LIfe Lessons Learned While In Peru

Wow, tis only taken me a little over a month to talk about our trip to Peru. Im not going to go into a huge writeup about it. I dont think I could accurately convey what all I felt and experienced while down there. I will say that it was an eye opening experience.

What things I do want to talk about are some of the differences I have seen. Peru is a pretty impovershed country. Although you couldnt always tell by the peoples attitudes. Granted they werent walking around whistling zippity doo dah, they genuinely seemed happy. The people were friendly and I found myself waving at them and greeting them while driving or walking about. Prior to going to Peru I didnt do much if any of that here. I now find myself saying hello to people more and more when Im out. Wether it be the cashier at the conveince or grocery store or someobdy passing through my office. I mean come on, are we that busy and so self centered we cant take a minute to say hello to somebody or even acknowledge someone, no.

Yesterday while we were at church, Pastor Joe gave us a challenge. We were given a case of bottled water and were asked to go to a park or something and hand the water out to people no strings attached. Debbie, the kids and I were going to a Diamondbacks game after church so we took our water with us and handed it out to folks as we were walking to Chase Field. The first guy I went to hand a bottle of water to, he instinctively asked me how much. I said its free, courtesy of Journey Church. He was shocked. Have we got to the point here in the states that we think that there is a catch wtih something when it is given to us? Must be. Its amazing the difference between Peru and here. Down there the people were grateful when we handed out fruit or water. Here people question your intentions. Kinda sad that the citizens of the greatest country in the world question anything and everything. Dont get me wrong, I love my country and dont plan on living elsewere, Im just amazed at the differences between a 3rd world country and ours.

Thanks for reading

Skydiving

Just a quick post to say a group of us from Journey are heading down to Eloy, AZ ( about 60 miles south of metro Phoenix for you non AZ residents ) to go tandem skydiving at Skydive Arizona. For me itll be my second tandem dive, for the rest of the group itll be there first. Im looking foward to it. Maybe while Im there Ill look into what it costs for skydiving lessons to earn my license =) I hope to have some pics of the day's events posted tomorrow or Sunday.

And with this post, thats number 165. Thanks for reading!

Debbie and I on the pier in Huanchaco, Peru

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Moving dirt at the jobsite in Trujillo, Peru

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Elizabeth ( Ailarie from Kick ) and I in the Atlanta Airport

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Some of the kids and I at the daycare center in Trujillo, Peru

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July Already?

Wow, the 4th of July came and went already. I didnt do much yesterday as I volunteered to work. We get paid double time and a half for some holidays throughout the year and the 4th was one of them. So I got paid a nice chunk of change to sit around and pretty much do nothing all day. Nothing different with today ( July 5th ) either. We get paid time and a half for Sundays and its been quiet thus far today.

I fell off the Coke/Pepsi wagon while in Peru. In one way it was rather easy. Everyday for lunch and dinner, they served us either bottles of Coke or Inca Cola to drink. I always had water with me but Coke just sounded so good after working hard at the jobsite every morning. So both Debbie and I folded liked a cheap tent and gave into the urge. She has since quit drinking Coke since we returned but I havent. I havent been drinking it in moderation either. Most days I have 2 32 oz Cokes. Its just one part of my piss poor eating and drinkng choices. Im not sure what happened but since about the middle of May, my eating and drinking habits have gone to shit and Ive gained back the weight that I had started losing in April =(. I feel like crap.

I read an article recently about when is the best day or time to start something new ( diets, exercise plans, new activities etc ) They say that a specific day of the week is better than a date with Monday being the best day of the week. Well seeing as how tomorrow is Monday, it looks like a good day to get back on the road of better eating habits, no Coke or Pepsi and starting to exercise again. I really need to get the ball rolling with exercising again. It can only help.

Ill try to be better about updating my blog. Just havent had a lot to say latley.

Thanks for reading!

We Are Home

Well actualy we got back to the valley yesterday afternoon around 1 pm ( after leaving Trujillo, Peru the previous day at 830 a.m. ) Yep over 30 hours of traveling to get back home. I plan on posting pics and talking about the trip in the next few days. We thought we wouldve had more time to journal on our blog we setup specificaly for the trip but that didnt happen. We were constantly on the go from the time we got up till nightfall. The little bit of free time we had in the evening we were just to exhausted to check in and blog.

I will say this, it was an eye opening experience for us and one we will never forget. We are already talking about taking part in another mission trip next year. It would be nice to go to another country on a trip but we would go back to Peru too.

Stay tuned for pics in the next few days

Im Pathetic....

Why would I choose to describe myself that way, let me tell you.

In the last few months Ive pretty much done nothing exercise wise. I could probably count on one hand how many times I have been to the Y since about March. No walks, no jaunts on the bike, no swimming, wieghts, nodda!. Oh sure there was the hockey clinic in March, a brief run/walk on the treadmill and a mat Pilates class last Thursday but nothing substantial since the beginning of March. Im not sure what it is. The bottom line is I make a lot of excuse as to why I dont get to the Y either at lunch or after work. Im too tired, Debbie needs me at home, itll bother my neck/back/whatever. Same with getting up earlier than normal during the week to try to exercise. I stayed up too late, hit the snooze one too many times, blah blah, blah.

Its gotten to the point that I dont even like checking in at Kick because I feel like a poser and a failure ( that an just a plain lazy ass who doesnt fit in )

I cant even blame it on the craziness of life around the time Lori passed away cuz I was a slug prior to that. I dont have a legitimate excuse.

I recently read an article in one of my few stops at Kick. It was written by Novia and it was about reassessing. Her quote toward the end really hit me hard.

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.”

I think it describes how I do things when it comes to working out, lifting, running etc. Apparently Im just interested in doing these things as I seem to only do them when its convenient to do so. Im not sure if Im afraid Im going to get hurt, reinjure something, I just dont know. I enjoy doing this stuff but something keeps holding me back. There are times especialy when it comes to running in particular that I wonder why I want to return to it. Is it because I really like running or do I just want to feel accepted by the gang on the board? Sure I havent been cleard by the chiro yet to return to running but when I do, whats going to stop me from doing it.

Im not sure how much time I will have to do it but I think while I am gone to Peru Im going to try to take a real hard look at myself and maybe do some of my own reassessing. Id like to turn over a new leaf when I get back, we shall see

The Time Is Drawing Near

Well, here it is, the week that we depart for our mission trip to Trujillo, Peru. Its hard to believe we are just 3 days away. Im excited, nervous, apprehensive all at the same time. I know Im in for a life changing experience and Im trying to go into it with an open mind and heart. I know that there will be challenges both physicaly and mentaly. Im not worried about the challenges though as I figured God led me to do this and he'll see me through everything. Just gotta be strong in my faith in him.

Im also looking foward to seeing Elizabeth again. Its been a little over 2 years sicne I saw her in person in Cinci at the Flying Pig Marathon. She is going to meet us Atlanta's airport as we have a layover of 3 hours there. While I can interact with her on Kick and Facebook on a daily basis, itll be nice to get to actualy "talk" to her again in person.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this journey.

Thanks for reading!

One Week and Counting and Thinking about Grandpa

Just one week from today at about this time Ill be almost toucing down in Atlanta on my way to Trujillo, Peru for our church mission trip. We are really looking foward to it. I know this weekend we will be really busy trying to tie up last minute details, starting to pack etc. I dont think the kids even know that we are going away and that our friend Kari is watching them. They will soon enough. I think Tyler will have the hardest time with us being gone. He's not quite as independent as Sarah and is like me in the sense that he's pretty sensitive and loves being around his mommy and daddy. We shall see how it goes.

Ive been thinking about my grandfather alot these last few weeks. Since Lori's passing it seems my grandfather has been in my thoughts more latley. Branden and I were talking about going to get tattoos together while he was here. He's going to get something to honro Lori and I am going to get something to honor grandpa. There are times were I want to ask grandpa more questions about his experiences during WWII. There just isnt anybody around anymore that can answer my questions like him. I never met anyone from his unit and am not sure if any of them are alive anymore. The reason that WWII comes to mind in regrads to him is I think I am goign to have his 8th Armored unit patch as part of my tattoo to honor him. Not quite sure what else I am going to do with it. Maybe his name, birth year and year of his death around in. I guess Ill figutre out something.

Wow two blog entries in 3 days, Im on a roll =)

It Must Be In The Air

Ive noticed these last couple of months many of my friends havent been updating their blogs. I havent asked them if its just they are that busy, have nothing to say, life got in the way or just a mixture of things. Im no different. At the beginning of the year I had set out to write x amount of blogs per month to beat my preious years total. Well here it is almost 6 months into the year and I havent entered even half the entries as I had by this time last year. I cant put my finger on it. Im sure some of it has to do with the amount of time I spend on Facebook these days ( I cant remember who I have to thank for turning me on to that addiction. I feel well mentaly and emotionaly for the most part so I cant blame it on that. Physicaly, meh I have my good days and bad. I need to get back to the chiro to finish up the ART work hae has been doing on me. FOr those who dont know, ART stands for Active Release Technique. Its a form of muscle, tendon and fascia release. Hopefully he can get me unwond enough to start running again. Just prior to Loris death the Dr told me I was two weeks away from being cleared to start runnign. Well I havent been back to see him in more than two weeks due to all that was going on at the time. I need to get back to him for a few visits before I leave for Peru next week.

Speaking of Peru, I hope to enter a few blog entries from Trujillo while I am down there to update those few of you who read this thing how things are going down there.

As always, thanks for reading!

The Hardest Part...

Well today was the day that we said our last goodbyes to my sister in law Lori. It was a very nice service done by our pastor from Journey Church Joe Darago. Several members of the family got up and spoke as did some of Loris friends. It was hard at times to hold back the tears. Joe had several good points and some questions for us to ask ourselves as we left the funeral and went about the rest of our day. One of the more interesting questions asked was if you were to die today, would those who you love and are important to you know exactly how you feel about them. I would have to say yes and no to that. I tell Debbie and the kids on a daily basis that I love them. The rest of my family, not so much. My friends? Do I tell them how much I appreciate them and how lucky I am to have them in my life? Every so often but not as much as I should. THats something in these next few weeks I want to try really hard to work on. Because you just never kow when God is going to call you home.

Give those special people in your life and extra hug and tell them what they mean to you!

Lori

We received completley unexpected news late yesterday, Debbie's sister Lori had passed away. At this point we dont know what her cause of death is. She had talked to both Debbie and their step mom on Sunday and had said she wasnt feeling well. Apparently she just went to bed on Sunday and never woke up again. Debbie oldest sister found Lori on Monday after going over to her apartment as noone had heard from her all day and began to worry. When Heather got their and couldnt get Lori to open the door or answer the phone, she called 911. The police got the door openend and thats when Heather found Lori. We wont know for a few days as to what the cause of death was.

We dont have any idea yet when the funeral will be. We have to wait for Loris body to be released to a funeral home and then we can go from their.

Not So Random Cam

Ive been getting quite a few compliments from family and friends about some of the pictures I have been taking over the last year or so. Maybe they are just being nice or maybe they are sincere. Ive always been the type with any thing I do ( especialy the few creative things I do ) that there is always somebody out there better than me. Im quick to shy away any praise I get. I have some friends who take some truly beautiful pictures ( Chris and Stephen from my board come to mind first ) Im not in their league. But I have been giving it some thought and I think I might seek out some kind of local photography contest or maybe an art show of some kind and maybe put a few of my pics in. Maybe not the ones I have here on this blog entry but something. I never really gave it much thought until I captured the image of the wet Hibiscus that I do have on this entry. I thought it was really cool and was actualy quite proud of myself .

Who knows maybe Ill just enter some stuff in the Arizona State Fair later this year. It wouldnt be the first time Ive entered something at the state fair. It high school I entered a drawing I did. While I wasnt as proud of the work as I am some of my photos, I thought ti was pretty good. Well I didnt even get an honorable mention ribbon from the judges. I was kinda crushed and vowed never to have my work judged again. Well I guess time had changed me and now Im thinking about it again.

90 Days

Thats how many days its been since I last had a Coke or Pepsi to drink. If you wouldve told me this time last year that I would have gone this long without my daily drink of choice I woulda said you were high. But here it is 90 days ( actualy 92 now ) since I last had one. I dont crave them anymore, dont really think about it anymore. It seems natural to me now to order an unsweetened ice tea with my food or when I go to a convienence store. Matter of fact I spied two Cokes in my 'fridge last week and didnt even remotely want one. I think I am cured. Now if I could just quit cramming candy bars in my mouth and eating Burger King ill be doing that much better =)

I am having a hard time though deciding if I want to fall off the wagon for one soda when we go to Peru in June on our church mission trip. Everybody thats been to Peru toalks about Inca Cola and how good it is. Part of me wants to try one, part of me says no. We shall se how ti goes.

Ten years already?!

I saw the headling on Yahoo today that it was 10 years ago today that the Columbine HS massacre took place. It was also ten years ago that I started my initial training for the job I am currently doing. It doesnt seem possible that ten years has passed by. At the time, I was hired as a contractor working for what used to be U.S. West. There was no garauntee that I would be hired permanately. I kept my job at Auto Zone but went to part time just in case the telephone company gig didnt pan out. Well luckily for me it did. In December of '99 I was hired permanately. Its amazing how many people that Ive worked with in these ten years. Many have retired, transferred to other offices ( as have I ) and sadly some have passed away. But thats life. Id be willing to bet these next years will probably pass by that much faster.

Facebook Part 2

Bear with me as Im going to ramble and wander here a bit

I cant help but reminisce as time goes on and I find more and more folks that I went to high school with on Facebook. I was by no means very popular in school. Sure I knew a lot of the popular people but its not like I hung out with them. I was part of kind of a hodge podge group of people. Depending on who you asked I was a nerd ( funny as I didnt get great grades ), a dork, a gearhead ( ill take that ) a good friend, a sweet guy etc. Alot of the people I hung out with fit alot of those descriptions too. When it came to fashion I was always a year or so behind. I was ( and still am ) a jeans and t-shirt type of guy.

WIth all that in mind, it blows me away some of the people that have either friended me out of the blue or actualy accepted my friend request on FB. Ive hesitated when it comes to asking some people and others I thought what the hell and pulled the trigger. I havent seen many of these people in more than 15 years. Ill be seeing alot of them next summer at our 20th class reunion. That ought to be interesting.

Some of this discussion brings to mind the fact that even though I wasnt popular in school I actualy had the nerve several times to be a complete asshole to some folks and blow off their attempts at friendship. Yeah me, the unpopular guy thinking I was too good for some people. Shit looking back I shouldve glady accepted these people as friends. They turned out all right and I wouldve been a better person if I had a few of them in my life. Maybe I can make amends with some of those people as time goes on. But it wouldnt surpirse me if some of them told me to pack sand. ALthough like I said some of the popular people have either freinded me out of the blue or accepted me so who knows. Time does things to people.

A long time friend of mine had posted some pics of me in group/party situations from days gone by. I had to be in my late teens or real early 20s in the pics. I had a whole lot more hair, a whole lot less weight and there was alcohol involved in most of the pics. My how somethings have changed and yet some things never do. Im still a dork, Im just older, heavier, have less hair but dont drink nearly as much.

Its kinda funny I guess. Who woulda thought that a website that 6-9 months ago I had never heard of would bring me into contact with folks I havent seen or heard from in more than 15 years. Pretty cool I say.

Kharma, its a good thing ;-)

Ive been a believer in some form or another of kharma. The old saying of what goes around, comes around, yep, firm believer.

Recently my ex-girlfriend Shayla posted on her Facebook page that as of a week ago today her diviorce was final.

She didnt make it public as to why she was getting divorced, she just made the statement. I knew from talking to her best friend several months ago that Shayla was getting divorced because her husband had been cheating on her. I kinda smiled when I heard the news.

Now dont get me wrong I dont wish bad luck on anybodies relationship and no matter how unhappy someone might be in a relationship, that doesnt justify cheating on their SO.

Her getting cheated on is just a classic example of kharma. You see, in the 4 years Shayla and I dated, she cheated on me...twice. Her best friend Jennifer tried to tell me that it was a high school and college relationship, that it was different. Shayla tried really hard in her marriage to make things work. BBzzzzttt wrong answer. Cheating on somebody in any kind of a relationship is wrong, period. Purposely breaking somebodies heart and completely killing their self esteem is wrong. Sure I recovered and eventualy started dating and marrying Debbie and we have now been together 15 years. But it still hurt getting cheated on and having my heart broken.

So I dont feel sorry for Shayla. I know what she's feeling but I dont feel sorry for her. Thats kharma! What goes around, comes around and unfortunatley for Shayla, it hit her right between the eyes.

Sorry for the cynical entry today. Was on my mind and I needed to get it out.

I Ran...If You Want To Call It That

I went to the Y Thursday and decided I was going to try Week 1 Day 1 of the C25k plan as a trial. It went really, really slow. I didnt want to push it and seeing as how I havent done any exercise in a month it made sense to take it slow.

My left knee and foot were bugging me prior to starting so I kept that in mind as I chugged along. Amazing enough nothign bothered me while I ran/walked according to the plan. I made sure after I got done to stretch out really well.

I have mixed emotions after the fact. I already think that if I stick with running, Im probably going to be limited to about 3 days a week. What running I did bothered my protruding disc the next day and my hip too. There are things I can do to strengthen/stretch my hip but there isnt anything to do about my neck perse. So if it bothers me after a mile and a half run the next day what will it be like after a 3, 6, 10 or 13.1 mile run? I guess Ill just have to space out my running to every other day and see how it goes once I complete C25k.