all along the eastern shore

it's so good to be home.
on the eastern shore.

two of my favorite boys in the world picked me up in annapolis today. their hugs have never felt so warm. i got back and everyone smiles with excitement as they see everyone. everyone screams at tan skin and sun-bleached hair. i am just thankful to see the slightest changes in someone's face. new haircuts. new experiences to hear. stories to tell over beers and a few rounds of mario kart. someone brings rockband home. addicted. like clockwork. we all took a break to hit the gym for a while. now we're back at the robotic drum and guitar set. staring at the screen. pretending to be the rockstars we aren't.

this is home. for one more month. this group of friends, family really, who know me better than any other friends on this earth. they have heard my life stories, my hard times, my best times. i've grown to know every meaning behind a grin, every inflection of a laugh, every mannerism. and they know me. and it is all under the banner of love.

one month and this family i live with-my christian "real world"- will end. i must pack up and leave, leaving nothing but footsteps on this property and the hope that perhaps i made a lasting impression on those i have left behind. how will we all part ways? no one tells you how to prepare for that. i suppose it will feel a bit like graduating from jmu. leaving mason street and all that i knew for four years. i've left a place i called home once. i bet i can do it again.

but i left that area that i knew for four years to still stay in the area for another year. i realized i have been here for 5 years, this virginia-maryland region. this part of the country has been my home and the backdrop behind some of my greatest memories, mistakes, dreams, achievements, loves, friendships, and lessons. in one month, i'll pack it all up, in my green saab again, and coast back to chicago. another chapter done. a new one waiting. i'm scared and yet i'm peaceful. uncertain yet hopeful. my family and my best friend are waiting for me in chicago, and my prayer is that so much more is waiting that i cannot even begin to fathom.


got asked to photograph another wedding today. that's four this summer. i'll post the montgomery wedding photos soon...
finished my year long thesis last week and i will be presenting it tomorrow. maybe i'll post some sections from that as well.
happy monday.