Ricardo Sevilla's Blog

Recently I went to Gainsville to celebrate a friend's gender reveal party. She also has a friend that wanted to go but did not want to make the trip alone, so we carpooled. After the party was over, we make our way back to Miami.

Early into the drive, we get hammered with hard rain. "This place is so freaking beautiful!" I tell her. She agrees as we keep looking at our surroundings. As I drive down a road, I look to my left and notice an incredible scene! I slow down and stop the car. "What are you doing?" she asks. "I HAVE to take a look at something back there. It'll be quick!". So I turn the car around and come across a side road entrance. It looks incredible with the rain pouring down, windshield wipers singing their song and giving us view, all the while the headlights are peering in. We sit there for a moment, and I go, "You still have your dress from the party... would you mind getting wet?! Let's take a portrait of you in the rain!" "What? No, I'm going to get wet, and my makeup is going to run, and it's cold outside and..." "And I don't care come on! Trust me! It will be a great photo! Stop overthinking and let's go, I'm going to get soaked too, and so is my camera!," I interrupt. "Ok, but just for one minute and it has to be fast!" she says. "Yeah yeah, let's go!"

After what seemed like 5 minutes, we jump back into the car with our clothes completely soaked. I start backing the vehicle up unto the main road, turn on the heater and continue our way back home. With smiles on our faces.

I use Amazon's photo depository, and the app comes with a feature called, "On This Day." Every day you will see some photos that were taken that same day, on a previous year. It's pretty neat really, and I enjoy being reminded of things. 

On this day, this photo came up and a smile formed on my face. Sometimes I wish I can go back to the days where she wore her little monster feet and held on to my ears when carrying her on my shoulders. ^_^

I recently acquired my custom-made bow (designed for my hands, draw length, draw weight, and other custom touches), from Timberpoint Archery. My new bow wears a gorgeous piece of Woolly Mammoth ivory on its riser (something I specifically requested), it weighs more and sports a faster limb system compared to my previous bow. It's also one of Timberpoint's first bows in a new top-of-the-line series (Medusa Series). It's wild. It's silent. It's beautiful, and I have received countless compliments on this bow from fellow archers. But this bow has also been giving me a hard time to control because its limbs are just so much more potent than the previous bow I would shoot. My on-point for a target changed from 40 yards to 60 yards.

Today, however, I received an archery lesson from my coach in what could probably be the first time in around nine months or so. Before today, we would shoot, and he would share tips and pointers, but this time it was a full-blown lesson. Since I have intentions of competing in Estonia 2020, I figured he sensed my difficulties. "You're over gripping the bow, and you're shooting like shit. Bad form. This is what happens when you don't shoot enough," he mentions. He was right, I was shooting poorly, and I haven't been shooting enough as I should be, but I thought my form was ok. I felt it was the arrows not being compatible with this new faster bow. "I think my form was OK," I protest. "What? Who's teaching who here? If I say you're over gripping the bow, it's because you're over gripping the bow." was his automated response. "Hmm, crap... am I over gripping?," I ask myself. I prepared the next shot and loosened my grip. 40 yards. It strikes true. I turned to him. He smiled, and said, "Tada!". Three hours go by of more form fixing, and I began to shoot well again. "60 yards. You vs me. Best of 4 shots." I beat him the first round, and he beats me the second round.

"One tie-breaker shot to find the winner! After that, training is over for today," he indicated. We walked towards the 60-yard target. "You go first, NO PRESSURE MATE!" he told me with a laugh. I selected one particular arrow from my quiver for this final shot. I nocked the arrow on my bow, and I took aim. All the while remembering exactly why I love this sport so damn much and why I'm going to do well in Estonia 2020 with this masterpiece of a bow.

So, Blu is continuously getting straight A's in all her exams, and in her last SAT, she scored a top 1% for reading and top 7% for math. I am delighted with her academic performance thus far. However, she keeps getting in trouble... why? She talks so much haha. She is a chatterbox! She completes her work and once done she seems to engage in conversation with students around her causing interruption. So I've developed a brilliant idea! I will be taping this pic I made on her desk to remind her of the times in which she needs to "Shhh." I love the fact that she's a chatterbox because it is an outstanding trait to have later in life. We have fantastic conversations during dinner and when we are together in general (I'm a better listener than a chatterbox so she keeps me engaged), but I need to teach her when it's appropriate and when it's not. Attempt #1 is underway!