Life Lately | 5.31.16

Hi Friends!   Today’s exhilarating and nail biting post brings you a few key moments in Jordan’s life from the last half of May.  Thrilling… I know!

 

May 21st, 2016 – INSANITY Certification – Waterloo, IA

This actually was thrilling.  And, apparently, I am lucky to have come out alive from my overnight stay in ol’ Waterloo.  Listen, I am a cheap-o when it comes to hotel rooms the night before out of town certifications.  That is money out of my pocket for less then an 8 hour stay, so I choose cheap over lux.  I guess this particular hotel I stayed in usually means trouble.  Let’s just say I got 4 hours of sleep, saw multiple deals go down in he parking lot.. and by deals I mean things I can’t even repeat.   I had about enough of the commotion by 5am that morning that I was up, ready and out the door by 5:30am, found a Starbucks and sat in my Jeep until 8:15am.  After hearing the whole hotel story, Kayla made me promise to put a $100 minimum on any future hotel stays when flying solo.  Clint told me to not forget my gun.  Got it.  Check!  When all was said and done, I survived and helped certify this  AMAZING crew of new INSANITY instructors.  They asked some of the most intelligent questions and really dug deep into the material.

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CHAMP Snuggles.

As mentioned in my last post, Champ has cancer.   And it’s getting really close to the end of his time with us.  Closer then I had ever hoped it would come.  It’s been a rough last 24 hours.  I will keep you posted and many many many many thanks for the love and well wishes.  I feel them.  And WE are going to need them in the days ahead. ❤

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Memorial Weekend

Friday – A wonderful Happy Hour with none other then Ms. Tyree.

Saturday – A trip to Brownville, NE where I was overdressed, the town was packed with junk… err, “treasure” if you are a flea market type, the beer was good, the company in our gorgeous cuz Erika was great, the pickings for Clint was just what he wanted and the afternoon away from the city was glorious.

Sunday – A trip to Clarinda on the bikes…

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for some grillin’ and chillin’ with the greatest friends a couple could have.  We even got to hang with Kyle, the Lane’s and Dustin.

It was the perfect summer night.

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And that Sunset was INCREDIBLE!

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Monday – A trip to the soon to be open Walkup Woods to watch Clint get some mill-work done.  Clint is opening a second business, in conjunction with Walkup Tree, slated to open on June 20th.  He’s the hardest working, most dedicated and most visionary man I know.  Proud of him.  More details to come on this new adventure.

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Ended Monday with a ride to Blair for some afternoon beers, good music and time spent with friends.

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May riding wouldn’t be complete without getting caught in a storm.  I love the thrill of watching the rain roll in, the lightening crack across the sky and those first few raindrops.  It’s not so bad getting poured on when you know you are headed home.   It’s another story when you are just starting out your journey to Sturgis in the pouring rain, but we won’t go back and dig up old bones now, will we?  🙂 😉

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Cheers to a lovely May full of friends and fun.  And here’s to bringing in June with a much needed girls vacation around the bend and a few more long lasting hugs with my buddy, Champ.

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Weekend in Snapshots | August 14-16th

Friday Night consisted of outside work for Clint and inside relaxing for Jordan.

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Saturday

MOVE-IN weekend at the college I work at.   I helped students get settled in with their ID, parking passes, class schedules, etc.  It is always so fun getting to meet our incoming students.   I even met a few who know friends of mine.  Small world!

Following work, I met up with Claire for  a low-key quiet afternoon/evening at Tanners.  We ended up sitting and talking for over 4.5 hours.  Love afternoons like that.

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Sunday

Tyree’s 35th BIRTHDAY!   We set out at 11am for an all day ride that included lunch at Cottonwood Arena in Blair, NE and ended with a late dinner in the Old Market at the most delicious Italian restaurant I have ever eaten at.

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It was a great little weekend.

Cheers!

Weekend Reflection | Just Let it Go

This last weekend was so low-key I almost didn’t think it was Summer 2015.  I have had so many amazing weekends this summer including:

Market to Market Iowa | Fitness Competitions | Memorial Day | Rockfest | Holstein’s Memorial Run | Tree Climbing and a Stumbled Upon Poker Run | Easton Poker Run | Testicle Festival and Jeep Shenanigans | Epic 3 Day Weekend that had to be broken up into not only this first recap but this second one too!

I almost wasn’t sure what to expect this weekend with not having a straight up crazy agenda.

I mean, I had things… but I didn’t have things.

I even took the opportunity to not use my camera phone so gosh darn much.  It’s nice to take a break from it and just rely on the memories sometimes.

Saturday

  • I hit up the gym by 7am for a quick leg session
  • On the road to Clarinda by 9am
  • 10:30 hair appointment by the Great and Wonderful Kayla
  • Quick visit with my mom and Dave
  • 1pm lunch and a few cocktails with Nicole and Kayla
  • A two hour mid-afternoon visit with my dad
    • Keith… BurrHead… The man that frustrates me almost as much as I love him

I sure do love him.

Sometimes, I elude to “things” on my blog, but don’t actually elaborate.  There are times I want to write my heart out on certain subjects, but I don’t.   It’s been an embarrassing amount of time since I have stopped to see my father.  A few years embarrassing.    Life happens.  Life has happened.  There were “things” in this relationship that I have held on to that anger me.  Made me bitter and sad.

And that is just straight up stupid.

I really try not to hold grudges or live in the past.   I really don’t.   I make an effort to live in the now, the present and cherish all past, present and future experiences, no matter good, bad or indifferent.    It was HIGH time I let this whole “thing” go.

So, I stopped by.

And, boy am I ever so glad I did.

We talked.  About nothing really.   Just sat around to shoot the shit.  Walked around outside.  Played fetch with the dog.   Had a beer or two.

And you know what?

I left dad’s house feeling light.

        Happy.

                  Worry free.

Like I was 10 years old and just spent an epic day at an amusement park and was hyped up on cotton candy and soda, kinda happy.

🙂

Life is too short to hold grudges.   Let that shit go.   Forgive, forget and move the hell on.  You’ll thank yourself.

I am still thanking myself today.

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I stopped over to see my Aunt and Uncle after dad’s, since the whole side of the G family lives on the same road.   Good ol farm family living right there. 😉

 I always enjoy stopping to see them.   They are home to me.   I am always happy there.  Feel safe there.  Know that I am 110% loved there.

And they always try to feed me full of beer and food, so there’s that too.

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Saturday ended up being straight up fabulous.

I took the Freedom Panels out of the Jeep before leaving C-town, cranked the music, breathed in all the good for my 90 mile drive home…

… And let the rest go.

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Cheers!

Weekend in Review – VFC, Fontenelle Forest and the Corporate Cup

The Weekend in Snapshots

Friday

VFC Fights at Stir Cove.  Thanks to our friends Asa and Tracy, we had table seating up close and personal with the action and next to the walk of fame (or shame). The fighters treated us to quite interesting choices of music for their walks to the cage.  You’d think they would choose some heavy, make you want to beat the crap outta someone, music.  Instead, we got combinations of River Dance and Michael Jackson.  Really, fellas?

It was a COLD night but an entertaining time.   The fights were fun to watch, the people watching better (oh hello, testosterone and alcohol filled juvenile men) and the company the best.

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Saturday

Saturday morning I drove over to Bellevue to meet up with Jess for a hike around Fontenelle Forest.

 

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We first met up for an easy 1 mile jog to Fonentelle.   Once there we paid our $7 entry fee and hiked for about an hour before  finishing the morning with another easy 1 mile jog.

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It was an absolutely GORGEOUS Fall morning and I can’t think of anything better then starting it with exercise, fresh air and good conversation.

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Jess and I always have some of the best talks about life, work, love and friendships.  Love that chick.

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After hiking I took a trip to the grocery store and treated myself to a light Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks.  I was curious what all the hype was about.  Let’s just say it was divine, my friends.

 

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Saturday evening was spent at my girl Tyree’s house for a little birthday bonfire for Coleman.    It was another beautiful fall night spent with some pretty darn good people.

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Sunday was the Corporate Cup.   HOLY HILLS, Batman.

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This is promptly after viewing the first leg of the route.   Hills.   Just hills.  OMAHA!  Are ya trying to kill me, or what?!

The Omaha Corporate Cup is a 2 mile or 10K race.   2 miles seems too short and competitive for me.  I prefer longer distances that allow me to pace myself and ‘enjoy’ the race.

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The required Sea of People photo opp prior to the start.

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Allow me to introduce you to Mile 1.

Up hill.

What you CAN’T see is the giant hill following this hill.

I wasn’t kidding when I said it was all hills.  Every mile, a hill.

And have I mentioned I haven’t run any distances over 4 miles since my Lincoln Half Marathon?  In May?  Have I also mentioned that I just recently started running again since said halfsy?   And by running, I mean a mile or 2 here and there, other then that measly 4 I did a few Saturday’s ago?

Oh, man.

Me, being the competitive lad that I am, was bound and determined to keep my average 9.3 mile pace, regardless of the hills.

What a friggin’ IDIOT.   Tomorrow, my legs are going to hate me, because I did it.   I finished the 6.2 in an hour.

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Team YMCA had quite the turn-out of runners.   CB YMCA is repping the yellow.  Nice work, team!

The remaining portion of my Sunday consisted of baking cookies and watching the boys piece back together Clint’s newly rebuilt motor.   Boys and their toys.

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Clint is fortunate to have such great buddies that enjoy doing this kind of work.  They were focused all day, I can tell you that!

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Cheers to a great weekend and here’s to making Monday a glass half-full kind of day.

 

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