A happier blog :)

After the more depressing issue of missing friends and family ...

I had one of my first real "oh yeah , i live in LA" moments last weekend.

We went to go see the 40-year old virgin last weekend and there is a scene that takes place in a bookstore. That scene was actually shot in a bookstore in pasadena that i love called Vroman's. Other than the normal touristy type movie scenes, i dont think i have ever recognized a place in a movie as somewhere ive been.

So thats a happy moment, that no one else probably thinks is very exciting....but it makes me smile :-p

absence makes the heart grow fonder

I am about 9 days away from being away from home for a year. That is a weird thing to think about...

My grandparents were here over the weekend. It was one of the best weekends i have had out here in california. Of all of my family, i have seen the least of them in the last 5 years because when i went away to college, they moved to florida. So, its been about one or two visits a year with them. Regardless, it was so much fun to spend time with them. On sunday we drove up into the san gabriel mountains and saw some great "rugged" terrain as my grandpa pointed out. It was the closest i have felt to home in a long time.

I think we can officially say I am in a state of homesickness. I have mentioned several times on here how great it is to talk to friends online or various phonecalls, but I think it has been hitting me especially hard lately. I was really pumped to be coming home in july, and when that didnt happen, it was one of the toughest decisions ive made in a long time. Leading up to the trip, the problem was how was i going to afford it, let alone afford not working those days. All i knew was that i needed to be home to see family, and then when i spent 8 hours sitting in an airport watching my name get bumped from 3 standby lists for flights...I slowly began to realize that it didnt matter how hard i fought to get home that week, it wasn't going to happen.

SO, now the plan is to use that standby flight sometime this fall, and buy a real ticket for christmas time. That said, I have to also figure out how i am suposed to see everyone i want to see when i go home. My family is all in the cincinnati area, as are some of my closest friends from hs. Then in columbus are people just as important. I want to see them al in one trip, but i know that is doubtful. Anyway, im just rambling. The point is that while california is slowly creeping into my definition of what I call home, Ohio is still the home to al of my closest friends.

I miss you all, and if i had to offer up a prayer request right now, it would be that all of the things that need to happen financially before the fall quarter starts - would hapen, and that means I will be able to make the flight reservations I need to make and see the people i long to see.

This is from one one of my new favorite comics : Pearls Before Swine - in the previous strips, pig had set up a nativity scene in his yard while he ran through the sprinklers to make people think he had friends - then someone stole all but the barn animals!
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For those who thought the reality show "Are You Hot?" was as low as we could go....

"Welcome to the Neighborhood" brings prospective new families into a suburban cul-de-sac. The white families who live there now have their preconceptions tested with potential neighbors that include gay, minority and heavily tattooed couples. The winning family gets to move in. The ABC series doesn't have a premiere date yet.

I don't even know what to say about this one.... Its bad enough that we have people who would struggle with living next to people with alternative lifestyles.....but to try and create a painful situation for them? And then make money doing it.....well thats just the American Way....

Long Time No Type

Well, It has been over a month since I have posted...... I am sorry :(

This quarter has been so busy, that I have hardly had time to stop and take a breath.

I have been working at Archives (A really large theological/religious studies new & used bookstore) one or two days a week, and that has been really fun. I have always loved books, so this is a great fit for me.

Aside from that I have either been in class or doing homework for class it seems. I have been enjoying it immensly however. I am in my final quarter of greek, and it is starting to get harder, yet more understandable at the same time...i wish I could explain that better.....

I am in a class on incarnation and mission among the world's urban poor. This class has really been challenging me and opening my eyes to the world around us. My thoughts on what it means to care for the poor have dramatically changed. If you wanta book that will convict you and then push you o a point where you are encouraged to take action, I recommend Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider.


My Systematics class is probably my favorite class right now. We are studying ecclesiology and eschatology. I am so excited to learn about the different approaches churches take to defining what it is to be a part of the church. It was really fun to be learning about the Roman Catholic tradition in the midst of the election of Benedict XVI. I am finding that I have a heart for Ecumenical studies. I am not sure what that means afte rmy masters. I know I want to pursue a doctorate of some sort, but I am not sure what yet....


The other thing that has really be great for me recently has been som things with the Vineyard Church, both as a who, and on a local level. I am so blessed to be a part of The Hub, my church here in LA. We are still so small, but we are growing in heart and in size (little by little). Going from the megachurch of Vineyard COlumbus to a 30 person church plant has been quite a change, but totally where God wanted me to go it seems.

On a more national level, I have been listening to some of the session from the national conference last week. It really is an exciting time to be in the Vineyard. We are ripe for God's moving in our midst and I pray that he would bring us to a deeper level of serving him as a church body.

And of course, things with katie have been just as great as ever. We have been together 5 months now, and while this has been a tougher quarter for both of us, it has been overall good for us. We are learning each other's breaking points and strengths. She is truly a wonderful part of everyday, and I am so thankful that she still will spend her time with me!




Lastly, I moved across the freeway a couple of weeks ago. It is a nice little place, two bedrooms with a loft. I am in the back bedroom which has its own bathroom. To get to my room you either have to go through the main bedroom, or you enter right through the bathroom, but it is worth it. I am nice and comfy!


This has been a quick runthrough of my life this quarter and I hope I am able to write more soon, I hope this is enough to update some of you though!

God Bless!

This is the rotunda of the Capitol building in Sacramento...thats right, I went to the home of Arnold...but he wasn't there.
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A bunch of seals at pebble beach :)
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Fun wave at Pebble beach in Monterey on the 17-mile drive
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Fun Waves at Pebble Beach in Monterey on the 17-mile drive
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The Beautiful sunset we got to watch at a beach in Big Sur
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Here is Katie in front of Mc Way Falls in Big Sur on our way up the Pacific Coast Highway
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The Happiest place on earth, and the "not nearly as big as the one in disneyworld" Castle
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This is Thomas and Andrea as we prepare to learn that it really is a Small World after all.
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Here is a good shot of Thomas on our way up the mountain
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This is Me on top of the mountain Thomas and I climbed in Malibu!
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this is a fun little flower I found.
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This was taken at Point Loma in San Diego. It has a great view of the ocean on one side and the City on the other. It was overcast that day so the city doesn't stick out as well. It is well worth the moolah to see it though!
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This is the Christine Dunson! We had a great time when she came to visit. :)
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First off this is a picture from when we went to Joshua Tree National Park way back in Feb/March-ish :)
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After a long online absence, I am back....

Hey all....It has been almost a month since I last posted.... So if yo uhave been anxiously awaiting the next post... Here it is!

It has been about the busiest month I have ever had! My finals week ended quite well and I have my grade for two of my classes...I got an A in Greek and an A- in my class on the Kingdom Of God theology.

Then the fun started! First I got my very first ohio visitor in the person of Christine Dunson. She came and had dinner with Katie and I and it was so much fun! I was really blessed by her visit, and it was nice to have one of my friends from home actually get to meet Katie, and give such a great approval! Christine Says she doesn't read this much ..or ever, but if she does I want her to know how happy her visit made me!

My second visitor from ohio also showed up and I got to go Hiking in Malibu with Thomas Settle. It was a beautiful day and we made it to the top of the mountain/hill/elevated land etc... it was amazing.

Next my grand tour of California began.

Katie had a friend who was getting married in San Diego, so we went down for two days. The wedding was alright, but San Diego was really fun in itself. Our introduction to the city was on the Coronado bridge, the highest bridge in town. As we crossed it, the traffic stopped and all of a sudden a couple of cops ran by, one of them carrying a shot gun. There was a "Jumper" luckily he did not jump , but it was definitely a weird experience. Other highlights of that weekend included going to Point Loma where you can get a great view of the ocean as well as the city.

The next week I started My job at Archives Bookstore, stocking shelves and what not. It is a great theological bookstore with a laid back attitude and the sounds of U2 in the background, so I am quite happy there.

Wed. of Spring break, Katie and I got to go to Disneyland with Thomas and Andrea where we got to do a lot of things including my favorite: the Pirates of the Caribbean. The worst ride of the day was "Storybook Canal ride" it was too awful to describe. But we had fun :)

Over easter weekend we drove up the pacific coast highway through malibu, Big Sur, Monterey, Pebble Beach, and more on our way towards Sacramento to stay with Katies folks for the weekend. Once again...it was just a great trip. The weather was sunny and gorgeous and there has been so much rain lately that all of the greenery was actually green!

In Sacramento her family took me ona tour of the city including the state capital building. Unfortunately I did not get to see Arnold, but I will make it my mission to find hm someday!

Then we retuned home for a few days of normal life until today when we went to the U2 concert in Anaheim. Wow. I am blown away. I have heard all these great things about what it is like to finally experience U2 live and it was well worth the wait. We had great seats, and the stage was so beautiful. They really had so much color in the displays, I was thrilled. In steadof an LED screen behind them like on the pop tour, they have these fun bead looking drapes of LEDs. They lower them down and they end up becoming large tv-type screens...I know sounds weird, but it looks cool. One thing that I didn't know about was that in the middle of the concert they tell you to text message a number for info on the One Campaign. At the end of the concert, during '40', they posted a lot of the names of the people who texted. I got to see my name! it took a second to realize that it was my name, but it was a nice little perk at the end of the night!

Anyway, this has been a long post and i will be posting some pictures of most of what I just described soon...

God Bless you all my friends...

Richie