today's post is another rabbit trail in my mind that makes up me...and sorta has to do with today's guy in this post...sorta. ;)

scroll down if you'd like to just see john's portraits! :)

okay, I gave you fair warning...taking a detour to 1994... :)1994-1996 were good years for me.in 1994 I was sixteen.independence was new and exciting and I had a seriously cool group of friends/boyfriend that filled most of my time...I grew up in the midwest in a time where my families church roots were strong...and not the kind of church roots you cringe at...nope, the kind that make fun "funner" because of Jesus and simpler times. :)there were about six or seven of our families from our church that all sort-of grew up togetherin what I've found to be now-as-a-grownup in a season of life that was at the end of an americana-type of growing up...it just doesn't happen anymore like that...that I know of, anyways.we lived and grew up right in the heart of illinois just outside of chicago.sunday afternoon potlucks in the church field or at someones house...kickball or softball in the fields with our friends until dark or on the corner ofmy street right outside my house under our huge maple tree...we'd catch up with friends at gilles on sunday nights...gilles was the local ice cream shop that was right in the middle between all of our houses...I had been dating matt for about three years at that point...yep, true story...high school sweethearts...it's a good thing gas was cheap back thenbecause we would drive everywhere in his brown nissan sentra with his moon roofor in my silver mazda MX6 with a moonroof...I thought we were sooooo cool burning down burr road with the windows down music up. ;)matt and I had both just finished our soccer "career's"but we still could be found playing one on one soccer matches at the dean and peck fields,or going on long walks while stealing kisses out in the beautiful woods behind his house...or going on canoe rides down the fox river bringing fishing poles and bringing our "boom box"listening to our mix tapes we gave each other while "fishing"...p.s. for those of you who are too young to know what a boom box is much less what an actual mix tape is,look it up...it SO was where it was at. ;)or our dates would be at the arcada theatre in downtown st. charles...I still remember my first movie with him...the original Jurassic Park...our feet sticking to the floor of the theatre,holding hands and me being entirely too freaked out about velociraptors.we dated for seven years before we got married and we went on a LOT of dates. ;)but some of my all-time favorite dates we ever went on were in a little place called true tunes.sometimes some of our favorite bands would come through wheaton illinois...to play at Edman Chapel at Wheaton College.BUT sometimes before they would play at sold out concerts at Wheaton College,these bands would have mini-concerts in that teeny-tiny record shop called true tunes.ohhhh man...I'm seriously smiling.true tunes was where it was at...upstairs, above the regular record store was a room...upstairs in this seriously overcrowded hot room with old rickety wooden floors andminimal playing space was where you could find us.we'd go with a few of our friends and rock out(okay, stand there because we were awkward church kids who weren't allowed to dance) ;)to bands like PFR, believable picnic, big tent revival, sixpence none the richer...seriously, true tunes was where it was at.every now and again, this little independent record store in the heart of wheaton would get seriously good (in my eyes)singers and songwriters that would blow my mind musically...phil keaggy was one of them...this man could seeeeeeeeeeeeeriously play the guitar.I know what you're saying...phil who?phil. freaking. keaggy.legend has it that jimi hendrix, eric clapton AND eddie van halen have all said he's the greatest guitarist of our time...and he only has nine fingers....I know, right?!on one of our dates, phil keaggy was scheduled to play at edman chapel at wheaton collegesomehow we saw him play...not for very long...in that teeny tiny upstairs room at true tunes...he played with his relatively unknown (at the time) singer/songwriter friend wes king.towards the end of one of the sets...they played a song that has forever stayed with me...it's on wes king's 1993 album "the robe" and the song is simply called...John.okay, so WHY the trip down memory lane?honestly for no other reason than because today's guys name is Johnand also the entire time I've been editing his photographs...that particular song has come to my mind.it might be because of John's mom...I admire her a lot...how hard she works...how much she loves her kids...and how much she loves her incredibly handsome son...John.so there you go...a small rabbit trail to my growing up and lead-in to today's seriously handsome graduating senior...John. :)