Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

17 Years

April 20th, 2012

Tomorrow we celebrate 17 yrs together as one. Funny thing about that is that we spent the first 15.5 years figuring out what exactly that meant.   We spent so many years just going through the motions; working, paying bills, and raising kids, that we really forgot about the two people who were the foundation [...]
 

Tomorrow we celebrate 17 yrs together as one. Funny thing about that is that we spent the first 15.5 years figuring out what exactly that meant.

 

We spent so many years just going through the motions; working, paying bills, and raising kids, that we really forgot about the two people who were the foundation of that family.

The best gift Aric bought me was a book called The 5 Love Languages. When we were at our bottom of the bottom, he gave me this book and let me tell you; how I thought I was showing him love was the complete opposite way he was receiving it. I was loving him the way I wanted to be loved. When I could see the words on the paper, I could then look in the mirror and say what can I do to save this marriage and the same was true for him.

 

When we both stopped thinking about ourselves and started thinking about each other that is when our marriage really began. We fought through the tough times and with God’s help proved to everyone, our children, and ourselves that when you say I Do, it is for a lifetime. You can’t give up and call it quits just because the other person doesn’t see things your way or you get hurt along the way. It takes two people to ruin a relationship and it takes three to keep it together; God has to be included or you will never know true happiness.

 

Here is to many more happier years together, just enjoying life and our time together! ~ Angie



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1 + 1 = 3

April 12th, 2012

1 + 1 = 3 Super excited that so many of our friends/clients are having babies!! Only a short time after sharing their wedding with them, we are now sharing in their joy of being new parents. We love chatting with them, and seeing all of the great posts on Facebook from the pregnancy to [...]
 

1 + 1 = 3

Super excited that so many of our friends/clients are having babies!! Only a short time after sharing their wedding with them, we are now sharing in their joy of being new parents.

We love chatting with them, and seeing all of the great posts on Facebook from the pregnancy to the decorating of the nursery to the birth  and all the other firsts!

There is a joy seeing the smiles on their faces when they talk about all the excitement, not much different from the joy when the two of them became one.

Congrats go out to Katy & Loren, Stacy & Dave, Erin & Jakob, and soon to be parents; Kristen & Jimmy!

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helping with dignity

April 5th, 2012

Something small can be something huge. This is what The Adventure Project does; their mission is not to give money out, but to train people to learn a job and in turn train others to do those jobs and to be self sufficient. Each quarter they focus on one issue affecting global poverty and then [...]


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Something small can be something huge.

This is what The Adventure Project does; their mission is not to give money out, but to train people to learn a job and in turn train others to do those jobs and to be self sufficient. Each quarter they focus on one issue affecting global poverty and then present innovative, low-cost solutions to help.

Last week there was a benefit concert, put on by The Andrew Landers Project; if you have never heard of him, you are really missing out! People packed themselves into Traditions Cafe, in downtown Olympia, where there was literally standing room only! We all enjoyed some great music and learning more about how The Adventure Project got started. Here are a few of the photos and video from that night.

If you would like to learn more about this great cause, and how you can be a part of it, here is a link to their site.
http://www.theadventureproject.org/

The Adventure Project | Benefit Concert from Aric Becker on Vimeo.

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Wallpaper Wednesday

March 21st, 2012

We bring to you another image from our favorite place in the world…Hawaii. This was taken two years ago on a great morning from our hotel room in Waikiki. Hope you enjoy! Here are three sizes to choose from, just click on the size you would like and save to your computer. Enjoy! P.S. With [...]


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We bring to you another image from our favorite place in the world…Hawaii. This was taken two years ago on a great morning from our hotel room in Waikiki.

Hope you enjoy!

Here are three sizes to choose from, just click on the size you would like and save to your computer. Enjoy!

P.S. With the facebook Timeline change, we added a cover size if you would like to use it on your facebook profile :)

Large 2560×1600

Medium 1920×1200

Small 1440×900

Facebook Cover

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Happy Birthday Grandma

March 20th, 2012

Wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, friend, woman All these words describe my Grandma to a tea, but there is so much more to her than these identifiers; she is a driving force in the way I am today, she has always told me it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. From the time I was [...]


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Wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, friend, woman

All these words describe my Grandma to a tea, but there is so much more to her than these identifiers; she is a driving force in the way I am today, she has always told me it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.

From the time I was very little there was a special connection between the two of us that cannot possibly be put into words. A little Italian woman who word is mightier than her size, she would say to me all the time, great things come in small packages and this is something I have hung onto all of my life.

There are very few people who have had a huge impact in my life and she is number one! I could never be the wife or mother I am today without having her in my life. She has taught me to be loving, no matter what. She has taught me that human beings make mistakes and forgiveness is HUGE! She has taught me that I am the best me I am and that’s all I or anyone else can expect.

I am so thankful that God has given my children the gift of a great grandmother in their lives, not many get this chance and it is so important in keeping family lines alive.

She has the most amazing stories of when her parents came over from Italy into Ellis Island, she very proud of all they accomplished in America. I also love to hear stories about how her and my Grandpa met, the love they shared, and their heartaches and sorrows. She has always been very honest and open with me about their relationship and how they handled the good and the bad. She has had the hardest time dealing with his death several years ago, but continues everyday to wake up and be very thankful for all the people around her who love her with all of their heart, I can’t think of another person who has so many people who love her, and who’s lives have ever been changed by hers.

Today she turns 90 years old and I thank God everyday for all the years I have had with her and any of the years I will have left to share with her. Life is short and precious and should not be taken for granted, my Grandma is the one who has showed me not to waste a single day and to take every opportunity we are given, even if the people in the background are saying that it’s a waste of time, energy, and resources.

I could go on for pages and pages about her, but I am sure all of you get my point. I only hope all of you have someone special like this in your lives, everyone should.

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!! ~Angie

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Iowa

March 13th, 2012

Last weekend I took a little trip to the Quad Cities. It was unexpected and thrown together at the last minute, “It was meant to be” as Angie would say. Special thanks to my awesome wife for figuring out how to pay for my plane ticket and taking care of everything at home while I [...]
 

Last weekend I took a little trip to the Quad Cities. It was unexpected and thrown together at the last minute, “It was meant to be” as Angie would say. Special thanks to my awesome wife for figuring out how to pay for my plane ticket and taking care of everything at home while I was gone.

I was gone for five days with Andy of the The Andrew Landers Project. They were doing four shows in five days and it was a blast! I was along to document the trip with pictures and video. Seeing all the behind the scenes of what it takes to do a show, no matter the size was great. The passion for music these guys have was so contagious. I am very lucky to know Andy and honored to call him a friend!

What I didn’t expect on the trip was the most amazing part, meeting some of the best people I have ever met. The relationships that have started from this short five day trip will change my life. To see people who don’t know me but the guy with the fancy camera tagging along from Seattle, opening up their homes and unbelievable hospitality. All I can say is I look forward to growing these relationships and see the journey life takes me on.

This trip just clarified to me that relationships in this life are so important. Life is hard enough and to do it buy yourself or in our own little box is not a living life to it’s fullest. To those that reached out to me and showed me so much in a short time period, I am forever grateful!
I hope to make it back to Iowa…sooner than later :) ~ Aric















I also did some video on the trip. I am enjoying shooting video more and more, editing and putting it together…that’s another story.

The Andrew Landers Project | Redstone Room from Aric Becker on Vimeo.

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Travel

March 6th, 2012

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, this is what people say, and I have to agree to an extent anyway. Aric has been gone for four days now and will finally be coming home after five days away. I am missing him terribly to say the least! While I think it is important for everyone [...]


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Absence makes the heart grow fonder, this is what people say, and I have to agree to an extent anyway. Aric has been gone for four days now and will finally be coming home after five days away. I am missing him terribly to say the least! While I think it is important for everyone to have their own space and take time for themselves, when you are used to your other half waking up next to you in the morning and kissing you goodnight; it is difficult when you don’t have that for a day or two or even three, but five is almost unbearable!

I remember early on in our relationship, we couldn’t stand even hours without each other, let alone days. Then after we were married and had been together for years, we couldn’t wait to have time by ourselves to hang with friends, hit the gym, or just go to the grocery store for an hour or two. Now at this point in our relationship, we want to give each other every opportunity for new adventures in our lives; even if it doesn’t necessarily include the other one, but it doesn’t mean we don’t miss each other terribly when we aren’t together. What it means is that we appreciate the time we have together even more.

I think when we tend to get stuck in a rut and so used to our routines, that we forget what it would be like it that other person wasn’t there. In our about page I equate not having each other like missing your big toe; the balance is just not the same as when it is there. So true!! We all need that balance of the other person in our lives. While Aric is maddening to me at times, that is the abstractness of the artist in him that drives me nuts, I am sure I do a pretty good job myself driving him crazy too. This is what keeps us great; when you can look at what drives you so crazy about a person and really think about it, I think you will find it the biggest thing you love about them! I can’t wait to have my other half home to kiss and to hug and to drive me crazy again! ~Angie

 

This is a sample of what Aric was working on while in Iowa. Enjoy and lots more coming.

The Andrew Landers Project // Quad Cities // Preview from Aric Becker on Vimeo.

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Leap Year

February 29th, 2012

What will you do with today?   An extra day only every four years; what will you choose to do with it? Most of us will just treat it as any old ordinary day, some of us will groan because it was one day extra until payday or one more day added to our bills, [...]


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What will you do with today?

 

An extra day only every four years; what will you choose to do with it? Most of us will just treat it as any old ordinary day, some of us will groan because it was one day extra until payday or one more day added to our bills, and some of us will choose to make this day an extraordinary day!

 

In this life we can look at things from different angles we can choose the half empty or half full approach, if we choose the half full approach we can say it’s an extra day to do something kind for someone, an extra day of work to make more money, an extra day to tell someone we love them, an extra day to hug our kids, an extra day that we woke up with the chance to choose something great, an extra day to give praise to The Lord for letting us wake up on this day!

 

I think we are given this day as an extra day to let us see that everyday can be like this, but we all get stuck in our routines of daily life and forget this, God gives us this extra day only every four years to ask ourselves the question that we should be asking ourselves everyday; what will you do with your extra day? ~ Angie

 

A couple iPhone images from a walk around Seattle.

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Wallpaper Wednesday

February 22nd, 2012

We have been lucky to travel to a few beautiful places. Our favorite as most know is Hawaii!!! So once or twice a month we will have wallpaper Wednesday. We will share a image with you that you can save and use it for wallpaper on your computer. I took this in 2009 when visiting [...]
 

We have been lucky to travel to a few beautiful places. Our favorite as most know is Hawaii!!! So once or twice a month we will have wallpaper Wednesday. We will share a image with you that you can save and use it for wallpaper on your computer.

I took this in 2009 when visiting Oahu, Hawaii. This beach is located on the North Shore. Looking at this image makes me miss the beach :(

 

Here are three sizes to choose from, just click on the size you would like and save to your computer. Enjoy!

Large 2560×1600

Medium 1920×1200

Small 1440×900

 

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Car maintenance and marriage

February 21st, 2012

What, you ask does one have to do with the other, well nothing in the small picture, but if we look at the big picture; EVERYTHING!   I have been thinking about it a lot over the last several days, after having to decide whether or not to fix our old vehicle; by the way [...]
 

What, you ask does one have to do with the other, well nothing in the small picture, but if we look at the big picture; EVERYTHING!

 

I have been thinking about it a lot over the last several days, after having to decide whether or not to fix our old vehicle; by the way we just finished paying it off, or buy a new one. Well eventually buying a new one was the way to go since it would have been more to fix the old one than it was worth.  Looking back on it, we did do regular oil changes and the little things to keep the car running, but really neglected the pieces that would have kept it running even longer, like the regular tune ups, etc, etc.

 

I believe this is the same with our marriages, in the beginning when the marriage is new we are so excited to wake up next to that person everyday, and laugh, joke, and live life with our mate.  After a few years we start going through other phases of our life; jobs, bills, buying homes, having babies, etc. We start to wake up everyday and start going through the motion of everyday life while we forget what we had in the beginning.

 

We forgot the maintenance part of the relationship, the need for talking about things that matter to the other one, the need for dating at least once a month to reconnect and enjoy each other company, the need to just hold each other and enjoy being held, and the need to know each other’s love language; the language by which we all give and receive love. If we could only remember that feeling we first had in the beginning of the relationship for the whole life of the marriage, the marriage would far outlast anything else. It would truly stand the test of time and live up to the “death do us part”

 

If we could only take care of our partners in the same fashion as we do as a new car; washing it every week, detailing it once a month, polishing it once a year, rotating the tires, and getting the milage inspections done. We could say I love you everyday, maybe more than once, kiss each other before we went to sleep, write love notes to each other once in a while, go out at least once a month, and take a trip when ever possible. This is a hard lesson to learn, some of us figure it out and some of us never do. As for me I will say the little bit of time, energy, and money that goes into the maintenance of both is worth it for the long term of both. We all need to remember that we only get out of things what we put into them. ~ Angie

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