:: bicycle and birdcage ::

and we're rolling...

2010-04-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

so as i sit here in the public library, the walhalla branch (where we now reside), taking refuge in the only place with free wi-fi, i'm grabbing a moment to sit back and reflect on the past couple of weeks...i'm married...(pause for weightiness)...yep, i'm married. the hopeless romantic/uber-cynic is now an old married man. ;-)

the wedding was nothing short of amazing. beautiful weather, family and friends. a radiant and totally sexy bride. fellowship. fun. so much "stuff" on and in our get-away car. it was sweet. a few days in Helen, Ga, thanks to my brother and his connections. all in all, amazing.

so this finds us back in real life. i have done more moving of boxes and assorted things in the last few days than i ever did in my time around Clemson. i'm sick of the smell of cardboard and the pain of splinters. and i realized even more why i don't own many earthly possessions. i am always tempted to leave it all behind and start fresh. Keri does not share these same ideas. go figure.

but the house is becoming more livable day-by-day, one room at a time. somewhere between the boxes and bags, and the puppies. we find a few minutes each day for us. its a sweet time, mixed with the sounds of a dishwasher and a clothes dryer, dogs scurrying about, and the occasional creak and moan of the ole house. i love it. i truly do.

this season will be a great time of learning. it already is. i'm learning the depths of my selfishness, and of my grace. i'm learning to let go, and hold on. i'm learning to embrace keri rose's beauty even more. she is wonderful. i'm learning again and again how God takes care of his own.

"Give me a fruitful error any time, full of seeds, bursting with its own corrections. You can keep your sterile truth for yourself." ~Vilfredo Pareto

all is well...

2010-04-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

married! more to come soon, when we get settled in our house, and start figuring out how to do this living together-share everything dealy...

it's time...

2010-04-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

“I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance,
A church filled with family and friends.
I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for,
He said one that would make me his wife.”

in my morning reading and meditation time, i came across this quote. i found it all too true. in these last days before the wedding, all the planning and desires for perfection seem to fall away in this thought, "i can't wait to marry you." don't get me wrong, i sincerely appreciate the beauty and symbolism of the day, the preparation time, the elements, and the rest. it is sweet, and i embrace it. but there are moments where it just feels like too much. i just want to steal away with my bride. she is what this day is about, what all this preparation is for. but here we are, three days away. my suit is pressed and hanging by the door, my vows in the pocket of my coat. i am ready.

the long wait is over. i have found her. she is mine. i am hers. and we get to celebrate that surrounded by love and joy and well-wishers. i look longingly forward to seeing dear friends. i miss them, and am glad that this day calls us back together. my brothers and sisters, warriors in the trenches with me. it is a day to lift a glass to all the ones we love. make merry and sing songs. dance with joy, dance with all our might. so as we prepare to eat, drink, and be merry, i stop here to say thanks to you all. you who have been a part of this journey, bittersweet as it has been. but beautiful. always beautiful...

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let us celebrate...

2010-03-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words. - Plautus

i like that. and that's what i intend to do. 31 comes at an odd time this year. not in the sense of the day on the calendar, but in the timing. it almost slips by in the wash of wedding planning, a new album, searching for a place to live, and the lot. but i'm about to turn 31. and i hear the inevitable comments; from the younger-you're old, and from the older-you're young. i guess both are true from their vantage points, but from mine, i'm turning 31. that's all i know it to be. i can't jump ahead to experience a different year, and i can't go back (nor would i want to. i can't remember 18 or 21 that much anymore, and 25 is faded by sweet red wine). so 31, here i am...

i have come to enjoy the wine and words over gifts. while i appreciate the sentiment of a well thought-out gift and the beautiful wrapping, i really just want some time with my loved ones. last year, i was blessed to spend time with two of my best friends, one of whom is now my fiancee. big to-do, fancy evening? not quite. mexican food from puerto nuevo and margaritas at amanda's house. one of the best nights of my life. it ended with a long, front porch conversation with keri rose, while we both partook of a clove cigarette. little did i know that the feelings inside me were mutual. five days later, we went on our first date. and here we are.

this years birthday holds in store the same three people, but this time, heading to charlotte, nc to see ben folds. i am excited. for ben folds, yes. he is amazing. but more for the time with them. my dear friends. people who i love. people who love me. let us celebrate...

::the who's, what's, where's and why's::

2010-03-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

hello blog-world,
to say that i've been absent from here is a tad misleading. its been over a year, and i simply didn't care. which is in itself odd, because the last year has proven to be one of, if not the most dramatic and transforming years of my life. here's the dealy: i started dating the most beautiful and wonderful girl that i've ever met. somehow i tricked her into saying yes to my marriage proposal. we took some time off from the world to just be us. we hooked up with a new group of people at Arise Church. we don't fit in at all, and yet, that's exactly why we fit in there. i have been working on a new album. it took several different directions, and ended up somewhere i didn't expect. but its done, and i'm happy with that. as i type this, i am still reeling from an amazing cd release show last weekend, and i am 26 days and some change from my wedding day. unreal. the day is near. i am excited and at peace. i feel blessed and honored to be where i am. there seem to be a million possibilities on the horizon, but so far we've not lost ourselves to one with reckless abandon. there's a beauty in waiting. "The world is all gates, all opportunities, strings of tension waiting to be struck."- Emerson said that. i feel it.

so where does that leave things in this moment? finalizing wedding plans, booking shows, teaching music, loving my wife-to-be, taking care of two crazy dogs, finding time to write, and just living. enjoying living. life is a bicycle or a birdcage, you choose...