It's go time!

Please send some good thoughts my way around 9:00 AM today. I have my first Investment Committee presentation (conference call with the company's Board of Directors) for an adaptive reuse of an old school in rural NE NC into affordable seniors apartments.

Pictures of My LIfe

Here are some pictures from the apartment groundbreaking I went to on Thursday in Greensboro and a fishing trip with my boss and one of his neighbors on Falls Lake north of Raleigh on Saturday.

The Ceremonial Shovels

Groundbreaking Photos

Ambitious Beavers

Falls Lake Fishing Photos

"This Will All Make Perfect Sense Someday"

Do people's paths cross for a reason? Entering into your life and then to leave in an all too sudden manner? Are we meant to learn from these people? What if we're not ready for them to leave? Do they reappear at some point later in time? Just some things I've been thinking about lately.

I haven't really come to any solid conclusions other than I don't think we're supposed to know. We should try to gather as much from everyone we encounter in order to become a better person. I've learned an incredible amount the last couple of years from people that I've met, worked with, gone to school with, had a relationship with, been friends with, played sports with, yet I still feel like there is so much more room for growth. I guess I'm trying to say that sometimes when people cross your path you're not ready for their impact or that rush of wind that follows but I think it happens for a reason. Sometimes they will join you on your journey for a day, a month, or just a minute but that time they are there is the time to learn and enjoy. When paths diverge it's probably impossible to be ready and only God knows when and if the paths will converge again.

Friends are good

Just as the sermon at church said on Sunday, friends are good and important.

Pictures from the weekend

Here are a few shots from my trip to Atlanta and home.

Looking west from Shaun's condo on the 21st Floor on 14th Street in Atlanta:





The Flats, student apartments under construction across from Ikea at Atlantic Station. I interned for the developer during Summer 2004.



A horrific renovation of an old mechanic's garage that I wanted to convert to a Jake's in downtown Carrollton. ARGH



Who tries to steal an '86 Astro Van? Good thing the battery was dead.





Dueling stickers on the back of the van



Snowy backyard on Sunday morning



Snowy rental Malibu



Snowy front yard and house



Southern Magnolia Leaf



Southern Magnolia Leaf



Living room chimney and snowy roof

Double Post

For my second post of the night here's an interesting site I saw on The Hive: My Heritage. You upload a pic and it tells you which celebrities you most look like. Apparently I'm 62% like Tom Cruise. I definitely didn't see that coming. I've been compared to Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) and Joshua Jackson (Pacey on Dawson's Creek) but never Tom Cruise. Here are my top 3.

To see my results click here

Top 3
1: Tom Cruise 62%
2: Jan Ulrich 61% (Take that Lance Armstrong)
3: Cary Grant 52% (actually it's Alanis Morriesette at 53% but Cary Grant is better)

Post your results in the comments.

Here I am

I'm writing this post while sitting in Shaun's condo on the 21st floor of the Mayfair Tower on 14th Street in Atlanta while waiting on him to get home from work. I flew down yesterday for a conference today at the Galleria. I stayed in a nice hotel in Vinings last night and met up with Josh for dinner at La Paz for a dang quesadilla. This morning I hit up McDonalds for a quick breakfast and got a confidence boost from the girl at the register who said I looked nice. :) That definitely doesn't happen everyday, well almost never and when my mom says it, it doesn't count. The conference was for the application workshop for the 2006 Georgia Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Basically it's where the developers learn the ins and outs of the current year's application. I'd explain the process but 1) You'd be very bored and 2) I'm tired and don't want to. Needless to say it was a long and boring meeting from 8:30-5 but they provided lunch and I got to see some people I met when I came down in December and also saw Mr. Hammock again. It's definitely a small affordable housing community. I'm staying at Shaun's tonight because I have my annual checkup with my allergist and asthma doctor tomorrow morning in ATL so it didn't make much sense to head back to Carrollton which is where I'll be all weekend! We're going to play trivia tonight and hopefully I'll contribute to the teams record in the Atlanta Trivia League (yes there is such a thing).

As I was driving around this afternoon I realized how much I missed Atlanta and the big buildings but I also drove by a building where I interviewed and would have worked had I got the job. What I realized was that I'm glad I got the job I did and ended up moving somewhere completely new. Although my social life is nonexistent, pointed out last night when Josh asked how it was going, work is great and Raleigh isn't that bad. It's good to try something new and get out of your comfort zone. While I think I'll be back south at some point in my life, I definitely think I'm where I'm supposed to be now.

Camera phone view looking west down 14th Street toward Peachtree Street. Better pics from the real camera when I get them uploaded.

What's a lightbox?

I've always wondered how catalog and stock photographers got their pics to turn out great with just a plain white background. Now, thanks to Sarah and my nifty new camera, I can play around with it myself. The two most recent pics she has posted on her photoblog have been of test images from using her new homemade lightbox. What's a lightbox? I didn't know either until I clicked on her link to a website showing how to make one. Last night I went to Michael's and The Home Depot to get materials (fun Friday night ehh?) and this afternoon I put it together. I took shots of several objects ranging from my cell phone to my Eagle Scout awards to a miniture pumpkin with a Hummer on top. I'm far from acheiving the crisp white background I want but it's a start in the right direction. This will definitely come in handy if I ever start helping my grandparents start getting rid of stuff on Ebay. Here are a few test shots and the "muddy water" background as well as the box itself.











Edited to add some more test pics of some peanut butter cookies I baked tonight for taking to the Chalmers' tomorrow for Super Bowl watching.