Six years ago, when Barry & I moved to Portland on a whim, we thought we had finally found a place we could call home, somewhere we could plant ourselves and start a family. Well, we did - we have an amazing 4 1/2 year old named Mason and we bought our first house shortly after he was born. The thought of leaving Portland didn’t cross our minds.

Never say never, right? An opportunity to advance my career sort of landed in my lap & I just couldn’t say no. After many tears, angry words & more tears, Barry and I finally came to a joint decision. I couldn’t pass this up, it was just too good. He was willingly taking my lead to Seattle - on one condition - that he can call me his ’sugar mama’.

I’ll be moving up to Seattle next week and start my new job on June 16th. Barry & Mason will stay behind until our house sells and then will join me in Seattle. I’ll be back on the weekends - the split is going to hard, but we’ll manage.

This has been a hell of year. This isn’t goodbye. This is hello.

I feel extremely privileged to live in Portland, Oregon, a place that whole-heartedly practices sustainable living. Much of the new residential construction in The Pearl adheres to green standards and Portland is one of the few US cities that has an electric car dealership.

I could name a few more ways Portland practices sustainable living…but that isn’t the intension of my post. Living in Portland has influenced me greatly, as well as the simple fact of ‘getting older makes you wiser’ (hopefully). Since moving here more than 6 years ago, I’ve changed my habits for the better. I’m a faithful user of public transportation, use cloth totes instead of plastic or paper bags for my groceries and recycle just about everything in my house. I know this is a small contribution & I can do more.

I grabbed my camera and ran outside with my 4 year-old son. There were too many trees in the front yard to get a clear view of the sky, so I ran into the backyard hoping to get at least one photo.

As I’m trying to frame the shot, my son says

“Mom, I think you’re standing in poop.”

I looked down at my feet and sure enough, I was standing shit.

Ok, maybe just me

Any excuse to feel good, right? :>

Click to listen: “Bustin’ Yo Faces

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Harmonica man…ummm…play me a tune…just play me

A series of photographs, entitled “Camp 18″, are available in a custom 12 month 2008 calendar. Be sure to check out these killa’ Camp 18 photos & other cool PDXPipeline schwag.

“A Wings” - Camp 18 series, photography by Kristin Wall

What I did get was an amazing insight to the lush landscapes and hardcore trails of Whistler. My riding companions were lucky (or unlucky?) enough to experience a black bear, up close & personal. No harm given or received! And no, they didn’t stick around to “feed the bear”.

I can proudly say I accepted my dipolma in style - that is NO shoes, barefoot baby! I had been picturing this day for months & it was every bit surreal as I’d imagined. I was on such a high (probably induced from the infamous polyester graduation robe). I have officially left the nest!

None of this would’ve been possible without the support of my husband, family & friends. I owe much of my gratitude to my partner in crime. His ability to endure the long evenings I spent glued to my computer, listening to endless babble about ideas for new projects & supporting every project I took on (and there were many!) allowed me to grow in ways I never thought possible. Thank you.

Here’s a small sample of my final portfolio. Enjoy!

Kristin Wall sample portfolio (PDF)

I’ve been attending the graduate portfolio show for the past 2+ years, eagerly anticipating the work of my fellow students, learning from their successes & failures. Now it’s my turn.

I enrolled in the Advertising program at AiPD in the fall of 2004 and for the past 3+ years it’s been a constant struggle to find a balance between school (in & out of the classroom), work and being a wife & a mom. There have been many sleepless nights to say the least and many sacrifices made along the way, but I knew the payoff would be priceless.

During my time at AiPD, I’ve had the opportunity to accomplish some pretty amazing things. Two notable items worth mentioning:

1. Recipient of the Gold Student ADDY award in March 2007 for a cervical cancer awareness public service announcement
2. Founder, VP of brashcreative (a student organized advertising agency that works with Portland businesses to develop integrated creative solutions)

Words can’t describe how good it feels to finally finish my BS and at the same time help create a legacy that other students will benefit from in the years to come.

In the last few days before graduation, I’m trying to stay sane and must remind myself that it’s ok to sleep. The infamous portfolio will live on…