About Me

Hi folks,

I always like to know a little about others who have chosen to grace the Internet with their presence, so I thought I might set up this page to let you know a little more about who I am.

I am a Creator.  Purely and simply.  I love everything about the creation process, and love to agonize over simple (for me often complex!) design questions for hours, sometimes months at a time!

My Lovely Mug

I work for an aircraft company, one of the largest airplane manufacturers in the world.  How did I get there?  It's not exactly the most creative job in the world, nor is it "up my alley", but I have been there for 33 years as of January, 2016.  Ouch.

I am a project manager there, and for the last ten years have focused on export compliance.  This is my "vocation". It does NOT charge my engine.  :0)  But it pays my way on some very important life needs, so I am thankful for the opportunity to work there.

But we must talk about the things that really do charge my engine!

God is my North...In good and in bad, I have dedicated my life to serving Christ as my Savior and as my brother.   I am exactly like every other human being on the earth;  Wonderful and awesome in creation, flawed in myself, and in need of redemption.  Thanks be to God who loves and cares for me. I am free to be me, with all of my flaws and strengths, because in all things, good and bad, I know to return to Christ for my cleansing and forgiveness.  In strength and in health, God is present and active in our lives. No greater peace is available to me...  but sometimes I do need to be reminded!

Christmas at Leavenworth, Washington

Family!  I am completely devoted to my family.  I rejoice in them.  I love them.  My favorite times are sitting around our living room laughing (or sometimes crying!) with my family.  I have been truly blessed with a wife who laughs at the world, good or bad, a perfect son who is strong in spirit and truly talented with people, and a lovely daughter who loves greatly and completely, who spoils her daddy, and inherited my creative genes.

My family is not without problems...the biggest one being me, I imagine.  That is a problem I spend a lot of time trying to figure out.  I haven't yet succeeded!  I am unfathomable.  Pure and Simple.

35 years of married bliss as of 2015!

My wife is my sunrise and sunset... My friend in all things, my encourager, and my greatest gift in life.  She has a bum knee that keeps her down, watching her walk (which she can still do thankfully!) is hard to watch, as she is in such pain.  We hope some day to get her a knee replacement, and give her back her mobility.  We do everything together...almost.  I can't get her too terribly interested in miniatures, at least not yet!  There is always tomorrow!

A rare sight...My Son goofing off. 

My son is ill with Crohn's Disease, a dastardly and life crippling thing, with tentacles into every part of his life. (3 surgeries in twelve years).  He is a master at networking and his heart is made of gold.  I am incredibly proud of who he is, and the man he has become.  Due to his illness, he has had to continue to live with us.  He is a great worker, honest, upright, and an acknowledged "great employee", but unfortunately most employers will not carry him through his surgeries.  Thanks to a wonderful friend who understands, he is now able to work full time, and yet when the disease strikes, he will continue to have a job.  Just one example of God's provision for our family.

Daddy's Girl with a Best Friend

My daughter (on the left) is in the process of being diagnosed, the thought at present is Addison's disease, also a life altering and crippling disease, though more treatable if this is what is really going on.  If you want to learn more about her, go see her blog at: http://www.asweetpeach.com/.  She is a daddy's girl, and she loves to have fun!  We have good times together.  One of our favorite outings is to Half Price Books...we two are the book lovers in our family.

We are a happy family, because we have each other, and for good or ill, we live and love together.  I have been blessed beyond measure with a family who loves, respects, and cares for one another.

A Childhood Favorite!

Beyond these wondrous things, I am a designer at heart...I love all things beautiful.  I remember at 11 or 12 years of age pouring over the Sears & Roebuck catalog in our attic, dreaming of the day I would have a home and be able to buy the beautiful furniture I saw (this was the 1960's people...NOTHING was beautiful during the 1960's!)...I spent my hours of idyllic childhood drawing and painting, reading in our dilapidated old rocking chair...(1970's Olive Green!) and participating in musical endeavors...  My life then was untroubled and easy compared to today's myriad concerns.

Oak_Park_Il_Walter_Gale_House in Chicago Area - Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

As an adult, I have had less opportunity to design "stuff", but I dabble in various design venues as part of my day to day life with church and with work.  I also find myself often in the throes of "architectural dreams", which is what led me to start my Steampunk Manor Project....

I love science fiction and fantasy as well, my favorite reading, beyond my various and sundry research projects, is in these genre's.  My absolute FAVORITE novels are Cassandra Clare's "Clockwork" Series, and Suzanne Collin's "Hunger Games" series.  I am always looking for my next favorite series, and I do read the classics...I just finished 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker.  (Well, I didn't SAY they were GREAT classics, did I?  He was a pretty darn good writer for his time, however!  Beats Nathaniel Hawthorne's tomes to smithereens!)

Could there BE a better project to occupy my time?  The Steampunk Manor, combining Fantasy and Architecture...Next best thing to Heaven, yes?

Our Town home Back Yard area

I am also gardener who enjoys focusing on designed spaces, and everything else about our home is a canvas to be played with too, when of course, we can afford that luxury, which is not often!  :0)   You can see my much neglected gardening site at: www.gardendesignexposed.com.  You'll see another element of my creative side there.

This is me.  Fun loving, yet serious and rather conventional in demeanor, (That is code for "you'd never know when you met me that I loved fun!)  I am fairly secure most of the time, painfully insecure at others, and always in the process of learning. No day is better for me than a day spent in "scholarship", whether it be research into genealogy or a day at the Miniature show...it all fuels my spirit and brings me a great deal of joy.

I hope you've enjoyed learning a little about my life...  if so, I am glad...if not, I apologize!  :0)  I look forward to continuing to blog my Steampunk Manor experiences, and am excited about where that is going (yes, in spite of the fact I haven't posted in almost two months, there is a LITTLE bit going on behind the scenes!).

If you would like to contact me via email, I can be reached at whiteknight at live.com. I look forward to continuing to share my life and creative endeavors with you all!

Doug S.