I know I haven't posted in a while- a lot has happened.  The biggest thing right now is that me and my wife just bought a house, but the second right now is the next stage design we are building.

For the past few weeks I have been finding designs, tweaking my own, and building a team to help.  Today I designated for finding what lights I need.  Supposed to be a simple "just purchase two of these" lights, but it turned into a whole ordeal.

Which lights have the widest angle, which are the brightest, cheapest, accessible: all of these began to flood my mind.

What does a Creative do in times like these?
Go to their sounding board.

My sounding board consists reliably on about three people, but it also consists on whoever is around.  The key to a good sounding board is to have a mixture of creative people and non-creative people- I have found.

Today, I called a few of my fellow creatives, but used non-creatives and asked a simple question: "Do you like this? or This?"

Because something could look great to a fellow creative- but the general public might not see it that way, I mean, by definition creative people see things differently.
I don't ask my noncreative friends to try to come up with solutions for me, the same way they don't ask me to do math.  I use them to create a well rounded opinion on my ideas.

And that made today successful.

Who is in your creative sounding board?

Tonight is the Owens family reunion.  It is my grandmother's family, and my is it large!  My family is hosting it this year- which is irrelevant other than the fact that I didn't want this paragraph to have one sentence.

The reunion is a time when we get to see family we normally don't get to see (which is by definition what a reunion is), but our reunion is also a time when we realize that people we have seen are actually related to us (sadly this has happened to me far too often.... at school, at Catalyst, at the mall.... I'm bad with names, and I'm bad with faces).  So every black Friday we fill a church gymnasium, eat to our hearts' content, and share with each other in the past year of our lives.

The Owens family doesn't feel like a normal huge extended family.  It is one of the closest families I know.  Over the past 16 months- the Holmes clan of the Owens family has felt the loving embrace and prayers so much that it felt like we were just one huge nuclear family.

Remember: you can't be hateful, gotta be thankful!

Lay Me Down- Passion
Your Love Never Fails- Jesus Culture
Mighty To Save- Hillsong
Glory To God Forever- Fee

it is getting cold out here.  i don't know where you live, dear reader, but the fact of the matter is the temperature is dropping and unless we change the way we have lived the past six months, we are in trouble.

but temperature is only a part, a fragment.  yes, it defines the entire paragraph- but the cold is only the first sentence.  winter is not just for coats and gloves and scarves, but for hot drinks, fresh music, and new flavors.

the smell of peppermint in everything, why yes i do love peppermint- thank you so much for asking, reader.  peppermint mocha, peppermint sticks, peppermint steak- well maybe not the last one.

the sound of indie folk music that for some reason fits so well into the winter season with its thin sound and calming melodies.  i can feel the temperature drop to snow levels as i listen to this playlist now.

everything seems new.  not list when spring comes and everything we knew has life breathed back into it, coming to life like a newborn- not like that. no, this is different.  this is new in a way similar to when you move to a new town- it has been there for years and years but everything is new to you, in an old sense.

if you have known me for longer than the warmer seasons, you know that i am a fan of jackets, but not a fan of long sleeve shirts that meet the wrist.  basically: button downs are rolled up.  no exceptions.  long sleeve t shirts are reserved for times when i have the flu and am concerned i may be dying.  sweaters- negotiable, but at somepoint in the day my elbow must meet the cuff of the shirt.  
jackets. jackets everywhere.  hoodies and coats and cardigans and blazers.  cotton and leather and wool and some sort of material that might be made of picnic blankets.

so what is winter?  beyond the cold.  is it just the things listed in this poorly organized post?  or is it the epicenter of family get togethers?  my family is incredibly close, my farthest aunt and uncle live only two hours away.  me and my wife haven't gotten to see them as much while we lived in beaufort, but winter was always the signal for family gatherings, from thanksgiving to christmas to family reunions to family additions which coincidentally occurred on a completely different gathering day.

which of these is the reason your heart skips a beat when you feel the temperature drop? maybe all.  maybe none.  maybe you have a write in option for egg nog and yule logs.  maybe your favorite part is the christmas eve eve tradition you have with your best friend where you go to jonesville and exchange gifts.  who knows- it isn't for me to decide.  but for me, well, it is simply an exciting feeling to feel that first cold and dry breeze come over the mountains.

*i am currently listening to Blaine Hogan's Winter playlist: Winter Is Coming.