day 038. [volleyball]

I'm coaching these days, volleyball that is. I'm also coaching down in Redmond, WA, which is a good 2 hours south of Oak Harbor. That usually means I leave Oak Harbor 2.5 hours prior to needing to be at work. I honestly wouldn't even call it work because I'm getting paid to do something I REALLY love.

It's a lot of fun getting to coach the Junior & Senior team seeing as they just finished up their 2009-2010 season by ending it with a national title! I'm so proud of those guys. They did what we tried to do last year. But hey, a 2nd place finish is not bad at all.

After coaching today though I got back home and right away I met up with a friend of mine. James and I met at Starbucks because we were discussing his senior photos! It's so weird because when I met him he was a sophomore and now he's a senior photos and I feel honored to be taking his photos. In fact, this week is me meeting up with some seniors to discuss their photos that I'll be taking. Keep an eye out because their photos might grace the pages of my blog :)

Afterwards though I went home and literally just sat on my butt watching the FIVB World League and the FIVB Grand Slam. Anyone who's reading this has to understand that I'm such a volleyball freak! I LOVE THE SPORT SO MUCH!! So while everyone is watching the World Cup I'm in the midst of watching what is considered the "World Cup" of Volleyball for both indoor and beach. Funny thing is, while most people are upset that the USA got out of the World Cup I was actually excited because the USA made it out of their pool in the World League.

I just really like volleyball, and it just so happened that today was honestly a day FULL of volleyball for me. If I could, I would play it "for days" (Villa reference). In all honesty, volleyball is more than just a sport to me. It's kind of my life and my passion. If I had to choose between volleyball and any other sport I've played growing up ... I'd pass on all of those sports. I might even pass on the memories from those sports. I LOVE VOLLEYBALL!! Such great memories from club years!

Let's hope that tomorrow has more in store though, haha. Today was kind of a "blah" day ;)

day 035. [scientific photographer]

"To the left, to the left" are the two necklaces my dad bought me. Well, they were two separate necklaces, but the charms are now on the same chain. As for where we got these, we got them from this indie website. It's just fitting that they had both a microscope (biology major) and a camera (photographer). It's truly the best of both worlds! Seriously though, getting these necklaces in the mail today was the best part of the day. Even if I did have a worship session with a few friends and then hung out for a bit with others. I have been waiting for these necklaces this past week!

As for today, it started out with me leaving Oak Harbor at 4:30 AM to drive down to Redmond to coach my old club team at 7:00 AM. Now, I thought the high school team, especially the Junior & Senior team, had practice in the afternoon during the summer because we always have the earlier practices during the year. This was the text conversation between my coach and me last night:

Me: Coach, hey, so I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be at practice tomorrow ready to coach!
Coach: Rick! That's awesome to hear that you still don't mind having to leave Oak Harbor at 4:30 AM to get here for their 7 AM practice. I'm proud of you.
Me: What!? I thought they had the later practices during the summer. I mean we always had the later practices over the summer when I was playing ...
Coach: Not on Friday's, they as a team decided to just have an early practice on Friday's and Saturday's so they have the rest of the day to do stuff.
Me: Alright ... I'll see you at 7 coach ...

Oh man, was it fun ...

Once I got home though, that was a different story. Had lunch, took a quick shower, and then headed over to the bookstore where I was able to pick up the copy of Crime and Punishment. That was awesome because today felt like Christmas. Getting the necklaces and then getting the book that I've been eyeing for awhile.

Speaking of books, I was originally going to return The Adolescent once I got my hands on Crime and Punishment, but you know what? I'm not going to do that anymore because The Adolescent has surprisingly been a good read. Quite an easy read, so I figured I might as well finish the book :)

After picking up the book I headed over to West Beach to join my friend Laura Nagel for a worship session. I also made a new friend! Katherine Limpin :) I really enjoy worship for what it is. I mean, a great message at church is awesome, that's the heart of the service, but there's something about worship, especially when you yourself do it right, that is so powerful! To me, worship really gets your heart in the right place to really hear what God has to say through the message. The way I think about worship, it's more than singing because if you do it right, you're talking to God. It's amazing. And it was a lot of fun just getting to do worship with a few people today, even if it was last minute. but hey! It's summer, so it's alright to be spontaneous!

PS. Five weeks to this blog and I'm still going! :)

day 034. [faith]

Today was one hell of a day, ha. I started work today down in Redmond coaching for my old club team. Who by the way, won nationals just this last Saturday (June 26th, 2010). I really missed these guys. We had a good run while I was in the club program.Tons of fun hanging/coaching with the guys. *For those that I ended up telling that I originally quite this job, they were hurting on summer staff. Because of that I took up the job again.

To the real part of today.

I hung out with my brother Sean Welch. He's pretty much my brother because we're so close. When I hang out, or for that matter talk to Sean, it's about some really serious stuff. If you guys really want to know what we talked about, I wouldn't mind sharing, but it'll take me a few years probably to really feel alright sharing this with anyone. The only reason why I shared this with Sean is because we are so close that I can tell him things like what I told him today. I mean my senior year Sean was someone who really got me through the hard times in my walk with God. As much as I would love to say that I'm walking with God on my own, I'd be lying - slightly. Sean is still there.

Anyways, ummm ... like I said we talked about some hard stuff today. We talked about my freshman year of college - faith wise. We talked about relationships with people. All relationships, by the way. And for those of you reading this, on paper my freshman year looked AMAZING, but deep down there was a hurricane brewing. By the end of my freshman year, actually by the time I came home from summer classes that hurricane had gotten out. It had taken control of me. Yeah I said I was Christian and that I believed in God, but you know what? That's not enough. You gotta live it out. I wasn't. I was hiding it. Not figuratively, but literally. I hid it. I hid every ounce of faith that was in me. Why? I got scared. I got scared as to what God was doing to and with me. I got to a point where I almost had enough and wanted to call quits. (For those of you who know me, this is something hard for me to do because I don't like pointing out my flaws). I started to ask myself: What am I getting out of this? Why do I care? What's the point of this?

College was hard on my faith.

Talking to Sean was a really good thing for me. I just came out of some crappy stuff that was going on at school and instead of me taking the punches, I put my faith in front of me to take the punches. I know I've hung out with friends these past few days, but the reason why I am really wanting personal time this summer is because I need to get back in touch with myself. I lost all sense as to who I was this past semester. I locked the Rick that everyone knew in a box. As much as it hurts me to say this, right now the Rick walking around is semi putting up a front. I'm trying to get me back. I'll get myself back, and I'll just need to trust in God and put a little more faith into him.

For those of you I've hurt these past three months I'm sorry. Sorry I lost connection with some of you guys, I didn't do it on purpose. I know you guys know I still love you. I'm just trying to figure out who I am again.

Lesson of the year: Don't compromise yourself for your feelings and emotions.