INSTAGRAM - 2015
32. Tower of Hope
🌎: Baylor University Medical Center - Dallas, TX
📸: iPhone 4s
📅: 2/2/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: Spent a lot of the early part of 2015 here. It’s now been rebranded to “Baylor Scott & White”. Really got to know this place. Sometimes when I go through Dallas, I try to spot this building. Gives off a strange feeling. I say a prayer for everyone inside. Doctors. Patients. Families & Friends. Even looking at pictures of this building leads me to whisper a few words.
🌎: Return Flight from ATL to DFW
📸: iPhone 4s - 4/13/2015
📅: 4/23/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: My first flight ever was when I was visiting a friend in Alabama (referenced here). Such an unforgettable trip, bookmarked with a breathtaking scene of a major thunderstorm happening below us. Humbling.
35. Vice
🌎: Woodall Rodgers Fwy. - Dallas, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 5/21/2015
📅: 6/1/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: One of my ABSOLUTE favorite shots. I remember just shaking my camera around to see what would happen. Such sweet looking results.
🌎: Genesis Metro Church - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s
📅: 6/5/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: Back when I first started my gig as a janitor for Hope Fellowship, I also cleaned another church on Fridays, “Genesis Metro”. It used to be a furniture store that was tucked away in this industrial side of town, and after it went away, Genesis Metro took its place (as churches tend to do with abandoned buildings). It was such a "hollow feeling" kind of building. The walls and flooring were just concrete, which made for some haunting scenery when you were by yourself cleaning the place (especially at night when only the emergency lights were on). It’s been so long since I took this picture, I can’t tell what’s up or what’s down. Guess my original intention worked.
🌎: Turrentine Jackson Morrow - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 5/26/2015
📅: 6/10/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: These were my Dad’s favorite pair of boots. On top, is the last birthday gift we’d give to him: a John Wayne inspired cowboy hat. This was placed on display next to his casket during the wake. I can almost smell the aroma of leather and pine that filled the room that day…
🌎: Hope Fellowship Church - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s
📅: 7/14/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: On a week where Caleb Hyles came by, we decided to do an impromptu cover album. Nothing crazy. We just found karaoke tracks and sang over them. It was a real blast. Never released officially, you can at least find it here! We covered some of our favorite songs in the Mother’s room at the church I cleaned for. Probably wasn’t supposed to be in there overnight like we were, but no one stopped us soooo it all worked out~ 💙
41. Reunion
🌎: Union Station - Dallas, TX
📸: iPhone 4s
📅: 7/30/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: Taken before my train ride to Austin to see some friends. I miss when AnimeFest was at this place. I only got to experience it there once, but it was a wonderful time. It’s now at the Sheraton Dallas, which is where A-Kon used to be. It’s still nice to at least have the Sheraton. I hope they never move from there. Too many memories~ 💙
42. Weird
🌎: Austin Station - Austin, TX
📸: iPhone 4s
📅: 8/4/2015
44. Cubeseption
🌎: Hope Fellowship Church - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s
📅: 8/23/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: This was for a hashtag project that Instagram used to do called the “Weekly Hashtag Project”. Each week there’d be a theme, and that week’s was “abstract”. Simple story. Was using the loo, and as I stared into this same corner I always stared at when using that particular stall, I took a snap. TMI?
46. Scape
🌎: St. Paul & Wood St. - Dallas, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 9/4/2015
📅: 9/11/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: This post got me a lot of new followers. Particularly from Russia. Almost all of the ones that followed me were urban explorers that did extreme things like climbing to the tops of buildings to do insane stunts. Russians are wild and I love them for it. I was honored they loved this shot. It’s one of my favorite compositions~ 💙
🌎: College Pkwy. - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s
📅: 9/22/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: Inspired by a hashtag started by Toby Keith to promote his upcoming album at the time, “35 MPH Town”. Immediately upon reading up on the challenge, this street came to mind.
🌎: Hope Fellowship Church - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 10/18/2015
📅: 10/20/2015
Retrospective Note 2022: I miss those nights cleaning at the church all by myself. It was just me and God in His house. I loved the work that I did there, even if it was a thankless job. I did it, because I cared very much about that place. I cared about the congregation, and yes, I cared about the staff, even if that staff didn't care about me. I miss when that place was smaller before the "upgrade". It seemed so humble then, but maybe it never really was. Maybe I was naive, but that first year of getting to clean that building felt like the highest of honors. My work was the foundation that made each service matter. Without a clean facility, who would want to even set foot in such a place? I worked hard, to the point of tears sometimes because of how thankless it was, but when that job was done, I knew I did my absolute best. I just wish the staff saw the work I did, but at the end of the day, it's not about what they thought. God saw the work that I did, and that's all that matters.
49. Midnight Minimalist
🌎: Wade Crossing Apartments - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s
📅: 10/27/2015
🌎: Overlook by the Park - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 10/27/2015
📅: 11/1/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: The first Jack-O-Lantern me and my now wife ever made together~ 💙
52. Friends
🌎: Overlook by the Park - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 9/26/2015
📅: 11/23/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: My wife’s dog, Hubble. He’s living with us now. Life is good~ 💙
53. Caged
🌎: Overlook by the Park - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 11/28/2015
📅: 12/1/2015
54. Idea
🌎: Northwind Dr. & Whispering Tr. - Little Elm, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 11/10/2015
📅: 12/3/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: My wife used to babysit for a family that used to live on this street. I’d drop her off and pick her up from work sometimes, and one day while I waited, I spotted this beautiful shot, and took it. Added a filter to make it look slightly like a painting. I love clouds~ 💙
55. Christmastrobe
🌎: Marble Falls Trail of Lights - Marble Falls, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 12/15/2015
📅: 12/21/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: This was from a little trip to visit some friends from Austin! They took us to this BEAUTIFUL event known as the “Trail of Lights”. This was of a giant Christmas tree, that I took several pictures of while shaking my phone around. Similar to this one here.
56. Evergreen - Merry Christmas 2015
🌎: Hope Fellowship Church - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 4s - 12/5/2015
📅: 12/25/2015
Retrospective Note 2023: This was my home away from home at one point. When things were too much at home, I always had my church home to escape to. No not during the day, but rather, at night. I was the janitor there, and I cleaned each and every night. If I had a bad day, I knew that my night job would be my haven. I looked forward to cleaning that place because of that notion. It would just be me, alone in my favorite place. I could pray, cry, sing, and enjoy the presence of the Lord without anyone disturbing me. It was particularly magical during Christmas time. This would have been my first Christmas there. I remember coming in, and the only lights that were on, was from this tree. I took a moment to marvel at it. I took a moment to cry over how hard the year had been, especially with the loss of my father. I felt safe in that place, at least for a time. Once they started mistreating me, that place no longer became a place of peace (goes without saying). It's sad really. It really was a beacon of hope for me when I first started there. It really was a home away from home. I miss that.
🌎: Wade Crossing Apartments - Frisco, TX
📸: iPhone 6s
📅: 12/31/2015
Retrospective Note 2020: The final night before me and my family moved out of our apartment of 10 years. After my Dad passed away, my Mom wanted to move on in every way possible. Even though I was going to miss this place, I agreed. Living in that place never felt the same after that loss. It was time to go.
Though we already got a new place, I decided to stay in the apartment for one more night, just by myself. Everything had already been moved out. It was just me in the empty space that I grew up in. It was surreal to say the least. I listened to songs that I tied to that place. I touched the walls. I stood on the balcony. I prayed. I cried. Eventually, I fell asleep on the carpet. My final night, at Wade Crossing Apartments.