it receives from the sun. Whoa.

9. The Planetoids. poor Pluto. Pluto was named by a nine year old. Pluto is the god of the underworld (she was clearly a VERY happy child). It was discovered in the 1930s by accident and thought to disrupt the orbit of Neptune... but, um, it's tiny. Tinier than our moon or Io, Europa or Ganymede (three of the moons of Jupiter).

All this too say, how AWESOME is God. He completely did all of this and it's so perfectly constructed and such a mystery. It's pretty neat. So, in the words of Robbie Seay, "Go outside. Praise the God who mapped the stars out in the sky."

Love Peace Life.

mh

Photography.

Today, I have realized that, for a photographer, I take very few pictures of everyday things. You know, friends making dinner, people hanging out on the porch in the evening, trips to the lake... everyday occurrences. We remember to take the pictures at the beach and at the theme parks, but we forget to capture the moments in between. The everything is perfect in that 15 seconds because you are where you should be and you feel so blessed. God has given us the little moments. I forget to capture those, but aren't those the times we want our grandchildren to know. Not only were we happy the few times that we went to the beach, we laughed on Friday nights and we were in stitches on Thursdays. We danced together on Monday afternoons and we went to the park to enjoy God on Tuesday. Wednesday we were surrounded by community and Sunday we were spontaneous. Let's capture those moments. Candid and real. Completely God-given.

Love Peace Life.

Language.

Language is such a weird thing. We deem words "bad" and others uplifting... when really it's all about the attitude behind them. I was in a directing class last year (both semesters, because I'm hardcore like that...?) and we talked about using language for the sake of using it vs using language to build a character or make the audience intentionally a little uncomfy. What was so much more interesting was the thought put into the silence. We directed several silent scenes in which we had to tell a story without words. THEY WERE CRAZY. I think those made more impact than the words... which got me thinking. Silence is sometimes not so golden.

Think with me on this for just a moment. We are called to love each other and live peacefully, right? We are to act in kindness to one another. I started thinking about the whole language thing. Is it better to keep silent?

Sometimes, I think it completely appropriate to hold your tongue (an art at which I am only now becoming better), but some of us humankind have this awful habit of ignoring each other. We just don't speak, or respond. It can be the worst punishment dealt. The lack of answers is sometimes incredibly hard to swallow. I think we think we're doing everyone a service by ignoring them, but that silence can lash like words cannot. You can tell entire stories in silence (don't believe me? go watch a Pixar short. They're brilliant at it) and we forget this. Sometimes what we don't say is so much heavier than what we do say.

I encourage you then, to be careful with your words, whether you are using them or letting the silence hit your fellow human, neighbor, if you will (I mean, we are working on the basis of scripture), like a ton of bricks. Love your neighbor as yourself, and I doubt that silence is the response that you want. Rise above that and respond in love, that doesn't mean you can't have disagreements, but work through them. Keep the spirit of unity through the bond of peace and walk in the manner which you are called (Eph 4) and we are called to walk in love, for that is obedience (2 John).

LOVE peace life.