My Blog

Photo Fun

Sat, 10 May 2008 09:08:52 -0700

last christmas i gave myself a holga camera - the old plastic lens camera popular in the 80’s, that is now popular again. holga’s are a cheaply made contraption and so basic in function that you end up with some interesting results... light leaks, vignetted edges, double exposures and it happens all by accident. it’s a medium format film and i am really pleased with how my first roll turned out. here are some shots...

Closing Shop

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:37:29 -0800

i sometimes think of my job as a mom, wife, keeper of my home and cook as a real job. not unlike my part-time work at the retail store anthropologie (which i started 3 months ago and have completely enjoyed). at anthropologie, during closing hours we spend 2-3 hours putting the store back together and shutting it down for the next day’s customers. in a similar way, in my life at home i find myself shutting down the house for the evening. if i can find the time and energy to complete the tasks at hand; finishing the dishes, setting the dishwasher, wiping the tables and counters, moping the floor, putting toys away, kissing little boys goodnight... my nights rest will be deeper and more content knowing that i’ll wake up to a clean house and a fresh start, a more productive day and understanding my role as a servant to my family and friends. not that i’m super consistent, but it helps if i think about my environment in the context similar to that of a restaurant (which i would like to open one day) or a clothing/home-store. i couldn’t ask for a better role in life.

Boys Weekend

Thu, 7 Feb 2008 09:37:07 -0800

the house we live in is old and not insulated, so instead of using our heater, we have been putting our wood-burning fireplace to use. we like the smell and ambiance it brings to cold rainy days. in my family, when i was little we used to put our gloves and boots on and stack firewood with my dad. it’s nostalgic for me having grown up in a house where the fire was always burning during the cold foggy winter days in bakersfield.

newport beach doesn’t necessarily have cold winter weather, but in our little un-insulated house, we’ve gone through a lot of firewood. a few weekends ago, i went to the women’s retreat with my church and left justin with the boys. usually our firewood is delivered by a local newport beach company, but this time, justin researched a cheaper alternative and turned the quest for firewood in to a full boys adventure. they drove out to silverado to a tree removal company, loaded the eucalyptus into the pickup and brought it home. i came home from my weekend away to a freshly stacked cord of firewood and 3 very content boys (and their dog) proud of a hard day’s work.

Happy Birthday Miller!!

Wed, 9 Jan 2008 20:12:55 -0800

a full day of celebration for miller’s 4th birthday...

Beauty Incarnate

Thu, 3 Jan 2008 01:17:06 -0800

a sermon was given at our church a few weeks before christmas entitled ‘christ incarnate’. i don’t remember who the speaker was, someone from biola, i think, but the message sank deeply into my soul. he spoke of christ’s purpose in creating this world for us, how he decided to become a man, to live and feel like we do, to have relationship with us. god the father chose to become one of us, which is the reason for those who are christians to celebrate in december his birth. the speaker talked about how we can’t escape god’s incarnation as a man, and that his creation of the earth and all the beauty surrounding us - is in itself christ incarnate. this world was created by him and for him. (john 1:1-5, 10-14) he chooses to show himself to us through nature. this thought overwhelms me. it answers so many questions i have about myself. why i have such a deep love for nature, the outdoors, the ocean, surfing, camping, the land in where i grew up. my need to be outside, for adventure and exploring the tangible aspect of the elements. the views from the mountains, the ocean and the desert. it all started to come together sitting there in our little church. i felt in that moment of realization that i had been given purpose in my desire to be a landscape painter. for so long i had struggled with my motive to paint. i have always been drawn to the sea and the land it intersects, but i thought that my reason for painting would be only to show off my ‘talent’. i could never bring myself to it because i couldn’t figure out why i needed to do it. i wanted it for my own glory. that was literally the case until this message. the concept was something i have always known, but could never connect to myself personally. i know now that for me it is proper and natural to want to portray nature on canvas. to promote beauty as an offering and a tribute to god’s incarnate presence in our world. to draw others to his irresistible beauty, so that they may know him as well.