Among the Realm » Photography

Tracy and Adam Photo Shoot

Andrew — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:26:30 +0000

Occasionally friends ask me to snap some photos of them and for a small fee I oblige them. This is not my business and I am not a professional photographer. Photography is a hobby of mine and a passion. I think I am good it but this is the one passion that I want to keep as a hobby and not turn it into a business. If you are looking for a professional photographer I would recommend Kelly from Daphne Photo Studio. She takes excellent photos and she is a source of inspiration for me when I am behind the lens of a camera.

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…

War Retreat Photos

Andrew — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:14:35 +0000

This past weekend men from Vineyard Westside went to Red River Gorge for a war retreat. What is a war retreat, you ask? It’s a retreat where men get together and do manly stuff. For example, there probably will be drinking of beer, the smoking of cigars, chopping wood with an ax (every man should at least do this once in his lifetime), fire building challenges, physical labor, camaraderie and figuring out what it means to be a “real man” for God and those around you.

The object in this challenge was to lower the tent pole to the ground and your two fingers must stay in contact with the pole.

Tug O War… War Retreat style on logs.

The riddle we could not figure out… and as a result we had to roll the dice to see what we had to eat…. octopus, seaweed or a Habanero pepper.

We rolled and we had to eat the Habanero… it was so hot my eyeballs were sweating!!

Resorting to chugging a beer to cool off your mouth was apparently the right choice!

For our work project we built a balance beam team building challenge.

“Big Bad” Bob Turner aka my Irish brother.

“Big Bad” Bob Turner on the balance beam.

The Treehouse

Disney World Vacation: Magic Kingdom

Andrew — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:57:09 +0000

Day two of our trip consisted of our first park of the trip… Magic Kingdom! There was also a lot of walking (remember Disney is not relaxing) and lots of eating.

Sarah eating her first Churro of the trip… these amazing desserts are full of cinnamon and sugar all formed into one amazing mouth watering pastry.

Me following her lead… Oh how I miss the Churro, the wonderful coma inducing dessert.

My Mom would sneak away and I finally figured out where she would go… she loves the Mickey Bars!

Disney World Vacation Day One

Andrew — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 04:31:12 +0000

It has gone on two weeks since I have been back from the happiest place on earth and I am finally re-aclimating myself back to normal life. I will say one thing about Disney… it’s not a relaxing vacation. If you like sitting on a beach accompanied by a drink with an umbrella sticking out of it… this is not your vacation. However, if you like walking extreme distances (everyday) through hordes of big and little kids, enjoy eating lots of food (who doesn’t right?) and maybe getting the occasional kiss from your (insert favorite Disney princess here) then this might be the trip for you.

The first day (the dreaded travel day) was a low-key evening spent at our home away from home the Boardwalk Resort and Downtown Disney.

The entry way to Downtown Disney. I will make this plain and simple this is a cool place to hang out. There are amazing places to eat (see pic below), a cool Lego store and a magic store are just a few of the cool places to visit.

This chicken parmesan was mouth-watering good!

This is exactly how I felt after eating my meal too!

After dinner we strolled over to Goofy’s Candy Company.

There was enough candy in this place to satisfy any sweet tooth.

See… I told you so… more candy! There were row upon rows of this stuff. I also had one of the best frozen ice concoction drinks ever.

Yup… that is Woody from Toy Story. Yup… that is Woody made from Legos. Yup… I was at the Lego store!

Ok now I am in heaven… build your own lightsaber… don’t mind if I do!

A view of the boardwalk and the resort in the background.

I know you want to see more pictures and hear some stories about our vacation… but… you will have to wait (everyone loves a good cliff hanger)!

Christmas Memories

Andrew — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 23:37:23 +0000

Christmas time is difficult without my Dad. He loved Christmas. He loved spending time with his family. We always made a day of decorating, listening to Christmas music by Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Andy Williams on the record player (the only way to listen to Christmas music in my opinion) and baking cookies. Its hard to get in the Christmas spirit but thanks to family and friends this Christmas is going well.

My friend Chelsea and Baby C came over to help me decorate my tree and the house. We listened to Christmas music and made some memories of our own. I am blessed to have great friends in my life. Here are some pictures from the day of decorating. Enjoy!

Chelsea came over to help with decorating and she brought lunch. I ate some of the best chicken salad I have ever had from Tag’s Cafe

Baby C taking a nap.

Star Wars and M&M’s is there really a better combination? Yes, I know I am a nerd.

Storm Trooper!

The finished product… aint she a beauty!

Hope your all having a Merry Christmas with your friends and family!

Morgan’s Triathlon Pictures

Andrew — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 02:28:59 +0000

Some of my friends participated in the Morgan’s Triathlon. I went to take some pictures and hang out with them afterward.

Becoming a Man of Action

Andrew — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 17:39:09 +0000

About a month ago Ryan challenged the men in our small group to go off by ourselves and ask God what we needed to hear. I did not hear anything at first (probably because I was peeing on a tree) but about 5 minutes of being silent before God, I heard Him speak. I did not hear an audible voice, but these words came in to mind. Be a man of action! Bold words if you ask me!! Thanks God for speaking to me but what does that mean?? I have been attempting to figure this out since that day. But I think that is the problem. Thinking. I think too much. God wants me to be a man of action without thinking, just act. Whatever this may involve I am ready to be a man of action.

God began to speak me in Honduras about being a man of action. This is me (on the left) on our hike down from the mountain.

Over the Rhine

Andrew — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 22:32:57 +0000

Last week I met my friend Dan and his youth group in Over the Rhine. They were there for the week helping serve the community. Its a great community with rich history. Here are some pictures I snapped on my iphone.

Many people will not go to Over the Rhine because of what they hear about in the news. Everyone says hello to you and are not afraid to have conservations with strangers. It is rare that people in my community will say hello let alone have a conservation. Sometimes in life you have to let go of your comfort zones and get out and impact the world you live in. Don’t hide behind your fear. Take that step and get out and make a change.

Dan

The church where they lived for the week

If you are ever in Findlay Market you should probably eat here… they have amazing flat bread pizzas that you can order how ever you want for 7.00

Another shot of the church

I love the artwork on this building

Findlay Market

On top of the Carew Tower.

100 Mile Bike Trip Round 2

Andrew — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:55:35 +0000

Here is the story of part 2 of our journey:

Our original plan was to stay at a hotel in Xenia, Ohio. When we arrived at the hotel it was already booked up. I would have never thought a hotel in Xenia would have booked up. Oh well, it turned out for the better. I turned to my iphone for some guidance and it pointed us into the direction of a bed and breakfast. So we saddled up again and headed out to Yellow Springs.

The quaint bed and breakfast we found. I am glad we did, it felt like we are at home and the breakfast was amazing. If you are ever out this way and need a place to stay I highly recommend this place. There is some history behind this house too. To read more about it head on over to their website–>Yellow Springs Country Bed and Breakfast.

A double dutch door. I think they said it was the oldest double dutch door in Ohio.

Josh reading the local paper. Another cool tidbit to mention is that Dave Chappelle has a farm not far from where we were at. He also frequents a coffee shop about 5 minutes from the bed and breakfast. The lady that works there said that she is friends with Dave and she used to torment him when they were young.

The outhouse that they used back in the day.

After we got cleaned up we headed up to Young’s Dairy Farm to eat.

Hey goat.

There at not many places where you can see a goat giving birth while you wait to be seated for dinner. We just missed the actual birth but this baby goat is freshly born.

The group. I am glad I have friends that I can experience life with. Life is about adventure and I hope to be doing more adventures with this great group of friends.

The final mileage for the trip…109.2. The whole trip took about 8 hours of ride time to complete. So with the end of this trip I can cross off #55 from my bucket list: Bike 100 miles in one weekend!

100 Mile Bike Trip

Andrew — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:09:25 +0000

This past weekend some friends and I headed out to ride 100 miles in one weekend. Our starting point was the Loveland Bike Trail and are destination was Yellow Springs, Ohio, which is near Springfield, Ohio. It was a great trip and aside from some sore muscles and a minor flat tire on the way back there was no serious complications.

Getting ready to depart from Loveland, Ohio.

J to the Bizzle cracking a smile before the trip.

This is early on in the bike trip… we stopped here for about 5 minutes and I decided it would be a good time to grab some pics.

I had the privilege of going to Honduras with Krista.

I think Josh realized how long we were riding and decided to thumb for a ride…

Eric, Josh and Krista resting a bit before we continue on.

I love bridges. I lost my camera battery and I had to order a new one. I got it the Friday before we left. I missed taking pictures and was glad to be able to get back into it.

Another shot of the bridge.

Another rest point under a really tall bridge.

There was a cool section along the trail with these flowers and butterfly’s were all over the place. I was able to snap some good pics.

We finally reached our destination. But you will have to wait to hear the rest of the story for tomorrows post. Nothing like a cliff hanger to keep you coming back. Have a great day!