While I didn’t get to admire the unique architecture of the Oklahoma City Federal Building while I was there, this building had an immeasurable impact on my life. When I was in high school, I was on track to enter the US Navy for a Nuclear Engineering program that was presented to me by some recruiters that came to my high school. I did very well on the ASVAB, especially in the areas that were important to Nuclear, and my recruiters were thrilled to get a new recruit into this selective and demanding program. So off I went to the Federal Building in Oklahoma City to my military entrance physical screening. Everything was going great, and I was about to be a Nuclear engineer for the United States Navy, until I got to the vision exams, where they told me something that I already knew: I am red-green colorblind. This alone kept me from the Nuclear program, and changed the course of my life substantially. Instead, I went on to get a job at OU Medical Center, where I met my now-wife. We now have a house, a cat and dog together, with a baby girl on the way in a few months, and I am attending classes at the University of Oklahoma. All because I can’t tell the difference between a few shades of some colors.

While this picture doesn’t contain the beautiful architecture that exists at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C., I find this one the most symbolic of my memories with this place. Not long after the World Trade Center attacks, my parents took my brother and me to Washington D.C. for Independence Day, and one of the places that we visited was the Arlington National Cemetery. It has several beautiful pieces of architecture, including an amphitheater and the Arlington House, where Robert E. Lee lived before the American Civil War. My dad is a former Marine (and now my brother is a Marine), and with that, I’ve never experienced something as humbling as this place in all the rest of my life. Even as a kid, it made me feel a tremendous sense of gratitude, and reflecting on it afterwards gave me a new perspective of the kinds of things in my life that I, like most people, took for granted.

When I was a kid, my parents took my brother and me to Washington D.C. for Independence Day. While there were many places that we went to, one of the two that I remember the most is the Washington Memorial. Being a smaller kid, I was astounded with the size of the memorial, since I had previously only seen it in pictures. We sat at the foot of this monument and watched the fireworks, and seeing it lit up at night is still one of my most vivid memories, nearly 15 years later. After this trip to Washington, all the places that I saw gave me a new respect for our country, and all the work that went into making it the country that it is today. For better or for worse, I get to live in the freest country in the world, and I’m thankful to be a part of it.

The Walnut Creek Chapel holds a special place in my life. 3 years ago today, I made a commitment and said “I do” to the most important person I’ve ever met. She picked the venue with her parents, and the first time I saw it, I knew it was the perfect place. Since then, we’ve taken up Wedding Videography as a hobby, and we’ve been back to this chapel several times to witness the beautiful vows of marriage that get made here every week.