Adventures Of Dash

Im a lucky man!

2011-05-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

It's been several weeks since I have wrote on here. Now is a good time for me to get some thoughts down on digital paper. The last 3 months have been the happiest three months of my life to this point. They have also been 3 of the hardest months of my life to this point. Asking Katie to marry me is the most sure i've been about anything. As we have planned our wedding day and our lives together I have grown to love her more everyday. She is my best friend and in two days we will finally be married! I have longed for this day for many years.
Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 24. It was one of the greatest birthdays i've ever had. Katie had all sorts of awesome plans and the rain kinda caused the plans to get changed. She built a fort in our apartment and got dinner to go and we ate dinner together in the fort. It was absolutely awesome! To top things off she got me my favorite dessert. Tiramisu! Only this was a cake! She knows me so well. I love her and so look forward to the years we will have together!

Did I mention?

2011-04-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that I LOVE Katie? Can't even begin to express how much I love her! The last few days have been a serious reality check for me. I haven't been feeling so good, and I haven't seen my amazing fiance nearly as much as I would like to be with her. She has had to work the last two nights, and with the limited time with her, which i've hated, I've really realized how much of a part of me she really is. She is my better half, my best friend. I've been grumpy and probably not very fun to be around lately, but I hope she realizes how much I love her, and care for her. She means everything to me! In less than a month I will kneel across from her in the temple and we will be sealed for time and all eternity. This is the only thing that is keeping me from going crazy with all of the time waiting for each day to pass.
Easter sunday we went for a drive and took some photos. It was nice to just be in the mountains, alone and nothing to worry about. Katie, I love you more than I could ever show you.

It can't come soon enough!

2011-03-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

February 25th, 2011 I spoke words that I had longed to say for four months. Putting a ring on the finger of my love and best friend to this point has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, and i've had a lot of amazing experiences in my short life so far. That day marked exactly three months of time before Katie and I enter the Salt Lake temple to be married. It can't come soon enough. Stress, impatience, and all sorts of other emotions are quite prevalent. Everyone seems to feel like they now have to have a say in every bit of our life together. It's appreciated, however sometimes it makes things harder. I don't know how couples can be engaged longer than three months. It's an experience I wouldn't trade for the world though. Planning our wedding together has brought us closer together in ways that I didn't know were possible. Absolutely love it. I love Katie!

For My KT Bug...

2011-02-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

"I didn't believe in destiny,

I look up your standing next to me,

what a feeling,

What a feeling in my soul,

Love burn brighter than sunshine,

Brighter than sunshine,

Let the rain fall, I don't care,

I'm yours and suddenly you're mine"

I can't even begin to express the way I feel about you, everything about you is everything I could ever ask for. You are my best friend, i've never known anyone to understand me the way that you do. You are patient, you are sincere and most of all you are you.

The night I fell in love with a girl... "i've got to get to know that girl"

I can't even begin to tell you how amazing you are to me, but here are a few reasons, as it would take days and days to really explain why you are so amazing.

You are my best friend! Again, i've never known anyone to understand me so well and put up with my strange OCD tendencies. You laugh at my ridiculous jokes and are there for me every second of everyday. Whenever I have a bad day you are always there to talk and cheer me up, you listen and care.

You are patient. I know you say you've been working on that, and let me tell you, it's worked. With the work schedule that I have and everything else I have put on my plate, you have been so amazing in being patient with my stressed out mind. Working full time, going to school almost full time, and then all the photography work that I've had, and the bridal fair sure has done a number on me and my free time, and about reaches my limit of giving up from being so stressed. But you've been there every minute, every second helping me in anyway you could and can. You've been incredibly understanding and loving. You sewed those dang table clothes for me, and they looked amazing! Thank you thank you thank you! You sat with me for nine hours at the bridal fair talking to a crazy amount of girls and their crazy moms, you never complained and were so helpful. You did more than you ever needed to do. I love you.

You are amazing with kids. This may not seem important to you, but to me it's a huge thing. I watch you with my nieces and nephew and I am amazed at how good you are to them. Those three kids are the world to me, and to see you love them as much as I do makes me happier than I can say. They love you and I know that you will be an amazing mother. That alone makes me love you more and more. My mom is one of my heros, I owe her so much for everything she has done for me, and to think that my kids will have a mother that will love them unconditionally is so important to me.

You know who you are, and you love your Savior. Of all that there is in this world, this to me is most important. The fact that you have nothing to hide and that you have such a love for the Savior and the gospel is incredible to me. We have all had our road less traveled. But it's that road that defines us. The things that have shaped me over the years and made me who I am is all because I know the lord loves me. Just as he loves you, and to know that we share that love for the Savior is the most important thing in this life. I don't believe in coincidences happening to put two people together. I believe the lord has a plan and knows what will make us ultimately happy, and experience joy. I love you, everything about you!

One of my favorite photos

The Touch...

2011-02-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

So get ready for a random and blog post...
I did something today that I thought I would never do or ever get the opportunity to do. I wish I could go into detail right now, but I can't! Don't worry it's not as cool as I am making out to be, yet at least. Just gets me excited. In other news, life continues to be ruled by the word, busy! Busy with school and homework, busy with water softeners, and best of all Katie! This week seeing her everyday has been so amazing! I still lay in bed at night and think to myself about how fortunate and blessed I am to have such an incredible person in my life. She is my best friend and I love her so much! We are a really good team, whether it's our amazing talents of classifying peoples personalities as we are out and about, determining their wardrobe, and personality. More specifically, and different. Katie has this awesome ability with peer reviewing papers. I had to write this 5 page paper for english, a rhetorical analysis to be exact. Basically analyzing how an author accomplishes their purpose in the writing. Well I stormed through the paper two weeks ago really fast while KT slept peacefully in my bed. I had her review the paper, make all sorts of marks and changes and we fixed it. I ended up getting a 96 on the paper! In class when we got our papers back, about half the class didn't even get grades because they didn't do the paper right. As in they wrote a paper, but completely missed the point of the paper. It made me feel really good about myself. Now we are writing another 5 page paper comparing scholarly sources and i've been having the hardest time finding the right topic to write on, but I think i've nailed it down. When it comes to reviewing that paper, KT will def be there to fix it and help me so I can get another good grade. The touch of the masters hand.
More on why Katie is so amazing. So I am doing this bridal show thing, right. So I needed to get some table clothes to cover the tables i'll be using. So she and I went to the fabric store and bought 12 yards of fabric, lots of fabric. Anyway, she volunteered to sew them together. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't offered. So the last two days she has spent hours cutting and sewing the fabric into table clothes. I couldn't be more grateful for her doing that for me, spending so much time on something that in reality won't give her much in return. I owe her big time. She's even going to spend all day at the show with me talking to future brides in my booth. I can't tell you how much she means to me and how grateful I am for the time she's sacrificed to help me with my busy schedule. She is incredibly good to me. I love her!

My Love and Best Friend!

I have this thing...

2011-01-29T10:25:00.000-08:00

So this is where you get to learn about the opinion of Dash! I have this thing about people who live their lives vicariously through other peoples. So here we go. I not a whole believer of the phrase, "im just trying to find myself." The reason for this is that I don't think you "find" yourself, but you develop yourself. Now there truly does come a time in everyone's life where they reach a breaking point in a way and have to figure out who they are as a person. In that whole process, from what i've seen, people who start to have this moment in life, begin to copy and do the same things as their friends and siblings because they are lost. Lost with who they are, lost with what they want in life, and LOST because they have forgotten about humility! With the loss of humility, they become self centered and expect far too much from everyone else. When others do things for them, they don't appreciate the act and it's not good enough for them. I have a really hard time with this in so many ways, however I will not give details. Long story short, it really ticks me off when this thing happens and the "lost" person doesn't seem to get the drift when he or she has stepped over the line of bugging others. Simply had enough! Live your life, find out what YOU want, and do things for yourself and when someone else does something for you, appreciate it! okay, there it is, the opinion of Dash.
Now for a happy thought. Preparation for the Bridal Show is going really well and im stoked for the opportunity. I've made some serious changes to how I run my business. A good friend has helped me get some things done that I am incredibly excited about. All in all its just a good thing that's happening.

I have a disease...

2011-01-22T23:15:00.000-08:00

So... I have this disease that just seems to be getting worse as winter progresses. I LOVE OUTERWEAR AND JACKETS! Went to Park City tonight to hang out for the Sundance Film Festival and after putting our names on the list for dinner at Bandits, Ryan wanted to get some boots, so we went to a store to get boots. I then saw the Marmot store across the street, naturally I wanted to be in the store looking at all the outerwear. Katie knew at that point that this was dangerous. As we were walking into the store, she says, "you are not buying another jacket Dev!" Well I wish that this were the case. I saw this vest that just looked amazing and I had to try it on. After some discussion and trying it on, I got really excited as per usual with any nice jacket. Katie says to me, and I love her for this. "You can only get it if it is a justified purchase." Well turns out I don't own a vest, and a down vest to be more specific. So I bought it, and love it!
Just to give you an idea of the danger of this disease and obsession I will tell you how many jackets I have and the necessity of each one.

- Patagonia Synthetic Down - Perfect for layering underneath and incredibly warm.
- Patagonia R2 fleece - Classic fleece for a nice fall or cool spring night, and great for layering.
- Patagonia Retro Softshell - Perfect winter jacket to stay dry and great wind blocker.
- Patagonia Classic Softshell - Classy and perfect to stay dry and warm in cold windy winter nights.
- Montbell Thermawrap - By far the warmest jacket i've ever owned, gotta stay warm!
- Montbell Hardshell - Perfect hardshell for rainy days and wind blocking with amazing ventilation.
- Montbell Fleece - Thin micro fleece great casual warm fleece, and great baselayer.
- Montbell Classic Down - The warmest down i've ever owned, and the hood is amazing!
- Moonstone Synthetic Down - My work jacket, that's all
- Marmot Down Vest - Just looks good, and is great for keeping the core warm.
- Mountain Hardware Thin Softshell - Great jacket to wear underneath a hardshell for a little extra warmth.

Im pretty sure that's all of them, 11 in total. So you tell me, do I need to seek help to fix this addiction?

My river... Path of least resistance...

2010-12-29T22:38:00.000-08:00

This completely explains my mood right now, not necessarily the lyrics, but the feeling of the song, absolutely beautiful!

A lot has happened in the last few weeks that has made me more appreciative of the little things that we do for people, and that people do for me.

To start... I have an incredible girl friend. She is the greatest thing that has happened to me in years and when I am with her, my river seems to take the path of least resistance and nothing else matters. She is everything to me and is easily one of the most kind hearted individuals I know. My mom tops that list along with a few others that shall remain unnamed. I LOVE her!

I've made it a strong goal personally and secretly until now (cause I am telling you), to do all I can to be more selfless. When I am at work each day I spend all my time either driving by myself or in customers homes. Customers seem to look at me sometimes as this punk kid that doesn't know anything and I get treated pretty harsh at times. I've really learned how to hold my own and not let people walk over me and push me around. Having countless occasions of this happening, i've tried really hard to treat people in a respectable manner and in a way that creates trust. I want to be trusted and seen as a person full of integrity. This is my ultimate goal. Katie really helps me be that person, I am in no way a different person when I get around other people, I do everything I can to be the same person, regardless of who I am with. I am who I am! I can't tell you why I am writing that, but so be it.

Tonight I spent the night with Katie, like every night! Love it. Anywho... we went climbing for the evening. After I have been home from my mission it's been really hard to have the same motivation to climb that I had before. It's been a good nine months since I was climbing on a regular basis. I did start cycling which took a good part of the climbing out of my schedule. Katie however has bought some climbing shoes and in the last five days we have been climbing twice. She had a struggle the first night we went, but tonight she "rocked"! She is starting to figure it out and I am super excited to see her get stronger over the next few months. Now if I can just get her to start cycling. Not going to make her do anything she doesn't want though.

I find myself very happy these days, happier than I have been in YEARS!!!

This last week after much thought, I made the choice to be part of the Provo Bridal Fair at Provo High February 19th. I've gone back and forth on doing this type of thing for over a year and it now seems like the right thing to do. Captured By Dash Photography is also now officially Captured By Dash Photography, LLC! I never thought that my passion for photography would lead into owning my own business and taking it to a professional level to support myself and my future family. It's super exciting for me and has been tons of work, completely worthwhile in every way. So Captured By Dash Photography will be an official vendor at the Provo Bridal Fair, February 19th. Im excited to get prepared for that and for the potential business it will yield for me.

Passion

Love

experience

gratitude

professionalism

imagination

study

results

trust

friendships

relationships

peace

spirit

clean

pure

beauty

"Her" beauty

smile

unconditional

happiness

joy

truth

...

My River...

Adventure #"603"

2010-12-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was what I would call a perfect day! I got to sleep in for once in a really long time, and just played all day! I had been having some issues with my bike so I took it into SBR and got a tune up done on it and got refitted to see if I could get rid of the pain i've been getting in my knees while riding. This quick tune up and fit was only supposed to take an hour or so, but ended up being like a four hour process. I had been having some issues with getting numb in a certain area, that is to remain unmentioned. But it resulted in me buying a new saddle for the bike to make the ride experience more enjoyable. Now I have expensive plans to upgrade my bike, but katie is keeping me from spending all my money, glad she is around.

Last night however was one of the most amazing nights I have had in a REALLY long time! I realized a lot of things and a lot of great things were confirmed to me that make me really really happy. I have been wanting to go with Katie up to Temple Square to walk around and see the lights, and we didn't have anything planned so I decided we would go. While we were driving up there I called my good friend and old mission companion TJ and invited he and his wife Liz to join us. It had been a long time since we had done anything and im really glad it turned out that they were free too. After we picked TJ and Liz up it literally took a good half hour to find a place to park, at the time it was incredibly annoying, but we finally found a spot. We started walking to the square and got the the cross walk and I looked to my right and saw a girl poking her head around some other people and suddenly I was about tackled. It was Alyse! It had been at least nine months since I had last seen her and it was such an awesome surprise to run into her! She def one of my favorite people!

Temple square was soo pretty and being there with Katie was so awesome! She is so great! There is much more that I could say, but I will just keep that to myself for now :) After seeing the lights we went to Gourmandise bakery and got some food and dessert. They have the BEST tiramisu! It was such an incredible night and soo fun!

Adventures?

2010-12-06T17:00:00.000-08:00

This is not my idea of an adventure!

So driving to Park City today for work, was cruising along and suddenly the road became very slick and snow covered. Moved over to the right lane from the left, and came up next to a pick up truck. The truck lost control and hit the driver side of my work truck, spun me around in front of him and sent me into the median of the highway. Now this is not what I call an adventure worth having. Im lucky I didn't roll, since my truck went on two wheels when I left the pavement. grrrrr for accidents! How bout an adventure that doesn't involve accidents, highway patrol, and slick winter roads!

Steps...

2010-12-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

I dare say that life is most interesting when you allow your plate to be full at all times. You never know what to expect next. My plate has been very full for several weeks now, and in no way can I complain about the good it is doing me. It may be incredibly stressful at times, but oh so worth it! To be more specific. I have not had any weddings scheduled or photography work to do as far as editing goes or other photo shoots. So I have taken the "spare time" and thought a lot about how I can get Captured By Dash Photography marketed better and revamp my "product" for people to view to be more professional. I am having new business cards designed that up to this point look amazing and I am just waiting for the final proof so I can print them. All in all I am working really hard to be more professional with my work, which also includes raising my prices to match the competitive market. Being your own boss is a hard task and sometimes it hard to be motivated. I feel that my photography is to the point however that I can do pretty much anything I feel will help me be more successful. Lots and lots of hard work! Please take a minute and view my website and browse around, I would love to hear feedback of what I can change and what people like.

On a completely different note, I can safely say that in my life right now I have literally never been happier! And I have Katie to blame for that, ha! She is an incredible person and is so good to me. Since we started dating like a month and a half ago, we have seen each other everyday, even if it's only been a few minutes of time, we have seen each other. Just seeing her smile is enough to make my day and I want to have that feeling everyday! I still don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing girl, but I can say that I am so thankful for her everyday! She is the best, Love her!

"My songs are like... suns..."

2010-11-13T01:18:00.000-08:00

"If I could write out my own dream,
for the next time that I sleep.
you'd be the first one that I see,
and I the last one that you keep.
And the dream would go on and on
while we sleep... against all things
thrown our way, and the morning
would be so cruel, when it came...
with sunshine and warmth to blame,
for announcing the end of my sweet dream.

-Greg Laswell-

I am so far beyond happy that my face starts to hurt after a while from smiling so much. I am one lucky guy and am so blessed, grateful and humbled. Tonight was an incredible night on so many levels. GREAT company, and an amazing night of music. I've waited a year to hear and see Greg Laswell play in Salt Lake again. He puts on such a great show. He sounded amazing tonight. This band touring with him called Harper Blynn was his band for the tour aswell, and they were quite incredible themselves, very impressed!
So many great things have been happening in the last few weeks. I am happier now than I have been in a really long time. I have Katie to thank for that. She is the best thing that has happened to me in years. Seeing her everyday makes everything else so worth it. She makes me happy and I feel so lucky to have her. Life is good, my family is doing great, school continues to tick me off and frustrate me. Planning on writing a formal complaint to the school for hiring a teacher that doesn't know the material and doesn't know how to teach, causing me an incredibly high amount of unnecessary stress. Tickin me off! Oh look at me im the king of the trees, im the tree miester, bossin ova, nope, no way!

Midnight came to early...

2010-11-04T23:44:00.000-07:00

"Midnight came to early,
and the day not fast enough.
I like to think of you smiling,
you sure do that a lot.

Shuffle me sidewise,
and I begin to fade.
Im two stepping with love...
and this is the first time I danced..."

- Sunfall Festival -

I've found my best friend, my best friend that i've been waiting for for a long long time. Now that I have her I couldn't be happier. "Im yours and suddenly your mine, cause it's brighter than sunshine..."

A grateful mind...

2010-10-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

I've been pondering a lot about humility recently and how important it is. It's almost like being humble keeps you in check for your life. I've had some amazing things happen to me recently and I can't complain about the good it's done for me one bit. I feel closer to my family than I ever have before. My family means the world to me and so grateful for the individual relationships and the good they do for me and each of us. I went to dinner with my brother Brandon a few nights ago and had a blast, the food was good and it was so great to spend an evening with him, he's one of my favorite people for sure. Similar personalities will cause that I guess.
I have a lot to be grateful for, and im striving to be better at recognizing the tender mercies in my life. One of those tender mercies is Katie. At a time when I was feeling like life had caught up to me and all I was doing was working and school, this girl comes into my life. Granted it helps that I was in the right place at the right time, but I don't even feel like it's that. I feel like people come into our lives for a reason, and recognizing that is most important. She's amazing and the time spent together means more than anything to me right now.

Happiness... true... is real!

2010-10-27T00:50:00.000-07:00

There are no words to describe honestly what is going through my head at the moment. Its late, I have work in six hours and sleeping just doesn't seem an option right now. I smile because its real, I smile cause I know she cares, I smile because I know when I have a bad day she'll make it better. I smile because its "different", I smile because i've struggled to find this kind of happiness.

Happiness is honesty, truth, love, real...

What I call, In a good place...

2010-10-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

I strongly believe that experiences in life prepare us for future events and experiences that will make us appreciate past events and learn from past experiences, both good and bad. I try really hard not to complain and bring pitty upon myself, and I try not to be a selfish person. However im gonna have a moment. I have had the most hectic past few months, family issues to deal with (if you read two posts below), my great grandmother passing, work becoming increasingly stressful and busy, school that is kicking my butt, and my photography reaching a point where I almost can't keep up. How's that for a run on sentence, ha! No seriously, it's been a real struggle, and I honestly haven't been "me" nor have I been completely happy. Which brings me to the point of this whole venting deal. I strongly feel that people are placed in our lives to better us and to make us as humans step back and look on what is to be appreciated. This has happened to me, and in a matter of a couple days I am forgetting how hard the last few months have been and how happy I really should be, and am now. I have a lot of "friends" and people I care about. It's amazes me when you finally meet someone new, that you feel genuinely cares and has interest in your life and isn't saying good, just because you asked, how are you. I appreciate genuine people in my life more than I can express, and am excited about this new friendship that I hope in no way stands as a temporary thing.

Busy, Busy, Busy, time for a new adventure

2010-10-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

Three years agoish I made the choice to make my photography a profession and do wedding photography professionally. Now after a lot of time spent getting Captured By Dash Photography off the ground and my name known, i've gotten to a point where i know my limits in how many clients I can handle at a time. In the last three months I have had a lot of sessions and several weddings. This coming weekend I have two weddings in two days to do, and did another wedding yesterday afternoon. On top of all this I go to school and work full time, all i can say is life is busy for Mr. Dash. I have gone from zero photography to almost more than i can handle and i quite enjoy it.
I do have to say that it is definitely time that i go on another adventure. I was sitting at Taco Bell in provo with my buddy Dane and over some delish tacos and burritos we were googling photos of the areas we served at on our missions, and Dane showed me some photos of a beach in Oregon called Bandon. Incredible! and i am dying to go photograph the beach. Isn't this amazing?

Anywho, this is going to be my next adventure, now that i've been to the east coast, spent a week in seattle, and been to Arizona on recent adventures it is time for another, just when is the question...

Tribute to a fallen Hero and Soldier...

2010-10-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

In a way that I can't really describe in words, I had the opportunity to support and honor the Wagstaff family who lost their son, uncle, brother, and husband Matthew Wagstaff. Matt is my brother in laws older brother and was killed in Afghanistan two weeks ago piloting a black hawk helicopter for the Army. The opportunity to show honor and respect for this amazing man was definitely and honor for me to witness and be a part of. The funeral was beautiful, and the gravesite ceremony was more than words can express. I have never experienced anything that showed more respect than the full military honor that took place. A black hawk did a fly over, there was a bagpipe, my grandfather played taps, and the respect for the American flag was amazing and also the respect for the hero the flag covered. I can't express the emotions felt today, but I do know that I have an incredible respect for the men and women who fight for this country. Matt, may you rest in peace and watch over your family.

At it again... hmmmmmmm

2010-10-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I got the sudden thought to start blogging again, but here I am and will do my best to update this on occasion. That is if you people or anyone decides to actually follow this. HA!
I've been a busy man recently, working alot of hours at Intermountain Softwater as a service technician. Love my job there and the people i work with. Aside from that my photography has been incredibly busy and im very grateful for the work that I have been able to get and for the couples I get to work with.

Over this summer and into the fall so far I have gotten into cycling. I bought my first road bike and I have gotten completely addicted to this sport. I have spent a lot of time on that bike so far and rode a lot of miles. I Love it! Here are a few photos of some recent cycling adventures.

Not sure why...

2009-01-23T09:33:00.000-08:00

So i don't know why i post these kind of things on my blog, but so be it. Alot has been happening recently and alot going through my mind. Mostly that of school, friends and some other major decisions that have come up. I've decided to move out of my parents house and step into another realm of life and do what i can to meet new people and in a way step out of the social circle that i find myself in. Now if any of my friends are reading this, no im not abandoning, i've just got to move forward in life. However, i've had some great opportunities happen in the last two weeks that at one point were only a dream and a fantasy that couldn't have possibly come true. But one of them did, and created one of the funnest things that has happened in the last year.

"I feel my mind, start to float. I feel my mind start to... I float the Minnesota, this is where i float, and now i know it won't be long... before my ship does come along. I can only see this water for mile and miles, i'll float the Minnesota, this is where i float... and now i know it won't be long, before my ship does come along, and now i know it won't be long..."
-Cory Mon

MY WEBSITE!

2009-01-10T16:11:00.000-08:00

DASH PHOTOGRAPHY

http://web.me.com/dash13a/Dash_Photography/Main.html

Life's a changin...

2008-12-24T15:39:00.001-08:00

So here it is once again, Christmas Eve.
It's pretty crazy to think that a year ago this day i was walking the streets of Burlington, Vermont. If it was possible to describe how amazing a year ago today was i would make it a point to describe the events of that night. But simply words don't do justice for how incredible it was; simply consisting of singing Christmas hymns to passer by's on church street for several hours, people yelling at us, others stopping to enjoy what little we had to offer, yet so much, to remind them of the Lord and his gift to us. Followed by what could possible be credited as one of the most spiritual nights of my life. I miss New England and it's amazing that it's already come to this point in my life.
This coming week i finally will start school and begin the journey towards my dream of having my eye behind a camera, creating images for people that causes them joy and to help people with what i love to do, and to get paid to do it! I quit working at Kohls today, which in reality was kinda bitter sweet, i won't miss going to work and being bombarded by negativity and colorful conversations... But it was a great learning experience and definatly don't want to work retail again. No Thanks!
Priorities have become TRUE priorities for me, between work, school and the gospel i find myself attempting to live my own love song, thinking about her alot, however not knowing whether to try and move forward or not, much detail to the situation, but learning much patience from it and letting it take its course in the way that it's supposed to, not letting impatience get in the way by pushing or forcing the situation.
Life is changing that's really all, but it's great!
"You can't live your life on what could have been"
-Band Of Annuals

My Dream... as of now

2008-11-27T17:14:00.000-08:00

So i have bee drooling for the last little while as i have finally pinpointed what computer i am going to buy and how hard it's going to be for me to get it. sad face! but ya know the hard work will pay off once that baby is sitting in my lap...

Idiots come is small packages... hmmmmm

2008-11-26T17:26:00.000-08:00

So i just had a little reality check and a swift kick in the face and why i decided to put it on here i don't know, because this idiot sure has come in a small package. So here i am trying to figure out how i am going to be able to afford to buy me a Macbook for school, don't try to tell me the are too expensive cause they aren't and it's not the name, it's 100 percent quality you pay for. anyway so i decided to look into ways i could save some money and get extra cash into my pockets. well then it hit me what am i spending my money on. Now here is where the idiot appears in this. Yes i am the idiot and oh boy could i save alot of money through simple dicipline. I went through this month and added up all of the transactions from food places from eating out... well guess how much money i have spent on food? FOOD! for crying out loud, im embarrased to even think about putting the amount here, well........ $220 bucks! im an idiot! so my goal this next month is no fast food, now i know there is no way to not eat out, but im gonna give myself a 50 dollar limit and see how it works, maybe even less. but come on Devin! you're an idiot, you could have so much more saved if you just ate at home. so there it is my stupidity of the day.

Never Stops... It Never Stops...

2008-11-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

Now the title of this entry really has nothing to do with what i am going to write, because honestly i have no idea what it is im about to write here. One of the things i used to have to do in one of my writing classes was just write for ten minutes at the first of class and just write whatever it was i thinking, and it made for some pretty interesting thought processes. In a way im gonna kinda do that here, but try to make some kind of point and sounds important. It's amazing to me how life is the way that it is. It'f fasinating to me why god does what he does and how much his love is shown through what he does... now that could be debated upon depending on who you are, say you are from the little town of Epping, NH who goes to the little white community church on the corner of elm street and they are teaching that god is a vengeful god, he tries and works to make life miserable, trials aren't for us to learn from, they are only there to burden us and if god was a merciful god he wouldn't give us such trials. Coming from my point of view and from what i have been taught from a very young age, life if a beautiful thing! trials are to help us grow and understand who we are as children of god. It fasinates me! We meet people in our lives that in someway will either be a great benefit to us or will hinder our spiritual growth in many different ways. Lucky for me i count myself very lucky to have the people in my life that i do. One of which at this point in my life is becoming very important to me and it tends to be difficult to make myself kinda sit back and not do too much at once. i am happier, i want to continually be a better person, i want to make goals and meet them simply from the way that this one person is living thier life and it's a big example to me and it's something i want to have in my life. Looking at this situation makes me step out of any kind of mentality the little white church has and be very grateful that Heavenly Father would put such individuals in my life. Im happier than i've been in a long time, excluding the incredible joy felt while living in the New England states, cause it's hard to get much happier than that. Life is good!

"Im grateful for this day i have to live, for my health and for each breath i have to take in, im grateful, im thankful. Some days are not so great, when nothing seems to go my way, then i remember that i have no right to complain, it'd be a foolish thing to say, cause im blessed. Im grateful for these worn out shoes, im grateful cause at least i have a pair. Im grateful for the struggles in my life that i've had, cause its times like these that make me who i' am."
-Bianca Merkley

Im in a good place...

2008-11-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

It possibly cannot be put into words, but in all reality i claim to have the best freinds in the world. It's kind of like when two guys fight over who's mom is better, but we all know in reality that mine is the best, and with that said, the group of friends i have are the best! The refiners fire describes the last five months or so for me. Why? If you have spent any good amount of time with me lately you would understand. Being refind is always a great blessing though, because it requires you to step back and look at yourself and make some changes. Because of such a fire taking place in my life i have met some of the greatest people in the world. a few individuals (not going to give names) have made a huge impact in my life and helped me out so much. One of which consistently makes me want to be a better person and i find myself experiencing more than just happiness, but joy. I couldn't ask for anything more in life. IM IN A GOOD PLACE!

"I feel my mind start to float... i float the Minnesota, this is where i float. and now i know it won't be long, before my ship does come along... i can only see this water, i can only see this water for miles and miles, i float the Minnesota... this is where i float... and now i know it won't be long... i float the Minnesota beneath and orange sky, no need to bend my soul for a girl..."

-Cory Mon

Progression...

2008-11-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

It's been a while once again, but time permits me to put down some thoughts of the last little while. I've had alot going on recently, had alot of doors open and many close. But life has to be that way sometimes. Between me trying to get into school and working all sorts of hours at two jobs i finally have reached a point of where i feel like i have made some progression towards big goals i have made for myself since i returned home from New Hampshire. It feels quite nice actually. Meeting new people has been one of the biggest influences in me stepping out of my comfort zone and working harder for what i really want in life, namely true joy, happiness, education, true friends, and the gospel. Not that all of my friends from high school aren't any good, but it's come to a point where change has to be made. I feel we are in one of the most important times in all history... im excited about what lies ahead for this country, im excited for what lies ahead for me personally, and im excited for what lies ahead for those i love. Life is just good and there couldn't possibly be anything to worry or complain about.

"And it's a great day to be alive, i know the sun still shining when i close my eyes..."

-Travis Tritt

"My Angel In Soccer Shorts... Tell Me The News Report..."

2008-10-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

"I get tired of counting sheep, walk out to my car... and ride around... with the radio up and the windows down.."

-Ride Around- MLB-

Now i haven't quite figured out why the only time i write anything on here is after a memorable show at The Velour... however it is a part of my life that to me is quite important, i love music and would kill to have the talent of being able to write beautiful music that so many people love, but instead i find some of the greatest joy in life right now by supporting in every way i can the local scene here in Provo. The Matt Lewis Band made a triumphal return to the stage of velour the other night and what a sweet moment it was to hear Matt freestyle his little heart out about Superman, Sarah Palin, and Beer. Killing time was outstanding and it didn't get much better than to hear the beautiful melody of "ride around".

Jared Woods also made a return to the stage, and that was a sweet moment that instantly put The Cheer and I in a good place. If you haven't heard of Jared Woods, it's time you break from your shell and listen to this man. You won't be dissapointed.

"The Refiners Fire"

On another note, without going into much detail, cause it's not important for the internet world to know the details of my life, but let me kinda unfold some thoughts here for a second. it's always been amazing to me the different adventures we find ourselves on in life, sometimes without even realizing we had begun an adventure. What im trying to say is that life here for me has taken different turns than i ever thought it would after being home from NH. It's a very rewarding journey and the refiner at the same time. There always comes a point in the road that decisions have to be made that decide the outcome of the rest of the adventure. Im just simply grateful in so many ways for the friends that i have that help me to stay on the that path lead by the sure rod. You know who you are and i say thank you. "The OG, Abbie, Butters, KT" and many others.

-Happiness is...

Truth, good company, love, trust...

"My Abbie, My Abbie... Won't you crash this train"

2008-09-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

So it's been a little while since i have writte anything on here, mostly because there hasn't been anything for me to write about. But last night i found myself in a very good place. dspite the jerks around me and my dear friends. I happened to find myself once again in a moment of pure and sweet solitude standing on the creeky wood floor of the velour. Joshua James who at this time and for a long time is and has been a a favorite artist of mine, took the stage and sang his little heart out. Now why would this be important? lets be realistic here... Joshua James is real! Anyone that appreiciates real music, lyrics that pierce your mind to the point that you feel what he is singing is fantastic music. Stepping out of the doors of Velour a few WOW'S vented from my body. Between Abbie Martin, Crash this train, and for me the highlight of the show... Lorianne, which Sir James hasn't played for two years, sure meant alot. Probably one of the best shows i have ever been to!

"Cause it ain't fair to say that these tracks are the same,
So god if you can hear me, Crash this train
said god if you can hear me, Crash this train."
-Crash This Train

"Do you remember when time, wasn’t an issue at all,
It was where you were going, how far you could walk
Do you remember?
Do you remember?
Do you remember the scent of the summer so sweet?
As the the stars would watch over our souls through the weeds.
And the hounds in their fences would bark at the breeze
While we d scream out confessions of love through the trees.
Do you remember?
Do you remember?
Do you remember?
Cuz I do.
It was the year 93 if my mind does recall.
Seems so long and so distant, not distant at all
I sang songs to you crying till something did change.
It was time, it pushed us older till we didn’t even say hello..
Hello,Hello, Hello.
It’s been four long years since I’ve seen your face your voice
Will still resonate inside my bones
When the breeze runs by and whispers that old song, I do.
Do you remember?
Do you remember?
Do you remember?
I do."
-Abbie Martin

Absolutly Amazing... Absolutly Amazing...

Priceless...

2008-09-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Supposedly in this world we live in today there are alot of things that make people happy, but in a real sense, what is happy? or should i say "Joy"? essentially what it comes down to for me is the priorities in life that really allow us to experience joy. Let me explain...

Now coming from a roller coaster of events the past few weeks the past two days have again allowed me to know joy. it began with me first getting off work friday night, that was a relief in its self, i had been there at work thinking to myself what in the world i would be doing tonight with myself and if i was just going to waste another friday night by just sitting around someones house doing nothing until one in the morning, go home, go to bed and repeat the same thing he next night. Then i got this fantastic idea that i just needed to get out of the valley and just forget about somethings and enjoy myself with some people that i really care about. So text message after text message was sent to person after person trying to find people to come camping up to silver lake behind Mt. Timp. So then i got a text back from someone that made me very excited to make it happen. After listing benefits for the Cheer on a stinkin facebook chat cause his stinking "3G" network wasn't working, he was in for the adventure. after almost everyone bailing out on us cause of it being too cold, five of us faithful friends made the trek up into the mountains. Now this night needs to be defined as Epic. Why? it explains itself, good company, friends, smokey the bandit, a fire, mountains, chill air, crickets, stars, milky way, the cheer, wilson's fire making abilities, drunks playing a mandolin, stealing firewood from the drunks, god, the list goes on.

Now the reason this is so important is quite personal but i will say that a night in the mountains, trying to stay warm and keep a southern star warm, serenity from the sky, from the bandit and good company results in joy. To finish it off, a night of incredible music from two of my favorite bands. The Devil Whale and the Band of annuals. Now i've been going to see the Devil Whale play for many years now, ever since they were first namely called the Brinton Jones band, when "Who is on her side" was a new song and now has been placed in the vault, but nothing quite gets me more than spending a night with friends kickin it to music that comes from some place real.

-Joy, Happiness, love, peace, serenity, solitude... Life-

Choices... Had Enough

2008-08-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

Choices
"Right and wrong,
Consequence... good or bad,
Why so many choices?
Why so many consequences?
Why does it matter?
Cause it's the consequence...
It's right or wrong...
It's disipline...
It's good ro bad,
So many choices...
Which choice?
Light or Dark..."

Enough
"I've had enough, just let me go,
Just let me move forward!
Just let me live my life!
I'll take your guiding hand,
I'll look for and search for
your light on the shore,
Though the fog may be dark,
I know there is lower light to guide
me to the shore
I've had enough, it's time to take
a stand, it's time to forget the fog, and search for the light!
I've had enough, just let me go,
Just let me live my life,
I promise, I promise i'll hold to the light!"

"Pulling Weeds"

2008-08-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

"I glory in tribulation, also knowing that tribulation worketh patience...

and patience, experience, and experience, hope..."

-Romans 5:3-4

"Pulling Weeds...

They never seems to go away...

always there to cause just a little more grief...

life would be far more pleasant...

if they would just go away...

they've always got to be in the middle of beauty...

and spreading themselves around every which way...

not caring whose soil they fall into...

yet still finding satisfaction in causing grief for beauty...

there's nothing like pulling weeds...

that annoys and irritates...

the mind of a boy constantly working to make it through..."

Experiences in life will teach you alot, it doesn't matter what it is, good or bad, but it always seems that in someway or another there are weeds that have to be pulled in life to make life a little more pleasant. A little more enjoyable to live. When the really big weeds come into life, they stick out like a sore thumb, but whose to blame for the weed, who knows... but nothing hurts more than to know that the weed came from one plot, to another plot, to another and was put in your plot to come back at you and cause you more grief simply because you tried to clear all of the weeds in the first place. Simply worry about your own weeds and leave the others to whom they belong too.

A Wall. Friends. Good Times.

2008-08-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

So in thinking about what could possibly write about, some things have come to me that have been quite important to me. Mainly that of what has been keeping me sane these past few weeks.

On my knees, no reply

middle of a storm, answer arrives

someone seems to care, maybe Omniscient

drama... no need for... the stress

girl on my mind, can't get her out

practical joke, best friend is back

serenade, thanks to a wall

back on my knees... always a reply...

did i doubt... never again...

Frankly none of us would be where we are at in this world if it wasn't for the people around us, no one can argue that point. Friends have changed at least one life at some point or another, no disputing, can't disagree, i would be lost, i had been lost, thanks to a reply, a wall, and friends, good times have been created.

Torn...

2008-08-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Torn... Sealed
pleasure... Pain
Love... Hate
Freindship... Enemy
Peace... Chaos
Simple... Complex
Heavenly Father... Satan
Attraction... Oppossed
Want... Can't Have
In My Hands... Gone
Torn... Together...

Dirty Mouth... Sunshine... and lovers without love...

2008-08-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

"all you are is shooting star, in a sky that no ones watching anymore...

your the hallway light that kept me up at night, until i learned how to roll over and ignore...

you were good, you were good, you were good but not good enough..."

-Brinton Jones-

"Because time will pass on by, till the day that you die... skipping stones across my soul... because time will pass on by, till the day that you die, that you die..."

"This road has over taught me lessons about my lonely soul...

i am young and getting wiser, soon i will grow old...

trip my heart from misconceptions fill my eyes with grief...

let me make my own connections in this endless sea...

theres lovers without love, theres lovers without love, theres lovers without love like me...

-Joshua James-

You can't quite explain an artist that straps a guitar over his shoulder, walks up to a microphone and poors his heart out on that piece of equipment. it's as if the communication is soul to soul... it's not about how many fans you can aquire, how much money you can make, how many girls you can get around your car after the set, how many cd's you can sell, and so on...

simply... it's about lyrical harmony, and beautiful music that comes from something real and genuine...

"I dream of dusty roads, paved with gold that lead me in your eyes...

The marmeladed paintings sing a song that not the crows will try...

The Piano screams a sound inside your lips I have found,Something I could never save...

The current pulls me down, into your river deeper now,

than I had ever planned to sink, planned to sink...
Scattered winds blow me cross the ocean,

Turns and spins, leaves me breathless, but with no sense of my direction,

or where the main land sits, where I find my soul..."

-Joshua James-

Videos and pictures of The Devil Whale, Joshua James, RuRu...

... You blew me away... Could it be? ...

2008-07-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

"Our eyes had just barely met...

that's when you blew me away...

now you're right here in front of me and i can hardly see...

girl i've been numb for so long now...

im tired of playing that game...

like the rush of a passing wind you blew me away...

yes you blew me away...

now im somewhere above...

since you've gone and blown me away...

and now your right here talking to me...

and i can harldy see...

girl the light i can see come from your eyes as you tell me your name...

like the rush of the passing wind...

you blew me away...

yes you blew me away...

blew me away..."

-Cory Mon-

Something about a local scene...

2008-07-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

I thought i would just sit and write for a second about something that for one just makes me smile, and two opened a passion i never thought i would have because my talents in playing musical instruments is nothing that anyone would want to sit around a camp fire and listen to.

"So you say you want a love song... give me one more chance to break your heart... you know the drill, just by the way, you know that sometimes you need to take one for the team... you fake another smile for anyone who's watching... like the rush of the passing wind, you blew me away... just killing time..."

Mostly what im trying to say is that there is something about the bands and solo artists here in Utah Valley that understand what music is really supposed to be, very often you will find me at a show not because im freinds with the band or knew them in high school, but because i have found that the music being played comes from something real inside and from the mind of someone that has a passion in life and isn't just writing to make money. Thanks to a good man that desires the local scene to grow and become important in peoples lives, i find myself at Velour supporting artists with something that i can't do myself.

Sunrise In The East

2008-07-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

There comes a point in every day, the hours are early to most, light risen before eye lids open, before you know it the sun is closing, who knows what happens between those lids? God knows, and shines that light early to most on His kids...

Life put into The Dash as a small part of his life becomes public and known to any of those who care... so here it is...