OH SO VERY ... DEZ & MERRY

MAD Wedding As Art

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-11-30T17:23:00-05:00

A little over three months ago, I married my love Don! We recently, finally, received our professional photos and realized that our photographers, Trailbrook, are pretty much the best photographers on the planet. Seriously! They take a lot of pics, some dreamy and ethereal, some funny, some angled, some normal, some colorful, and some black and white, but all my favorites are the ARTISTIC. They have an incredibly artistic perspective when they shoot and the skill to touch them up to perfection.

So, here is a blog dedicated to all those artsy shots... these photos are the reason I hired them and the reason I recommend them and the reason they absolutely rock...

THESE ARE OUR WEDDING AS ART...

Earthquake!

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-07-30T13:40:00-05:00

So, that's it, I'm now officially a Californian, I've experienced my first earthquake! Let me first say, here in SD it was only about a III, which is mild and I was nowhere near injured in any way.

Having said that, let me say that it. was. CREEPY. I had actually laid down for a nap and wasn't asleep yet when the bed kind of bounced like it feels when an animal jumps up on the bed. I'm told this was the initial P-wave. It immediately got my attention though since there were no animals in the bedroom to jump up on the bed so i propped myself up like "what the hell was that??" then the S-waves hit and the whole room started moving. It only lasted a few seconds and wasn't enough to knock anything down but it was just such a bizarre feeling and it was immediately obvious that something much bigger than me and far beyond my control was happening. I can't even imagine what it feels like near the epicenter - completely helpless I'm sure. I'll take a hurricane in Florida anyday over an earthquake. Ultimately, hurricanes cause more damage, but at least you know they're coming and have control over leaving or staying and preparing! Earthquakes - not so much - you are totally at it's mercy.

Perspective

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-06-25T15:20:00-05:00

This is something i wrote in a time past. It's funny, I come across these all the time, writings i did in the past to get things off my chest. I want to share this one because i think it's fun to read... maybe you will too.

Altered by Perception

humans are amazing

with our delicate threads of relationship

sustained by balance

a balance determined by perception

an internal “sense” that is subjective

how often are we unable to make the first move

because perception says the scales are tipped in the wrong direction

i’ve learned morals are most elusive

take my gray… separate it into black and white

and i’ll show you the line you exist on, one foot here, one foot there

i’m on the tight rope

so is he

maybe we’ll keep testing the balance

focusing on each other ahead

to one day meet in the middle

all that is truly between here and there is time

…and perception

i feel as if i'm standing inside a solitary moment with no end,

yet outside this moment time is rushing by at a daunting pace

it’s just time, the reality and the perception

i have so much altered perception and no perspective

-MA

Arrival into Athens....

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-05-06T17:25:00-05:00

After the spoilings of a first class lifestyle... it's not easy to return to the severly cramped spaces of economy... especially with a hearty number of greeks and turks... whew. Good thing my severe exhaustion was enough to knock me out, no matter the position, for the hour long flight from Instanbul to Athens.. hehehe....

I changed my few dollars, into what added up to be much less euros... ouch. But luckily, the man took my passport without question and let me pass... (I don't know why this always makes me nervous? Too many movies, I guess)... surprisingly, my back pack was among the first out. I throw it on my back and with a facade of "I know what I'm doing"... follow the other greeks out the exit. Now what? Hmmmm, I'm about 30 miles from the center of Athens... maybe I'll take a taxi? Sure. Oh, about 100 people waiting in line. That's a sign... it's just not adventurous enough. Ok. I know a metro line starts from the airport and goes into Athens... Ok, Dez, that's sounds exciting and confusing enough to suit you. ... follow signs with the little train on it... The entrance is in the building across from the airport exit. I enter a little shop and buy a Lonely Planet guide to Athens (gotta have something, I'm blind here!!!)... I buy my little ticket at the counter for 8 euro and validate it at the little machine that stares at me in the entrance...I go down the stairs and board the train. It was nice, reminded me of the regional trains in Tuscany, Italy. .... It leaves at 1930... the sun is setting, and the surrounding area is beautiful, rolling hills, the slight view of ocean in the distance, tall green trees... yet soon, we reach Athens. The nice train is now a full blown metro, and I'm cramped with local grecians trying to get home... I feel awkward, trying to quickly learn the Greek alphabet so I don't miss my stop. I throw my heavy pack on my back, almost knocking out a few people, and push my way out. Omonia. That's the name of the area I'm staying in... reminds me of ammonia... and fitting, since it's not the best of areas, and a bit shady... but not dangerous. I make it in at 2100.

Good thing in Greece, they start eating dinner at 10pm. Perfect. I'll take a shower, nap, and go get some food. The nice gentlemen at the counter expect my return for suggestions... but I never come. I passed out for 10 hours, all my clothes on, no shower, and the light on. This morning it hit me, It'd been 5 days since I'd truly slept, and months since I'd been alone in a clean room, with it's OWN BATHROOM , and not a single soul in the world to bother me. MONTHS! Yep, I ate breakfast downstairs, and returned to that nice clean bed... where I remained until late afternoon, when I finally decided to step outside onto the streets of Athens and begin exploring her. It was a beautiful thing.

>>>Dez

Waiting in Instanbul, Turkey ....

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-05-05T07:38:00-05:00

I sit here in the Privelage Club of Qatar Airways, pondering my upcoming entrance into Athens. It's been quite the few days of travelling around the Middle East, but I am finally only one flight away. I showed up to the airport in Doha, Qatar early this morning, yet I was told that my flight had been oversold... great. Well, I was put on a flight through Instanbul and the second leg will be on Turkish Airways. Because of the inconvenience, I was placed in business class... and that definetly made up for it. I haven't slept in days, except for a few hours here and there... tonight I will land into Athens, I will trod along looking for my hotel. I will perhaps catch a glimpse of the Acropolis as the day ends, and I will know that I am truly there. But I must get there first!! Hopefully David will join me in the next few days....

>>>Dez

Some days...

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-03-14T15:32:00-05:00

...I miss Europe and I want to move there and ride around dodging tiny cars on an even tinier moped and wearing short dresses with a different pair of funky stockings everyday or jeans that hug and an awesome pair of boots, and sit at ambient cafes drinking lattes and staring whimsically into the distance with nothing but my thoughts.

some days ;)

Dez & Merry Moments

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-03-03T18:56:00-05:00

Desiree and Mary Ann are literally on opposite sides of the world right now! Until we are together again, these are some of our best "together" moments captured on film. All the pics in here were taken before this blog was created, and they've been missing from it since!

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Roma, Napoli, & Pompeii...not bad for a work trip!

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-02-28T01:30:00-05:00

So work twisted my arm and "made" me go to Naples, Italy! After the LONGEST flight of my life (seriously I've flown to Europe before and slept all the way, this sucked!) we arrived on a Saturday morning and since we flew into Rome, we grabbed the rental car and hit the downtown area. We decided we couldn't leave the car in a parking garage with laptops and all our other work "stuff", so we just did a driving tour and i got some surprisingly good photos of the colleseum for taking them from the window while driving by! We also went on a little Mount Vesuvius adventure I'll describe in the photos and to a VERY rainy and cold day in the ruins of Pompeii. In anycase, it was by far the best work trip I've ever been on, and my co-workers are awesome!

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Dezzzzzzzi....

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2008-02-26T16:46:00-05:00

I can't believe I missed your call before you left. I hope you can call or email me soon but more importantly I hope you are love love LOVING your new job!!

Here is the silly Greg photo I promised. I have NO idea what's going on in the front of this photo.

Omaha Mall Shooting

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-12-06T15:05:00-05:00

On our way to the DMV yesterday, we got an urgent phone call from David's mom... that's how we realized that there was a shooting occuring at West Roads mall, and people had been killed.

I was there only a few days before with Erika, and it's really an intense feeling when you realize how close to your 'life' these things can happen. The last time I was living in Washington DC when the sniper and his young accomplice were terrorizing us at random there. Only two days before, I had been to the Home Depot and had parked only a few feet away from where the sniper took another of his victims... a woman. We live in a world where we not only fight terrorism in strange, far away lands... we fight it here, in our own towns, against those we thought we knew, in a place that is familiar to us.

About this young man, I will not mention his pathetic name.... I have no forgiveness in me for this pathetic slime. He felt 'society' wasn't giving him his fair due perhaps, oh wait... he also got fired from McDonald's and broke up with his girlfriend... boo hoo. With all the pain and suffering that world leaders and terrorists already inflict on each other and their people... the last thing I care to hear about is this pathetic, "please feel sorry for me", piece of crap, who ended his letter with 'Now I'll be famous'... Screw you and I hope that if there is this brimstone fire and hell, that you are cooking quite nicely in it now, screaming and pleading your pathetic cries to the devil himself.

For the families that lost loved ones... I'm speechless. I pray that their souls have found peace and that somehow peace will find you in the future. There is nothing really that can be said that could make this any better. I will be praying for you all.

Let's put our energies into thinking of those that were lost and NOT to the one that committed this horrendous act. He shot himself like the coward he was, and I will not speak his name. I will not give him the pleasure he felt he deserved.

Please take care of each other! And remember, no matter how bad things get, there is always someone else in this world that is suffering in ways that you could never understand.

~~Desiree~~

To those we lost in the Omaha Community, RIP

Gary Scharf, 48, customer

John McDonald, 65, customer

Angie Shuster, 36, employee

Maggie Webb, 24, employee

Janet Jorgensen, 66, employee

Diane Trent, 53, employee

Gary Joy, 56, employee

Beverly Flynn, 47, employee

Save DARFUR Torch Relay - Omaha, NE

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-11-02T02:41:00-05:00

Darfur. A large region in Western Sudan. A region that is experiencing genocide. A region that needs our attention, NOW! About 500,000 people have died. 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes.

This past Sunday, Oct 28, 2007, we participated in a Torch Relay which spanned 15 miles throughout Omaha. I had the 10th mile leg, and I had three great friends agree to give up a bit of their Sunday morning to join me! Lisa, Erika, and Tracy... Thank you so much for your support!!

To my friends Shata and Muhammad... I'm so blessed that I met you few months ago. You two are just a few of the incredible Darfurians in our community and I am proud to be your friend, and your partner in promoting peace in Sudan.

Desiree

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Cristiane's Bachelorette Weekend (Day One) -- BOSTON, MA

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-10-02T20:51:00-05:00

I flew out to Boston for Cristiane's Bachelorette Party. It was a city that most of us had never been to, and it was incredible. Cris and I go way back. I think we were 14 years old when we met, and became very close friends... until she left to finish her high school years in Brazil. But when I was in Florida going to school, she came back into my life and our friendship continued. Now, I'm glad that yet again we are back together, and I can't wait till November!!!! LOVE YOU CRIS! Anyways, this first day in Boston is us touring the "Freedom Trail" and starting the bar-hopping. More pics to come.

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BBQ at Base Lake for Rhonda

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-09-23T23:13:00-05:00

My friend Rhonda is now separated and heading out to New York to marry the love of her life, RJ. They hosted a nice and small BBQ in order for us to say our goodbyes and spend a few hours talking about the future. I wish I could make it to her wedding in NY, but time is not on my side this time. Enjoy the pics!! I made a separate album of most of the dogs' pictures... they were too funny. I'm going to miss you so much Rhonda!!

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Riley and Benson

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-09-23T23:05:00-05:00

This folder is in honor of two of the coolest dogs! Although part of Rhonda's BBQ at the Base Lake, I decided they deserved their own little moment of doggie glory. Plus, there were just too many great shots! Riley is Erica's dog, and he's the little white one with the additude of a bull mastiff...hehehe... and there is Benson, who belongs to Kevin, and he reminds me of Scooby Doo...just go-lucky and kind of silly.

~~Dez

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The Debut of BAILEY ANNE MARTIN - September 16, 2007

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-09-18T13:34:00-05:00

After 9 months and five days of waiting for Bailey... she finally made her presence into the world this past Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 3:44pm. She came in weighing a whopping 9lbs 8 oz!! Barb is the first amongst our close group of friends to have a baby, but many others are following suite. Barb and Jeff, you guys are going to be incredible parents, crazy, but awesome nonetheless. Barb should be coming home today in the afternoon time with Bailey in tow. We are so ecstatic, and we only wish Amanda could be here with us to complete the Quadpod :-( .... Chris and Lisa are the godparents, and I'm sure they'll be getting into their role pretty soon... ;-) So here's to another new life, another miracle to the circle of life, and the progress of humanity. I only met you yesterday Bailey, but I already love you more than words can say.

~~Desiiree

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Rhonda's Bachelorette Party and beyond...

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-09-17T13:55:00-05:00

This past Saturday, my friend Rhonda was having her bachelorette party in downtown Omaha, and at the same time, my 'brother' Morgan, Mandy, and Ray were heading down there as well. Yet when it came time to start getting ready to meet up with the girls... I just couldn't, I was feeling miserable... so Beau and I sat on his awesome couch watching USC destroy NE. I got a nap in during half time and 3rd quarter, and by the time 1130pm rolled around, I was ready to go, although in jeans and a sweatshirt..hehehe.. you'll notice how the girls are all dressed up. Well, it was a great time, although I made a severely late presentation into the evening, it was a blast nonetheless... and afterwards my boys, Mandy, and I returned home and continued the evening. Good times. It was an amazing weekend with friends. I think Ray used our guest room both Friday and Saturday night... I'm going to miss him. And Rhonda will be leaving as well, to marry her man in New York and separating from active duty. She and Erica were my first supervisees... ahhh *sigh*, they grow up so quickly..hehehe... I will miss them both.

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The beauty of just letting go...

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-09-10T16:56:00-05:00

My friend Michelle has a tatoo that reads "The beauty of just letting go..."

I think about that tattoo a lot these days. And in a lot of different context.

It is so simple and speaks volumes.

Seems the older I get, the more important "letting go" becomes and the harder it is to do.

I guess nothing beautiful comes easy, so I'll just have to keep trying.

-MA

DC

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-08-20T20:55:00-05:00

I had another one of those days this past weekend…those days I ache for the familiarity and warmness of DC. It is amazing how much I internalized that city, and well really, the larger DC, the whole metro area surrounding the city. I didn’t just live there, I felt “there”, it had a pulse that set my internal idol.

But when I really try to put my finger on it, what it was that so bonded me to that place, it was that I came of age there…

I guess most people do that in high school, but for me those years were strife with anxiety. I didn’t learn who I was - I learned how to survive in a violent home. I learned how not to be suffocated by poverty. I learned that a person can have two faces, especially where alcohol is involved. I spent every moment planning and carefully crafting my way out (…maybe that’s why shawshank redemption is my favorite movie, I never thought of that way before, but anyway I digress)…then I went to college, fell in love, and spent five years drowning my neuroticism and inner turmoil with another person’s stillness and peace… image my surprise to learn that that supposed peace never existed in his reality but rather was created by mine for self preservation. His outer actions simply fit the mold. It was moving to DC that eventually closed that chapter in my life. Though I tried to revisit it, it never felt the same – it just felt wrong. So I was set free in DC, free to grow and make all the mistakes that teach you who you are NOT, to experience life in more effervescent emotions, to live by my own agenda, to fumble and blunder, to overcome and accomplish the things that teach you who your ARE, to find every nook and cranny of the city… and to eventually find resolve. I am so thankful for resolve and the resulting good decisions, the best decisions. I guess after all that, after all I found, it is fitting that I would find him, the best him, the forever him. It is as if the city said, I’ve finally given you the best I ever can, move along now…but I guess it was really me who said that to the city. I can see it being a VERY strange place to some but to me its existence is necessary to life. It is forever part of me.

-MA

Barbie's BABY SHOWER!!

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-08-06T01:02:00-05:00

Sunday, we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Bailey into this world. Barb is definetly feeling a bit pressured by her these days.... ;-) We've got a little over a month to wait for her!! We just did a low-key BBQ. The day was heavy with unshed rain, but it didn't stop the boys from playing their games and drinking ALL the beer. And the girls, for the most part, chilled in the kitchen and did what girls do. Barbie is the first amongst the Quadpod to be with child... I wonder who's next? hmmmmm.... Thanks for having us over Barb and Jeff! Can't wait to see Bailey!

~~DEZ-IRAZZI

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RIVER RIOT 2007!!!!

MaryAnn@dylangreene.com (Mary Ann) — 2007-07-22T23:30:00-05:00

This year's River Riot was awesome! We had a much larger group, and the line-up was great. The Exies, Fuel, Papa Roach, Buck Cherry, Hinder, and Incubus. Drinking beer all day, chilling with your best friends, and trying to keep up with the youngens in the pit, while 300 pound guys land on your head trying to crowd-surf... all in all, a pretty amazing day. Not to mention that the weather was perfect!! Mandy, Lisa, Chris, Bruce, Timmy, Aaron, Tracy, Ernie, and Krystal... thanks for the good times. And BARBIE, thanks for DDing us yet again this year. Soon it will be your turn to have all the fun. All things considered, 2007 topped out last year's. What do you think girls?

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