The Pictures That Matter

Every once in awhile I'll go through a ton of pictures and take a magical trip down memory lane. I've taken many myself in my day, but there are some that every time I come across them, amazing feelings and memories flood my being and I would dub them as favorites. Each picture tells a story and can draw the viewer into a whole new perspective. Yet they don't necessarily tell all the details. So I decided I'm going to share again (if you have FB you've probably seen them) these pictures and give you more than what they can show you. There will not be an order to it, just each picture and why it means so much to me.

This photo was taken on New Years Eve 2008 at Ashland Woods during the Empower conference (credit: Grace Wang). The Ashland property was still in its infancy stages and the group in this photo is not even a quarter of the attendees. But what I love about it so much is a multitude of things. First, this was new years eve and what better way to spend it than a bonfire in the woods, with the quiet snow falling, and a group of awesome people. This was also my last New Years as a high schooler so it signaled the start of my soon-to-be college career. To be out in the middle of nowhere, around a fire, laughing, joking, and ringing in the new year with all these awesome people around me was a momentous moment in my life. This photo was taken eight years ago so I don't see a lot of these people often anymore because they're married with kids, spread out across the country pursuing careers, and riding life's wave. If nothing else, the expressions from those in this photo say it all.

Go on get all those laughs out now. I'll give you a sec...better? Okay now that you've gotten off the floor from laughing so hard, gain some composure so I can properly convey what this photo is about. For those of you who don't know, the other two in this picture are Jeremiah Johnson and Mark Greenwood. We've been an inseparable trio since I first moved to Ohio back in 2003. This photo was taken at the 2008 Mountain Top at Clay's Resort in Ohio. I was on the planning team for this conference and one of the activities we planned was called Viking Siege. I mentioned it to Mark and Jer, and Mark happened to have these fur-like blankets. We bought plastic swords and when the time came to play the game, we came out of our tent and walked down the hill to a crowd of hundreds that either thought we were nuts or it was the coolest thing ever. This photo shows a lot about our friendship, reminds me of a MT I won't ever forget, and is just straight up cool.

Yes I know it's dark. Yes I know those lights are a bit annoying. And yes I know it's a bit grainy. But this picture is one of my favorites so much so that I made a magnet out of it. The guy right behind me is Sam Chen. He got married in NYC the weekend this pic was taken. The dude on the left is Sam Lee. I don't see him often as he left for NYC after graduation. The guy next to Sam Chen is Tim Chai. He is responsible for why many of my peers call me J-Watt. He's also a pretty fly dude. The final person in this photo in the upper right corner is Carol. I had met her years ago, but never really knew her. I re-met her in NYC and it was a blast to get to know her again. NYC was a major dream of mine. So when SC invited me to his wedding, I was going to make a week out of it. It was one of the best weeks of my life. If you want to know what happened, go back and read my posts on it, but this photo sums that all up.

Nearly every summer since I've been in Ohio, Mark, Jer, and I have made a summer trip to Mark's family's cabin in Vermillion, OH. I look forward to this time every year because we can get away from everything, have a beach nearly to ourselves, fires on the beach at sunset, jetskiing, fishing, grilling, and much more. This was the summer of 2010. We spent a week at the cabin that year. As you can see, Timothy, Aaron, and Nathan joined us which made the week all the better. After catching almost nothing all week, Aaron, Nathan, and I had just come back to shore from hauling in two catfish, 30 white perch, and even though they aren't edible, a lot of nice sized sheepshead. We filleted and grilled the catfish and the perch, ate it, and as the sun was setting on our last night, I asked for a group picture. I have so many stories from that week, and this picture will be a reminder of those memories for years to come.

If you don't know by now, I have a huge passion for travel and adventure. This photo says so much about that. It was taken in 2015 during our family vacation to PA. I hadn't been to the battlefield of Gettysburg since I was little so that year I made a big effort to go. The weather was beautiful and I was in total awe in a way my under 10 year old self could never appreciate. The location here is Little Round Top where one of the most crucial battles of the civil war was fought. For me to stand where soldiers stood, hundreds of years ago, and to be on the edge of a high point, overlooking a spectacular view, was incredible. In a nutshell, this photo says to travel where my heart leads, follow that passion, and don't be afraid to stand on the edge (Photo credit: Sarah Watkins)

I was 17 when this photo was taken. Like the viking photo near the beginning of this post, this photo was also taken at the 2008 Mountain Top conference. I've used this one countless times for backgrounds because it means that much to me. This was the last night of the conference. For the first time in MT history, we had an entire group bonfire. Another fun fact: I'm a pyro, but not a maniac haha. I love fires so this made me very happy when I saw it in the schedule. Well this group you see here was a minuscule amount compared to how many people were actually there. But this group is a group I treasure greatly. We were singing songs, talking, laughing, and just enjoying each other's company. It was so enjoyable, that Sarah Mann (Brickner) wanted to capture the moment. And for anyone who has ever tried to take a group picture, you know how complicated that can be. But in this case, it was the easiest and fastest group pic I've ever been a part of. And what also makes this photo awesome is that the people in this photo came together from different parts of the US. Represented here are Raleigh, NC, Kalamazoo, MI, Mansfield, OH, and Cleveland, OH. We may live in different places, but that didn't stop us from being close companions and coming together, especially in the name of Christ. Note: The difference in Mark's, Jer's and my attire is pretty funny. Jer has cargo shorts, Mark has jeans, and I'm in swim trunks. I find this part of the pic amusing (Photo credit: Sarah Mann).

Different summer, same beach in Vermillion. I told you i love it here. This place has many awesome sunsets and I have captured quite a few. This time I wanted an epic shot with me in it. I wanted to capture two of my favorite things (sunsets and summer) with my reaction of how I felt. This for me also was the beginning of summer and I wanted a shot to commemorate that freedom. I believe this was the same trip where we blew off two mixed packages of fireworks to end the trip. I'm stealing this line from a commercial, but I don't care. In short, take great joy in your favorite things in life and when you need to, find your beach.

From September 2011-August 2012, I took a year off school to serve the Lord full time in a training. That year was totally worth it. I was not alone in this endeavor, as I was accompanied by close to 30 others. Our Cleveland squad had around 18. In October, Grace Wang wanted to have a fun, relaxing, memorable event and so she and her compadres organized the 2011 Fall Fun Day. One of the big events was the photo scavenger hunt. This picture was taken for it. For this shot, we had to act like models. Contained here is a whole lot of hilarity and awesomeness. Tim rocks this hip pop while sporting his cast. Sarah and Paul have the serious pose (and no they weren't anywhere close to being romantically together at this point, but yet they ended up next to each other). Kayla has the lean pose going while Dedra is coming at you with the half covered face shot. And as for me, I threw my hood up, made a pose with my hand, and it turned out really well. This photo brings back the memories of that day and reminds me of how grateful I was to have all those awesome people serve the Lord with me for that year (Photo credit: Sarah Mann).

There are many, many, many stories that go with this photo and yes I wrote an entire post containing them all. This was also taken during my year of serving the Lord. Over our winter break in January 2012, a small group of us traveled down to North Carolina to hang out with Cody and his crazy awesome family for an entire week. But why I really like this photo is for these reasons. First, it's January and I'm in a kool-aid shirt and goofy plaid shorts. Second, myself, Kai, Sam, and Cody are standing on Cody's parent's roof because we are about to launch a punching bag with a home-made parachute attached to it over the edge. Third, Cody's mom went from shouting about how we were going to kill ourselves, to taking pictures, back to wondering if she should call a paramedic, more pictures, etc. Fourth, It reminds me of that week and how my first experience of North Carolina was better than I ever could have imagined. P.S. No one got hurt haha (Photo credit: Sam Huoh).

New Year's Eve 2012. This was by far one of my most memorable New Year's. JT had invited us all over to his parent's house for dinner, games, and fun to ring in the New Year. Why I love this pic so much is because for me, it represents one of the few New Year's I got to spend with most of the Cleveland bros and even though we weren't together as much as we used to be, we made an effort to be together and enjoy a fantastic holiday. I especially love JT's expression. The guys are more than just friends...they're family. And before I forget, this photo only counts for half of the people there that night. A handful of the Cleveland sisters as well as Diane Jen (who cooked the delicious food) and James and Allison Reinarz joined us in that unforgettable night (Photo credit: Hannah Bontje.

See what I mean about me and sunsets? This shot was unplanned, no script, and is absolutely magical. I'm in a canoe, as the sun is setting on the Wisconsin horizon, and the ripples in the lake track my path. Wisconsin has been my get-away-from-it-all-home and I love it. This was taken our first night there in August of 2016. As soon as I could, I hopped into that canoe and paddled toward the sun, listening to the call of the loon and taking in the beauty of God's creation before me. This photo encapsulates the many wonderful days I had spent here and was going to spend here. It also puts me in my element. Right where I like to be. Now if only y'all could see the stars come out that night. This is also one of the many reasons I love the summer (Photo credit: Tim Watkins).

Remember I mentioned I spent a year serving the Lord and all those people I did it with? Well this is them (most of them). This was our final collaboration and our internship goodbye. I wouldn't have traded that year with these people for anything. And in case you didn't know it, this was our "silly" photo. But I love it because put simply, this is us. Sure the year wasn't without it's flaws and hardships, but in the end of it all, we came out with so much more and we all were able to be filled with mirth that we made it. I used this photo as the cover of a photo book I made to commemorate the year and I had them all sign it. This is us (Photo credit: Erika Brown).

I'm going to end the post with this picture. This was Dan and Anastasia's wedding. I love weddings and one of the reasons is because it brings people together. Notice the name tag clothes pinned to Johnny's suit. That's his table marker. Sean is kissing up to the camera. JT pulls the classic "wasn't-looking-at-the-camera." And you can sense all the love here. There are other pictures I easily could add here, but these are in the group of my most favorite and I wanted to share them again and give the stories behind them. I hope you enjoyed this journey down my memory lane as much as I did. Keep making memories my friends.