MERRY CHRISTMAS

     This special time of year I have been reminded of the true meaning of Christmas!  Kelli and I have kind of made it a tradition over the last few years to try something new each Christmas season, this seasons new events have included Christmas carols and tree lighting at a local Methodist church, and a candlight service last night at the Stevensville baptist church!  Combine this with a candlelight service at our church in spokane, they had candlelight services last Sunday for people like us who would be traveling, and it's been a very festive and fun holiday!

     Through all of the different things we have done this year and all the different denominations of churches we have gone to for things like the tree lighting and candlelight service on the road, I was gleefully reminded at each event of the real meaning of the season.  No matter where we are or what name is on the front of the church the common denominator has been the celebration of God becoming man!  And when I'm probably going to be the kid at heart who always wishes for a white Christmas, when I wake up to this I have nothing but thanksgiving and joy to give to the new born king!!  Joy to the world indeed!!

Remember, the true meaning of Christmas today!!:)

The end of an era

     This past weekend was one filled with highs and lows, as many of them are, but this one held some high sentimental values to it!  It all started on Friday morning when Duchess and I went duck hunting with Ryan and a friend of ours.  We have a pretty neat little spot we go to that's on the upper edge of a lake where a creek feeds and there is a patch of water about 20 feet wide that stays open nearly all year so the ducks just pile into it!  We got there early, set out our decoys and settled into the grass to wait for shooting light.  The cool morning fog was so dense it felt as though it was lightly raining and the closer we got to shooting hours the colder it felt, thankfully a full thermos of hot coffee kept me warm.  I have noticed this year Duchess has began to show the signs of her age for the first time on our duck hunts, having always hoped she'd be able to hunt until she dies I just ignored them though because she still showed the same drive and passion she always has.  But on this hunt when Ryan and Kris shot the first two ducks of the day I knew things had definitely changed when Duch ran right passed the first duck and couldn't find the second one, even after I pointed her in the direction of it.  I had thought that her senses, vision, hearing, and smell, were starting to slip a little, and when she couldn't see, or smell either of these ducks I knew they had slipped much more than I even imagined.  

     A little while after those first couple ducks Ryan got another one and after running around looking for it for about five minutes, she finally found it after nearly stepping on it.  We then went through a little lull in the action so I let Duchess off her leash to just roam around a little, something we've done tons of times before without worry.  This time she went out into the open section of the lake where the ice was working it's way towards the creek inlet we were set up on and after swimming her way out to the ice she tried climbing up on the ice.  She couldn't get up onto the ice and she wasn't responding to my calls to her to turn around which was very abnormal so I had to walk out to her so she could see me and understand she needed to just swim back where she came from.  I got her back in the blind and leashed her back up for good since she couldn't hear me I was concerned for her safety for the first time in her life.  Moments later Ryan shot another duck but it was hit poorly and it sailed into the trees and brush behind us, I got up to go look for it with Duchess but as I walked past Ryan and Kris I told them that the way Duch had been acting I didn't have high hopes of finding the bird.  Every hunter's worst fear is loosing game so tensions were a little high as Duch and I went into the trees.  We got into the thick of them and I knelt down next to Duch and spoke directly into her ear in the hopes that she would hear me say the phrase she's heard me say hundreds of times, "get the bird, hunt him up!"  I let her off her leash and witnessed something I will never forget, she started running around through the thick grass and brush, 12 year old nose pinned to the ground, and in less than 30 seconds she picked up a scent and went right to the duck who had burrowed his way under the thick bunch grass and flushed him out!  The duck was trying to fly away from Duch and she took one big lunge and snatched him right out of the air!!  For about two minutes she had the eyes, ears, and nose that have made her who she is, in my mind clearly a God thing:)

     She brought that bird back to me and I could see in her eyes that she could read my mind and we were both thinking the same thing right then, this might be the final retrieve of her career.  I could see the pride in her eyes as she brought that duck to me and I know she could see the pride in mine as I'm pretty sure I was starting to tear up!  This entire waterfowl season she has just not quite been the same, she still had the same desire to be out there every single time, she just wasn't the same girl once the hunt started.  She has given me so many moments in the blind that I will never forget, but this lone drake mallard was hands down the best!  Under the circumstances it easily catapults to the top of a long list of amazing retrieves!  As we came out of the trees, bird in hand, Ryan and Kris couldn't believe it.  I was so proud of my girl that I couldn't come up with the words to describe just how awesome her retrieve was, and yet at the same time I was holding back tears as I knew that was going to be the last bird she would ever bring back to my feet.

     I knew this day would eventually come, and I admit that I've been a little naive thinking that my 12 year old lab could continue to hunt like she was 3 for the rest of her life, but never the less it isn't any easier of a decision to retire her from hunting.  After the day we shared on Friday and the emotions I went through I don't even want to think about how I'll react when her time on earth is up!  I think it's best if I just don't think about that:)  After a heavy day of emotions though things turned around on Saturday as I celebrated 12 years of sobriety!!  I did the math and I've officially been sober now for longer than I drank!  That's a very cool feeling as I know that nothing that I have accomplished in life could have been achieved while I was tied to my addiction.  I am so thankful each and every day for every one who continues to support me, I live every day knowing that I have the love and support of the best team anyone could ask for!

Remember, like the gambler said, you gotta know when to fold em, know when to hold em.

Reason #21

     Well it has been a long time already since I posted on her and even longer since I've posted another reason I love this girl.  So here it is, reason number 21 why I love this girl, her never ending support of all of my crazy thoughts!  Almost on a daily basis I come up with some sort of a hair brained idea that is so far out of left field that most people would choose either to ignore me and walk away, or tackle me and check me into the nearest mental ward!  Kelli on the other hand just smiles and supports me in all of my craziness.  Now that's not to say she hasn't had either one of the previously mentioned thoughts cross her mind while listening to my ideas, but most of the time she has the patience and trust to at least let me try it and support me through the process.

     So when I have a desire to ride a train in Northern WA along a scenic old rail line, rather than hesitating because trains really aren't her thing, she jumps at the chance to go up there with me.  She understands that even at 37 years old I still think trains are pretty much the coolest things on this planet, and she gets how even though I never got to meet my Grandfather who I get my middle name from, that I feel extremely connected to him in ways that are hard to describe and spending the day on the train only grows that connection.  Kelli could have very easily came up with more than enough reasons to put off the train ride, but instead she supports me in my quirky little desires and went up there this fall with me and enjoyed the ride.

     And then again this fall when I asked her if I could buy waterfowl hunting licenses in two different states, neither of which we live in, she could have just said no and made me pick one or the other.  But she recognizes that the older my dog Duchess gets the more I feel like taking her hunting as often as possible, understanding that Duch and I share a special bond and that each time we are in the duck blind we are completely filled with joy!  Duchess can be a little demanding at times so it would be very easy for Kelli to simply not care about Duchess's desires and not let me hunt as often as I do, but again she supports all of my ideas and allows me to take my baby girl to the duck blind as often as her aging old body will allow.  

     They say that a good marriage consists of equal parts of getting what we want and compromise, well I must have won the matrimonial lottery because I feel like I married the girl who pretty much lets me do any one of the crazy ideas that come to my head!  Whether it's a hunting trip, a train ride, a house remodel idea, or something as simple as trying a new recipe, each time I bring one of my crazy ideas to Kelli she thinks about it for a minute, and as long as the left field idea is still in the ballpark, she's all in and supportive in every way!  I am thankful each and every day to be married to the best girl in the world!  I know that sounds a little corny but I don't care, it's true!  Words will never be able to match how I feel about her but you can count on one thing, I certainly wont run out of reasons I love this girl any time soon!

Remember, some of the smallest things your spouse does for you result in the biggest rewards!

Hunting buddy

     This past weekend was a whirlwind to say the least!  Before we get into the details I'll give you the short story just in case you want to stop reading right here and get on with your day, I drove 730 miles to shoot 5 coots.  Now if you know anything about waterfowl hunting at all then your on the floor rolling with laughter right about now, or you might think that's a little ridiculous to drive that far in three days to hunt anything in which case you'd still be on the floor laughing your butt off.  Well I don't blame you.  I had grand visions of this being an epic waterfowl hunt that I would remember for years to come, although I wont soon forget the adventure, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

     It all started when dad and I drew swan tags for the Pacific flyway of Montana and planned a trip back to Freezeout Lakes where we have had quite a bit of success in years past.  I've already got one swan a couple years ago and I had no real desire to shoot another one but I knew putting in for the tag would at least get us out there and give my old hunting partner Duchess one more swan song, pun intended:)  She turned 12 this year and it is the first year in all 12 of them that she has started to show the signs of an aging dog so I wanted to make this a trip she would remember as well.  Dad and I got to Choteau late Thursday evening and went straight to bed so we would be well rested for the morning hunt.  The next morning as we sat on the bank of the lake and waited for the sun to come up we could hear a few swans on the water so our excitement began to rise.  Our hopes were crushed just as quickly as they rose though when about a half hour after the sun came up all 20 of the swans in the county lifted off the water and disappeared into the sky, never to be seen again!  Now as you may have figured out if there's no swans in the area then our hunt was pretty well doomed.  So we scrambled with some texts to Curtis down in Butte to see if there were any birds at Warm Springs and when he had his neighbor go check and reported back to us that there were thousands of them on the water, we packed up our stuff and headed south.

     We got to Butte Friday afternoon just in time for an evening hunt of pass shooting as birds came back to the water, this resulted in nothing so we made a plan for the following morning and headed back to Curt's.  The next morning we set out the decoys in a pond and had no luck drawing any ducks into our spread because there simply were no ducks in the air!  With it so warm still there just hasn't been any birds come down from up north so the hunting was pretty poor.  We relocated to a bank along another pond though for some late morning pass shooting and got 5 coots before we gave up for the weekend.  All in all the entire weekend was one of those classic hunting trips that seem to happen far too often for us Gannon's that result in little to no action but a pretty good story.  Every failed hunt has it's silver linings however and this one's was we got to spend a little time with the Skannons, and I got home a day early so I got to hang out with my in-laws for a night as they were here visiting Kelli during my hunt. 

     The biggest thing that happened on this trip that I was not happy with was the stark realization that my number one duck hunting buddy Duchess might be on the tail end of her hunting days.  I've known for years that she is not getting any younger and that this was bound to happen but each year that has come and gone she hasn't slowed down one bit, so I was kind of hopeful that she would stay the same until she wasn't with us anymore.  It's been one week since we left for our hunt and she's still walking like she's a little sore, and as she struggled to find the birds we had shot in the thick cattails I wonder if her senses are starting to slip just a little as well.  There's not many things worse than watching someone you love get older, all we can do is keep them comfortable and hope that they are not in too much pain.  When I was sitting on the bank with Duch, under the big blue sky, I couldn't help but think just how lucky I've been to have her in my life.  She has seen more tragedy in her life than most dogs would in three lifetimes yet she's stuck by my side through it all.  We sometimes joke that shes semi robotic and is on this earth for one purpose, to retrieve, as much as we joke about it I kind of envy her, at least she knows what her purpose is.  And she's been damn good at it!!  

     So as frustrating as this hunt was I still came home and started scouting areas around here for some good hunting with easy retrieving so I can get my old hunting partner out there as many times as her old body will allow her.  I can only imagine that is exactly what she would ask me to do if she could.  

Remember, even when things don't go exactly as planned there is fun to be had!

I'm getting too old for this!

     If the title of this post has you thinking this is yet another cliche filled blog post over saturated with gripes of all the things I used to be able to do, your right:).  I apologize in advance if you were hoping for something a bit more original today, but after this past week I don't really have much more to write about than my increasing realization that I am not getting any younger!

     As I previously mentioned we started our major winter project this past week of finishing our basement and although we've decided to break it up into manageable sized tasks each month, trying to give ourselves a break in between phases in hopes that this strategy will help keep Kelli and I from getting completely burned out, each little phase is bound to come with its own little troubles.  This week was exterior insulation and framing of the walls.  Overal this task went pretty well, until we got to the laundry room and realized that in order to insulate and frame up this wall I had to reroute some of the plumbing lines, which all this did was drag it on for a couple more evenings as I replumbed everything back in the way we want it to be finished.  Then just about the time we were done we remembered that the crawl space underneath the addition Part of our house had no insulation!  This was a big reason why it rarely stayed warm in our bedroom and office, so we went and bought some insulation and picked this past Saturday as the morning to get it done.  Mistake number one was made when I closed off an old doorway into the crawlspace this summer leaving only the small window as access to the space.  Number two came when we accidentally bought unfaced fiberglass insulation instead of the "doesn't make you want to crawl out of your own itchy skin" type!

     Of course we realized this after I was already in the crawlspace and committed to just getting it done.  Luckily I had my assistant Kelli with me to feed me insulation from outside cause if I would have had to come out each time I don't think I would have went back in!:).  Once we got going though it went very fast and we were done in less than an hour!

     After we finished the insulation I was pretty sore and tired, even though I've long since hung up the plumbing tool bags and haven't been in a crawlspace in quite a while, turns out I still don't like them very much!:).  Thankfully we had a plan in place for making me forget all about my time in the crawlspace, Sunday morning we drove up to Ione with some friends and rode an old passenger train up to Metaline Falls!  It was a pretty cool deal as you can sit wherever you want and we lucked out and got the only two seats in the crows nest of the caboose!  The views were unbelievable and for a train nut like me it was the perfect way to start the day!  I completely forgot about the previous day and felt like a kid again!

     We raced back home after the train to catch the Cowboys game and it was such a thriller that I thought I was going to have to take a second blood pressure pill!!  They played the Seahawks in Seattle where only one visiting team has won in the past three seasons, now there's two as my Boys played their hearts out and kept me on the edge of the couch the whole game!  I told Kelli after the game that I might need a referral from her moms surgeon cause I think I may have tore my rotator cuff from fist pumping the air so hard!!:).  It was easily the most stressful Cowboys game I've watched in recent memory!  Four hours after the game I told Kelli I'm getting too old for this stuff cause I could still feel my elevated heart rate taking its time to come down after the game!  She thinks if I wasn't a Cowboys fan I probably wouldn't even have high blood pressure, that's one theory that'll never get tested:)

     So to cap off my feeling sorry for myself for getting older, Kelli and I went to the high school football game Friday night and we were holding hands while walking into our seats and Kelli overheard a young high school couple as we walked by them and the boyfriend said "oh look babe, there's us in the future, only I'm not bald".  OUCH!!!!  That's the exact phrase I'll use when Kelli and I see someone in their 70's holding hands!  The day you find out that your officially old enough to be looked at as an in the future kind of way is a rough day!:).  I guess in a wierd sort of way that I haven't  quite accepted yet it's kind of a compliment.  So as I spend this week recovering from belly crawling around the spiders living room and the stress of watching yet another nail biter of a football game, I can't help but think that whoever coined the phrase "your only as old as you feel" probably never owned an old house, and he certainly didn't root for the Dallas Cowboys!  

Remember, just because you still think like a 25 year old doesn't mean your body feels the same way:)

Remodel time!

     The most exciting house project we've ever done is officially under way!  We started the process of finishing our basement yesterday and both Kelli and I are looking forward to it for many reasons, especially because this is the first project we've ever done that is basically a new build!  This being our third house we've owned, we have done our fair share of home projects, but until this one all of them have been redoing something that already existed.  Those projects are fun in their own way but nothing compares to having a blank canvas to create whatever your eye desires!  
     We technically started this project this spring when we replaced all the windows and cut in an egress window for a bedroom.  Kelli's parents came over to help with this phase and we wanted to get it done first as it was a very messy project!  We haven't touched the basement since then as we were planning on finishing it this winter.  Even though winter is not upon us yet, with it pushing into the 70's outside this weekend it kind of looks like we're a ways away from winter, we picked up with the basement anyway.  This weekend we're framing up and insulating the exterior walls and as we're doing so it's finally starting to look like a construction zone.  
     So as Kelli and I begin the process of watching our vision come to form, we are equal parts excited for how it will turn out and a little nervous about how sore and tired we will be come spring time when we are finished!  Stay tuned for pictures as we progress!  

Remember, doesn't matter if its a home project or anything else, the changes that take the most work are usually the ones with the largest rewards!

TIME

     Do you ever feel like the best thing that could happen to you is to have about five extra hours in the day?  I swear the older I get the less time there seems to be in one single day!  It doesn't really matter if I get up at four in the morning or six, or if I go to bed at ten or stay up until midnight, no matter what I do there's always at least one thing that gets left undone in my day.  Lately it seems that the first thing to get bumped from my to do list has been this blog:)  This is where I am supposed to insert the part about how that's all going to change now and I'll be posting more frequently, but what's the point in doing that when I know it's not true!  
     So where does the time go?  I can remember when I was a kid the days seemed like they would never end.  We would get more fun stuff done in one day then I could in a week now!  Of course when your a kid the only thing you have to worry about cutting into your time is meals, school, and maybe a few chores, and the school didn't really cut into your time cause all your friends were at school so whatever fun stuff you were doing at home just got carried over to the playground.  There is a dog park near our house that borders a school and during our last trip up there a couple weeks ago Kelli and I were reminiscing about how when the bell rang at the end of recess you would all agree to meet right back where you were and pick up the game you were playing where you left off next recess.  Then there was too much time in the day because the duration between recesses felt like an eternity!!  
     Now that we're all grown up, and have jobs and responsibilities, those days of having nothing but time during a day are long gone.  Sometimes it seems like if we can race through a day and accomplish the bare necessities of what needs to be done we've won some sort of prize!  No matter what we do we just don't have enough time in the day, and we don't even have kids!!  I can't even imagine what our time would be like if we were trying to juggle a third schedule under the same amount of daily time!  Someday I suppose we may have to do that though and just like every other parent before us I'm sure we will be able to make it work, it will just feel like we have even less time in the day for the stuff we want to do:)  
     My question is simple, even though as adults we have houses, jobs, and kids eating up all of our free time, which leaves us with very little of it to do the things we enjoy doing, but why should it stop us from experiencing the same joy we felt as a kid right now?  I don't see why we shouldn't be able to find that perfect balance where our daily responsibilities and our personal joys are not fighting for each valuable hour we have in a day but sharing our time, making the most of each one.  I think a good balance would be as simple as for every four hours of doing things not on our fun list, you all know what they are, we should reward ourselves with one full hour of a fun thing!  Pretty simple right?  That means if you work an 8 hour day, followed by taking your child to baseball practice for 2 hours, then you have 2 1/2 hours of free time to get that round of golf in on the weekend!:) 
     Now we all know in the real world a scenario like that just simply wouldn't work, but it sure is fun to think about.  And if we think about it that way then we realize how much the inner kid in all of us just gets pushed aside, allowing the daily chaos of everyday life take over.  I know as much as you do that you can't just use a stupid hourly reward system like I just described, but if we actually think about the things in our life that we don't get to in a day, a week, or a month, then we'll stay mindful of the fact that we simply have to find some time to enjoy those aspects of our life or the time just goes by even faster!  It's funny how that works, you work harder to try and have some free time and at the end of the day you have less time, not to mention the free time you do have is spent on the couch or in bed recharging for the next day!
     All I'm saying is we could all take a page out of the Europeans book, they have seemed to master this balance of responsibility and pleasure quite well!  I'm not saying we should all take the entire month of August off every year, but I think we could all do a better job of having more fun in our lives, I know I could!  It's far too easy to get caught up in the rat race of life, we have to work equally as hard at not letting that inner child completely disappear.

Remember, meet me back right here next recess and we'll keep playing!!:) 

Hello Fall!

     I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I've posted anything on here!  I know that's kind of a repeated comment anymore for me but I just can't seem to find the time that I once had.  I guess that could be chalked up to the fact that we've once again had an amazing summer!  Early on in the year Kelli and I made a mental list of all the fun stuff we wanted to try and do and I think we did nearly all of it!  We even got a few house projects done along the way:)  So as we enter into fall officially and I am getting ready to pack my hunting bag to join Jill and Ryan for an elk hunt, I can't help but think about all the fun we had this summer and I can't wait to see what next summer will bring!

                                               Hanging out with the little man

                                              Splash pad with the nuggets

                                 Doggie swim day(aka: Duchess's favorite day ever!)

                                              Biking the Hiawatha Trail

                                         Spokane Symphony concert in the park

     This was just a sampling of all the fun things we did this summer but it gives you the idea:)  We have been blessed to live in an area of the country that sees all four seasons and as a result of that we thoroughly enjoy every opportunity each season brings with it.  If you don't pack in as much outdoor fun as possible in the summer than you can bet you will be regretting it when there's snow on the ground!  Fall is probably the toughest season for me because it seems like it is the shortest.  We are smack dab in the middle of some of the best golfing weather of the year, elk season is in full swing, waterfowl season is just around the corner, fall hatches are happening as I type which brings some of the best fly-fishing of the year, and the leaves are about to change color making us want to go for long walks and hikes taking in all the beauty.  All of this happens in just a couple very short months!  SO I find myself in the fall coming up with an elaborate mental plan of attack to be able to enjoy as much of these as possible, it resembles a stock market ticker inside my head.  Golf, fish, hunt, walk, fish, walk, golf, fish, hunt, walk, golf, hunt, fish........

     Yet even with this constant ticker tape of activities rolling through my head, fall is still my favorite season of the year.  There's something magical about watching the grasses and the trees prepare themselves for a deep sleep, and something refreshing about waking up to a chill in the air.  Fall reminds me that we need to keep our attention on the current day we are living and not the 10 day forecast!  The weather can change so dramatically in the fall that you have no choice but to take every advantage of the nice weather while you have it!  I look forward to fall for many reasons, even though it can be challenging to fit in all that I want to do, it's still my favorite time of year!  I can only hope that in the next few weeks I can compile even more good photos to share on here of all the fun we have had:)  

Remember, live each and every day to the fullest, no matter what season you are in!

What a weekend!

     This past weekend is one we won't soon forget!  It flew by in a flash but man was it fun, one of the funniest weekends of the summer, and we didn't even leave the South Hill!  It all started with a round of golf with dad and a couple of coworkers on Friday afternoon in perfect weather!  I told dad I love this time of year as the weather is perfect for golfing, I probably play more golf in September and October than I do all summer.  When the golf was over Kelli and I went to a potluck desert game night and social that was held for an adoption agency(that's another story for a different time:), and it was held at a church on the south hill that we've been to a few times.  There was a great group of people there and we had a really fun time playing Scategories and sampling just about every desert there!

     Saturday brought with it a date night with our niece Tatum!  Jill was out of town running her second half marathon of the year so Kelli and I decided it would be a perfect weekend to babysit T for a night.  The last outdoor movie of the season at the Shop in the Perry district was Frozen and unless you've been under a rock most of the year you understand how popular that movie is with kids.  So Ryan dropped T off for our date around 5 and we went down to Perry Street Pizza for dinner, followed by some time in the park, then the movie.  Of course we spoiled the crap out of her, that's our duties as godparents, so she had some ice cream, popcorn, candy, and face paint, all in one night!!  As the movie drew to a close Tatum started to get cold so I held her in my arms and she fell asleep before it was over.  As I carried her back to the car while Kelli lugged all of our chairs, I could only imagine how much fun she had!  

     

     We didn't get home until 11 so we quickly got ready for bed and hit the sack.  Tatum was really excited to sleep in a "real person bed" cause as she put it, she likes to squirm around while she sleeps:).  The next morning we got up around 7, got ready for the day and went to Rockwood Bakery for breakfast, and some more spoiling!  Tatum had a cinnamon roll and a kids mocha, also known as hot chocolate, and once we were good and sugared up we took her back home.  All in all if she had half the fun we had it was a fantastic weekend!  We can't wait for our next date night:)

     Then we capped the weekend off by taking our babies, Kashi and Duchess to the Comstock pool for the annual doggie dip.  The city pools open up to dogs on the last day of the year for what was probably the coolest thing we've ever been involved with for the dogs!  There were so many dogs there the pool resembled the pool in Caddyshack on caddy swim day, including a couple brief evacuations for turdie removal, and every dog there seemed to be in heaven!  Kashi just roamed around the pool trying to meet new friends, and Duchess dove in repeatedly after her tennis ball, each time returning it to my feet with a look of pure joy in her eyes!  I think both of them could have died right then and been completely satisfied, life could not get much better than it was in that moment!

Remember, some of the most memorable times in life come when you least expect it!

Time flies!

     It's hard to believe that 8 years ago today this striking young couple got married!

     In the past eight years we have moved 4 times, been employed by 11 different people, survived one forest fire, more nights on the road for work than at home, made 2 trips to the emergency vet, and coped with male pattern baldness.  That's just a brief recap but as you can see it's been an interesting journey!  One thing has remained a constant throughout all of the years, and that is we're still just a couple of crazy kids who are still madly in love with each other!!

     I don't have the time or the words to express just how much I love this girl, but as we sat down and had our annual viewing of our wedding day video, I was reminded yet again that our love for each other is just as strong today as it was back then!  Kelli asked me a while back if I would go back and change any of it if given the chance and my answer was an easy one, not a chance!  Every little bump in the road life has thrown us has only made us stronger and I can't wait to see how out love will grow in the next 8 years.  No amount of time will ever make me stop feeling like the luckiest man alive!

Remember, no matter how much hair you lose or how many wrinkles you may acquire, love can overcome all of it!

Plans

     Oh how funny life can be when we try to plan it out too!  This week Ryan and I had to fly down to Klamath Falls for work and on the surface it looked like a pretty easy trip.  We were going to get here Monday, meet with all of our growers Tuesday, and fly back to Spokane early Wednesday morning.  We've made this trip enough times to where we have it down to a science, from which rental car company is the most efficient, to first name basis with the front desk staff at the hotel.  After working in this area for two claims seasons now the trips down here tend to feel like dejavu!  That was until this trip!

     In my plan by this time Tuesday night I was supposed to be in my usual hotel pit stop in Medford, waiting for the early morning flight back home.  That all changed Monday afternoon when the Klamath basin was hit with a hail storm.  A bunch of hail claim were opened up as a result and we needed to call in the reinforcements so dad showed up a couple hours ago and Ryan and I changed our flights to tomorrow night.  There is also a huge forest fire near here so all of the rental cars were gone so Ryan and I had to go pick him up, a 3 hour round trip!  Oh, and on the way to pick up dad the basin was getting hit with a second storm!  The fun just kept on coming:)

     So as I sit here getting ready for bed I'm not even thinking about making much of a plan for tomorrow!  I guess today has showed me that it really doesn't matter how much planning and control we think we have, things are always subject to change!  When your plans fall apart like ours did today all that really matters is how you react to the redirection.  You can either gripe about it in a failed attempt to feel sorry for yourself, or you can roll with it and take it in stride.  Today we just went with it and decided we had to make the most of it and just be thankful that our rental car wasn't headed to a firefighters base camp!!  Sometimes it's easy for us all to forget when life throws us a curve ball that things could always be worse!  So we'll go into tomorrow with a tentative plan in place, but open minds to just about anything happening:)

Remember, it's okay to make plans, just make sure you plan for a little bit of change in all of your plans!:)

More good days:)

     Yesterday was Kelli's birthday and after the day we had I can't help but feel like it was mine too!  We started the day off by sleeping in, always a must on your birthday, then kicked it off with croissants at home.  We then went to the mall downtown for a little shopping for the birthday girl followed by a fantastic lunch at a local soup and sandwich shop.  Once we were finished with our great lunch we headed out to Liberty Lake in pursuit of stand up paddle board rentals! We'd done this last year with the Nagles and we fell in love with it!  It's so peacefull and relaxing to be coasting around a lake on one of these boards!  We found the rental place, as well as probably the best kept secret of the greater Spokane area, the Liberty Lake Community Park.  This place is a small sand beach on the far south end of the lake with ample picnic tables, a playground, and a roped off swimming area complete with a floating island dock!  We signed a quick release form and we were off and paddling.  The lake was beautiful with tons of great scenery as it is tucked into a small mountain range, for a minute we both felt like we were back in Montana!  

     The water was the perfect temperature for us to take a quick dip as we paddled our way around the edge of the lake wishing we owned one of the many houses with private beaches!  We called off our great day by having a wonderful dinner downtown.  Overall it was not just a great day for Kelli, it was just simply a great day!  And as I've mentioned on here before that's exactly what we've been trying to do!:)

Remember, if you can't beat the heat, get in the water!:)

Enjoy all the days!

     Last week I had another birthday and many of you would probably agree with me when I say that the older I get the more these days seem to happen!:). Every year my family finds the way to my heart through my love of ice cream cake and other sweets, but it turns out each year there are more candles on these deserts and I just don't think that's very fair:).  Every year I try to convince Kelli that instead of one day of fun that I am entitled to an entire birthday week!  Kelli, being the much wiser half of our team, came up with a far better idea than my birthday week.  She said instead of making your birthday a special day where you attempt to cram in as many fun activities as possible, why not treat EVERY day like your birthday and do something fun every day of the year!!  This of course sounded like a fantastic idea to me!  

     We do a fairly good job of this right now but her point was why wait to do that one special thing on a special day, aren't they all just as special as the rest?  She makes a very valid point, why hold off on taking that trip to the ocean, or playing that really nice golf course, or going out to that fancy dinner, for that one special day each year when you could do it any day of the year!?  None of us have any more of an idea than the next of what will happen from day to day so why not live each one to the fullest?  Kelli is absolutely right when she says that every single day we have on this earth is a special one so we better live them like they are!:)

This newfound philosophy of ours is why a couple days after my birthday I got online and made a tee time for that "once in a lifetime" type golf course!:). I'm going to be in Dallas in a couple weeks for a training so I figured I better take advantage of being in the hometown of my beloved Cowboys by taking in a round of golf on the worlds only NFL themed golf course, Cowboys Golf Club!!  From the replica of five Lombardi trophies to the blue stars in the middle of the fairway, I look forward to this round of golf more than possibly any other round I've ever played in my entire life!  Having my dad join me, a devout Minnesota Vikings fan, will only make the experience that much more enjoyable.  I look forward to this being just one of many special days to come!

Remember, it's too easy to forget just how special each and every day really is, don't lose sight of how lucky we all are just to have another day:)

Accomplishment!

     This past week I had a few things happen that made me think about just how blessed I have been to accomplish what I have in my life!  If you are unfamiliar with my past then that comment may come as a bit surprising, if you know where I've been and what I've done then you completely understand it.  It all started when I shared my story of my alcoholism and the wreck that nearly killed me with a stranger.  As I shared some of the details of the events with her she was brought to tears and said that it was too moving of a story for her to hide her emotions.  Naturally I was in tears by this point, cause I'm a bit of a crier, and as this lady left I began to understand again just how thankful I am that God has given me another chance at this life on Earth!  It has been nearly 12 years since that accident and although I have some lingering physical effects that I continue to deal with, they are very minor and it is easy for me to almost forget about what could have been.
     I have been running now for about five or six years, mostly recreational runs to try to stay in somewhat decent shape because as it turns out my steady diet of anything containing sugar started to slowly catch up with me when I turned 30!  I have run a few 5k's with Jill and a couple fun runs for the Diabetes Association and Susan G. Komen, but nothing longer than Bloomsday here in Spokane which is somewhere around a 10k.  So when Jill proposed earlier this year that we run a half marathon together I initially thought she was nuts!  But I agreed to do one with her as long as we trained together so we could help push each other into condition for it and we signed up for the Missoula Half Marathon.  I figured if I'm going to do one might as well be in the town in which my soul resides:)  So we trained for about three months and ran it yesterday on a beautiful day in a great little city.  While we were running it I was shocked at how "Missoulian" this event is!  At about the 3 mile mark there was a man wearing a tuxedo playing a grand piano in his yard cheering us on, as we crossed the McKlay bridge there were a couple of spectators rooting us on with their husky dogs, by the time we reached the university district there was 90's rap and classical music being played on the same block, and just when I thought we'd witnessed enough cultural commingling for the day at about the 12 mile mark we were passed by a guy signing Katy Perry's Roar as though he was the only one around.  The whole day I was amazed at just how much the entire community of Missoula has fully embraced this event and put their own stamp on it.  As we turned onto Higgins to head over the bridge and cross the finish line the sides of the road were lined with people cheering on strangers, coaxing us to push it to the finish line!  Once across the line we were adorned with our huge medals and as we cooled down with water and snacks I felt like an Olympian!!  

     Finishing this race was an extremely gratifying experience that was only made better by the fact that I got to share it with my sister.  We ran the entire race side by side so we could help each other stay at the pace we needed to, and at about the 7 mile mark I told Jill if I finish this thing it might be one of my prouder moments in life.  She asked why and I told her about sharing my story with that lady who had not known it and I explained to Jill how it gave me a reminder of how lucky I am to even be able to run, let alone run a half marathon!  It sometimes slips my mind that more than one doctor had told me that I might not ever walk again!  Because of the fact that my day to day life has really not been affected that much, I often forget how staggering my chances were of doing the things in this life that I love to do without having to clear a major obstacle first.  As I pounded the pavement yesterday working my way to the finish line I couldn't help but feel completely blessed to be able to take each step!  It may be surprising but even I need a reminder sometimes of how blessed I am and how lucky I am to be doing the things that I do.  I can only hope that I never stop taking advantage of my fortunes and never stop experiencing this life to fullest!!

Remember, sometimes all of us need a brief wake up call to remind us of the things that really matter in life!

Half over or just begun?

     Time just seems to slip by faster by the day anymore!  Here we are in the second week of July already and I find myself asking wether my summer is half over or just beginning!  Holdin true to my new form of consistency with this blog this is only about my second post of the summer and I'm already asking such a deep question.  This is probably because this far our summer days have been rapidly filling up with work and house projects.  Work has been busy with Ryan and I handling most of the claims in Klamath Falls, OR, we are on our way back down again for trip number three on the year for me:).  That part of the country is becoming far too familiar for my liking!

     Aside from work stuff Kelli and I decided to install all new windows in the basement, including an egress for a future bedroom.  We did it with the thoughts of finishing the basement this winter but now that the windows are in I'm having a tough time not diving right into the rest of the project!  We had Dan and Donna come over to help out and despite having to cut two holes in the foundation, which is never an easy task, they went in smoothly and look great!

     We have snuck in a little fun this summer so far, I got to do a little fly fishing on the Yakima river on my way home from Yakima, and we've taken in as much of our local summer fun as possible along the way.  Things like the music in Manito park, and outdoor movies at the Shop in the Perry District!  

     

     Kelli and I also spent the fourth on a boat cruise on lake Coeur D Alene to watch the amazing firworks display they set off from a barge on the water!  This was made even more enjoyable by the fact that we sat right next to a little old grandma who had brought her grandchildren, who were probably our age, to the show.  That alone was a special enough story as it was, but as I chatted with her, like I tend to do:), I discovered that she worked for president Regan!  She didn't divulge exactly whatshe did for him but whatever it was it warranted two secret service agents to be at her beck and call!   You just never know what kind of story the stranger next to you has to share:)

     So as we enter the midway point of summer and I look at our calendar full of events with only about two open weekends between now and September, I think I have my answer, our summer has just begun!!  We still have plenty of fun activities planned for the summer, starting with the Missoula half marathon this coming weekend!  So as long as in still standing after running 13.5 miles next Sunday, which in still trying to figure out why I ever thought was a good idea, I'll continue to update this page with nothing less than the stellar consistency you've all grown accustomed to!:). I hope all of your summers are just begging as well!!

Remember, if life seems rushed just look at your clock as often as possible, that always seemed to make school go by slower!:)

We are all broken

     I am a wounded warrior!!  Kind of a strange way to start a post I know, but that is a message we heard at church the other week and it was reiterated last night at an AA meeting I go to.  One of the guys there said he'd been told one time early on in recovery that every one of us is put on this earth broken.  We are put here with our own faults because God knows this is the best way to get us to come back to him.  I thought about that for a second and at first I didn't think it made any sense.  But then it did start to clear up a little, if we were born into this world without any problems then we would just coast through life and easily loose sight of the fact that we need some help from God.  Think about it, if you never had any troubles growing up and you just kind of coasted through school, then you graduated and got a great job you have no complaints about, married the perfect person, made more money than you knew what to do with, had exactly 2.5 perfect kids who never misbehaved in any way, and lived in a house that was flawless, would you turn to God that often?  I don't know about you but if I had a "perfect" life I would probably tend to think that I have a handle on things myself.  

     I'm not saying that if I never had anything trying happen to me that I wouldn't be a believer, I'm just saying that I know for a fact that I turn to God more in my trying times than I ever do when things are going perfect!  I turn to Him in all of my times of need and as a result I am quick to thank Him when I am blessed in any way.  I think if I didn't have those troubling times to go through then when something good happened I would easily forget who made them possible.  So when my AA buddy said last night that we are all made broken so that we are forced to turn to God in order to be repaired, it made perfect sense.  Nothing in this life comes easily, even for those who seem to be the lucky ones.  If you think about it even the richest people on the planet who have the family that could adorn the cover of a J Crew catalog has been made broken.  Only them and God know what this brokenness is, but they are no different than the rest of us in the fact that they cannot repair themselves.  Every one of us need His help to be repaired!  This may sound crazy, but I am grateful for every single one of my flaws, and I have plenty of them!  I am thankful for them because without them I would not have such a good relationship with God.  And I for one think that the stronger my relationship with Him is the easier this life on earth will be.  I can clearly look back over the tapestry that is my life and see where I leaned on Him for guidance and he responded by showing me which way to go.  My life continues to get better, every day I am thankful for all of my blessings and I look forward to whatever challenges come my way!

Remember, instead of looking at the greener grass on the other side of the fence, water the grass your standing on and be patient as it comes back to life! 

Time Flies!

     I know this sounds a little cliche, but it seems as though the older I get the faster time slips by!  This week we've had a few big events happen that have made this more of a reality and less of a perception.  The first being my baby girl Duchess turned 12 on June 4th!  At the risk of overloading this post with cliche's, it seems like just yesterday that I picked up this tiny little bundle of black fur and paws and brought her home with no real clue what to do next!  

     I would imagine bringing home a new puppy is somewhat similar to bringing home a new baby, you're extremely excited but yet slightly scared.  Somehow though we managed and even though each day brought with it new challenges, they were met and together we learned from them.  From the moment she was a part of my family Duchess has been on a roller coaster, I picked her up in Laurel and on my way back to Conrad as we were leaving town my pick up broke down!  Luckily Jill and Ryan lived there at the time so we borrowed Jill's car to get home while my truck was getting repaired.  From then on has been an adventure to say the least!  Duchess has lived in 11 different houses in her lifetime!  That's almost one move per year!  Yet each time her dad and mom wanted to pack up and move she eagerly gathered up all her tennis balls and embraced the adventure!  

     I know we have truly been blessed to have Duchess in our lives for as long as we have, it seems like every day someone will tell me another sad story about their lab who looked just like her but passed away at 8.  I cherish each day that I have with her and as I write this looking out the office window, watching her and Kashi follow the morning sun around the yard, I can't help but wonder where I would be without her.  She was with me during the darkest days of my life and no matter how low I would get, every time I came back home she was there for me, ready to bring me joy in any way that she can!  They say that dogs are mans best friend, well I feel like Duchess has proven that theory to it's core!  

     The next thing that happened making me realize just how fast time flies is Tatum's kindergarten graduation yesterday!  The graduation was very cool as they sang a couple songs as a class, watched a very well put together slide show where they each held up signs saying what they wanted to be when they grew up, then finally received their diplomas.  As we sat there watching the little girl who just wont stop growing up I couldn't help but think about how quickly she has gone from crawling around on the floor, to walking across the graduation stage!  

     We have watched her go from a curious little girl who is not afraid to try anything once, as long as she thinks about it and does it her way, to the mature little school girl who seems to get smarter every single day!  I've been lucky enough to coach Tatum in t-ball two years in a row now and the difference I see on the field on Friday nights between last year and this year is unbelievable!  Last year she was on a different team so she didn't really know anyone and was kind of quiet and shy, this year even though she's got almost all new teammates she's one of the "veterans", interacting with the other kids and leading by example rather than just doing what everyone else is doing.  Last year she wouldn't play catch before the game with anyone unless you pretty much forced her to, this year she plays catch with the first kid to show up no matter who it is.  Every week she tells me something that she learned in school that I didn't even know!  It's pretty humbling when you start learning things from a 5 year old!

     The last thing that happened came today when our other daughter Kashi turned 11!  Duchess and her ironically have birthdays a day apart from each other just like Jill and I and Kashi and I are both the second one so we can share in each others sorrow a bit.  It's an ongoing joke in our family that growing up I never got the birthday I wanted because we always celebrated them together and Jill got all the attention since hers was the first birthday and shes the "favorite":)  Kashi is the same way, since Duch is the first birthday she usually gets all of the attention and poor Kashi just gets to celebrate hers with Duchess.  Well everyone knows that it's not actually true and just like Kashi will get her own special day today, I too got my own special day.  Much like Duchess when I look at Kashi now I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by since she joined our family!  I can remember seeing her in her kennel at the shelter we were volunteering at and knowing as soon as our eyes met that she was supposed to be with us!  She proved that our feelings were right when the day we picked her up and she jumped in the pick up to meet her new sister for the first time and they looked at each other, Kashi licked Duchess's face once and they sat down next to each other and looked at us as though nothing was out of the ordinary.  It was like they were two kindred spirits that were always meant to be together all along.

     In no time at all Duchess and Kashi were inseparable, now after spending the last 8 years together if one of them is more than 50' form the other they start getting worried:)  They say that nobody just bumps into another person by accident, that everyone we meet in life is for a reason, I truly believe that dogs are no different.  Kashi coming into our home was no accident, she was supposed to be Duchess's little sister all along, we were just lucky enough to bring them together!

    

     So as I look back on this week and can't help but feel like time just won't slow down, I understand that this is just how life is and I am okay with that.  Knowing that things won't be slowing down helps me to fully cherish every moment that happens in this life, whether big or small.  If we don't cherish these little moments we won't remember them, and you can't get them back so we have to enjoy them as they happen!

Remember, time isn't a factor in the highlight reel of your life, only the moments matter.

Movie stars!!

    Have you ever had a weekend that felt like you were in a movie?  I did this past weekend and it was so much fun I hope to replicate it many more times this summer!!  Nothing abnormally special happened, just a series of events that all felt right.  It all started with another t-ball game, I've been helping Jill coach Tatums team this year and we have another game each Friday night.  Tatum had a birthday party to attend so she didn't play this week so Kelli decided to stay home and we made plans to meet at the park after the game.  Manito park, which is just a few blocks from our house, has music in the park every Friday night through the summer and last weekend was the kick off.  My first moment of feeling like we were in a movie came as I walked past the small pond in the park admiring the baby ducks that had just arrived.  I made my way to the small hill in front of the Park Bench Grill and sat down to listen to some music while I waited for Kelli to get there.  After waiting for about two songs I looked up and the sun was shining through the tall trees, forcing me to squint my eyes as they met the most beautiful girl in the park making her way towards me!  As she walked over to me I stood up and smiled as she walked her way right into my arms.  

     After we ordered some dinner from the grill we laid there on the hillside for the next couple hours, soaking up the good music and relishing each other's company.  Just a short while after we walked back in the house we were invited to ice cream at a new place downtown with some friends, ice cream is always the perfect way to end a great night!

    The next morning we slept in for a bit and Jill came up to the hill so we could do our long run for the week, her and I are training for a half marathon and each Saturday is our long run, this week was 8 miles!  So if this past weekend was a theatrical version of our lives this time would be reserved for intermission!  As fun as it is to run on the hill and know that we're getting that much closer to our goal, running that far is rough!!:).  On the bright side though the ice cream I'd had the previous night was long gone after the run!  Once that was behind us though we took care of a few minor little house projects that had been lingering and spent a little quality time with our dogs.  We went for a long walk then sat in the backyard playing fetch, petting heads, getting Kashi kisses, and BBQing!  It was such a relaxing Saturday of soaking up the sun, we stayed outside right up until there was no more vitamin D left in the air.

     Sunday brought with it a new experience, we tried a new church which is a sister church of the one we normally go to.  It's up here on the hill, within walking distance of home, and it was pretty neat!  We both thoroughly enjoyed the message and left feeling recharged for the week!  We went to the book store next and after we got home we walked down to the park with a blanket to read under the days new dose of vitamin D.  We read for a while then went up to a local market to pick up some bread, cheese, grapes, and dessert for yet another backyard picnic.  As we sat at the picnic table in the shade and I looked across the table, I couldn't help but show the same smile I had shown in the park on Friday as I truly felt blessed to be dining with such a stunning woman!  Each time we spend a weekend like this one where we don't really leave a 20 block radius and have so much fun, I am reminded of how lucky I am to be in this life.  And when the leading lady of my life's "movie" is so beautiful and fun to be with, how could this life not feel like a movie?!  Kelli really likes looking at the baby ducks each spring and we wrapped up our weekend a little late, this evening, by running into a family of ducks in the pond near the restaurant we ate dinner at tonight.  As I watched Kelli's face light up while she watched the babies swim around I couldn't help but smile and put my arm around her. The show must go on:)

Remember, sometimes the most memorable moments in life happen when you least expect them to!