Due to Popular Demand…Kinda

January 28, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

I have recently had some people express interest in my current location and information as to how the particular city got its name. Without any further introduction, here is the information I could find according to ci.goodyear.az.us here ya go…
The Goodyear of today exists because of the cotton of yesteryear. It was part of the 16,000 acres purchased in 1917 for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company by junior executive Paul Litchfield. Cotton used to make rubber tires for airplanes in World War I was in short supply because foreign sources were in war torn countries or disease ridden. When Goodyear found that Arizona’s climate and soil was similar to foreign sources, the company sent Litchfield to purchase land. The small community that formed as aresult of the Goodyear Farms cotton industry first became known as “Egypt” for the Egyptian cotton grown there and then, finally, was called “Goodyear.”

A Tribute to My Wonderful Fiancee’

January 28, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

In around 130 days I will be officially married to the beautiful Cristina Lee Baker. I have not seen her in about a month and will not see her again until spring break which is in March. She is in Cincinnati, I am in Phoenix. That’s approximately 1880 miles or the equivalent to about 1.5 days worth of driving without stopping. This has been a difficult time because I am anxiously anticipating getting married, but at the exact same time I’m not quite there yet. The situation is definitely trying on my patience but I have to know that God wants me to focus on the things at hand and He has me out here and her there right now for a specific reason. Anyway, I appreciate her greatly and she is a great blessing to my life even beyond the things that I see and her directly from her. It is a joy to know she is praying for me. The pictures below are from a photo shoot I did with Cristina right before she left after New Years break. It was my first portrait photo shoot with somebody and I figured why not the first be with my beautiful fiancee’? Hope you enjoy. Love you Sweets!

This is my absolute favorite of her.

My Life In Arizona

January 20, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Well here I am coming to you from the city of Avondale, AZ. Avondale is part of the greater Phoenix area and is a suburb of 77,000 people, bigger than most towns. Vision Baptist Church is in the city of Goodyear which is right next to Avondale geographically. I love being here in Phoenix. It’s a huge city, lots of people, places, and things to do. I will try in the upcoming months to take pictures of various scenic parts of the city to keep everybody updated with where I’m at. A few facts and figures for everybody…

1. The State of Arizona is less than 100 years old, it will turn 100 in 2012.

2. The greater Phoenix area (Or the “valley” as most locals call it) is actually big enough to fit the entire state of Connecticut inside of it.

3. The State of Arizona has a woman governor.

4. Phoenix is the 5th largest city in the United States with just under 6 million people.

5. From July of 2000 to July 1 2005 the population of Arizona grew by 423 people per day.

6. Just a few of the state’s natural wonders are the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, The Colorado River, and Sedona’s Oak Creek Canyon.

7. A person from Arizona is called an Arizonan.

8. It is actually illegal to hunt camels in the state of Arizona.

9. Phoenix averages 211 days of sunshine per year.

10. Arizona is among the last of the states not to observe daylight savings time.

This picture was taken at Pastor Perham’s house on Saturday night. All the kids were completely amazed that a coke can could stand on its edge like this.

And this….this young girl is Sage. She is the Perham’s youngest daughter. She was kinda shy when the camera came out but after a while she got used to it.

Finally In Phoenix

January 7, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment

I have finally made it to Phoenix, AZ. My dad and I arrived around 3pm on Saturday after driving through Flagstaff while it was snowing!!! That’s actually the first time I have drove in the snow so it was quite an interesting experience. I am currently still kinda in the job hunting process as I will be working a full-time job, and working at the church at the same time. These next few days and months will be interesting. A couple named the Noreus’s have so graciously opened up their home to me. I have my own bedroom with a queen sized bed, a study room, and…my own bathroom! It’s been pretty great, I will keep everybody up-to-date with my plans. Anyway….the above photo is a series of pictures I merged together with Photoshop’s Photomerge Technology. It is of a mountain range between Albuquerque and Flagstaff. I’ll keep ya posted.

Day 1…or is it 2? Of my trip to Arizona

January 4, 2008 | Filed Under Travels | 3 Comments

Thursday, January 3rd at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time my dad and I began my journey out to Phoenix, AZ. We drove until about 4am in the morning, stopped for about 2 hours at a rest stop to sleep, and continued on until we got to Albuquerque, NM today at 6 pm Mountain Time. If you do the math on that, it’s about 18 hours and roughly 1,100 miles. It’s been a lot and my dad and I are ready to die tonight in the hotel before we hit the road again tonight. The map below shows you where we started and where we are now. Please continue to pray for us as we travel tomorrow. This is such an exciting time in my life but also a bit scary, so I need the prayer.

The next series of pictures I took especially for Doug Baker to prove to him the fact I tried to explain so long ago that “windmills” do actually exist. These are for you Mr.Baker

For lunch today we stopped in Amarillo,TX at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. If you have ever travelled I-40 out west you know that once you get to Amarillo, besides the airport, this is about the only thing there. The one thing they are famous for is their “free” 72 ounce steak. The key is you have to eat the steak (which is more like a roast in size just by itself) a baked potato, roll, and salad within an hour to get that “free” steak. While my dad and I ate, there were three “idiots” (As he called them) attempting to do their part to devour the meal. Two came close, but none of them won the “free” steak.