day 040. [photography buddy]

Now, if you've been following you know that a few posts ago (day 024.) I was writing in disappointment in how the first day of summer was a complete utter fail. Well, today was a little different. These past two days have seriously started to feel like summer. In fact, according to my little weather gadget on my mac it's showing that today's high was 80-degrees. It's about 10:19 PM right now and it's a good 64-degrees out. So the sun is definitely coming out, and it will be out for the rest of this week.

What I love most about the sun though is I'm fixing up tan lines that so desperately need to be fixed, haha.

Anyways, on to today! I started today off by going to my dentist appointment. Now, let me tell you something that might blow your mind away, haha. I'm now going into my 20th year of not having a single cavity [knocks on wood]. I'm pretty much the poster child of what dentist look for in a patient. If only I could have been the poster child for braces (should have worn that retainer ...), haha. I'm not going to lie, I was quite excited to hear that I went another dentist appointment without finding a single cavity. In fact I will quote what my dental hygienist, "This is by far the best dentist appointment you've ever had." I don't like to toot my own horn, but I knew it was going to be a good one, bahaha.

Afterwards I ended up just getting my haircut. For some the last time you saw me my hair was just getting over an inch long, for others it might have been a goo 1/8th of an inch long. Well, after that haircut, my hair is back to 1/8th and I quite like it this way :)

When I got home, I had a meeting with one of the seniors that I will be doing portraits for in the next few weeks. We got some ideas down and locations to go. Speaking of senior portraits my number of "clients" has gone up from 3 to 5!! If you're wondering who's photos I'm taking (even if you don't know them) they are:

• James Middleton
• Steven Welch
• Caytie Matthews
• Allison Duvenez
• Brandon Rhine

It's exciting to know that I've got 5 times the "clients" as I did last year. It will be a fun group to take pictures of. Like I said before though, keep an eye out seeing as some of their photos might grace the pages of my blog!

Once Steven left though I decided to take a nap because it was just so darn hot. I took it outside though, haha. But around 5:30ish my good friend Bailey came by to pick me up so we could hang out for a bit. We were also joined by our other friend Christian. It was fun hanging out with these guys seeing the last time I hung out with them it was during my Fall Break last October. So it's been a good more than half a year since I've seen these two. That ended early though because of last minute change of plans, but that was alright.

I spent the rest of the night at the cadre party that was going on at City Beach. If you're wondering what cadre means, it's just the small groups from our youth group were having an end of the cadre year party. After today, cadres are done until school starts up again. I had a blast hanging out with some of those guys because I haven't seen some of them in awhile. What's really cool though is I think I found a new photography buddy! There's something about having photography buddies that makes the idea of photography ten times more fun. What's even better is my photography buddy is Bailey's brother, Matt Poggie! He might tag along when I do James' photos sometime in the next few weeks. That will be exciting. As for my photography buddies they are as listed:

• Pam Dupa
• Brian Dyche
• Matt Nienhuis
• Steven Welch
• Erika Acode
• Matt Poggie

YAY!!! I hope to get the opportunity to work with each of them this summer. It's still a hot day, but I'm going to call it a night and get some seriously needed shut eye. Hope you guys are having great summers.

PS. Sorry that this ended up being so long :|

day 039. [relationships]

Today was a day full of just being around people and growing in our relationships. Be it my relationship between my youth pastor and me, my relationship with my pastor and his wife along with others, and even my relationship with a few of my friends from the youth group.

I was going to start today by going to the gym with my friend Clair Thiel; we have an interesting relationship as to how we became friends. Maybe I'll explain it if this blog doesn't get too long, ha. I didn't feel all that great this morning though, so I passed up on the gym with her. Next time though!!

Sometime in the prevening (Big Bang Theory) I met up with my youth pastor Angel to discuss me sharing my devos on Sunday night at the youth group. It was also just a time where we got to catch up on, maybe not the whole year, part of the year from my freshman year of college. It's sad to know their moving on from little Oak Harbor, but God's got some amazing things in store for Angel, Laura, Josiah, and their little boy that's on the way. If God can use Angel to turn many hardened hearts into the soft, but passionate, hearts they are now ... I know that God will continue to use him in Pasco.

Can't believe their leaving though, man. It was seriously my freshman year of high school when I met Angel and I was this little turd that was running up and down the hallway throwing out f-bombs left and right. I was a little 15 year old that had no self-respect for myself and yet I demanded respect from others. Thanks Angel for turning me around. Actually, thanks God for using Angel to turn me around :)

Can't wait for Sunday though!

Later this evening I went over to my pastor's house. Pastor Russ and his wife Ana invited a few people over to their house tonight. It was just a time that they gave us, as young adults, to get to know each other from the church. Granted I knew who most of the people were, there were a few people that I had yet to meet just because I was gone. While there Russ and Ana were open about their relationship with each other and before each other. Brought some insight as to what it means to me to be a Christian and wanting to pursue a relationship with another person. It was cool seeing how they were comfortable to talk about some of the things they did. I am so glad that God brought this family to our church to pastor over us after Dave and Snr. Veach ended up leaving. Oh yeah! Can't forget to mention that they have the cutest kids ever!! Hopefully someday I'll be doing their braces ;)

Around the time the sun started to set I met up with a few friends out at West Beach. I love these guys so much. As in Ally, Laura, and Jordan, ha. I just love those guys. It's been good to see and hear what has happened in their lives this past year. Some AMAZING things. I'm pretty sure though that in the midst of these amazing things were some times of utter despair. But I know that they were able to get through that. I'm so proud of those guys! I'm excited to see what's in store for them this upcoming school year. I'm especially excited to see what's going to happen in Ally & Jordan's lives seeing as they'll definitely be in a new season of their young adult lives.

It was just a great day today. Oh I forgot to mention one other thing ... B-E-A-U-tiful day!! Sunny all day!

PS. Seeing as this got long, feel free to ask me how come Clair and I have an interesting relationship. I'm fine explaining why it's so interesting, haha X)

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 037. [america]

As promised, a photo of the fireworks from tonight!

Today's shot is definitely another shot dealing with long exposures. If I were you, click on it to enlarge it :)

Now that that's done, HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!! I hope all of you had safe 4th of July's. I know I did, it was a hectic one with last minute planning. If you know me one bit you know very well that last minute planning kind of makes me anxious. Don't know why, but it just does, always has.

I started today, obviously, at church and I must say I miss Living Word. I've got all of my spiritual roots planted into that church that Living Word is the next best thing to my own house. There's definite changes going on, but that's God moving in people and putting them places where they need to be. It's a new season in their lives and we just have to be able to embrace that and be excited for the changes going on at Living Word itself!

When church got over I joined a few friends, seeing as my parents were out of town (again!) for a BBQ. Just like how I have a second home, I've got myself a second family that's always willing to accept me when my parents ditch me ... haha. BBQ was awesome, all of us, for sure, got tired from food. That didn't stop us from going out to eat again at this restaurant called Flyers. Good thing was, there was some separation in time from the BBQ to Flyers.

Now, usually I go to the carnival and walk around, scope out some friends, and occasionally hit the rides. I forgot to add in that I'd visit all the Filipino aunties who had tents set up and food cooking! Free food = the best kind of food! This year was different, no carnival, no walking around, no scoping out some friends, no rides, and definitely no visiting the aunties for free food; not that I'd be able to eat it seeing as I'm all vegetarian now, ha. Instead, I just hung out with friends in a house, a restaurant, and an apartment. It wasn't until close to 10 did we leave for City Beach (aka Windjammer Park) to watch the fireworks. Pretty sweet, kind of the same as many past firework shows, but you know it was good. I definitely got some sweet shots, this is only one of them (obviously). It's late, so I don't plan on putting the other ones up on flickr until tomorrow. Be sure to check that out though!

Again, I hope all of you had some awesome 4th of July's. I'm just kind of glad it's over, bahaha.

GO AMERICA!!!!

day 036. [lights, camera, action]

Today might be the one post where I actually reference the date. I try not to because well, I don't want to, ha. Today was July 3rd, 2010 and the weird thing was our annual 4th of July parade was today. It makes sense though, 4th of July happened to fall on a Sunday, which is when most people go to church. I was actually kind of dumbfounded when I found out that it was today, ha. I went, and I got some shots of my friends and I while watching the parade. When I say watching, take that with a grain of salt, just one, not a whole bunch of salt, ha. So pictures though can be seen on my flickr (I didn't put very many up because I'm trying to not upload so many on there that much).

If you're new to my blog, the other pictures from the different days are up, just not actual blogs. Also, if you're reading this and you have a tumblr but would like to follow I do have a tumblr as well. That one though has kind of just regular blogging on it too.

Moving on from social networking, after the parade a few friends and I walked around the carnival only because Jessica and Regine were hungry, haha. I think Jared might have been hungry too, but I only remember Jess and Regine being hungry. I eventually lost them because I got caught up talking to some friends that I obviously hadn't seen in a year! Man, can't believe I was gone for a whole year. It was nice though seeing some good ol' faces of people I remember and for that matter, liked.

After losing them, I went home and took a nap. Again, take that with a grain of salt because I passed out around 3ish? with an alarm clock for maybe 3:45 ... I woke up at 6 o'clock. I then lounged around for a bit before heading out to Jess' to watch a zombie movie, 28 Days Later to be exact. If zombie or scary movies aren't your thing, here's a synopsis of what goes on in the movie.

I ended up leaving early because I was tired. On the way home though I decided to stop by the carnival to mess around with pictures using light and slow shutters. As much as I would like to do some light graffiti, I would much prefer to do something with light that's moving. Like for example, that shot of the Octopus Ride while it was going. I have one other shot of another ride, and that can be found on my flickr as well.

Seeing as tomorrow is actually 4th of July, expect a firework picture or something like that. You've got to try new stuff every now and then! I'm taking advantage of it :)

Night guys!

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.