(via kimbogardusphotography)
Not only is she beautiful, but my wife is talented as well.
There really is nothing like the Mongolian sky.
I uploaded a bunch of our last pictures from Mongolia to my Facebook. Just click on the picture or here to see them.
Birthday Dinner Extravaganza
In case you missed this on Kim’s blog….
My birthday dinner turned out to be more than either Nick or I expected.
We went to a place called The Pink Door in downtown Seattle. When we walked in, I was instantly captivated by the enchanting atmosphere and decorations. It was crowded but comfortable at the same time.
As I was finishing a quite scrumptious Caesar salad, a girl standing slightly behind Nick caught my attention. She was wearing something between a Christina Aguilera video and a knock-off Moulin Rouge costume. I turned to Nick and simply asked, “Will there be dancing darling?” in a ridiculous 1920’s snobby accent. Seconds after those words left my lips, the lights dimmed low, seductive music started, and I was met with feet above my head.
That’s right. Feet. Feet dangling inches above my Caesar salad. Unbeknown to us, the Monday night entertainment at The Pink Door is Burlesque dancing. Burlesque dancing from a ceiling swing to be more specific. It was rather unusual and I couldn’t help but giggle when I looked at Nick’s face- partially showing terror and partially showing confusion at what exactly he made reservations for. I was amused to no end. However, the only camera I had was my Polaroid- which was low on film- and my phone camera. So this was all I could get to prove my birthday dinner to you:
Afterward, we took a walk downtown, peering into the windows of interesting shops, finally stopping to overlook the bay. It was a good first birthday in Seattle.
Thanks to everyone who sent warm birthday wishes to rainy Seattle! It helped make my 3rd birthday away from friends and family all the better.
Photo Class of Mongolia
I’m so proud of what my wife did while we were in Mongolia and what she’s continued to do while we’ve been back in the States. Check out her post below and then look at the site she made for the kids: www.photoclassofmongolia.tumblr.com
Hey everyone!
I know this has been a long time coming, probably about three months now, that I have talked about creating a website dedicated to sharing my students photographs. Well, it is finally finished.
We had two wonderful exhibitions, in both Mongolia and America. Thank you to everyone who made them possible and to those who came out to see what I have been busy with for the last two years.
For those of you who weren’t able to make it to the exhibitions, I have selected what I think are some of the student’s best photographs, scanned them, and made tumblr sites dedicated to each student. Now you can get a little taste of Mongolian culture, read miniature bios on each of the students, and if you want, support the student’s college education by buying some of their printed photographs.
Thank you again to everyone who gave encouragement, support, and supplies to make this class possible. And most importantly, thank you to my students who studied extremely hard and mastered their first photography class.
Now hurry over to:
www.photoclassofmongolia.tumblr.com
Feel free to email me with any questions or comments.
A Glimpse Into Our Last Month Or So
The last month or so has felt relentless, volatile, exciting, and hopeful. To give you an idea of what our lives have been like I’ll paint you a picture with a list of what we’ve been up to since coming moving back to the States from Mongolia.
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(Keep in mind that from the day we found out we were pregnant, Peace Corps had us packed up and moving back to America in about a week and a half.)
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The first week we spent going from Mongolia to Los Angeles to Seattle and back to Los Angeles. We landed in LA on a Monday and were in Seattle on a Thursday. During the four days we were in Seattle I had my last job interview and we found a house to live in.
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The second week was sad because unfortunately we spent it dealing with the loss of the pregnancy.
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The third week we spent mostly packing, moving things out of storage, and shipping everything up to Seattle.
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The fourth week we went up to Seattle to unpack and move into the house. We also had to deal with my car being totaled while it was being shipped.
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The fifth week we were in Seattle and I started work at Mars Hill while Kim tackled the difficult task of sorting through all of our junk and making a home.
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The sixth week we unpacked our last box at 1:30am the night before flying back to Orange County for the Mongolian photo exhibit.
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Now, I’m back up in Seattle and working while Kim is in California enjoying time with her family. Needless to say, we’re tired but thankful for all of the ways God, family, and friends have carried us through this time. My parents gave us a home-in-between-homes; a quiet place where we could decompress. The people at Mars Hill in Seattle have been so generous and welcoming; going so far as to let us borrow a car when ours was wrecked and making numerous airport runs to shuttle us back and forth. Our friends made great efforts to stop by and say hi and to come to the opening of the exhibit.
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Despite all of this stuff we’re really grateful and extremely excited about this chapter about to start up here. Personally I’m fired up for my job; to be working at such a great place with great guys. Kim and I are anxious to love this city, this church, and being here together.
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We’ll make a video of our house this weekend. It won’t feel as distant and foreign as our Mongolian apartment video but hopefully it’ll give you a glimpse into our life here.
Love,
Nick
If you’re in LA or Orange County this weekend come to the opening of our Mongolian photo exhibit! A great art gallery and bookstore in Long Beach is showing Kim’s Mongolian students’ photos. We’re really excited because the gallery agreed to donate all of the proceeds from the selling of the mounted pieces and prints to help support the student’s college education.
A lot of people ask about our experience there and most of the time words fail us. The best way to describe it is actually to show you what it looked like so we’d love it you came and said hi on Saturday.
Here’s a link to the event: http://www.thestoryofopen.com/calendar/aug-8-in-mongolia-photo-exhibit-opens/
bella is a great dog model, until she turns on me. i love this puppy.
