Hitting the reset button

This past weekend was spent up in the mountains snow camping with the guys. It was an awesome adventure and it had been 15 years since I had actually been snow camping (meaning building a snow cave and sleeping in it). We backpacked in on snow shoes and the snow was so deep that each step we took caused us to sink in past our knees…and it continued to snow from the time we got there till late that night.

The weekend was full of lots of work digging shelters, some great times hiking up a hill and sledding down, and great conversation catching up on life with close friends. Why I titled this “hitting the reset button” is that we all need to take time out of life and escape to nature. Every day we are bombarded with information and sensory overload by all kinds of media, social interaction, and life distractions. Not that these things are bad, but when you can distill life down to the barest essentials for a few days, it helps to refocus your priorities and your goals in life. The ability to carry on your back all that you really need and to have the knowledge to be able to survive in extremely harsh environments helps to balance out the excess in life we have grown accustomed to.

In this new year one of my major goals is to embrace simplicity in life and rid it of the excess that builds up over time. It’s challenging to determine what you really need and to limit yourself to being content. The idea of embracing what you “need” is much more important that what you “want” because chances are pretty good that your need list will remain simple while your want list is always changing and is never satisfied.

My challenge to everyone this year is live the life you have always wanted and distill your life down to what is most important to you…

A unique find

This weekend as we were exploring some new towns, we came to a small town called Glen Ellen. It is a really unique place that is somewhat famous because of it’s association with author Jack London. He settled down just outside of town and penned a number of books about the area. As a result there are a number of places named for him. One of these was a small market building which housed a number of different shops from gourmet chocolate places to numerous wine tasting shops. At the end of the market however there was a public book trading area where people can take any book for free and bring one back to replace it next time they are in the area. I love old books so as I was looking over the selection, this book caught my eye because of the worn cover. I opened it up and it was full of amazing historic architectural drawings and maps from various places in Europe.

It was printed in 1920 and became part of the New York City public library collection in 1928. It is a great book with a number of inspiring drawings that will definitely end up on my wall one day soon…and don’t worry, I am not going to cut it up for the pictures…I’ll scan them and reprint them.

Random pic of the day

Here is an image from the weekend showing how amazing the colors are right now. It has been so warm out that apparently all the flowers think it’s spring so everything is starting to blossom. The mustard fields are worth the trip themselves.

What caught my eye as I was driving was the contrast between the dark rainy sky and seemingly dormant trees and the brilliant color of the mustard all over the ground. This has been the best winter in a long time.

Valentines weekend adventures…

This past weekend was spent with my girlfriend in the Sonoma valley. The weather couldn’t have been better, so we had lots of opportunities to explore the region. Highlights included a trip to Mill Valley, a picnic by a lake in Sonoma, eating our way through the Sonoma and Napa Valleys and ending up in Calistoga.

Few places in Northern California are as impressive as these valleys. If you haven’t visited recently, be sure to check out the Sonoma and Napa valley region.

Daily inspiration

I have been busy filling orders this week and as I was packaging them up I thought I’d take a quick picture because I liked the way they were spread out.

I love digital photography because you can shoot thousands of pictures and not have to pay a boatload to get them developed at a print store as we used to. However, because of this there are probably billions of pictures taken that will never see the light of day. It’s sad to have external hard drives loaded with great photographs that will just sit and be forgotten about for decades.

I was at a friends office today and there were Ansel Adams photographs on the wall. There are inspiring images all around to learn from and be inspired by. Search for inspiration in your daily life and then start photographing on your own. Once you’ve taken all these great pictures…start printing them off!

C|D Marketing

I have been working on marketing material this week and this is what I ended up with. I wanted the cards to be simple and striking and I think the black background with the photographs make a nice contrast. I knew for my business cards I wanted a vertical orientation and I like how they turned out as well.

Simple. Clean. Minimal.

Time to put them into circulation!

January in Sonoma

This weekend was spent in Sonoma. As seen in the photo above, part of the time it was raining but it was still amazing weather. Anytime it’s 70 degrees in January I’m happy. Right now the Sonoma and Napa valleys are full of mustard blooming in the vineyards. The views are truly amazing and it’s really hard to believe this is actually winter…

The Gift of Life

At the beginning of a new year, it is always easy to come up with “new years resolutions” and personal goals to accomplish. Too often we eagerly create our “lists” and have too many items which add up to an impossible goal to achieve…so by February we are usually burned out and we inevitably fall back into the same place we were in a month or two ago.

My challenge to you is to make this year different. Take time to really figure out what is important to you and what realistic goals you can set to get you on track to reaching your target. Embrace SIMPLICITY. Usually WHO is important in life trumps WHAT is important. Take time to prioritize what relationships are most important to you and determine how can you deepen these relationships.

Our lives our an amazing gift and each day starts a new page on which we live out and tell what is important to us by how we live it. Cherish every moment and improve upon each opportunity that comes your way. To quote the band Switchfoot’s song…”this is your life, are you who you want to be?”

Take the gifts and talents you have and become who you were born on this earth to be…

Live.Learn.Laugh.Love

The beauty of nature

Here is another view taken along the cliffs near Mendocino. This particular trip to the coast was unique because I saw something I had always heard of but never saw…and that was the migrating of humpback whale just off the coast. As we were watching the sunset, 3 saw a whale spouting a few hundred yards off shore. It was a really majestic sight and one that I have waited a really long time to see.

This image really highlights the beauty of nature and how great it is to disconnect from city life for awhile and recharge out in nature. The rugged coastline and setting sun was a great way to wrap up the week.

Just remember that in this life, we don’t have all the answers and we don’t know what the future holds. What we must remember is that God has a plan for our lives that we might not be able to see, but we should have Faith that He will guide us in His own time. He’s gotten us this far in life and He won’t forget us now.

Trust in Him!

Photo of the day…beautiful Mendocino

This weekend I took a road trip to the coast with my girlfriend and best friend. The waves were pretty huge and as a result there was a lot of mist in the the air making the lighting really cool to photograph in. This image was taken just before the sun set on the headlands of Mendocino. This is one of the most charming towns along the west coast and if you’ve never taken a trip there you owe it to yourself to take a trip there.