I also find another great escape in music and live entertainment! Anything from punkrock shows, rock n roll, classic country, and yes (Jareck if your reading this I will admit it) I’ve been to A rap concert! My motto has always been “ill see anyband live at least once!” My true love and true hobby has got to be being part of the one of the biggest rockabilly scenes in the world. From Los Angeles to Orange County you can usually find a good local Rockabilly show to see. When I go and the music starts I feel as if I’m at my 2nd home or something. The music, rhythm, beat, and bass get me tapping my feet, which soon turns into me trying to what I call DANCE!

Another outlet for me outside of work has been seeing my family every weekend! I usually come over to my Mother’s house and there I can find my two younger brothers Kris and Tommy. In addition to my brothers being there every weekend is my two older sisters, Jennifer and Amber. I especially love going over to my Mom’s on the weekend because I get to see my sister Amber’s two children, my niece, Kathrine and nephew Noah who 13 months old! He’s the newest addition to our ever growing, huge family! It’s nice to come over and go swimming in my mom’s pool, catching up on how everyone is doing and what’s the latest news with everybody. Oh yea, I almost forgot, one the great perks of visiting your family on the weekends is you get to take ALL your dirty, stinky, week old (ok ok sometimes two week old) laundry with you and leave with all new freshly washed and softened clothes for the up coming week! I love seeing my family and most of the time I will find any excuse to drive down to my Mom’s and see little Noah’s face, and my little brother Tommy’s face, and my Mom.

So in a nutshell, that’s what I do during the week and weekends while I’m away from work, and this gives you a little insight to some of my hobbies are as well!

It was an awesome bike, a black and pink beach cruiser that was gifted to me by a good friend. It was not new, but I didn’t care. It had a cool basket with a black and pink zebra print liner that was the perfect size to hold a bag of groceries. I rode it to the beach every week, and some days that was a 20 mile round trip if I went all the way to the Wedge in Newport. I even rode it to work quite often! I’ll never forget to looks on the faces of the warehouse guys when I rolled up that first day. One day I left it in the hallway and Jerry almost tripped over it.

I could ride from my house along the river trail (which is actually a flood control channel – only here in the ‘asphalt jungle’ would we refer to it as a river) and get to our office in about 30 minutes. What a great way to start the day! I was getting exercise and saving on gas money. The time on my bike to and from work was sacred. It really helped me to forget about my stressors for awhile, and just enjoy the fresh air and cool scenery along the way. I rode that bike almost every day, even if it was just around the block.

My favorite ‘bike adventure’ memory was just last Thursday. It might have been the hottest day of the year. I got home from work and my daughter and I jumped on our bikes and rode to the beach for some relief. What started off as a way to cool off ended up being a great bonding experience for the two of us. Soon she will be a teenager and won’t have time to ride bikes with mom!

Maybe whoever stole my bike needed it more than me. I only know they won’t enjoy it as much as I did.

All the noises that the customer service reps hear everyday is Jerry and I training hard! For us lifting weights on our lunch hour benefits us so many different ways. First off, when we finish a grueling work out and the endorphins are flowing through our bodies we feel an overall since of well being, almost euphoric! Lifting weights daily makes feel better about ourselves here at work. We walk proud, feeling positive and happy with our results! It’s a feeling you just can’t put a price tag on! When I’m done training Jerry and getting a few sets in with him I’m energized for the rest of the day, and it gets me into this zone that’s hard to take me out of!

I wanted to blog about this because I was hoping it might inspire other people to take up weight resistance exercise, plus open peoples eyes to all the benefits that lifting weights can do for you, physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally!!! Its probably one the best ways to really love yourself, and prove you really do care about your well being not just for you, but your well being in all areas of your life! And if anyone out there is looking to shed a few pounds, or gain some serious mass you can reach me at…ha-ha just kidding! Thanks guys!

The customers are what keep this company going and me working, and in this economy what more could you ask for?

During the day, I heard a loud snoring coming from under my desk and I looked down with curiosity… to my suprise… BUBBA!

Taking naps under my desk can be fun… if you dont believe me, try it! 

Word is exhausting

“Accidents happen.” I have heard this phrase all of my life whether it was when I forgot my homework for school, or spilled a glass of milk. This phrase is not so simple to some. This expression does not do Jay Thomas justice. Before the band went on, I watched Jay Thomas give a speech (although struggled through it due to the complications of his injury) thanking everyone who attended this event. I immediately was drawn to this spirit that Jay was flooding into the hearts of hundreds of people who were listening to him. Imagine a rock concert with screams and woo-hoo’s suddenly silence and disappear. This is the power Jay had on the attendees, of most whom did not know him.

Jay was in a surf accident in Huntington Beach a couple months ago and suffered a spinal cord injury, which left his body limp from the waist down. He did not stop smiling once that night. I thought to myself- Wow! How can someone be so positive when within seconds he went from a self-sufficient man to a man who now depends on others to do life’s simplest tasks? When someone who has suffered a great deal of pain can still shine and inspire others to be better people and embrace life regardless of obstacles and struggles … this is truly remarkable.  I walked away from this event reminded that tomorrow is not guaranteed, and if you are blessed with a tomorrow, it may not be as imagined. Although I had never met Jay, his speech touched my heart. It reminded me to “Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you will die tomorrow!” Thank you Jay, I needed to hear your story, I needed to be reminded… as I believe everyone at the House of Blues that night did…. Thank you.

Click here if you are interested in reading about Jay Thomas