GOOD TO GO!

Alright folks, I finally have everything officially ready to go for my biz (well at least in my head). I "legitimately" launched my design and photo biz back in Jan and things are a-rocking! 2007 taxes are good to go (one of my arms and a leg will be mailed to the feds on April 15th:), my 2008 bookkeeping will be overly organized, and I have all of my websites in working order. If you go to www.garyachristenson.com you will see that I basically have 3 websites...to separate everything out. I have one for Graphic Design, the middle is a Blog (for updates on life and work), and lastly I have a new Photography site that's strictly devoted to my photo biz.

Let us pause for a second and take a look at my life right now.

Here's the quick rundown:

1) Married for 19 months, 2) work part-time at antioch as their Creative Arts Director, 3) run my own businesses (Graphic Design & Photography) in a different office across town, 4) helping launch a non-profit organization 5) just started a business venture with some friends - forming a Media Group - website is still under construction (it's a one stop shop for all things media (audio, video, web, photo, graphics, production...)) Sometimes I hate being an entrepreneur! And I still find time to have fun and travel! What a life...at least it's fulfilling :) Even if my bank account doesn't show so... Life is good my friends!

(re) Web

I just wanted to release the latest design I've been working on for the new and improved antioch website. Should be up in a few weeks! In January antioch outgrew it's old venue and moved to a larger venue for Sunday mornings (Summit), so before the big move I completely rebranded antioch. It was a lot of work recreating everything for their new look (logos, documents, print collateral, signage, banners...). But it's worth it! Everything looks fresh & clean, and it all has a unifying look and feel! This webpage is the final blow to their rebranding. I always tell my clients how important "consistent points of contact" are in their business and sometimes they don't really understand. Thankfully, antioch is all about consistency in how they look, operate, and communicate.

Visit: GaryAChristenson.com

Art & Community

I feel very fortunate to be apart of a community and church that really values artists and the work they do. Antioch values artists so much that they have TWO people on staff to drive the arts ministry...and the crazy things is that the church-plant is only a year and a half old. Some exciting projects and art shows are coming up that I can't wait to be apart of! The project I'm most excited about is the ART BOOK (yet to be named) that will be published this July featuring talented artists from the community (photography, visual art, written word, illustrations...etc).

Maui Recap

Well...our time in Maui has come to and end :(  We've decided that we'll return to the islands sooner than later. Maybe next fall or so. We really did have the best of times revisiting our old stomping grounds! This is goodbye...for now... Alo-freeking-ha! We'll catch you all back in Bend!

Whaaaaale!

David Hessemer took Court & I out on his boat this morning to get up close and personal with a bunch of whales! Whale season is in its prime right now. It's estimated that there are 2,000+ whales that come to the inter island channel of Maui. The calm water in between all the small islands surrounding Maui make for a perfect place to give birth to their little babies (which are the size of a VW van when born)! So the Humpback Whales travel from Alaska and gather down here in Hawaii from Dec to May-ish. It's quite amazing! They are an interesting animal, and there still is a lot of "unknowns" about the Whales life. What an experience to be so close to such a huge and remarkable creature! Feb is by far the BEST TIME TO VISIT the islands: 1) good surf 2) whales everywhere 3) it's not too hot 4) cheap airfare 5) great friends are all here!!! LOVE IT!

Meet Haleakala

Early this morning we took the long road to the top of the 10,023 ft volcano called Haleakala to watch the sunrise over the Hawaiian island chain. It was freaking early and freezing cold, but extremely beautiful! Shortly after the sunrise we had breakfast at Kula Lodge. This is the ritual we use to perform when we lived on Maui - back in the day... good time great oldies!

Maui Wedding

I had the privilege & honor to be the second camera for a wedding shoot in Maui this afternoon with renowned photography company Hawaiian Images owned and operated by David Hessemer (my mentor who lives and works on Maui). It was absolutely gorgeous outside and a great personal learning experience! Courtney was able to snap some photos of me in action for all you lovely people to see what a photo-shoot looks like from the other end of the camera!

Maui Take 2

We spent this morning enjoying the remains of a little North swell and can't wait for the nice sized South swell that arrives tomorrow! ...thanks New Zealand! In the above photos you can witness the infamous "Gary barrel stance", and "Courtney's stink-butt stance"...what can I say, our style is distinct :) we're always ready and looking for that barrel...even if it's a mooshy day. After the surf died we went to Paia Fish Market for some Mahi Burgers...a-freaking-mazing! The memories are just flooding back! We still have whale watching, scuba diving, and more surfing to look forward to! The sun is out, it's 75 degrees and we're ganna go get back in the water! Life is good my friends!

Maui Take 1

Well, We're back on the island and life is slow, calm, and relaxing. We're staying with our friends  (The Woodards...who are amazing...their little daughter is unbelievably cute) we're staying in their new home and spending a lot of time just catching up with all the folks that live here. So far the trip has been everything we've needed it to be: Great friends, meaningful conversations, some fun head-high surf, and time to process our life and what God is doing in it. We're stoked to be here!  

Travis + Linda

Before we leave for Hawaii, I wanted to post pics that Courtney and I took a few days back of Travis and Linda! They were massive amounts of FUN!...and Freakin' b-e-a-utiful! We will be shooting their wedding in SoCal on June 22nd in gorgeous La Jolla!

Maui Bound

We'll, we're making a LAST MINUTE trip to the homeland...the islands! The place of origin for the "Gary & Courtney Story". We looked at plane tickets today (on a whim), and are leaving in 2 days...leave it to us to pull off something like this! We really need to connect with some folks there and just bless them with encouragement! Wish us luck! If you're on the island still...we WANNA SEE YOU! Aloha and Mele Kelekimaka...yah, you know what I mean! Catch you in a few!

WORLD WIDE

Courtney and I have been dreaming, praying, and studying about an upcoming trip we'd like to take at the end of this year. We have a heart for hurting people and want to use our jobs / talents / time / and gifts to make a difference. We feel like we're supposta live abroad in a missional setting but don't know exactly where to go, so here's the idea:

We'd purchase two "around the world" plane tickets and take 6 months or so to visit every agency, relief organization, and missionary we know of around the globe. We'd do this to A) Get a first hand look at the their work and narrow down where we need to go, and B) Really find out what it takes to live a life of sacrifice in a foreign land. We'd go to be "learners" and "helpers" as we figure out the details on where we might end up someday. A great man I respect once said "Starting the process clarifies the calling"...so we're ganna be active in figuring out our calling in life. Tell us your thoughts...

Take the Good with the Bad

First off, I have to say that my wife is freaking amazing! If last years dogsledding wasn't enough, this year in celebration of my b-day, Courtney surprised me with a snowmobiling trip with our friends Randy & Kristin (and "Dakota Blue" who is in Kristin's belly). The day started off as being a complete disaster but ended perfectly! To start things off, we couldn't find where to go, we got our vehicle stuck in several different ways, I ripped my pants :( we couldn't get the sleds to start and then once we actually got going on the sleds we got TRAPPED 5 miles back in the woods (we've been getting an unreal amount of snow in Central Oregon and everything was just powder...which makes for hard snowmobiling). After the first several hours of mishaps, the day started looking up and we actually started having WAY TOO MUCH FUN rallying around the mountains! It was such an adventure! Thanks Court!

Web: Allstate Materials

Client: Allstate Materials. We just completed a kickin' Dynamic Flash website for a company in southern California. It's up and running! View it at: www.allstatematerials.com

Oregon Coast Trip

Courtney and I spent the long weekend at the burrly and frigid (but very beautiful) Oregon Coast. We camped at a "secret spot" overlooking the ocean near Canon Beach. We met up with our amazing friends THE BUTLERS! We met them while living on Maui and now they moved to Oregon! Casey's originally from Oregon but his wife, Mele, is a Tongan from Maui...both truly amazing people that we love spending time with! They are inspirational to us! Casey and I were able to test our manhood and get in water for some surfing. Needles to say, it was amazingly cold! What do you expect when it's January. Water temp was 49 and air temp was mid 30's! We could only last about an hour...but it was such an adventure!

GearUp Club

I had the privilege to start from the ground UP for this client. Everything from branding, to print, to web, and even commercial television spots. www.gearupclub.com

Catch Up!

Here's a quick snip at what weve been up to lately...

A) Here's a pic of our new place we moved into. We love it! It's old and quarky but fits us to the "T"...it's on 2.5 acres of Pine Trees (feels like we live in the country), but it's still in the center of town...a perfect combo for us!

B) We've been non-stop social for the past couple weeks and it doesn't look like its letting up. In the past 2 weeks we've hung out with 3 different sets of people from Maui...so fun! The picture above is of our dear friends Dave & Sally (getting married this summer on the island...HURRAY!), we took them to a SOAKING POOL here in Bend. It's been so good to see everyone and catch up!

Kip+Kristin

Over the weekend Courtney and I shot the wedding of Kip & Kristin Jones...beautiful couple!!! We love these two! Here's a few of our favorites! See more at Gary's Website under PROOFING!

TCA

The Classical Academies is as ongoing client that I design for. They are based out of southern California, but I get to do monthly projects for them from my office here in Bend. Technology is amazing isn't it! My biggest clients that I work for are thousands of miles away from me. TCA is full of amazing people and they are my favorite client!

Happy New Year!

Well folks, here's to good ole 2007! This next year should be a goody!