Freshman boys lining up.

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Race morning

Waking up to a beautiful sunrise. Cyclist and parents everywhere.
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Its the night before the race and the bikes are all hanging with care. :).
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Saturday at White Tank Mtns.

What a beautiful morning in the desert! I'll take 55 degrees over 32 anyday!! It's only 7am and the organizers are already blaring U2 on their overhead speakers.

While I can't race as much as I used to because of my back, watching my son do this and just being among the atmosphere of all the other racers, the families, all the cool bikes, the cool gear that you wish you had..........it's just awesome to be out here.
Pre-ride doesn't start until 1 so I think we're just going to enjoy the morning. The boys are already arguing over things that boys argue about......."He won't stop touching me", sounds like an old version of Bill Cosby.

Time to enjoy some morning camping coffee. Love it!!! Have a super day!!
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Roasting Marshmallows

I didn't think I'd be a fan of camping in the desert, but what a beautiful evening! Our campsite (everyones campsite) over looks the towns of Waddel and Tolleson. I'd post a pic, but I don't think it would show up.
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Tomorrow this parking lot will be wall to wall campers with cyclists everywhere. What a beautiful night in the desert!
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Love this!

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Arizona High School Cycling

Getting ready to head down to Phoenix for the last high school race of 2013.  The season flew by, but it was fun to see the kids develop as well as get some of their competitive juices flowing.  You could tell a huge difference from the first race and the last race.   The kids really seemed to want to improve their placings which was cool to see.  If you have kids interested in racing mountain bikes, you should look to see if your high school offers a club/team.  Here's the facebook page for AHSCL https://www.facebook.com/ArizonaHighSchoolCyclingLeague 

I've been so impressed with the quality of races they have put on.  The competition is huge and it seems to be growing.   I've got some pictures from the last race that I'll post later.   It's pretty cool to see so many young people out there. 

The original plan was to take our trailer down and camp in the newly renovated rv sites at the park, but we just found out they won't be ready until Nov 22:(   so it looks like everyone is camping in the track parking lot.   Guess it will force everyone to get to know one another :)  . 

I'll try and post from the race.   Hope you all have a great weekend.  Mine is starting early............sort of...........gotta go home and pack real quick.  Ugh!!!!

 

2013 Challenge, before and after

At the end of last years (2013) Weight Loss Challenge, I pretty much dropped the ball when it came to giving the winner some major credit.  Yes, she got her prize, but once you see the before and afters, she deserves some major kudos.  

I'm always blown away when I see these pictures.   I've been trying to lose a measly 10lbs for the last 2 months and I'm lucky to lose 2.    So Ashley, sorry for the delay in posting these, but OSSM job on the weight loss.   Very very impressive!!

And she has kept it off!!!!!

60% Chance of Rain?

60 percent chance of rain? And I wake up to this on my deck. Are you ready for snow? I'm not. While I'm loving the Christmas decorations that are going up all over, I'm not prepared for the white stuff.
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NOW!!

Time and time again, I mention the idea of never taking NOW for granted.    A couple of weeks ago, some friends of ours lost their mother to a sudden heart attack.   My heart, my prayers, and my thoughts are with the family.   Of course it is incidences like this that make you think more about the "NOW".  

I had the opportunity last night to chat with an old friend from high school.  We grew up together playing baseball and my last couple of years his dad was even my coach.  About a year ago, he too lost his mom.   I have no doubts that his mom is on his mind daily.   To add to the pain, he has to do his best at helping his dad cope with the loss. I can't even imagine the pain.   Dustin, your a great man and awesome son!!!

Working with Hospice patients, we see this pain of loss almost on a daily basis.   While I think one has to put up some sort of wall in order to deal with this, I also want my staff to understand loss and the pain that comes with it.   On the flip side though, I hope they will also learn from it.   Cherish the moment and cherish those closest to us.  

If you work in health care and make every opportunity to treat every individual as if they are family, then God Bless you!!    I think the ability to lay your heart out there while knowing in the end it's gonna hurt like heck, you have given possibly the best gift to someone who otherwise may have no one.   There is no greater gift than the giving of your time.  Give a lonely person 10 minutes of your time and you will have made their day, quite possibly their year.    

Wanna know where I fail most when it comes to my time................my kids.   While I do my best to give them quality time, I can do better.  Ronan Thompson changed my life.  This little boy changed the way I view my time with my kids.     If Keevan, my little 4 year old was diagnosed with a terminal disease, how much more special would I make the time we have together?   Hellooooo!!!!   Live NOW!    Play tractors now!  Play super heroes now!   Take that bike ride now!!  

We never know what tomorrow may bring.  Make the most of today.  What if tomorrow was your last day..... will those closest to you become even more important?    I don't want to sound gloomy, in fact I want you to celebrate each moment, each day!!  Why the heck not?   Are today's problems really any worse than yesterdays?  Didn't you get through today just fine?  Why not get through it with a positive state of mind?   Cherish it!  Why do we hold ourselves back?   Have you ever saw the movie "Coach Carter", I love this quote:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Don't Be Afraid to Shine!!


My wife has this quote on our wall, "Live, Laugh, and Love"

Shouldn't we all focus on this.  Cherish the moment folks!!!  All the shitty stuff will still be there tomorrow.  Focus on the good!!

One more quote, ""The way to examine whether we are doing what Jesus Christ wants us to do is to look at the habits of our life in three domains—physical, emotional, and intellectual. The best scrutiny we can give ourselves is along this line: Are my bodily habits chaste? Is my emotional nature inordinate? Is my intellectual life insubordinate?" --Oswald Chambers, in Biblical Ethics from the Quotable Oswald Chambers

Have a great day!!!

Holy Cow!!! Yes It's really a new post!!

Wow!!  It's been a while since I sat foot on this blog page.  Danielle asked me to look up some old blogs and dang if it didn't bring back some memories.  I never realized I had been writing this blog since 2011.   Lots of exciting changes going on right now.   We've finally gone live on Facebook, we're getting an entirely new web page, we've got a new Marketing Director who is just outstanding, and my lazy butt is getting back blogging.  

Since it has been like uhhhh forever since I wrote, it's going to take forever to get the same amount of people to visit this site, but heck, if we can do it once, we can do it all again.   At the peak of the Weight Loss Challenge, we were getting 100 hits a day,  which for a small town blog, is pretty darn good.

I've got lots to share so hopefully most of you will tune back in.  

Most importantly I've got to post some before and after pics of the 2013's Weight Loss Challenge winner.   Nothing short of impressive.  It will have to wait until tomorrow though, as all of the pics are at work:)

As I mentioned earlier, we've finally got a facebook page.    Check it out and give us a "like"!!!

Also for those who are wondering.....yes we're going to have another Weight Loss Challenge starting January 1.    My chubby butt is back up to 180 and I've been busting my butt to lose the chub, but so far all I've gotten from going to the gym is SORE!!!  

Any, I've got a thousand things to do before tomorrow so I've got to cut this one short.  So for the one or two of you that my stroll to this site, thanks for reading.  

Ironhorse Cruiser Classic.

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Ironhorse

Huge field of racers this year in Durango. Weather is perfect. Several crashed already, but so far everyone has gotten back up.
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LOVE THIS

LOVE THIS!!

http://www.ndbelnap.com/2013/04/lessons-learned-from-seth.html

Edwin Nunez shows up for practice

It's been a really fun season so far.  We're 2-1 so far with another game tonight.   Last night we had a pretty cool practice.  A friend of a friend of a friend (you know what I mean)  arranged to have Edwin Nunez come to the practice to help out our pitchers.  It was beyond great.  Edwin (the enormous guy in the picture) was drafted to the pros at the age of 19 then played for 12 years before hanging it up.    I'm not sure who learned more, me or the kids, but the smiles on the face of each kid after he worked with each one was priceless.   He would notice little problems with their delivery, change it, and bham, the end result was a faster more accurate pitch.   After each throw, the kids would just have a huge smile on their faces.  I loved it.  Afterwards, Edwin stayed around and signed just about everything the kids would bring up to him, balls, hats, gloves, and even the bats they use in a game.  

I'm sure every kid will want to show off their new and improved skills tonight.  I'm anxious to see the enthusiasm tonight.  Which brings me to a new topic..............

At what point does it become more about the coaches than it does the kids?  I'm just as guilty as anyone when I say I want to beat some coaches more than others.  And you know what...............that's pathetic.  When did the game become about me?   Does any kid on my team or any other team for that matter really care which coach we beat or don't beat?  Of course not.

I heard last nights games ended with a score of 30-10.    In the end, from what I understand, it became coach against coach.   Again, I'm not pointing fingers because I've been there.  I've been on both sides.  
Comments are made to one another, then suddenly both coaches just want to make the other suffer or threaten with paybacks.  

Take the coaches out of the picture..................There's a kid on the pitchers mound, maybe 10-12 years old.    Make that kid a priority, then everything changes.    There's a 10 year old coming up to bat, make that kid a priority, then everything changes.  

I prayed hard during our last game.  I prayed that I would remember why I was out there.  I prayed that I focused on each kid and not the game.   And you know what, selfishly I had a blast.  The game was over before I realized it.  The kids were smiling, the parents seemed to be happy (that's a whole other subject), and yes we won.  We won though because I think everyone was relaxed and having fun.

I hope and pray that I can continue to stay focused on what is important and to realize that each kid is an individual.    That the sun will still come up tomorrow no matter the outcome of the game.  

Were down here in the valley with our boys and a few of their friends. For his birthday, our oldest (Ryan) wanted to bring some friends down to goto Amazing Jakes. We also brought PJ, who is one of the kids on my baseball team and a kid that I have coached for a few years. I call him my 4th son:) as his parents are super busy so I'm usually picking him up and dropping him off to and from practice everyday. I could write an entire post on the joy he brings to every situation but I'll save that for later.

Today though I just wanted to mention something about the Special Olympics. Actually not even really about the Special Olympics, but those involved.

The hotel were staying at is obviously one of the host hotels for the Special Olympics. There are kids (and adults) everywhere. Those that are participating all have their uniforms on with the track number on their chest.

I don't know many kids that are special needs, but have enjoyed observing many of the kids that are staying here at the hotel. One of them even helped me prepare my coffee this morning in the lobby of the hotel.

I found myself thinking that most of us could really learn a lot from these young people. Whether many of them have the mental ability or not to give a crap about what others think about them, they don't seem to portray it or worry about it. I saw them hugging people they just met, talking loud, laughing louder, just being in their moment.

On the other hand, most of us that are deemed "normal" or without any handicap remain in our own little shell of comfort. Just keeping to ourselves and socializing with those that we know.

Can you imagine a world where we socialize more like those with a "mental handicap?". Talk about Christ like! These kids cast judgment on no one and accept everyone for who they are, loving all those around them, and not being afraid to let it show.

I could sit and watch these kids for hours. Jealous in many ways and noticing a desire to be more socially relaxed the way they are.

They bring a huge smile to someone who although states he doesn't care what anybody thinks, but obviously does. Don't most of us worry about that very thing? If we didn't, we would be more like these young people. More loving, more carefree, more socialable. In many way, who is more handicapped?
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Whoever invented lunges is a very very cruel person!!
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Just want to say kudos to my mom.  She ran/walked her first Pat Tillman run (or any other run for that matter)   She will be 61 this year and she did the 4.2 mile run (which is further then I would ever care to walk or run).  

Good Job Mom!!!!

Relaxing Weekend.

Well our first little league of the season is tonight.   It sure is good to finally get started.   We had a small scrimmage on Saturday and if our performance on Saturday is any indication of how tonight is going to play out, we are in trouble.   Nerves, nerves, nerves.     It's amazing how good a kid can perform at practice and then forget everything when under pressure.   I suppose even as adults we can fall apart the same way.  

I've been trying to get my parent letter written, but for some reason I'm having a little harder time this year.  Not sure why, this will be the 16th letter I've written over the last the 16 years, you would think I would just copy and paste it.    Anybody that know's me, knows that I over analyze everything, even coaching.

This year I'm struggling with the fact that quite often Little League baseball is very little about the kids and very much about the coaches.   Several of us have coached against each other for years now.  Anytime I'm worried about losing to a certain team, I'm guilty of putting my own selfish interest above what I should really be focused on, the kids and teaching the game.    I want to distant myself from the "coach battle" and give 100% of my efforts to teaching these kids.   After all, if you teach the game, teach the fundamentals, all else will hopefully fall into place.    

Equal playing time.......................Sorry but this only happens in very rare occasions.   I'm not going to play a kid who spends most of his time playing x-box over a kid that spends extra time at the field.  I want to see effort and I want to see the desire to improve and learn the game.

I've got a really fun group of boys this year.  More fun then I've had in years.  Maybe because they are older.  This year I've got mostly 11 and 12 year olds and 2 ten year olds.    For the most part they work well  together and seem to get a lot pretty well.

Anyway, we'll see tonight if we can get the nerves under control.  Gotta have fun, but also gotta take is seriously.


On a completely different note, I had a really good relaxing weekend and I so needed it!!!  After the scrimmage on Saturday, my family and I went to have Pizza and Ice-Cream (yes the diet was put on hold).   Then around 3:00, Coby my 10 year old, talked me into going fishing.    We took a quick drive up to Horseshoe lake and pretty much just froze our finger off in the wind.    We decided quickly to call it a day and try again the next morning.

So the next morning we headed up to Sunrise lake.  I've never fished this early in the year and really had no idea what to expect...........that was good, because all we caught was one.   The lake was gorgeous though.  When the wind wasn't blowing, the lake was pristine.

 Then came Hawley Lake.  Still no fish, but what a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.    Coby had never been there and for a ten year old, he was just amazed at how beautiful the scenery was.  I think he wanted to hike more than he wanted to fish.   As the saying goes, "a bad day fishing is better than a good day working".  So very true.  

   
I needed the break and actually can't wait to go back up as soon as possible.  Hopefully soon the fish will start biting.  We shall soon see.

Hope you all had a great weekend too.

Thanks for reading.