Wallace has a light bulb moment...

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Epiphany: the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something.



As I was preparing to go to bed on Friday night I had a realization. It happened as I emptied my pockets (trousers and a hoodie). Here is what I was carrying:


- 4 pens all of different sizes (2 I don't remember picking up)
- 23.72EURO in change
- my phone
- my keys (which is made up of about a dozen rings that I don't need but that once served a purpose)
- 7 post-it notes (2 were written upon)
- a bottle of 'Sudafed' nasal spay
- my wallet - which is overflowing with receipts and no money
- a pocket screwdriver
- 3 screws
- a remote control
- a rock

As I stood there looking at my treasures, I had a realization....

I am my father's son... and I am just like him!

and I wouldn't want it any other way... I love you - dad!




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2010 Calendar (Feb)

The photo we selected for the month of February is actually a very old one. It was originally taken when my parents came to visit us back in August 2007. The picture was taken at a very special place for me... in fact........it is one of my favorite retreats in all of Ireland. I often go here when I need to be alone, or need a place to read, pray, and journal. Located high in the Connemara mountains somewhere in borderlands of county Galway or Mayo... it is a small lough (lake) that is completely surrounded by mountains. It is one of those special places where tourists don't go... where the animals look at you with confusion (because they rarely see outsiders)... and where I always feel closer to God. We discovered the spot on this particular day (that the photo was taken) as we drove through the mountains with my parents. It was a beautiful summers day, where the skies were blue, and the cares of the world seemed to be a million miles away. We found a beautiful red sand beach on which to have a picnic and to lay in the warm sun. Mom walked on the beach - as she loves to do, and Dad and I explored these two crooked trees that were a shelter for the sheep. The day was perfect........ and those moments will always be etched in my thoughts and heart.





The calendar is available for purchase by clicking here
or
by going to this website:
http://www.lulu.com/content/lulustudio-calendar/ireland-2010/7908406


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Pirates, Castles, and Horses... Oh, MY!

(see the post below)


Dad and I decided to check out the castle a little closer, but we were distracted by two very friendly horses. They immediately came running up to the gate when we approached. I usually don't mind going into a field with horses, but one of them immediately tried to bite me when we came to the gate. The horses stood and watched us as Dad and I quickly jumped the stone wall and went down to the entrance of the old castle. The castle was very small and was made up of one large room on four or five floors. The old ladders between floors were long gone, but you could still see where they would have gone. We were not in the castle very long when we had the strange sense that we were being watched. Was it the ghost of Grace O'Malley? Unfortunately - no.... Our two new friends (the horses) had decided to join us on our castle tour. The bite-ing horse just came right in, as if he had been invited. Dad quickly exited the building, but I was too distracted taking pictures. It was not long until I was trapped in the little dark room with the horse. The room was so small that the horse's butt almost touched one wall and his nose the other. I eventually got my new friend turned so that I could get out.... and I didn't get bit... but Dad and I laughed so hard that our sides hurt. I'm sure that the horses were a bit confused as to why we had invaded their own private fortified stable.

















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More from my parent's visit...

Dad filming...










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10!

It is hard to believe... but this week Dee and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary! Wow... where did a decade go? We are usually very busy with work during our anniversary (and Dee's birthday), but this year we declared that it was going to be different! We marked out some time that we were going to get away and celebrate... stay tuned for some pics from The Netherlands!


Us on June 19, 1999





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A hard day's work...

I had an unusual experience for an American last week. I worked on the bog. No... I didn't say blog... BOG. I have to admit that I did not know what a bog was before moving to Ireland, but I have come to know all about it over the past few years. Bogs are areas that were once fertile lands - often ancient forests. It is believed that during the last major climate change Ireland became warmer and wetter and many of the large hardwood forests that once covered Ireland disappeared forever. When this happened the rich minerals in the soil were washed down deeper and deeper into the soil by the massive amounts of rainfall. Eventually, a layer of soil rich with minerals formed. This layer (known as the iron pan) was so heavy with the minerals that it became impenetrable to the rainfall. Water stopped draining, and soon the soil was saturated with water... and when plants died they did not fully decompose. The bog was born. With time (thousands of years) layer after layer of half decomposed plant life built up and we now have a very thick deposit of peat (aka the half decomposed plant life). I don't know when it happened... but the ancient Irish discovered that this peat/turf can be cut, dried, and burned for warmth. It is a long backbreaking process to cut and dry the peat, but it is a tradition that has been practiced here for generations.

Well... a friend of mine had 'invited' me - actually I kept bothering him and until he let me - to go up and help him with his drying peat. So... I went up to the bog several nights this past week to help him turn and stack the peat blocks. The weather was amazing, and you could see for miles on the treeless plain, but the work was killer. It was as if I did a thousand squats as I went and picked up the peat blocks and moved them to dryer land. I did, however, appreciate the chance to learn about the process and to have a chance to goof off with my friend on the bog.

Here is a picture of some of the peat that we stacked to dry.











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Bank Holiday

This weekend is a bank holiday weekend in Ireland. This basically is a holiday for the sole purpose of celebrating the first Monday of June. These bank holidays are sprinkled around the year, and are a great break in the normal routine. This bank holiday weekend is especially nice because summer decided to show up! The last few days have been amazing.... a scorching 75 degree temperatures... sunshine... and a few days of no work....... does it get any better than this? I spent most of Saturday afternoon 'working' in the garden. Little did I know that Dee was checking up on me... I should have known better than to leave the camera in the house...







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Making DVDs

Several of you have asked for me to explain how I converted our old 8mm, Beta, and VHS tapes to DVD... it really was not all that hard to do... but it did take me a long time.

I started out by investigating different companies that would transfer the films... I quickly discovered that this really was not an option. We had a ton of tapes in three different formats, and the cost to convert them all was far more than we wanted to pay.

In the end - it was a lot of fun to do it myself. It gave me an opportunity to watch all of these old films (many of which I had never seen) with my parents and family! We had a lot of fun reliving our family history!


Here is what I did:

8mm films
When we started - We were not even sure if any of the films had survived. We quickly discovered that they were in fairly good condition, and that the projector still worked perfectly.

1 - We set the projector up and projected the image onto a small screen. (Keeping the image small helped to make the images sharper.)
2 - We set up my Digital camcorder directly above the projector and filmed the movies as they played. Our camcorder films in high quality... and we were really pleased with the results.
3 - We took the digital recording on the camcorder and imported them onto my Mac. The Mac comes already loaded with software (IMovie) that allowed me to edit, add music, and even restore parts of the films. I have to say that I really am impressed with my little MacBook. The software are very easy to use and I learned how to restore the films very quickly.
4 - After importing them onto my computer... i mean MacBook... We used other software (iDVD) that came already loaded to create cool DVD menus and to burn the final products onto DVDs for my whole family.
I know that not everyone has a MacBook... and there is software out there that you can use on a PC... I just don't know what it is. sorry.


Beta films

- My father found (really did "find") a Beta player that still works. We then converted the old tapes to VHS and from there converted them to DVD (see that section).


VHS tapes

- I looked into several options on how to import directly from a VHS... but in the end used what we had. My father-in-law had purchsed a DVD/VHS combo that allows you to actually Dub tapes on to DVD. This machine is a Toshiba and is sold at BestBuy (click here to see the actual product). We were really pleased with the final product... but it did not allow you to edit your DVDs. If you wanted to clean them up and condense them from multiple DVDs into 1 you would have to import them to the MacBook and do it there.

I hope that helps a bit. Please don't hesitate to ask questions... I'll be glad to help if I can!

(ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: if you are going to burn DVDs you need to be sure and use DVD-R or DVD-RW. Other formats such (+) do not work in all players!)



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Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a great new year's celebration... here are a few pics of ours...


















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Today's Random Pics...

My parental units











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family movie time!

Thankfully my father has always enjoyed taking pictures and movies. I have feared for some time, however, that many of the old movies might be damaged or lost. So.... I have been using some of my spare time to try and preserve a bit of our family history.

I started with the old 8mm films. My dad started filming these silent films back when he was just a teenager, and kept filming with it up until the 1980's. He and I set the old projector up and started watching and converting the films... I was quickly shocked and moved by all that he had recorded on these old films. He had movies of my grandparents... and movies of my great grandparents... my sisters coming home from the hospital.... my first Christmas... family trips to Florida... trips to the zoo... and many many Christmases. Watching these movies were so much fun... and thankfully just about all of them were still in perfect condition.

After my father stopped using the 8mm, he invested in a state of the art Beta VCR and camera. We no longer had a working Beta VCR, but Thankfully... my father had recently seen an old Beta VCR that had been left out on the curb as rubbish. Dad picked it up... and it still worked!!! All of our old tapes still worked - with the exception of one tape.


It has taken me several months... but all of our old 8mm films, Beta tapes, and VHS tapes are now on DVD! WAHOO!!! To celebrate this - I have put together a small video of some of the later 8mm films (mainly because I am in them! HA!). So... turn up your computer's sound volume and enjoy.... oh... I am the little boy in the movies... and I know that my socks rocked!







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A few shots from my family's Christmas party...

My dad with some of my sisters...






My sister Sherry with her son Andrew:






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'tis the season...

I am loving this Christmas season! I can't tell you how great it is to be home for Christmas!!!!!

I am really feeling in the Christmas spirit... mostly because this week has been a lot of fun! The other night I went to see Santa's village with my mom, sister, and my sister's three kids. Seeing Santa... hearing the choirs... and feeling the fake snow really made me ready for the season! Then... today my family had its' annual get together meal. Just about all of my sisters were able to come (keep in mind that I am the baby of the family... and that I have six sisters!). We had a blast eating... laughing... watching old home movies... playing games... and exchanging gifts. I had to keep reminding myself that it was NOT Christmas eve yet!

Have I said that it is great to be home for Christmas?


Here is a pic for you. This is my two nieces (Laura Beth and Brooke) with Santa.





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Mallory's brother and sister on the rope...

I have to include a few pictures of Mal's siblings on the rope. Who would have thought that something so simple could bring such enjoyment...
















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‘Faith like a little child’

I need to tell you about my amazing little niece - Mallory. She is four and half years old, and is full of spirit and attitude. This little girl (I say 'little' because she really is so small) is already a very talented artist (I have many pieces of her artwork already), and even a hair stylist (She recently cut her own hair).


The following is an account of an event that happened this summer:

Mallory was feeling a bit tired and laid down upstairs to take a quick afternoon nap. Little did she know that her Grandfather had come over on a mission. He took a really long ladder and tied the most beautiful blue rope high in the old tree in Mallory's back yard. Mallory awoke shortly after her Grandfather left but did not discover the new toy until the next day. She saw her brother and sister swinging and climbing on the incredibly long.... thick....rope that seemed to reach all the way up to the sky. With amazement she said, "That was so nice that God dropped us a rope from the sky for us to play with!".


Here is a picture I took of Mallory playing on her rope.







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A study in eyes...

I love to photograph people. I usually don't have too many willing subjects that will actually work with me a little bit. Having said this... I have really enjoyed having nieces and nephews who are all too happy to smile for a picture. The following pictures are a short series of photos that I took last weekend of my niece (Abby). I don't know what it is... but I love eyes. They are so expressive and capture such emotion. So.... these are Abby's eyes. Enjoy.
























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I love being an uncle!

We went to a harvest festival with my sister and her family today. The event was fun... although I missed seeing the moon pie eating contest! (What a heart breaker!!!) Even though I missed every photographer's dream - I had a lot of fun roughhousing and playing with my nieces and nephew! We wrestled with each other.... danced together (with the girls standing on my feet, of course)... They begged me for stuff as we walked through the crafts section.... we shared some boiled peanuts.... and we laughed and tickled each other all day long. What a great day!












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A few more pics of the fam before we leave OKC...

One of the many treats of this trip has been being able to hang out/learn from my cousin Jason... a real photographer!





At the botanical gardens with Pris and Amber...





Ollie




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The family that rocks together.....

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Happy Birthday - Mom!!!

Just a quick note to wish my mom a happy Birthday! I'm so glad that I get to celebrate and spend the day with you! I love you!





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The results:

Dad with his prize fish...







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Happy B - day!

Just a quick note to wish my dad a Happy Birthday! We are going to head to his favorite spot on the Tennessee River and fish away his birthday... hopefully I'll have some pics of big fish!






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Birthday...

Thank you to everyone that sent me an E-card or email wishing me a happy birthday. My family surprised me (and my mom and dad) on Sunday with a birthday pool party. We had a great afternoon of playing Marko Pollo, hanging out together, and eating cookie cake. I can't believe that I have turned another year older.... but the sting was lessened by being able to celebrate with my family!




Here is a picture of me with three of my nieces (and my dad getting in on the picture)






This is Gracie... she was not invited to the pool party...





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Ok... a few more...

Dad and my niece Brooke





My nieces Lauren and Lydia





The women





The men (pic by Dee)

A step in a different direction...

While we were all in Florida I had the opportunity to do something different....... portraits. Normally I take the occasional picture of someone when out in a public place, but I always feel a bit cheeky. I try to give them my business card and share the photo with them if they want it.... but I have never really had the opportunity to take pre-planned / staged portraits. My family, however, were willing to trust me with their photos and willing to be guinea pigs. We preplanned to have several 'stations' where pictures were being taken (just in case one set did not turn out). My brother-in-law, Ron, was in charge of the first set that was taken at one of the beach houses. After each family finished their photo shoot they came down to the beach where Dee, Amber, and I were waiting to take the next set of pics. Overall they all turned out really well... and I think that my family will be pleased with them. I do think, however, that I miss timed taking them. We finished up about thirty minutes too early and we missed the best bit of sunlight. Thankfully, a good portion of the family stuck around, and we were able to get some great additional shots.

Here are a few of the pics I took that evening:



My sister Jodie with her daughters Laura Beth and Brooke






My sister Mariana and her daughter Liz






Jake with his son Draven



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Another Random Pic...

Sorry for the lack of updates. We have just now gotten internet access where we are staying and I plan on updating more frequently over the coming days.

In the meantime... here is a picture of my niece (Brooke) unaware that the day was coming to an end...




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In a coffee shop...

I am sitting in a little coffee shop with Dee. We are struggling to get some work done this afternoon.... so I decided that I would take a break and update the site (It is well overdue)... but Dee does not know that I am working on it... ;)

It is hard to believe that a week ago we were sitting on the beach with my family. We had such a good time... and I am really sad that it is over. For those of you that don't know my family there are a few things that you need to know. 1. It is big. 2. We love to go to the beach. 3. We meet up at a small beach community in FLA every two years for a family reunion/vacation. This is the third time that we have done this little vacation together... and I think that it was my favorite one yet.

Our first trip was a birthday surprise for my mother. The second one had the highlight of a family talent show (which I, Jason, and TJ won). This year we had the family Olympics. Yes... family Olympics. It was like something out of the 'Brady Bunch'... but a lot of fun. We had men's horse shoe competitions, water balloon tosses, hula hoop competitions, sack races, and a tug of war. We had a few bumps and bruises but more laughs than anything! Unfortunately, Dee and I did not place in the top three teams......... I asked for a recount........



Here are a few quick pics from the competition.