Youth Group Mission Trip – Minneapolis

I might have said last week that this random Wednesday collection was going to feature Maddux. Next week’s collection will feature Maddux.

A couple weeks ago I had the great pleasure of helping chaperone the youth group from my church on a mission trip to Minneapolis.

As you have undoubtedly heard, my point and shoot went kaput on this trip, so I didn’t get as many photos as I wanted. However, with the pictures I had taken and pictures contributed by Sarah and Maddie I was able to put together this video of the trip to show during the church service on Sunday.



Of course, if you subscribe to this blog via email or RSS feed, you will have to go to the website to watch it.

One note on the video. I do think it ended up being the perfect song for the video and I really struggled with the song until I ultimately settled on this acoustic version of Live Like That by The Street Prophets.

I think this song and this version of the song worked perfectly for the video. I played with the original radio release, but I decided it was too hard of a song for our congregation. But I found an acoustic version of it on YouTube performed by The Street Prophets for KLove radio.

While searching for the perfect song I listened a lot of the Matt Maher station on Pandora while walking Naima.

Originally, I was going to go with Matt Maher’s Hold Us Together.

Then I changed to Brandon Heath’s Give Me Your Eyes.

Then I changed to Jason Gray’s Remind Me Who I Am.

Then I changed back to Matt Maher’s Hold Us Together.

But once I found the acoustic version of Live Like That, the choice was obvious, even though I love all those other songs.

Even though, you’ll see these pictures in the video, here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:



Bible Study on a Hill


What 1 Ton of Rice Looks Like Before We Got There


What 1 Ton of Rice Looks Like When We Are Done with It!


Maddie Boxing Rice


Kiley and Sarah getting their hair done at Mary’s Place


Emily During Bible Study


Paige, Kiley, Grace and Erica Ready at Feed My Starving Children


Finishing Up at Feed My Starving Children


Blessing the Food Packs at Feed My Starving Children


Sarah, Grace, and Alan Making Boxes at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Jacob and Marshall Boxing Meat at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Erica, Gabe, and CJ – the end of the frozen meat line at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Bagging Noodles at Emergency Foodshelf Network


Erica, Maddie, Amber, and Kiley Sorting Clothes at ARC


Brenton, CJ, and Jacob Sorting Clothes at ARC


Gabe and Jake Organizing Clothes at ARC


Marshall, Jake, Alec, and Alan Working the Back of ARC


Sarah Styling in ARC


Minnehaha Falls


Breakfast!


Andrew During Bible Study


Alec and Grace Draining the 1 Ton Bag of Rice


Emily and Amber Weighing Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Sarah Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Paige Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Steph and Ryan Sealing Bags of Rice at Second Harvest Heartland


Erica, Amber, Sarah, Emily, Maddie, and Grace at the Global Market


Ammie and Paige Playing Sorry at Mary’s Place


Jake and Kids Showing Off their Creation at Mary’s Place


Brenton, Sarah, Grace, Emily, Amber, Erica, Jacob, Paige, Steph, Jake, Ammie, Allan, Ryan, Yours Truly, Gabe, Jake, Alec, Maddie, Kiley, Sarah, Andrew, CJ, and Marshall at the Sculptue Garden

It was an amazing trip and I hope I asked back for next year’s mission trip.

A Change of Direction

I’ve decided not to replace my el cheapo point and shoot at this time, so this marks the unofficial official end of the Self-Portrait Project.

It just seems that such coin could be better used in another avenue (like a new bike) and I’ve allowed myself to believe that when I upgrade my phone in September it will have a good enough camera and thus eliminate the need for the point & shoot.

Although there is a fairly decent chance I’ll only be able to lie to myself for a month or so and I’ll be buying a new point and shoot in October.

It seems that this project was doomed from the beginning any way.

To replace it on Mondays I am starting a new project.

It is a 365 Day Photo Challenge. That means, simply to take a picture on 365 consecutive days. I am taking two popular 365 Day Photo Challenge lists and combining them into one list.

Next Monday I will post the first 7 pictures based on these themes:

Day 1: Calm
Day 2: A Silly Face
Day 3: Behind Glass
Day 4: One
Day 5: Flash
Day 6: Sunflower
Day 7: Logo

Blog No. 1447

Now that I am caught back up, I’d like to step back and take stock of where this journal has went since its inception on August 9, 2006.

Since the last time I looked at these statistics, I have completed changed galleries. I can no longer show you what are the most popular photos in the Artistic and Snapshot galleries. However, I can show you the most popular pictures in the Smugmug Gallery.

Here are the 20 Most Popular:



20. Statue of Liberty


19. Youth Group Mission Trip Group Photo – Kansas City – 2011


18. Evie


17. Drenched in Loneliness


16. Alice


15. Alice


14. Kewer Wedding


13. Young Heroes Banquet


12. Young Heroes Bandquet

8.
11. Girl in the Blue Skirt Beta – 2011


10. Katelyn


9. Maddux


8. Maddux


7. Evie


6. Evie


5. Becky


4. Theories Pass


3. Must Be Truth


2. Turtle Pond Frog


1. Evie

You might be wondering what determines the popularity of a photo. Truth is, I don’t know all the details, but I can tell you what is the dominant factor. To quote the Smugmug website:

You can increase a photo’s popularity by moving your mouse over it and clicking the thumbs-up symbol that appears. You can cast one vote per photo.

You can also rate a photo or gallery with stars when you leave a comment.

There are other factors…like time. Photos from events past will usually be less popular than recent ones.

If you see a picture you like, you should take the 5 seconds to give it the thumbs up and maybe it will make the Top 20 list next time I do this little thing.

I also like to look at the Top Ten People that have been mentioned or photographed in the history of this journal.

10. Dad – 117
9. Carla – 118
8. Sara – 122
7. Willy – 124
6. Jen – 143
5. Teresa – 144
4. Derrick – 157
3. Shannon – 160
2. Jay – 180
1. Jesse – 195

Hope you found this at least moderately interesting. I’ll check back in on these things when I hit journal entry number 1,500.

Personal Photo Project of the Week #128


Happy Things - 2012
Happy Things – 2012

This week’s project was to photograph coneflowers. Coneflowers are probably a top 5 flower for me. Admittedly, they aren’t much to look at, but I find the transformation the flower makes over its total lifespan to be fascinating.

The rest of the Happy Things – 2012 Series:


Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Happy Things - 2012

Next week’s Personal Photo Project of the Week will involve either hollyhocks or sunflowers.

Slice of Life Vol. 112

Hard to believe, but with this entry in An Artist’s Notebook, I am officially caught up. Didn’t think I’d ever get here.

Pictures from Herman Park, including the pavilion before a stage was constructed for the City Band highlight this collection.


















Now I just need to stay on schedule!

Personal Photo Project of the Week #127


Unceasing Effort
Unceasing Effort

I’m sure that it is well documented that I love alliums. They are definitely in my top 5 favorite flowers. Probably top 3. This week’s project was simply to photograph alliums.

The rest of the Unceasing Effort Series:


Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

Unceasing Effort

I was fortunate to grow some alliums this year. I hope next year to be able to grow even more. As I have some decent plans for my flower beds next year!