jackson's graduation

It was just so much fun...

visiting Westmont

John C. Page Hall - completely empty except for Shannon and Denz

wesley drove - in Carlitos

empty parking lot - first time ever

morro bay

Some friends and I went to Morro Bay a while back, I miss these days.

Leaving California

33 days and I start my five month adventure through Europe and Israel! Of those 33 days left, I'll be out of California for the vast majority of them.  My number of days left in PV are quickly dwindling down to single digits.

In the next six months I'll be traveling more than I have in my entire life: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah, Nevada... then Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Italy, Greece, Israel and Palestine.

So long Palos Verdes,

Hello World.

stickers

The window of Pedone's, my favorite pizza spot in Redondo Beach

just some people...

...that I really miss from Westmont.

Benjamin

Sara and Luke

Greg (and Whitney)

Josiah and Nate

Sara

Wesley

Erica

Michael

Sarah and Erica

the girls

and a heck of a lot more people

silhouette

Huey for Congress

If you live in California district CA-36 vote for Craig Huey for U.S. Congress in the special election on July 12th.

summer nights

Using film at night in a poorly lit room isn't always the best idea.

memorial day

Shots from Torrance/Redondo Beach on Memorial Day

blured

This is what happens when you have someone who doesn't know anything about cameras use a manual focus Canon AE-1. Blurry pictures...

Me and Brandon

What it should have looked like.

Megan and Brandon

winds to the west

The wind was absolutely crazy the other day at the beach.

new toy

Canon AE-1: First Shots

The first thing I did with the new camera was take some pictures of my dogs. Mine (Bella) is the big one, the smaller one (Teek) is my sister's.

More to come.

Santa Barbara

A wise high schooler (oxymoron right there) recently told me that if I'm missing Westmont and Santa Barbara like crazy, then I must have made the right choice for college.

And he's right. Just look at Santa Barbara, it's amazing! I've only been back from college for a week and a half, but I'm already missing Westmont. I miss my friends, my dorm, my room, one of my roommates..., my RA, my RD, even my professors (especially Telford), everything! I was getting kinda sick of it in the moment, but now I can't wait to have it all back in the spring. Being home is great, but I'm so used to seeing all my friends around me all day long at school. It's definitely an adjustment being separated from so many amazing people.

(look closely: that's Benjamin and Peter on a romantic walk along the coast)

Black Coffee... always

What I Learn In College #1:

Most students get addicted to coffee in college, but I've been enjoying the drink every single day since high school. I drink my coffee black, always. That was until I tried the coffee in the Dinning Commons (DC) of Westmont College. It is atrocious. It's Starbucks blend (something I've never been a big fan of, too burnt) that is extra burnt! I knew that you can make a good or bad cup of coffee, I didn't think it could consistently be this bad!

I started off freshman year by putting only a half a pack of sugar in that coffee, just so I could get it down smoothly. I did this for a few weeks until my sophomore friend Justin (who I hardly knew at the time) opened my eyes to a powerful truthism about DC coffee. He told me to basically suck it up, be a man, and drink DC coffee black despite how nasty it is. His reasoning was as follows: If you drink this terrible cup of coffee every day through college, you will never have another bad cup of coffee in your life. Every other cup of coffee that would normally have been labeled 'bad' you can compare to DC coffee and think, "it's not as bad as that coffee I had all through college!"

From that day on, I had DC coffee black every single morning of my freshman year. Then in the afternoon I would make my own pot of drip coffee or delicious french press.

For my next coffee experience, I will my attempting to try as many local beans as possible on Europe Semester this fall! Wow, I drink a lot of coffee...

is the world ending?

A few weeks ago there was one of the most dramatic sunsets I've seen here in Santa Barbara.  I didn't know what to make of it, but it was awesome!

I only have a few weeks left here, and hopefully there will be more sunsets like this one.  I can't believe that my freshman year of college has gone by this fast.  It really feels like last month was August and I was moving into my dorm and meeting all these amazing people for the first time.  But in less than a month I'll be packing up my room and driving back to LA, not to return until January 2012.  Because in less than 100 days I'll be getting on a plane for Scotland for a month, then an entire semester in Europe and Israel.  I can't wait for summer and Europe, but I at the same time I'm really going to miss my life here at Westmont in John C. Page Hall.

my famous friend

My good friend Jayme Dee is an amazing up and coming artist.  She is the most talented singer/songwriter I know, and is already making it big.  I had the privilege of seeing her play at the House of Blues in Anaheim a few weeks ago and I was blown away!  It's so weird to think that the girl that used to play worship at my church, at local coffee shops, and at open mic nights at our high school is now a rockstar!! This video is her cover of Adele's Rollin In The Deep, and I like it better than the original! Check out her website, youtube, and facebook. 

how many gummy bears?

That is the question of the night.

I asked my friend Erica to spring formal using hundreds of gummy bears and we had a few extra...  so naturally we put them in a Jarritos bottle one by one and kept count.

Any guesses?

talented friends

A few of my good friends preformed at 'The Study", a cafe/grill/hangout spot on campus last night.  Every Wednesday night they have students play.

Wesley and Sarah started the night off, and Josiah joined in on a few songs.  The last song they played was one Wesley wrote after he, Sarah, Erica, and myself pulled an all nighter in the bed of my truck parked by the beach and talked for hours and hours.  

Then one of the most talented friends I have went on.  Jasmine is a senior here and from my home church.  I grew up listening to her play worship and having her here at Westmont, especially when she sings in chapel, is very comforting and very fun.

Jasmine's voice is absolutely amazing, and every time she sings in chapel I have a good day.  It's like a good luck charm.