Happy New Year!
We're bringing in 2011 with some Mexican Train. I love my family. Cheers to a prosperous 2011!
I think I'm seeing things.Words from a man of pictures.Happy New Year!We're bringing in 2011 with some Mexican Train. I love my family. Cheers to a prosperous 2011! Looking Back at My 2010Well, it's December 31 again, and I'd like to take a moment to share some of the highlights of what was a very special year for me. Here they are in no particular order: Stacy and I tied the knot. On August 14, I married my best friend in a small white church in the Minnesotan countryside. My dearest friends and family were all there. We prayed. We danced. We drank. Life doesn't get much better. I don't mean to gloat, but it can indeed be classified as an epic win. This is by far the biggest highlight of any highlight list I've ever made. John's Photography grew. With the support of my awesome clients and family, my photography biz reached its annual goals. I ended up shooting several beautiful weddings, friends and families in 2010. Despite moving into a more competitive photography market in Sioux Falls, my camera stayed clicking throughout the past 12 months and I'm going to continue enjoying every minute of it. It's not yet my primary profession, but I'm looking forward to keeping the momentum which has been a blessing for me and my passion. Sioux Falls became home. After six-and-a-half kick-butt years in Brookings, I finally packed up my life and moved it down the interstate to an apartment (hopefully my last one) in south-central Sioux Falls. So far, Stacy and I have been enjoying the city very much. We're both farm kids, so it was quite a transition, but we can both dominate I-229 with the best of them. I kept my pop-on-Fridays-only resolution. Exactly one year ago, I vowed to curb my ridiculous Diet Coke addiction by scheduling my soda intake to Fridays only. It worked, and I'm proud to report the loss of 10 lbs. without lifting a finger. The only downside to this resolution is that, although I reduced my sodium and HFCS intake, I consequently juiced my body with loads of coffee. I believe 2011 will have to be the year in which I finally gain control of my caffeine addiction. My clients gave me some awesome photo assignments. I won't list them all here, but you can go to my photo blog to check out the curious diversity of work I shot in 2010. Everything from rap concerts to business portraits. It was an incredibly fun year for photography, and I can't wait to see what 2011 puts in front of my lens. Southeast Tech gave me more teaching opportunities. The kind people at Business and Industry Training at STI called me up to teach Basic Photography in Fall 2009. The students in my first class gave me some very thoughtful and generous reviews, so STI decided to let me organize and teach Advanced Photography in addition to Basic Photography in Spring and Fall 2010. In Spring 2011, STI is letting me add yet another course to the catalog - a one-day portraiture seminar which will definitely be a fun day for me and my students. BTW - Business and Industry Training (BIT) at STI offers all three of these courses to the public at trainsiouxfalls.com. I started a legitimate blog. I know it's not the world's most life-changing RSS feed ever, but I enjoy the feeling of turning thoughts and experiences into something more permanent. To tell the truth, I have some really inspiring friends who have some really inspiring blogs. I spent an unhealthy amount of time reading articles and drawing inspiration from the internet in 2010. Early in the year, I realized that I'm wasting an insane amount of stories and moments by not recording them for future reference. I obsessed over how I would set up my blog - what I would name it, what platform I would use, what my focus would be. The truth is - none of it matters nearly as much as actually producing and posting the content. Taking in others' blogs has become a daily habit for me, and I hope to contribute to the blog-o-sphere much more - in my own way - in 2011. We finally went to Hawaii. Snorkeling with graceful sea turtles. Gawking at a Northern Pacific humpback whale. White-knuckling a rental car around hairpin turns on a cliff 1000 feet above the sea. Finding waterfalls off the beaten path. Napping on a beach. Double rainbows. Insanely colorful sunsets. Island hopping on a catamaran. Sorry, I'll stop now. It's by far the most awesomest place Stacy and I have ever visited, and we hope to go back sometime relatively soon. I'm overwhelmed with memories from that trip. Stacy already created a series of blog posts with photos from the journey, and I hope to organize my thoughts and experiences into my own blog post soon. My family doubled. When I said "I do." to Stacy back in August, I became part of a wonderful clan of people in South-central Minnesota. I strongly believe that family grows vertically and horizontally. Families add children and spouses - and this grows the family literally, but there is also another dimension in which the family grows. I experienced it in the final two weeks of 2010. My aunt Elaine passed away, and my extended family demonstrated its most important activity - it gathered together with strong support and sincere love. My extended family doesn't come together as a whole very often, but when it does - I get this sense of place which tells me that we're all where we need to be. Right where we're meant to be. Togetherness grows the family figuratively. It's the fertilizer for the tree. I'm proud of the history and heritage of the Nelson and Kiecker names, and thanks to a little thing called love, my family tree now throws much more shade. My eyes really opened. Getting a little deeper here. The experiences and emotions and developments in 2010 gave me an advanced focus on my life goals. Instead of figuring out what I want, I can now work on how I'm going to get it - a much more satisfying activity. As you can see in this list - a lot of things happened to me in 2010, and they've helped me mature, realize and appreciate the things that make me who I am. Every opportunity. Every person. Every idea. Every feeling. Every photo. Every day. I'm grateful for it all, and I can't wait to see what will be on the list in 2011. An early Christmas present from StacyShe knows what I like. Happy Holidays! A Beautiful Girl from MinnesotaFive years ago yesterday, I ambled nervously into Mathews Hall and held out my sweaty palm to beautiful girl from Minnesota. She took it without hesitation and we then walked down the stairs and out into the winter air towards my car. In a desperate, mentally-rehearsed act of chivalry, I opened my rusting passenger door. She shot me a gracious smile, tilted her head, tucked her hair behind her ear and gently seated herself in my stale SUV.
The cold door clicked shut. My heart melted.
I performed another successful door-holding at the theater. I went to the ticket counter, took a deep breath, and squeaked: "T-t-two for Walk the Line, p-please."
I stared at the screen but didn't watch the movie.
We held hands. Mine perspired throughout the entire evening, but she didn't seem to mind.
This was our first date. It was her idea.
This was Made for MePlease don't forget to appreciate the little things. Have a good weekend! JohnYou know what they say about men with big hands:Here's a little something to brighten your Saturday. Warning: Watching this video may result in a common ailment known as random giggling. If you work in serious, formal or professional environments, please do not think about this video after watching it. You will giggle randomly, and you will be embarrassed. Thanks, John
Why I love my morning commute:It's a cold, damp and dark 6 a.m. in September. My feet finally levitate from the warm embrace of scrunched-up bedsheets and swing in a clumsy arc to the cold carpet beside the bed. My body feels recharged, but my weekly mental habits prevent any sort of positive sentiments. After all - it's Monday morning. Why should anything be good right now? My dark mood reaffirmed itself when I railed my big toe into the side of the cozy bed from which it sprang not four seconds earlier. Again when I rediscovered that the shirt I had intended to wear had not been washed. Again when my bed hair refused to be tamed. Again when my bagel smeared cream cheese across my car seat. Again when my garage door would not obey the radio signal from its opener. Again when large trucks continually obscured and delayed my vector on the interstate. My mood was a drought of hope. Then, the sky went ablaze. The eastern horizon glowed all colors of Fall - announcing the sun before its appearance. The north followed suit with wrinkles of lavender and pink. The west and south were painted gold and red. I immediately thanked my Creator as he made me realize how silly it was for me to wollow in self pity for such petty reasons. Who decided that Monday mornings have to be so gloomy? Keep your head up.Feeling PostedYesterday, my good friends at The Post featured my photographic work on their home page. Time for some gratitude: First of all - I'm very excited to get the exposure - particularly because my wife and I recently planted ourselves in Sioux Falls and I'd love to have some more opportunities to serve the awesome people and businesses in this town. As my pretend friend Donald Trump would say: "This is heewge." Secondly - I'm especially honored to have a connection with this awesome, authentic fountain of modern journalism. The Post offers several opportunities for writers and photographers to excercise their craft and gain valuable experience and exposure. Complete awesomeness. I encourage you to check out my featured work and the rest of The Post's journalistic offerings.
Get Off Maui Back(Image (c) Doug Hammond, Baltimore, MD)
I'm writing this post to give you some juicy details. It's a chance for you to put your big snoopy nose up in our honeymoon plans. But first, please let me go on a disgusting, boastful tirade.
A handful of weeks from now, while you're scraping the first layers of frost from your windshield here in God's country, I'll be sunning my pure-white Norwegian glow into a raw pink on the fine sand of Ka'anapali Beach.
That's right. Maui. Hawaii. Pacific Freaking Ocean.
Needless to say, Stacy and I are pretty dang excited. In preparation, I've done an almost obsessive amount of nerdy honeymoon research. After carefully weighing our options, we made the reservations as follows:
Flights:
United Airlines. Sioux Falls > Chicago > Honolulu > Kahului (Maui). Homeward: Kahului > Honolulu > Denver > Sioux Falls.
Hotel:
Six nights at Ka'anapali Beach Hotel: Why there? Great location, nice beach, not as crowded as neighboring hotels, good snorkeling spot. Although it's not the Ritz Carlton or the Four Seasons Maui, the humble Ka'anapali Beach Hotel has impressively positive online reviews.
Stuff to do:
To keep ourselves from morphing into stressed-out, itinerary-worshiping controlfreakzillas during our honeymoon, Stacy and I decided to plan just a couple of activities without filling out an entire itinerary. (This approach has worked very well for us in the past.)
Probably the most notable activity will be a day-long sailing/snorkeling trip from Maui to the neighboring island of Lanai. Check it out.
As with any honeymoon destination, there's a bunch of crap to do in Maui. I, for one, would particularly enjoy some snorkeling with sea turtles. We could drive our rental car to a few remote waterfalls or up a few mountains. We might try some local restaurants, such as Charlie's Restaurant, to possibly be greeted by owner and house entertainer Willie Nelson (no relation).
Quite honestly, I don't care what we do specifically. If we want to sleep all day on the beach, that's cool with me. It's a honeymoon. Throughout our first month (plus change) together, we've learned to find refuge and relaxation in a modest two bedroom apartment - so there's no doubt that we'll be able to do the same on a big 'ole Hawaiian beach.
Drinking from a Fire HoseI don't feel like talking right now. It's not that I'm grumpy, crabby, pissed, angry or - as the central Minnesotans say - "bucky." It's just because I don't know where to start. In the flurry of recent events, happenings and changes, I've let the talkable topics of my life collect steadily in my mind like a factory without exit doors. Also, I think of blog topics more than I remember them. This is why it's been a while since you've heard from me. Not to worry - I've got a list. This is my starting point, and I don't intend on having a point at which to stop. In a nutshell - I've gotta lotta stuff ta share. Expect more from me. Soon. Until next time - enjoy this video from Weezer's new album:
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