Evan's Birthday

For those of you that don't know me or are new to my blog, I have a nephew that's like a son to me. His name is Evan. He's turning 13 on August 12. In honor of this event he asked me to take him on a trip...just the two of us to... the Bahamas. He's a great kid and doesn't ask for much so I agreed. Financially however that didn't pan out on such short notice so I opted for the beach instead. So we are going on a 4 day adventure to Wilmington. He's been saying for the past 3 weeks that he's excited which of course makes me excited. :)  Today we decided that to make the trip more of a bonding experience, it's going to be a technology free trip. No MacBooks, no iPods, no iPads and no i...Phones? OK WAIT! We need one for emergency purposes so he's bringing his but we are only turning it on to check in with our loved ones. Otherwise, it's me, the boy, books, the beach and fun. Let's see how this goes. 

Day 11.....Celebration of Love

Day 11 of my 30 day fast......Today would have been pretty easy if I had not been met with a conflicting situation. You see this evening I went to a wedding to celebrate the union of my friends, Mike and Ashley. Mike is not only my photographer but he's one of the most awesome men I know....seriously. He is sweet, kind, giving and funny. His spirit is gentle and warm. I've never had an encounter with him that didn't leave me smiling. Most times he can be caught capturing the most amazing shots on film and if he's not doing that, he's probably cracking racial jokes about his part Asian heritage. I love this dude and I'm so happy for him and Ashley. They had a beautiful ceremony in a renovated rock quarry that now houses Carrigan Farms. They got married on a rock cliff overlooking a manmade lake...breathtaking. So here's the conflict....once we arrived at the wedding site we were greeted with 2 words that I did not need to hear...OPEN BAR! Awwwwwhhhh man! I had all these thoughts running through my mind but mostly...you can handle this. I made it through the ceremony and we headed over to the reception area where there was a...CUPCAKE BAR. Anyone that knows me knows that alcohol and cupcakes are my 2 favorite vices. So, it begins. I'm talking to my girls about how my next blog would just be about how I had to give in....I mean, it was in fact a celebration. They agreed as they had both succumbed to the Moscato at this point. I rationalized how it was OK and I was only human and people would understand. I mean how would I get past the toast? All of these thoughts raced back and forth. Then I stopped. I thought about all the other people who were looking to me to support them through this challenge and if I gave in to my own wants for a few minutes I would be letting them all down. And that's all it took. I watched everyone else drink and eat cupcakes and it was all good. I had a great time, I laughed so hard I almost peed on myself. Near the end, I made my way to the photo booth on site and grabbed Mike so I could capture a moment in time. As I look back at the pictures today, I smile. I smile for his happiness, I smile for our friendship and mostly I smile because I made it through.

Tires?

I know....who writes a blog about tires? But, have you ever gone somewhere and felt like one of the people from that show Cheers? "A place where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came?" Well that place for me yesterday was Speedy Tire Care on The Plaza. These guys are awesome! They always act excited to see me, remember the last time I was there and  just make me feel like they truly value my business. And in a declining customer service based world, that's very refreshing. Not only are they nice, they have the best prices on tires in town and will price match. All tire purchases also include free tire rotation for the life of your tires. And the life of my tires has been almost 3 years now and that's pretty major considering how much I'm on the go. If you get a chance, check them out. They also do car inspections. The owner is Mike Melton and the manager is Joey Christmas...tell them I sent ya cause that's how I roll. :) 

Day 5

.....basically sucked! Yeah I said it. It was one long "I want a cookie, or some pizza....I wonder what's happening on Facebook....man, I wish I had a cocktail.....I should just give up already" kinda day. I spent most of the day in bed....reading, thinking, praying and meditating. I knew that's the only way I would survive. I thought about how clear my mind would be after these 30 days. And in the middle, I watched documentaries about some pretty freaking awesome people as a reminder that greatness requires sacrifice. Mediocre is cool if that's your thing but I feel like God put me here to be more than just "ok". I want to be great. "Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life." ~John F Kennedy  So... I endured what seemed like mental torture and guess what?! Yeah, I survived. On to day 6. 

5K

Last night I went to bed at 8:30 pm so I could be up and ready at 6:30 am for my first 5K run/walk. I prayed and listened to my sleep meditation app and fell fast asleep. I woke up at 11:30 pm. Wired.....a little nervous and concerned that I wasn't prepared because I have a bum knee and I haven't been training properly. I prayed again, listened to my meditation sleep app and fell back asleep. I woke up again at 3:30 am. This time I just started thinking all the positive thoughts I could and visualized myself crossing the finish line with a smile. I thought about how it was exciting to be doing something new. Some ideas for projects I'm working on popped in my head so I jotted those in my iPhone so I wouldn't forget. I always seem to be creative at crazy hours. Then I fell back asleep around 4:30 am and dreamed of a meeting with Jay Z and antics with my 2 besties. At 5:30 am my alarm clock went off.....damn! Right in the middle of some good sleep. :-) I got up, ate a light breakfast, showered and I was on my way to the race. I put on my number...255 and got the chip for my shoe that tracks your time. It was great to see the anticipation of the people racing. Professionals, kids, moms with strollers, elderly people and most inspiring.....even a blind man. I just wanted to finish. Nothing less, nothing more. No expectations of time. Just simply enjoy and be in the moment of doing something I've never done before.....and I did! It was fun, exciting and exhausting all at the same time. After all that.....Would I do it again? Probably so. I mean isn't that what life is really all about anyway? ;-) 

Day 1

Today was a piece of cake! Oh wait...that may not be a good analogy. LOL Seriously though, food wise, it was no sweat off my back but the social media on the other hand.....jeezy creezy! It was hard to pick up my phone and not be able to log into FB or check into Foursquare or look at pics on Instagram. I didn't realize just how much I really use and depend on social media on a regular basis. Very interesting. 

Let's see how long it takes for this feeling to subside. 

30 days....

I'm constantly in a state of transition...constantly checking in to see where I want to go next, what I want to do. Normally the answer comes quick without hesitation and I just know. But this time, the voice said "be still and wait." Needless to say, that drove me bananas.....me? Be still? BUT I'm no fool. I'll listen. 

I need my mind to be clear so I decided to go on a 30 day fast. No fried foods, no bread, no sugar and what the hell?!?!?...no alcohol. (I like a cocktail, ok, love a cocktail or 2 or 3) I know this will not only challenge me but make me better physically. Then I decided to take it a step further. If I'm going to detox physically, why not mentally? So I decided to give up social media. *flatlines* because if you know me, it's pretty much my lifeline. Which is an even better reason to give it up. I need to get back in tune, meditate, come back to me. Let's see what happens. 

This is day 1.