My Life Part 2: Getting Hitched and Growing Old





This is the courthouse where Wendy became The Queen. Since we eloped and went to get married in Henderson Kentucky, the only family member who attended was Wendy's aunt, who lived nearby. Neither of our families were very thrilled about our marriage. I guess it was the whole "I was going into the Marine Corps and she was still in high-school" thing.

Hah! And they said that it would never last......







Our Wedding day. Look at the sweet young newlyweds kissin' by the river. Wendy's aunt Kathy took this photo immediately after the wedding.






Even though the Marines had refined me in numerous ways, they could never take away my taste for raw kitten heads. Mmmmmm.






Her Majesty giving me that "Yeah, thats right, I'm sexy." look. This pic was taken right after she moved to North Carolina with me. It was a big step for such a young kid.






Another pic from around the same time. This time she was cooking dinner. I must have been pinching her butt or something to get that look.






This is my favorite photo of me and Wendy. It was taken at a beach where we would always go to when we were living in North Carolina. It must have been taken around 1989 or 1990.






Here I am with Amaro and Pete, two friends of mine from gun #2. Apparently someone had asked me and Amaro what direction the helicopter went.






Another shot of me back in 1989. Yes, those were happy times! I was ALWAYS in a good mood. Thats how Marines smile.








Two of my best friends from the Corps, David holloway and Mike Peterson. Here, Mike displays his secret technique for picking up chicks.






Ooorah War Paint!!! Yeah, whatever! We were probably going to do a little "Butter, butter, jam" for some visiting dignitaries. (10 extra points for anyone who knows what the hell I am talking about!)






Me and my bro' Glenn Guthrie getting ready to go drink some brewskis. Glenn was another of those good friends who I lost contact with. He was the Arkansas Razorback who help finance many of my drinking binges. Although come to think of it, it does seem like I carried him home a lot.






Here is another shot of Gut sleeping over at our house. Ooooh, look at the tough Marine and the stuffed cat.






This shot is of me, Jim Brown, and Greg Crull (another Southern Illinois boy) chilling alongside of the 5 ton truck in Kuwait.






Another shot from outside of Kuwait City. Here I am playing with a scorpion. Yeah, there wasn't much to do for recreation out there in the desert.






When I got home from Desert Storm I was welcomed back to the community with open arms! It seemed like the whole town was glad to see me home. Complete strangers would come up to me, shake my hand and say "Welcome home, Derek Seed Potatoes!"






This is a pic of two of my brothers. The third one isn't in here because he won't be born for another year or so. The funny thing is, both of these little shrimps are taller than me now. I guess that they inherited the tall skinny genes and I got the short and round genes.






On my leave from the war, Her Majesty and I vacationed in Orlando, Florida with my Mom and Step-Dad. Incredibly, I noticed a Ninja Turtle (Donnatello???) in the crowd who must have been on vacation too! He was a fan of mine and asked if he could get a picture with me "for his little brothers."

"Sure," I obliged, knowing full well that he was an only child. But it made him happy and as long as I can bring a little joy to someone's life, well...that makes it all worthwhile.







Another shot with me, Dad, and two of my brothers! The funny thing is that Dad is the only one that looks the same!

And don't laugh at the pants! It takes a real man to wear pink and go out in public. I can truthfully say that they were orange in real life, but I know that you won't believe me anyway. But they were. And I made them look cool too!!!!







My two little brothers zonked out for the night. Nothing much more to say about this photo.






Another shot of Pat (my Step-Mom). Look how much younger she is than my Dad. Geez, Dad! You robbing the cradle or what?! Ha ha.






Here is Her Majesty with two of our pet rats. Yep. I said rats! They were awesome pets but somehow I became allergic to them or something. Oh, wait, maybe I was just sick of cleaning the cages!

This photo was taken right before The Brat came into our lives.







At one time we had nine rats! The big one was Her Majesty's rat, Crystal. All of the little tikes are her babies. My rat, Damien, was alot bigger than Crystal but I don't have any pictures of him. He was cool as can be and HUGE! He was almost as long as our cat.






After giving birth to our child, we were both surprised to see that she bore a striking resemblance to Yoda. Luckilly, she quickly grew out of the yoda stage and immediately moved on to being a cute little human. 'Cause nobody should have to grow up looking like a muppet.






This guy is Vic Connor, the man that I hold responsible for making me the artist that I am today. He was my first art professor in college and recognized the drive for knowledge that I craved. He allowed me to soak up information like a sponge and never tired of showing me new ideas or techniques. I consider him to be the best professor that I have ever had and will always consider him a valued friend.






The OCC art crew. There was a lot of camaraderie in our little art-clicke, and although the ranks seemed to change with each passing semester, these were the originals. Front Row: Scott(??)-who I think just hung around to try and get into Kim's pants, Kim. Back Row: Erni-a true fine artist, Cheryl, Yours truly, and JR.







My big ol' sculpture, this was the first full-size sculpture that I had ever created. Don't be fooled by the piece though. While the form, color and texture appeared to be metal, it was actually a modular sculpture made almost entirely of cardboard. Except for the wooden base, the entire sculpture weighed in at under seven pounds.





Site Designed By Madhaus Creative Services.
Site Hosted By BSpeedy.com.
Copyright 2004. Madhaus Creative Services. All Rights Reserved. No images or content shall be used without consent.