The year of Change

Hi All,

I haven't posted any blogs since June, not because we have nothing going on, but because its been nuts! There's so much to talk about, I really don't know where to start. It's the holiday season and 2014 is just around the corner. The last 6 months of the year just flew by. We started our internet company in July and are having a blast building our customer base and network. We have great products and great partners and we are crazy excited about what 2014 has to offer. OUR ONLINE STORE We were so behind this year with our Christmas décor, we just got our tree yesterday. I know it's late but we'll keep it for a bit in the new year so I'm okay with it. It was always a fun memory decorating the tree with my dad during Christmas. When its done, a Christmas tree really changes the whole dynamic of the room it's in. With all the lights and ornaments on there, it's really great to see a transformation. As "The Dude" would say it, "It really ties the room together." I really want to post more to this blog next year. I'm not hot on the idea of what you are doing every second of the day (ie.facebook, twitter), but I understand the idea of updating friends and family on what's going on in your life. I'm still a big fan of old school, picking up the phone and saying hi. Seams like now a days our time is so valuable we think its more important to post political views and wasteful opinions based off of incomplete information.
Ok Moving on, for us this year was about change. Not just for Lila and I but for our immediate families. It was about embracing big change actually. For my Parents it was retirement. I mean my parents have worked so long and now are home and retired. That's a huge change! You begin to realize how much time is spent at work and how much you can accomplish or do in that time. My mom retired at the beginning of the year and we were able to go on an amazing trip to the Caribbean. Just an amazing place with beautiful scenery, beautiful people on a beautiful ship. Jaw dropping water and an experience I will never forget. Soon after Dad is no longer at work. Whoa! Huge change for him! Now he has time to get projects done around the house that he has been wanting to and tend to his botany! haha For Lila her big change came in June when we decided to bring her home. Work stress was causing stress on our marriage and frankly wasn't worth any kind of money. So she mainly works on our website from home. That means change in finances and change in routine. For me that was the biggest change. To know that it was all on mean to bring in the steady income. I mean our business is super young so that will grow but for now I had all the pressure. Sometimes it gets the best of me. I found that if I just stop for a second and listen, I can as God to be there in those times when it does get the best of me. I have footprints tattooed on the inside of my right arm and Lila has them on her right rib cage. They signify the times when we feel at our weakest. He doesn't leave, He is the one that carries us. When you realize that, its really easy not worry and stress. We completed the beach cities challenge that we set out in Feb and are currently looking for our next challenge.

Since 2013 was about change, we are crazy excited about 2014! It looks to be a year of growth. We know all of you will have some type of part in that.

Best Dunk Ever!

Hey Everyone. Just wanted to post a very special moment for Lila and I. June 19th we headed down to church to go our Wednesday night Pure group. Live-Pure.org  Lila and I had been wanting to get baptized and we were just waiting for the opportunity. It came and we were very happy to have someone really special to us be a part of it. Pastor Shane is the one who married us and it meant a lot to us that we would also be the one to baptize us. He has been such an spiritual leader for us we are very thankful he is a part of our lives. So, you may or may not know what it means to be baptized. It is an outward display of an inward commitment. We have commited ourselves to a lifestyle that is not the "norm". Some say "Freak" some say "beater" but it couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, its a different lifestyle, but if there is a GPS to heaven wouldn't you follow the directions? Well guess what there is. Its just not a box on your dashboard. Its a book that talks to your soul. The problem is sometimes we don't like what the directions are telling us to do. We think we know better. We think we know what's good for us. The truth is, when you change the way you think, is when things start to change in your life. I say that cause changing the way I think has made drastic changes in my life. Its changed my faith, changed my body and changed my releationships. Something like this has its ups and downs as anything. We are not perfect, its impossible, but we have made the commitment to grow and become stronger. Trying our best to be better than yesterday.

We are very thankful to all who supported us on this special day. We thank the team. We thank our parents and friends and family for the support. We thank the people from Water of Life Community Church. And all the people from Pure. My favorite verse Romans 12:2 "... but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
- Albert Einstein

Are you ready for some football !

Sup everyone. Football season is right around the corner. Now is the time to pick up a Jersey for your favorite team. Here's what I have in stock right now. Not much but if one of these fits your need hit me up.

RG3

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Size: 44

Aaron Roders

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Size: Large

Troy Polamalu

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Size: 44

LaBron James

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Size: XL

Calvin Johnson

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Size: 48 

Matt Kemp

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Size: 52 



Friday funnys - Sahara Hare

So Lila and I were just chillin in bed the other day and we were watching the old Looney Tunes. Remember those? Well, it really sucks that they stopped showing them before the movies. I mean they show everything else before the movies why not show some real writing and talent. Those things were hand drawn. With one guy Mel Blanc doing 90% of the voices for the characters and an actual orchestra playing the music in the background. True artist compared to the synthetics of today's digital world. Call me dumb but they just can't replicate this with computers and soundboards. Here's a look at a classic. Favorite part is when Yosemite Sam explains what "whoa" means to his camel! Check it out! First time posting video from youtube to the blog so if there's any issues let me know.

 Bugs Bunny & Yosemite Sam - Sahara Hare

Viva los...Cubanos?

So back in 2008 the dodgers had Mannywood. I mean the dude just came in and started hitting bombs and took over the city! Sound familiar? The cuban defect Yasiel Puig hit a grand slam last night to help the blue crew steal one from the braves. 3 homers in 4 games including 2 in 1 game and 7 hits of 18 at bats.You know, I don't want to sound negative and I appreciate the current wins but it feels a tad like smoke and mirrors oof 2008. The guy is human and as with us all, he will come down to earth eventually and then what? What do we do with the outfield once Kemp comes back? Crawford, Kemp,Either,Puig, what what your line up look like? Nice to thave Zack back, hope that pans out. Since the dodgers are not in a spot to make the playoffs just yet, I'm just gonna go watch the kid play and take the wins when they come with the hope that this is contagious and the bats wake up for the boys in blue. What do you guys think?

Just a beginning of Summer update

Hey Everyone, Just wanted to shoot out a small little update from our last entry. Not much has changed.We are still crazy focused still on our training and getting better. If fact the longer we are running the harder it is to keep up with it. It takes a mental want to wake up in the morning and do what we have to reach our goal. Its actually been quite amazing we started serious training in November of 2012 and as of Memorial day a couple weeks ago, we just finished our 3rd 1/2 marathon. We started not being able to run a mile with out stopping and we've grown mentally and physically stronger since then. This last one was for the USMC Dark Horse batallion out of Camp Pendleton.

It was very inspiring to see the families of fallen and current marines during this event. How can you not get pumped up when a TANK leads everyone down the street for a tough run. Memorial day was not part of the beach cities challenge that I wrote about earlier. We did this one for our troops pas and present (and a pretty cool medal.) After completing the Orange county half marathon with personal records for both of us, we have one more to go in october. I know some of you have told me you want to train for this so we'll be starting to train next week. For those of you interested in starting to train for something like this, let me know.

We meet in Glendora on Saturday mornings for our long training runs. It is a challenging but perfect training course.You don't need to do the full 1/2 marathon, 5ks and 10ks are available to run and are a great accomplishment for your specific level of running. Lila wants to do a full marathon next year but thats a whole other level of training. I don't know if were ready for that just yet.

Other things going on is we are getting more involved with our church. We are in the works of starting a couples small group through church, were couples can get together and fellowship about God and what kind of problems or speed bumps that arise during marriage. It will also be a good opportunity to get together with other couples and just hang out and be silly. Its always good to know you are not the only one going through issues. And you not the only crazy couple out there.

Other than that we are just being us. Spending time together, laughing as much as we can and working towards our own goals for 2013.

P.S. Special Congrats to all the graduates in the family. I know we couldn't make all the parties but we are super proud of all of you. You guys are entering a new level of your life and it is a huge accomplishement. Keep your head on straight and keep out of trouble. Just cause you're out of school doesn't mean you're ready for life just yet. :oP Praying for you all. See ya next time.

Running on an Angel's wings

Hi everyone, I hope all is going well. It's been a while since out last post, so I decided to get back on here and shoot out some updates. Right at the end of last year my Grandfather Passed away. Grandpa was the one that you always new was in the room. He might crack a joke. He might dance. He might yell at you for making too much noise but he was always there to tell you he loved you. We had wonderful memories with my grandfather and I know God is taking care of him. With the countless friends and family members we all know that have passed on, for me, its always better to have one more angel watching over Lila and I. Carrying his name for the third generation is truly ad honor to me. Love you grandpa you will be missed.

Last post we talked about running the surf city half marathon. It was a goal of ours and Lila and I trained very hard. We trained to be where we needed to be physically and mentally to get through such an accomplishment. Race day was last Sunday. Superbowl seemed on everyone's mind that day but not ours. We had work to do first. We woke up bright and early at 3:30am. I shouldn't say that we woke up. It was more like the alarm clock went off and got out of bed. I tried to tell Lila it was time to wake up. Could you believe her, she thought I was lying. I leaned over and said, "Wake up, it's time." Her response was "No." I said, "It's 3:30, time to get up." Her response was, "No it's not, your lying!" If you haven't seen my alarm clock (most of you haven't), its voice responding. Her name is MOSHI and when given orders will comply with your request. I had to ask MOSHI what time it was, so the response was audible and she would then be able to know that I wasn't lying!

So after picking up a few co-workers in Covina and in Carson we arrived in Huntington Beach. It was chilly in the morning and the sun hadn't shown its pretty rays yet. The energy of the people and area was contagious. Everyone was ready to get into their corral and get the race going. I even told one of my coworkers, "Now I know what those race horses feel like, all cooped up in those corrals before the race. I just want to run already!" Race time was finally here. We took off down PCH a little before 8:30am. It was a sea of runners, literally as far as your eyes can see. The spectators were amazing! They would hold up signs and cheer you on as you head out into what would be a very tough day for the both of us. 13.1 miles is not easy! We headed north on PCH and turned east on Seapoint. We headed into the bluffs and eventually found our way back to PCH. My thought process was to just get to the turning point and I would be fine. But when would I ever get to the turning point? By the time you came out of the bluffs it was mile 5 and it was another 3 miles to the turn! Every other day we were running at least 4 miles during training. This 3 mile run seemed like 15 miles. FINALLY, I got to the turn. I was on my way back home! The first and only thing I could think about was where was Lila? I wanted to see her so bad! See, Lila doesn't like running with me. For some reason, because she knows I'm faster she would rather let me go my pace than run together, so she can concentrate on her own pace. So I knew I would see her on the way back. I saw a couple of co-workers and then a few more. Then, as I kept my eye out for a pissed off girl in pink (Lila is always mad when she's working out), I spotted her! Lila and I aren't runners. In fact we started running just a couple weeks before thanksgiving. I couldn't run a mile without stopping to catch my breathe. For me to see her out there and us doing what we set out to do was mind blowing! Miles 9-12 were very long. The sun is now out and in full form and it takes every last bit of effort to get though the middle miles. Mile 13 though, you get the sense of excitement. All of a sudden there's more and more people cheering you on! "Your doing great!" "Keep going!" Complete strangers looking you right in the eyes and telling you, "Don't stop, you can do it!" I'll never forget this one guy. He'll never read this and I'll never be able to find out who he is, but he had a sign. He was standing on an irrigation vent pedestal. You know those tall skinny round ones sticking out of the ground, with holes all around it. His sign said, "You don't know me, I'm a complete stranger but you are amazing!" Those are the kind of words that got a lot of people through the last few meters. I didn't tell everyone but I could hear my Grandfather with his infamous accent saying "GO ARDIE GO!" You couldn't help but crack a laugh when he did that. I finished at 2:39.52 . My goal was to finish in 2:30 and I missed it, but I don't care it was a great race for me. Lila and I had agreed that we would meet at the finish line. As I finished I got my medal an some water, I turned back so I can watch her finish. I got close to the finish line and one of the volunteers told me I couldn't get any closer and I would have to leave the area to make room for everyone else to finish. I understand, but I needed to see Lila finish. Luckily another woman was trying to do the same thing I was and the same lady told her the same thing. This was my opportunity. I turned back and went another way using that lady as a distraction to get to where I wanted to be. It was perfectly executed! As I waited I couldn't help but think back on all of our training and how many times we didn't want to get up and run. And now look at us, we were going to finish the whole thing. I spotted Lila in the crowd and started recording on my iPhone. She saw me way before I saw her, so she was making a B-line for me. As I saw her face in pain and in tears, she brought me to tears. For us it was one of the hardest things we've ever done and it was emotional for us to do it together and survive. Lila finished at 3:09. She also missed her goal time but we didn't care. It was a win win day for us. There's a thing called the Beach Cities Challenge. The challenge is to complete all three southern California beach cities half or full marathons. Lila and I will be going for this! Up next is Orange County half marathon. That one is May 5th in Newport Beach. We'll keep you updated. If anyone wants to join us just let one of us know. I have to go now. Time to go run.