Part 2...

See my post from earlier today for the prequel to this.

Let's see, when we last left you, I had established my connections to this area in addition to giving a brief overview of my employment. Let's tackle this a bit more chronologically and see if I can finish this bad boy off.

January was a bit of a lonely month. I think it was inevitable but I wasn't fully prepared. I had mad a vow to myself (those always work SUPER well) that I wasn't going to go back to Puyallup for at least 3 months. I needed to get myself entrenched in this area. I was also at the beginning of a self-imposed musical sabbatical. I didn't want to get involved with music ministry for at least 3 months. I loved what I did at Calvary but the 7 years or so of "full steam ahead" musical involvement had worn me down. Was time to recharge. Anyway, as mentioned before, I decided that I was going to try out different churches. Went to Crossroads my first Sunday, loved it. Went to another church the following (which shall remain nameless) and was a little less than enthused. Woke up the next Sunday and decided "Well, I guess I can do Crossroads again". From then on out, I just kept waking up on Sunday mornings thinking "I think I'd like to hear Dr. Bill Ritchie preach today". That was it. My grand church searching process was more anticlimactic than my earlier declaration this year that I would blog all the time. Eh well, what can you do?

February came and things were a bit easier. I developed good rapport with the people at the 78th street Tully's and was doing more music composition than ever. This was also the month that I finally went back home to visit. Not a lot of people knew about it because I didn't see many of them. Was totally on a whim. I was invited by Jessie Benson and Danielle Henry to join them for a Valentine's Day tradition of their's. We all went to Shari's, got some dessert and celebrated being single. Was terrific. From there, I basically went straight back down south. Was a good "fix" for the time being.

March was pivotal. A few matters in Puyallup occurred and, quite frankly, stressed me out. I wanted to be back there so badly but couldn't. Guess it was just supposed to be that way. Also went on a retreat with a ton of folks from the young adult group at Crossroads and got close with many of them. Developing real, sincere community is huge for me. I need people around me. I am way too much of an extrovert. This was also the month I went back up north to visit everyone. It never gets old walking into places like the downtown Puyallup Forza and getting a loud and warm welcome. They would always give those to me but after a three month layoff, this one was extra great. I also arranged to drum at Calvary's 7:33 service that night. To say that was fun would be a massive understatement. It was a nice dose of the past while not terribly compromising my present. I also traded in the good old red Dom truck for a blue Civic. The mpg would serve me well later in the year.

April and May were when I came off my musical sabbatical. As I mentioned before, Jason Ritchie stayed in contact with me, he and I met up and I discovered that we had a lot of the same interests/views musically. I got together with he and Daniel Smith, the assistant worship pastor at the time. After the multi-month layoff, I didn't feel that I played all that great but apparently it was good enough. They scheduled my first weekend playing there.

I had forgotten what it was like to be musically nervous (had been a few years). I would say that I felt tighter (and not in a good way) than I had in quite some time. I learned all the parts as best I could but I was very robotic in my playing and I don't think it served me well. Got through the first couple weekends doing an adequate (at best) job, I think. Finally, in mid to late May, Jason pulled me aside and basically told me "Hey man, I know you can play the parts. Don't worry about playing everything EXACTLY like the CD. Just play loose, let go and have fun". Done. It took my playing up several notches. I am SO happy he and I had that conversation.

Summer time was when everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, got married. I think I had a streak of about 13 weekends of so visiting and being involved. Was a ton of fun. Benj & Maddie, Evan & Ali, 4th of July, my 10 year HS reunion, all great things. Music continued to progress well too. Earlier than year, myself and Ben Wood, the worship leader and studio engineer for Crossroads Productions (www.crossroadsproductions.net) began working together a bit on music for Sunday nights at church. He and I have a lot of the same tastes so I think it's a good fit. He's definitely grown to be one of my best compadres around these parts. It also gives me the chance to pick the brain of an engineer about musical nuances that are WAY over my head.

Fall/winter have been good. I think that they have been a preview of how my life is going to be here. There are no real constant and necessary trips back up north. I have a routine scheduled. My work is becoming very natural and easy for me. I have found a new coffee shop. It doesn't QUITE measure up to Forza but hey, what can? It's even a Starbucks (which I would NOT have guessed to be the case). All in all, to sum it all up, I'm doing okay. Really and truly. God has put me in a great position to succeed in a variety of different ways.

Here are a few things that I have learned.

1. Portland is beatiful. It's not as big as Seattle nor does it have as much to do but it smells better. Also, it takes me about 15-20 minutes to get off to freeway and be in an establishment and in front of a good beer. In Seattle, it takes at least an hour to get off that stupid bottleneck downtown and be seated somewhere.

2. Vancouver is UNDERRATED. Paying sales tax sucks but this is a nice little city. I figured that I'd live here and just hang out in Portland all the time but I actually spend a ton of time here. It's quaint and has a lot of nice restaurants.

3. Being musically scared/overwhelmed is good. Sometimes you need competition to kick your butt into gear. I've grown more as a drummer in this last year than I had in any year prior.

4. The downtown Puyallup Forza is the best coffee shop in the history of the world. Not much more to be said about that.

5. The Blazers are cool but I can't make myself be a fan. Too weird to all of a sudden change teams. I still miss my Sonics.

6. I hate Oregon college sports more than ever. I could deal with never seeing the green and gold of U of O ever again.

7. Making new friends is scary regardless of how much of a social butterfly you were at your previous establishment. Call me a wimp if you must.

8. I miss playing football! No one around here does.

9. Making a big change (like moving) is a great springboard for adding other new and productive habits. I am eating better and taking better care of myself than I ever have.

10. After being here a year, I'm no closer to knowing whether or not I'll ever go back to Puyallup for good. Sorry, guys, I really have no idea. It really depends on the day that you ask me. I got back and forth so much with my opinion on it. As it sits now, I'd like to buy a house and soon. That would mean buying one here in Vancouver. Of course, there's also a ton back up north that I could get back into immediately if I chose to return although I'm sure it'd never be EXACTLY as I remember it. I don't think it ever is.

Anyway, this has been my longwinded, 2-part blog entry. Life is good. I am well. I miss Puyallup but I love Vancouver and Portland. I love you all and hope to see you soon. Love God, love each other. Take care.

- Dominic