Abby has the market cornered on making silly faces!! She always lightens the mood!

Meet Tyler the big brother.

Abby attacking Tyler… It is photos like this that turn out to be the best.

Abby fell in the water on accident… We decided to role with it and the photos turned our perfect!

Honduras 2010

As I mentioned above this is where it all began. I had doubts of course as anyone does who is about to leave the country and do something so far out of their comfort zone. But with some coercing from a good friend I jumped on board and never looked back. Enjoy some of my favorite photos from this trip.

I can feel the emotion on his face to this day. I will never forget the kids that I have met in Honduras.

I cannot for the life of me remember his name but I will never forget that he kicked my butt in soccer. Kids in Honduras are amazing at soccer.

The scenery in Honduras is amazing. There are mountains and the beach. If your in the right spot you can see the ocean from the mountains!

Honduras 2011

This trip was different than last years trip. I spent six weeks in La Ceiba along with two friends/nurses. We enrolled ourselves in language school. Learning a new language is difficult… really difficult. At the end of the six weeks my mind was exhausted. Laura and Maria spent time volunteering in the local hospital. I had a difficult time finding a place to volunteer. We did have an opportunity to visit a school and donate money to add on to a classroom. The kids were amazing. We felt like celebrities while we were around them.

If there is one thing I could take away from this trip it would be the people and the relationships that were made while I was there. I captured some genuine photos of people with my photo taking device. I like the raw emotion that was captured in these photos.

Dad & Son relaxing on the beach.

This photo still takes my breath away. Not sure why either. But the raw emotion captured in this photo is what draws me to it.

Our first snorkeling spot. Paradise!

Private Tour of Cayos Cochinos is a post that is about our private tour of a small island in between La Ceiba and Roatan.

Honduras 2012

This year the VWS team hiked farther then we ever have before. It took a long time… a really stinking long time. It was roughly around an 7 to 8 hour hike. For some of the men it meant we were arriving after dark. It is mostly mental though. Never ask the question, “How much longer?” The answer is always, “Its just another hour.” We really had no idea where the destination was (the group usually splits up throughout the hike) and all of sudden, we were there. It was chaos. Unfamiliar people were telling us we had arrived. I saw no one familiar and was wondering if this was really it. Despite those feelings, I felt a sense of relief. Then I saw Ryan and I knew we were good. But there was still chaos. It was dark at this point and logistics at this point were a nightmare. Enough chit chat… enjoy some of my favorite photos!

The hike on the way in.

The foundation of the church.

The group from VWS.

Meet Hannah, she was fun on this photo shoot even when she was getting antsy

These are one of my favorite styles of photo taking

Hailey and Hannah

Meet Hailey the big sister

Sometimes on these shoots you have to lighten the mood a bit… this usually does the trick

Mr. Pibb himself commanding the troops on the ampi-theater project

Mr. Bill Folop carving out the seating area for the ampi-theater

Jon and Ryan at the ampi-theater project

The Texans doing what Texans do… Welding and chewing tobacco

Mr. Bill Blake mixing concrete Honduras style… and chewing tobacco

Some of the guys from both teams joined together to build a chicken coop

Jim Manderschied aka the master carpenter… I wish I could build stuff like this guy… maybe someday

Coffee grinder that is used… to make coffee

Raimo Jones, the humble leader of the Texans and an all around great guy

Walking the streets of La Esperanza I snapped this photo. Apparently everyone loves Elmo…

This is either decoration or it does have a functional purpose… traction and boot cleaner

One of the views from the city tour

How roads are made in Honduras

Ryan the morning of the hike to the mountains… that is the look one gets when he realizes he could get extreme diarrhea without the use of modern toilet technology

Jimbo and Jon before the long car ride to the mountains…

RIP Joe Brink… I had the honor of going to Honduras with Joe… Jimbo wears his vest to remember and honor his memory.

Ryan second guessing his decision to ride in the back of the truck

This is after a long van ride/truck ride to the launching point of another long trip… but this time it is on foot… check out the photos from the hike –> Along the Dirt Path

A large part of the men’s trip is to challenge ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually. We get plenty of opportunity to do all three. The part where all three happen at the same time is on the hike. This time the team hiked 12 miles and this was further than we have hiked on any of the previous trips. Did I mention we carry our gear in backpacks the entire way.

I have learned on these hikes that it’s not just about arriving at the end point. It is also about what you see along the way and the people you meet. I believe God places “divine appointments” in front of us but can easily be overlooked if we are too focused on reaching the end goal. There are a lot of life lessons that are derived from these hikes. Often times humans become focused only on the end goal and not the path that has gotten us there. It is in those little moments that we learn about ourselves and others.

There are times on this hike when the body shuts down and cannot handle the stress (mentally and physically) put upon it. In this moment you become forced to rely on someone else to get you through. As guys and Americans that is a difficult thing to do. But many guys learn this on the hike and they come out on the other side a much more humble man than there were before.

Vinny leading us on a part of the hike

This is a view of a section of the trail that we were about to climb

One of my favorite photos from the trip

That is one amazing view

Deep in the jungle

This is the section of the hike that is commonly known as Jurassic Park. Why has this section earned that name.. .you ask? I will tell you… its muddy, its steep, you will fall and there are dinosaurs… ok not really.

Jurassic Park

I met some kids on the hike and they stole my hiking pole… they were nice though and gave it back

Then they stole borrowed my camera and snapped this photo of me

I think this is a house or part of house that I saw along the trail

That guy there with the quirky smile is Greg. It was his first time to Honduras and his life was changed forever. I will let his words finish out this blog post. He does a great job of capturing what it is like to be on this hike and to let go of the control that we think we have.

Thursday, we packed our gear for a ‘hike” up into the Opalaca Mountains. Along with the 26 guys from Cincinnati and Texas, we had 3 interpreters and 4 other guys from Mercy International, so 32 in all. It was another rough 4 hour ride to where we would begin the hike. The hike began around 12:30 pm and would cover 12 miles in 6 to 8 hours, depending on the individual. This hike took us from a road like path, to a woodsy trail, through the “jungle” rainforest, numerous towns and villages and finally to Los Crossidos. I don’t know how to spell it, but that is how it sounds.

My “amazing adventure” began about the half way point of the hike. I stopped to take some photos and never saw my comrades again. I waited for folks behind me, but they never appeared. It turns out several were not doing well and become dehydrated. Mules had to be brought in to take them the rest of the way. Yes, it was an extreme hike. The most difficult any of these 26 men had ever experienced. Back to me, lost and alone in a foreign country – a third world country at that! (are you feeling the drama?) Yes, all sorts of scenarios began to play out in my mind. What if I am lost and don’t make it back. What if I live amongst the mountain people for weeks or months? I might be an international news story. In this region there are NO phones or cell phones, NO electricity, TV’s etc. How could I contact anyone, even in an emergency? This is like living 300 years ago. I’m not kidding.

I came upon a village, Santa Maria, where some kids were playing. I spoke to a man named Arel, who was there as a social worker. He had lots of questions about where I was from, where I was going, what we were doing etc. The kids were all quite interested in my gear – walking sticks, camera etc. Arel took the picture I’ve enclosed. As I went on my way, two of these kids followed me. We came to a fork and I really had no idea what to do. The two boys seemed to think I should go to the right, but I wasn’t sure. They spoke no English, and I basically don’t speak any Spanish. They seemed to think I was quite hilarious because they sure laughed a lot. They got me to lighten up and laugh a bit too. A third boy came along with a very large machete. I laughed a little less and thought I’d better make a decision sooner rather than later. Like I said – the machete looked quite large. I finally took the road to the right and went on my way.

The next town I came to had a group of about 12 kids that flocked around me. Again, they were all smiling and laughing. I strained to remember some Spanish words. I remembered two. I told them I was “loco” and “stupido” – they laughed even more. I got my camera out and showed them pictures I took of my fellow hikers to see if they had seen these other gringos come through. I still wasn’t sure I was on the right path. They just laughed like I was “loco” and “stupid”. I began to hike ahead and they followed. I was getting very tired and my feet were feeling quite sore. I groaned, the kids groaned. I grunted, they grunted. I went “whoo”, they went “whoo”. This made me laugh. I threw more out on purpose and they mimicked everything – and laughed. This made me crack up laughing. I began to make the sound we all made as kids where you cover your mouth off and on like an American Indian on the war path. They went nuts and all started doing it too. It was hilarious. In that moment, I think I fully entered into my Honduran experience. I wasn’t worried about what was going on at home, were they making it without me at work, when will I see my emails and facebook page, etc. I wasn’t worried about surviving the hike, being lost, or what was ahead. It was a beautiful moment and that’s all that mattered. I think it is known as “present centered living”. It’s a beautiful thing.

The kids finally went back and I continued on. It was getting darker and I wondered if I might have to ask some locals if I could stay the night with them. Now, I haven’t mentioned this guy yet, but several times on the hike a guy on a moped mountain bike passed us back and forth several times. The weird thing is that he had a cooler strapped to the bike. I had no idea what he was doing or what the cooler could be. He spoke a little English, and he seemed to think I was on the right path, but I still wasn’t sure. I later found out that this guy had ice cream in his cooler that he sells in the villages. I guess he’s quite the entrepreneur.

The final hour of my journey was excruciating. The entire route is nothing but uphill and downhill. You would think that downhill would be great, but too much downhill is a bad, bad thing. My toes were getting jammed into the fronts of my shoes. At this point I had to walk like a 90 year old man. Every step was painful. The final stretch was a HUGE, rocky downhill. This was like a trail that only a mountain goat could love. At the bottom of this, it then went straight uphill – and finally to the town of Los Crossidos! I yelled to the tiny figures still far ahead “Amigos, I made it!”

After finally meeting up with those that “left me behind”, I learned that those yet behind me had serious issues and were coming in on donkeys. Frank was the worst. He arrived around 8 pm, dehydrated and delirious. We made him drink some Gatorade like energy/recovery vitamin supplement that one of our guys had. It took a few hours, but Frank finally came around. Other guys were extremely exhausted and had minor knee and foot injuries. We all prayed for God’s strength at the outset – to do what had we had to do. He got us this far, and we knew we had to trust him for everything. Read the rest of his blog post –> The Amazing Honduras Adventure.

Stay tuned for the rest of the posts about Honduras. I will be writing about the experience we had once we were in the mountains, around the farm and the hike back.

Top Five Movies

• X Men First Class
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two
• The Hangover Part II
• Moneyball
• Contagion

Top Five TV Series

• Breaking Bad
• Sons of Anarchy
• The Walking Dead
• Fringe
• Dexter

Top Five Video Games

• Call of Duty: MW3
• Gears of War 3
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• Portal 2
• Bastion

I remember the Christmas when I would wake up early and sneak downstairs to see what Santa brought.

I remember the first Christmas I got to play Santa.

I remember the first Christmas I spent without my Dad.

What do you remember about your Christmas. Leave it in the comments.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the day. Enjoy!

Kids are crazy and therefore pose “crazy” sometimes when you take pictures of them!

These are my favorite kind of pictures. Catching people in true moments of happiness.

Another moment of happiness.

Love is in the air…

]]> http://www.amongtherealm.com/photography/tracy-and-adam-photo-shoot/feed/ 4 http://www.amongtherealm.com/holidays/building-the-perfect-thanksgiving-fire/ http://www.amongtherealm.com/holidays/building-the-perfect-thanksgiving-fire/#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2011 22:57:00 +0000 Andrew http://www.amongtherealm.com/?p=1333

Gather your materials. A trick my Dad taught me is to use rolled up newspaper to build your base.

Roll it up just like this…

Build your base with the newspaper and then put some kindling on top.

Thanks to my neighbor Bill for donating some of his firewood for our yearly tradition.

An axe… every man needs one.

Strike anywhere matches… light them off your zipper but be careful not to catch your pants on fire.

Stack the wood in a criss-cross pattern to allow enough air to circulate through to keep the flames going.

The last required step… is a beer… Yuengling to be exact.

Happy fire making and enjoy your Thanksgiving!

We stayed at Cabins of Quite Waters nestled in the hills of Slade, Ky. Natural Bridge State Park is their next door neighbor and Red River Gorge is close by as well. It is always a treat to stay at the cabins. Jeremy and Sonya always make us feel welcome and offer a relaxing environment. I will be doing some promo work for them to help with their presence on the interwebs…stay tuned for more info regarding that.

Enjoy the pics!

Baby D ready to climb with helmet and all…

Krista on the wall

At this rate Baby D will be climbing alongside us…

Meet Neal. This was his first time climbing in the outdoors.

Neal had incredible endurance on the wall… which are good qualities to have as a climber.

Neal nearing the top of his climb…

Neal was on cloud nine all day long… getting out to climb was something he had wanted to cross off his bucket list and he did it during this weekend. It is motivating to be there when this happens… you feel their energy and it inspires you to achieve and work harder.

Part of what Jeremy does is taking people who are staying in his cabins out climbing and teaching them ropes (no pun intended). If this sounds like an adventure you’ve been wanting to cross off your bucket list… go ahead… book your stay with Cabins of Quite Waters… you will not regret it.