Tag: Harry Potter

Top 5 of 2014

FiveI can’t believe another year is gone and let me just say, WHAT A YEAR! I retired from the military, moved my family across the world, started a new job and welcomed our DAUGHTER into the world! Banger year, I say.

As far as blogging goes, I think I did a little better this year. I posted almost 3 times a month. This year I plan on upping that to once a week. I’m also hoping this will be the year that I complete one of my major projects. Anyway, without further a due, here’s the Top 5 of 2014.

1. The Best Gender Reveal You’ll Ever See…

Of course the number one (and two) most popular posts has to do with our biggest news… Hazel Dae. I think it was the most popular for two reasons. First, it was news that a ton of people were waiting to hear. Second, the video (created by my mucho talented friend, Jeremiah Karr) was EPIC and Harry Potter themed.

2. I Fell in Love Twice!

This is the story of our Hazel; from prayer to home birth, it’s all here. It’s a great story about God’s promise and His faithfulness. It also include my perspective on our home birth, which I’m now a huge fan of, and a link to my wife’s blog about the birth story, which is put together so eloquently.

3. Jesus Didn’t Say That!

This post was my offering to the same-gender marriage conversation. Hopefully it contributed in a positive way. The Christian stance on the LBGT community should be the same as with every other “community”… love, without exception or expectation.

4. God Doesn’t Have a Plan for Your Life.This is actually an article that I’d intended on writing for a long time, but wasn’t able to until my frustration hit a point that it had to be written. So many times, during difficult life seasons, well-meaning Christians say, “It’s all part of God’s plan for your life.” without giving a second though to how ridiculous it is to believe that God wrote divorce or a child’s death into your life plan. If we’re talking about Jesus and you say that, kudos to you, you’re spot on! If I’m sharing a personal tragedy and you say it, I may punch you.

5. Repent All Ye Sinners! 

Let me just say, I love Christians. I really do; they’re my people. But we have, and continue to, say some really dumb things. The way we’ve communicated repentance to non-Christians is one of those things. While the intent is always good, the delivery isn’t always the best and the end result can be messy, if not damaging. This article was an attempt to flesh out the idea of repentance for both Christians and non-Christians.

So there you have it, the Top 5 of 2014.

See you in 2015.

The Best Baby Gender Reveal You’ll Ever See…

To say that I was excited when I found out that my wife was pregnant would be a gross understatement.  We had been trying for the last couple years.  By February we had run into issues on the fertility front and being that the military hospital in Japan was of no help at all, we had reserved ourselves to the idea that we would have to wait until we returned to America to get any real help.  Then in March… BOOM, pregnant!  After we found out, we knew that the pregnancy announcement would need to be original, awesome and slightly nerdy, because that’s how we roll.

Being that my wife is a HUGE Potterhead and simply hasn’t attended Hogwarts because her acceptance letter was lost in the post, never mind it exists exclusively in a book, the only acceptable pregnancy announcement theme: Harry Potter.

Here’s a picture from that announcement and the LINK from the original post…

Photograph by Amy Larger of Amy Larger Photgraphy

Photograph by Amy Larger of Amy Larger Photography

After the pregnancy announcement we started talking about our gender reveal.  We knew that it had to be equally original, awesome and nerdy, so we started pitching ideas.  I started to look around and noticed that among the many photography session ideas there were exactly zero gender reveal videos.  The same way that my wife’s photographer brain sees things in still images, I’ve always maintained a preference for videography and see things in movement, transition and plot lines.  It seemed obvious, and fun, that we should do a video reveal.

But not just any video reveal, it had to be a Harry Potter themed one complete with a wand duel.  It took a little coaxing, but my lovely wife agreed, as long as it didn’t cross the line from nerdy to dorky.  We have some wickedly talented friends in pretty much every area of the arts, to include cinematography.  Enter my man, Jeremiah Karr...

Here’s the creative outcropping of all of our brainstorming and Jeremiah’s ridiculous amount of time spent on editing and CGI, enjoy…

The Paganos and The Genderous Revealous from Jeremiah Karr on Vimeo.

We know; we’re nerds, but we’re the best kind of nerds and it’s awesome.

Again, huge props to my wife, for being a great sport and amazing actor/wielder of wands, Jeremiah for his all around talent and time and his wife, Tori, for her amazing sound engineering and stellar wand throwing.

P.S.  If you’re on the slower end of the Hogwarts houses, say Hufflepuff, the magic coming together and fading to a hot pink color means we’re having a girl.  She’ll be called Hazel Dae… and I can’t wait to meet her.

THIS IS HUGE!!!

I have this belief that God still answers prayers.  That He cares about the things in our life that we do.  That when we approach Him through prayer and fasting, He honors it.  That when we cast our burdens and concerns on Him, He carries them.  That He loves us and hears us.

Here’s His answer to our prayer!

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Our baby is due December 6, 2014.

We’re so stoked!!!

Eventually I’ll share the my testimony for this, but in the mean time it’s reserved for face-to-face conversations.

Amy Larger is our amazing photographer friend that shot this.  Check out her website HERE!

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