NEW photos at rachelmccordphotography.com!

NEW photos are up!

In the following galleries on the portfolio page....

:: Love 

:: Life 

:: Lone

Check out my website here:

rachelmccordphotography.com

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Treat your eyes with a peek /bookmark the page /tell your friends /schedule a photo shoot with me!

Thanks friends : )

get it, girl.

please indulge my desire to be a 12 year old girl... just for a second. because i can't resist.
partly because this song is great & partly because it so fun to belt it out. duh. 

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Fearless - Colbie Caillat ( i know, i know, but i just like this one, ha)
If that's the way you love you've got to learn so much
If that's the way you say goodbye
Then this is how it ends and i'm alright with it
You're never gonna see me cry 'cause i've cried

So go on go on and break my heart
I'll be okay there's nothing you can do to me
That's ever gonna bury me

So go on go on and leave my love
Out on the street i'm fearless
Better believe i'm fearless fearless

If this is how it hurts it couldn't get much worse
If this is how it feels to fall
Then that's the way it is we live with what we miss
We learn to build another wall till it falls

So go on go on and break my heart
I'll be okay there's nothing you can do to me
That's ever gonna bury me

So go on go on and leave my love
Out on the street i'm fearless
Better believe i'm fearless fearless

If it's between love and losing
And to never have known the feeling i'd still side with love
And if i end up lonely at least i will be there knowing i believe in love

Go on go on and break my heart
I'll be okay i'm fearless
Better believe i'm fearless fearless

Go on go on and break my heart
I'll be okay there's nothing you can do to me
That's ever gonna bury me

So go on go on and leave my love
Out on the street i'm fearless
Better believe i'm fearless fearless
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okaaaay. now back to being a big girl.

the plus side of learning.

i've been thinking back lately about who i was/how i was when i first came to biola, and how different i am now. it almost feels wrong that i have changed so significantly. almost like i have created this whole new persona through the experiences i have had and the choices, no matter how small, that i have made since i've been here. it's crazy to think back to freshman year, it was only 2 years ago but feels like junior high. and now, as i look forward i am still such a baby. i'm only 20, not even a fourth of my life has been lived yet and i'm already looking back nostalgically about how much i've changed. goodness, it's only going to get crazier. 

to be honest, i like myself now a whole lot better than i like freshman or even sophomore year version of myself. why? because i have made strides. big ones, spiritually, relationally, academically, financially and artistically since then and i have been impacted deeply by people who have poured into my life, or been in my life for a short time and continued on their way. because i have discovered what it is that i am, what i want to do, how i can bless others and what my purpose is. things freshman version of myself had no clue about. because i have lived. and lived well.

this past year has been hands down the most significant thus far. as it's coming to an end it leaves a weird taste in my mouth. both glad to have experienced all that has come my way, and also expectant & anxious about next year full of question marks, and all the years after college that i have no idea how to face.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." [Joshua 1:9]

time to go get it.

best friend time always wins

a weekend full of birthday celebrating, dancing, eating, not much sleeping, and general merriment and adventure with some of my favorite people is just what the doctor ordered.

even though now i could fall asleep standing up and haven't even blinked at my homework, it was pent-up energy well spent and good best friend time spent that i won't get to enjoy again till july at the earliest.
ahh, man.
now to hit up the research papers, projects and hours of buzzing around for the next week of madness that is my life. [also this is great, go andy].

happy earth day!

"Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values.... 

God made life simple.
It is man who complicates it." Charles A. Lindbergh

pick up some trash. water a plant. hug a tree. breath deeply.

don't just float.

"be the change you wish to see in the world."

is something i've been thinking a lot about lately.

create things to make the world beautiful.

speak, write, sing, protest to make your voice heard.

love to bring warmth and expel cold hatred and hostility.

be the person that is written about in our history books.

listen, learn, want, desire & become what it is you say you want to be.

understand what it is you were purposed to do and do it.

don't just dream. act.

don't just hope. achieve.

don't just wander. move.

don't just wait. start.

go. begin.

buh-zzzzing.

i've edited pictures for 5 hours yesterday. almost in one sitting. that's nuts.
i just wish i didn't love it so much because then i would be able to stop when my fingers cramp up and my eyes glaze over. but i can't seem to tear myself away from it, even though i know clear as day that i am too tired to go on anymore. stupid.

editing of: spring banquet guest photos (over 300)
&
editing of: shannon & joels engagement (just under 300)

that's a whole lotta looks. but i love em all.

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in other news:

today my future roommates and i face our fate for the apartment lottery. we could either get a this quad apartment or try to live on the streets. keep your fingers crossed in our favor and send some cozy house warming thoughts our way.

have a happy tuesday!

tra la la lovely.

sometimes i have no problem being content.
like tonight for example.

i am compleeetely content eating nutella, wearing flannel and a cozy crotched blanket, watching 500 days of summer and updating my photography website. several things i thoroughly enjoy all rolled into one. perf.

other times i go nuts if i am in a room by myself for more than an hour without plans to go out and meet up with people or something in general. weird. im realizing just how weird i am. ha, its funny.
getting to know myself continues to be one of the most odd experiences ive ever had.
i can surprise myself sometimes at things i do/say/think/feel/accomplish/enjoy/hate.
it almost feels like im just a whacked out version of myself that is temporarily having a meltdown, but then i realize... oh, im just getting to know myself, or even worse, im growing up, yuck.

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in other news...

spring banquet = success.
just ended a few hours ago. lots of adorbs staff pictures that i will show you.
fully booked, over booked actually, my staff and i had to sit/eat outside, hah, worth it.

tomorrow i am taking my best friends engagement pictures. should be nothing short of wonderful.

i have only 5 weeks left of being a junior in college and its starting to get real. planning out senior year classes, jobs, apartments, internships. and realizing that i only have one more year of pre-adulthood left, one more summer left and one more chance to go out with a bang. weird weird weird. but good good good.

bbbback to the other (beautiful) part of my life.

now more than ever i feel like i legitimately have two lives. coming back from the slower paced, more predictable, easier to adapt to, cozy environment of home to the all over the place, fast and ever changing school environment always throws me. no matter how prepared i am or how much {or little} rest i've had.

i am realizing more and more that i am very sensitive to change.

not resistant, not ungrateful, not afraid, just sensitive... it effects me more than i realize.

i'm understanding that this is because i invest myself full force into each thing i am a part of.

i hate being left out of things i am passionate about, i hate choosing to be a bystander, i hate not taking advantage of each opportunity. and because of this, i dive... into everything.

which most of the time works to my advantage, no fears, not too many apprehensions or questions.. just actions. 

but as much as i feel at home being a woman of action, i think i need to be more aware of the fact that hurling myself into things i am passionate about may not be so kind to me in a situation if done repeatedly. no particular any direction i'm going with this. just something i've been thinking about.

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in other news:

-Mock Rock tryouts are underway and judging them has been such a treat with my staff. this year is going to be insane. so many good groups to choose from...

-housing for next year is heating up and so is registration, course loads, planning for the future {all things i generally dislike, a lot}

- awkward moments keep enriching my life. too many to list, but im lovin every tension/giggle soaked minute of it.

-Spring Banquet {which we've been planning for weeeeeeks} is finally this weekend! And should be amazing, more news on that as it comes.

-already skimping on sleeping, eating and showering {three of my favorite things} so you know its getting down to the wire.

- I miss these tots alreadyyyyy. hmmf.

fingers crossed that i'll come out of this semester alive 

{and officially a senior. weirdweirdweird}

sometimes, you just gotta

princess cupcakes on sale for $2?

why yes, i believe i would like to have those.

their description got me hook, line & sinker...

"white cake + perfect pink icing + pretty pink curls = perfect pink party"

too adorable, and tasty to pass up.

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in other news:

there are 6 weeks left of the semester (crazy)

and spring break always leaves me a little sluggish 

because it comes so late in the semester.

welp, here's to finishing strong, fingers crossed.

running low on inspirations,,,

... time to refuel.

that's better.

home home home.

is great great great.

why? here's why:
- rainy weather [which therefore requires rainy clothes, that i have dearly missed]
- fantastic easter celebration filled with family, friends, rainy egg hunts with energetic tots & cozy fires
- too much delicious food consumption
- some photo shoots lined up to keep me artistically occupied
- a bit of nature adventuring, wandering & movie night vegging still to come
- making time for sweatpants, crocheting and reality tv
- no schedule, no homework, no where to be but wherever the heck i feel like.

again, great great great.
cheers spring break 2010. let's do this.