aprilavica: Molly Hess, my Riley inspiration. So precious.

aprilavica:

Molly Hess, my Riley inspiration.

So precious.

Source: aprilavica

aprilavica: Would you like to be my new home come May? I don’t think NYC has any idea of the beautiful gem it might acquire in a few months. I’m so proud of everything you’re doing. You’ve been blessed with such an incredibly big heart. Put it to good use, love. :)

aprilavica:

Would you like to be my new home come May?

I don’t think NYC has any idea of the beautiful gem it might acquire in a few months. I’m so proud of everything you’re doing. You’ve been blessed with such an incredibly big heart. Put it to good use, love. :)

Source: aprilavica

Do you have a spare dollar?

aprilavica:

One week until IUDM 2010! I am asking every reader to donate one dollar. That is less than a pack of gum or a soda at a drive-thru. If I can get every reader of mine to donate just ONE DOLLAR it would cover half of a child’s chemo treatment and medicine. If you donate and leave your address on my page, you will be getting a special surprise in the mail in the next two weeks :)

IU Dance Marathon provides hope for children of Riley Hospital by generating funds for the Ryan White Infectious Disease Center. We donate money to support the Hospital’s efforts to treat all its patients, regardless of financial concerns. To date IUDM has raised over $8.5 million for the children at Riley Hospital. Please help me in my efforts to make this years marathon the best yet! :)

Click here to donate:
http://www.helpmakemiracles.org/participant/aprilavica

Reblog and THANK YOU!!!!

This is such an incredibly worthy cause. April has been so involved with IDUM and Riley Hospital for Children throughout her entire college experience and has seen it all. I believe in what she’s doing and I wholeheartedly support what IUDM stands for.

If I could get all of my readers to donate just ONE DOLLAR… it could change the life of someone.

»Some people forget the dramatic impact they can have on the lives of others if we made small contributions collectively in positive ways.

Click here to donate:
http://www.helpmakemiracles.org/participant/aprilavica

Source: aprilavica

Happy One-Year Anniversary, Darling. I love you.

Happy One-Year Anniversary, Darling.

I love you.

Joe & Celeste Michaels - The Wedding Montage

I had the pleasure of flying out to Indiana last weekend to attend the wedding of Joe & Celeste Michaels. Celeste is April’s mother. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and it took place on October 10th, 2010.

I’m so happy for Joe, Celeste, April and the rest of their families. I hope this video serves as a reminder of how special this day was.

Music credits:

  1. “L’après-midi” by Yann Tiersen
  2. “Home” by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
  3. “I’ll Be” by Goo Goo Dolls/Edwin McCain
  4. “La Corde” by Yann Tiersen

The video footage was shot on using a FlipVideo UltraHD.
The photos at the end were shot using a Canon Rebel XSi.
The montage was edited on a MacBook Pro using iMovie 8.0.6.

I am such a lucky boy. Spending today with April on her 22nd birthday was absolutely wonderful. We had sushi for lunch at N’Joy in Mill Creek. And sushi for dinner (accompanied by Aileen & Jake, and Ayano!) at Umi Sake House in Seattle. We spent some time walking around the Seattle Center and relaxing at the fountain as we watched it dance along to the music playing. All in all it was a great day. I just got home from dropping her off at the airport. She caught a red-eye flight back to Indianapolis and has classes tomorrow afternoon. I’m proud of her for keeping her word to her professors. (She cleared missing the first few days of school with them before flying out for my sister’s wedding.) I wish this distance wasn’t a factor in our relationship, but if anything could come from it I would say that it’s the lesson of us never taking a moment with each other for granted when we’re together. And for that I am very thankful. I miss her already. She is my best friend; my confidant.

I am such a lucky boy.

Spending today with April on her 22nd birthday was absolutely wonderful. We had sushi for lunch at N’Joy in Mill Creek. And sushi for dinner (accompanied by Aileen & Jake, and Ayano!) at Umi Sake House in Seattle. We spent some time walking around the Seattle Center and relaxing at the fountain as we watched it dance along to the music playing.

All in all it was a great day. I just got home from dropping her off at the airport. She caught a red-eye flight back to Indianapolis and has classes tomorrow afternoon. I’m proud of her for keeping her word to her professors. (She cleared missing the first few days of school with them before flying out for my sister’s wedding.) I wish this distance wasn’t a factor in our relationship, but if anything could come from it I would say that it’s the lesson of us never taking a moment with each other for granted when we’re together. And for that I am very thankful.

I miss her already. She is my best friend; my confidant.

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY APRIL! I am so blessed to be with you again this year to celebrate this special day. :) I love and adore you beyond measure. You are my guiding light and better half.

HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY APRIL!

I am so blessed to be with you again this year to celebrate this special day. :)

I love and adore you beyond measure. You are my guiding light and better half.

Hello, Kitty. - 5x7 watercolor on canvas I painted this for April a few months ago. [more watercolor paintings]

Hello, Kitty. - 5x7 watercolor on canvas

I painted this for April a few months ago.

[more watercolor paintings]

Couples.

Couples.

April Visits Washington! - Third Trip (May ‘10) - Video Montage

April got an internship out here in Seattle for the summer. I decided to fly out to Indiana (one-way) so that we could both drive her car out to Washington. This montage chronicles the majority of our adventure; including dealing with the epic loss of her 2001 Ford Focus only 7 hours into our trip.

My beautiful, better half revisited Washington for her second time in March to spend her entire spring break in Seattle! I really wanted her to see more of the city downtown and explore what it has to offer. Umi’s Saki House, Alice In Wonderland in 3D, Shutter Island, the Seattle Public Library, the Fremont Troll, the Cougar Mountain Wildlife Park, and the Columbia Tower Club were just a few of the places and things we did while she was here.

We decided to dedicate a day to venture up to Vancouver, BC via an Amtrak train. It was seriously so much fun! We only spent 6 hours there; but we got to see the Olympic torches still burning and we rented some bikes to see so much more of the city than we ever would have been able to by foot alone.

For months I’ve wanted to build the Lego replica of the Space Needle. After going to the top of the Needle, we visited the gift shop and picked one up. It was fun to put it together and speed up the footage to create a ‘time lapse’ effect.

I miss her terribly though. My fingers are crossed that a summer internship out here in Seattle becomes a reality.

(All footage was filmed on my Flip Video UltraHD and edited in iMovie ‘09.)

April came to visit for a week during her Christmas break vacation. It was her first time in Seattle, so I made sure to take her to as many places as humanly possible so she could get a good impression of how cool of a city Seattle is. And yes, we also ventured to Forks, WA for her fill of Twilight history and landmarks.

This is a video montage of clips we filmed on the FlipVid while she was here. Enjoy!