Alone in the Woods

I had some time to myself this evening and decided to take a walk around the Busse Woods. It was a some good quality time between me and God. It was a good time to clear my head of all the current chaos and soak up some nature.

Behind a chain link fence.

Tools of the trade.

Where the Pros Go

Calumet, it's where the pros go, and it's where I went today. Since moving to Illinois I've picked up quite an expensive hobby. It's called Photography.

Today, I spent a good chunk of the day driving to and from Chicago, with Peter, on a mission to find a small, compact camera bag. Chicago is about an hour drive from my place so I was really hopeful that they would have the bag I was looking for. Well, Lady Luck must have been on my side today because I found the last one I was looking for! I quickly scooped it up and paid for it as Peter walked around and checked out some lenses.

I had originally left my house only intending to come back with a camera bag, BUT since it took so long, we thought we should spend more time at Calumet... so we did. As Peter tried out some lenses, I took the opportunity to spend more money. I was in the market for a tripod and found a Calumet brand one. I tooled around with it a bit and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it came with a 3-way head and a quick release (this probably means nothing to non-photographers). I took it up to the cash register to ask how much it was and found out that, through student discount, it was a low $65. I whipped out the debit card once again (notice that it is debit and NOT credit) and gladly paid for it.

After leaving Calumet I felt inspired to use my camera, hence the picture above. Peter and I wanted to head downtown to take some pictures, but since it was getting late and traffic was piling up, we decided to head back to the 'burbs and call it a day.
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So within the past few weeks I've been blessed with the opportunity to pick up some new toys. Don't worry, most of this is used and was found through the wondrous craigslist. Kudos to you Craig! That small bag on the right is what I drove all the way to Chicago for, but I'm happy I got it. It fits all the equipment I need, and quite frankly it doesn't make me look odd when I walk around with it. I'm sure most of you don't care about the equipment, so just know that it makes me happy.

Anyways, my day ended with lots of food thanks to Old Country Buffet. As a note to readers (if there are any), my entries will typically not be like this one.

Challenges

Hello all! Welcome to my blog! I'm not really sure how you found it, or what it is you're interested in reading about, but I hope you enjoy my random rants and photos to go along with them.

Why did I start a blog?
In my community group (better known as a small group to some) here in Illinois, we've all been challenged to look deeper into our own lives by journaling. Our goal of journaling is not to look back on old entries to reminisce on good and bad times in life, but to really examine ourselves in our walk with God. I absolutely love the idea of it, and with only one week of our journaling having past, I've already gained a lot of insight on who I am with God. However, those journal entries are semi-private. If you were hoping to find some juicy knowledge about Mark Villasenor through this blog, I'm sorry to say that you won't find it here.

What you will find here are sections of those journal entries. Through photos, pictures, and some words you'll see bits and pieces of my life and my progression in Christ.

Why is this entry called "Challenges"?
I mainly started this blog as a challenge to myself. Since picking up photography I've grown in love with my surroundings and in awe of God's power. I would like to post a few times a week with photos to document the day. I hope that this blog will serve well alongside my personal journal and simply let you, as the reader, know how my life has been going!