To all who are concerned...

It has come to my attention that a great number of people are concerned about my well being as apparently there were some terrible tornadoes that touched down here in southeast Virginia. Rest assured that I am ok and am experiencing nothing other than sleep deprivation after this long week of work for Sarah and Daren's wedding and then the long travel day home today. We have had buckets of rain all day today with very little else, including wind. I have embedded a map that shows my location in blue and the locations of the 3 tornadoes that touched down here in Virginia today. Please keep all those who were affected by these storms in your prayers as over 200 people were injured between these 3 twisters. Here is that map:

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Mr. GSD is on his way to Virginia...

What an incredible week...honestly. It was filled with a ton of hard work and a roller-coaster of emotions. I woke up this morning and the mountains came out for the sunrise. I can honestly say I really miss the sunrises and sunsets in Oregon when the mountains are out.
This week I helped in every way possible to make sure that my two best friends, Sarah and Daren Benson, would have the most incredible wedding in our lifetimes...and with out too much boasting, let's just say we all Got Stuff Done and it was the most amazing wedding ever. When I have some wedding pics of some kind I will be sure to post them here. It was difficult for me to take any pictures from my location as a bridesmen during the wedding so you will have to forgive me.
Today is especially hard for me...at about 4 o'clock or so I officially ran out of things to do...no more list, no more errands, no more picking stuff up or dropping it off...nothing...I was done and I had spent every ounce of energy and effort I have within me to accomplish everything. And it was totally worth it.
Now for the hard part...I said goodbye to everyone...well almost everyone...there are two very important and special people who could not be here today to send me on my way back home to Virginia...and while I am so very happy for them and I so dearly hope they are enjoying themselves, I do miss them all the same and it is hard not to wish for them to be here to have one more drink, one more laugh, and most of all one more hug! I do know there will be a lifetime more to come for all of that...and I have tried all week not to be selfish...but at this very minute a hug from those two would mean the world to me right now.
To everyone else...thank you for having me, loving me, accepting me, and putting up with me...thank you for the laughter and all the fun we had this week. And everyone, anytime you wanna come to Williamsburg be sure to look me up!

Words cannot describe...

The card simply read: "Thanks" on the inside: "There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back." A quote attributed to Elizabeth David.

Now, I don't know if any of you have had the opportunity to be the one and only male at a bridesmaids high tea, but that is one event I can now check off my list of things to do before I die. Seriously.

I do not know if I can find the words to express my experience here in the Pacific Northwest this week, or even my time at the tea this afternoon. There have been many emotions and thoughts/memories that have rushed over me this week. I know this always happens to everyone, but I have honestly been looking forward to this week since January...it took forever to get here and now this week is almost over. I did not know what exactly to expect on my return to the Northwest. I spent Tuesday in Bend, Oregon where I cleaned out my storage unit, with a lot of help from my buddy Capt. Kirk (he isn't really a captain but I like to call him that)...it was a difficult experience for me as it marked an end of an era for me...it was another landmark on my journey here on Earth. Once my storage unit was cleaned out my personal connection to Bend was cut. And in a strange way this place I once called home and felt so comfortable now was foreign to me and I felt as if I were an outsider...with not only the place but the people as well.

This whole week I have felt out of place...and yet at the same time I have been slowly realizing that the place where I am most comfortable is Williamsburg, VA. Now, please understand that is very difficult for me to admit too. I am an Oregon boy, born and raised. And I still feel as if Oregon will always be my home in some way. I also feel like I am still adjusting to life in Virginia. However, I think this trip was in part an opportunity to find myself and it has come to teach me to return to Virginia next week with a new found appreciation for my new home and place of work. God works in mysterious ways and when we are open He is willing to teach us in ways we would have never thought possible. I have learned a lot this week, about me, about others, and what and who are most important in life..."There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back." Dear God, thank you so much for the people who you have placed in my life who put it back...and may I never take it out without putting it back in a bigger way than before I took it out of another.

I can honestly say I am glad to have had this opportunity to be the bridesman for my friend Sarah. She has always been a person who "puts it back" in my life. This final step in my move from Oregon to Virginia and this upcoming wedding both mark the end of an era for me. And while endings are always sad in their own way, they are like this picture I took this evening of the sun setting over the Cascade Mountains...it marks the end of the day and its own way it gives hope, thru vibrant colors, for a brighter tomorrow. I will miss my beloved Oregon and the mountains I love. I will miss my days singing, playing, go to the theatre, and road tripping with my friend Sarah. But man do I ever look forward to what lies ahead for us all...

Oh the irony...

I swear I am not making this up. As I made my way to Oregon from Virginia I had one stop along the way, I switched planes in Atlanta. I have brought several books with me to read while I am on my journey back to Oregon: Rhys Issac's Transforming Virginia, George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior, and Thomas Paine's Common (pictured here on the left). I had these books in hand as I took my seat on the plane...and Paine's book was right on top as it was the smallest of the three and the one I was most currently reading. As I sit down I look to my right and the man sitting next to me has the book that is pictured here on the right, The Death of Common Sense, by Phillip K. Howard. The man looks at me and says, "What are the odds, huh?" to which I reply, "Ooooh, the irony that we are seated next to each other." Turns out he was on his way back from training exercises in Alabama, he is in the US Army. Neither one of us had much time to read as we both were exhausted and pretty much slept the whole way. I am not going to lie, it is really nice being back in Oregon. The weather is a little crazy...it snowed in Vancouver yesterday morning and then hailstorms in the afternoon. Last night I made my way back to Bend so I can clean out my storage unit today and it was really nice to see everyone so far. And when I woke up a short time ago the world here has been covered in a bright white blanket of snow!! It's almost May and there is fresh snow on the ground...definitely a change from the 78 degree weather at my place in Virginia at 3am on Sunday when I left!! Well, gotta go take care of business this morning...I got to get back to Portland this evening to help out with this killer wedding I came home for!!!

Oregon, I'm on my way...

It is currently 4:48am Eastern Standard Time. I am sitting at Gate B14 waiting to board a plane to Atlanta, Georgia and then ultimately Portland, Oregon. I have not slept much save for a few naps here and there since getting off work. It was difficult to say goodbye to Portia knowing that I will not be seeing her at all this week...I wish there was an easier way of traveling 3000 miles across the country so that she would be able to go with me. I have left her in the capable hands of a co-worker so I know she will be alright. But can I just say I am so incredibly excited to be headed to Oregon right now...just the mere thought that I will be in Portland if all goes as scheduled at just before 11am PST!! And I am very excited to be going back for what I have no doubt will be the greatest wedding I have been to in my lifetime! Oregon, here I come!!