Holy nine months, Batman! Where does the time go?
When I jumped on this blogging bandwagon I was expecting to easily post once a week, and use this forum as a simple way to work on my writing. Nine months and no new posts later, I've learned that blogging is something that takes thought, dedication, and creativity. Who knew?
2011 was a year that brought a lot of amazing experiences, along with a few bouts of sadness and disappointment. Stay tuned loyal readers, for I have an awesome picture-filled post planned for the very near future!
I hope that my blogging in 2012 will be full of insight, humor, and much more consistent. This is my promise to you, unless I get busy doing other stuff.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, April 7, 2011
"Endorphins make people happy..."
If I were to ask anyone who knows me to describe me, I doubt any of them would use phrases such as, "Gym Rat", or "Exercise Junkie". The truth of the matter is that I HATE working out. Yup, hate it. Tell me to choose between eating dinner in bed and working out, and I wouldn't even hear the last option.
But alas, living with a former Marine, it's quite difficult to avoid the gym. Actually, in my specific case, it's impossible to avoid the gym and completely unacceptable to sit on a bike for an hour or use any of those weight-lifting contraptions that people seem so fond of these days...So, on our 3rd or 4th "date", Chris introduced me to the wonderful world of Crossfit. He was excited...and I vomited.
Crossfit, (if you've never heard of it), is all about "constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity". Basically it's a combination of a lot of random exercises mixed in with Olympic lifting, rowing, running, gymnastics, and the always enjoyable tire flips and burpees. The whole idea behind it is "functional fitness", but Chris and I like to define it as "Lift Heavy Sh*t", because that's pretty much all you do. You're either lifting yourself, a bar, a kettle bell, or sometimes even a sandbag or rucksack, and in between you're running around like a crazy person doing pull ups or climbing a rope. As you can probably guess, this is hugely popular with military types, firefighters, and law enforcement. It's gaining a lot of popularity because, even though it's difficult, it really works. P90X is similar, but I would describe it as a watered-down version of Crossfit.
These workouts are unlike anything I've ever seen....sometimes things sound so simple, (i.e. "Farmers Walk"...which is carrying the heaviest weights you can hold in each hand and walking a certain distance). I always see these exercises and foolishly think, "well that sounds easy", and it never, ever is. Crossfit has made me realize I'm a bit of a masochist, because I really enjoy it. As crazy hard as all of it is, it gets me going in a major way. I've never been a very athletic person, meaning I'm straight up TERRIBLE at sports, but me and Crossfit seem to click. It has made me realize that I'm much stronger than I ever thought and in doing these workouts, I've discovered I'm capable of much more than I ever thought possible....Pull ups, anyone???
Tomorrow I will embark on a new phase in my "Crossfit career"....I'm actually going to start working out at a real Crossfit-type gym. I'm both nervous and incredibly excited. Nervous because puking during a workout is widely accepted in this community, and excited because I know tomorrow marks the beginning of me becoming stronger than I have ever been.
Bring on the bulge...after all, "Strong is the new skinny"...Hell. Yes.
But alas, living with a former Marine, it's quite difficult to avoid the gym. Actually, in my specific case, it's impossible to avoid the gym and completely unacceptable to sit on a bike for an hour or use any of those weight-lifting contraptions that people seem so fond of these days...So, on our 3rd or 4th "date", Chris introduced me to the wonderful world of Crossfit. He was excited...and I vomited.
Crossfit, (if you've never heard of it), is all about "constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity". Basically it's a combination of a lot of random exercises mixed in with Olympic lifting, rowing, running, gymnastics, and the always enjoyable tire flips and burpees. The whole idea behind it is "functional fitness", but Chris and I like to define it as "Lift Heavy Sh*t", because that's pretty much all you do. You're either lifting yourself, a bar, a kettle bell, or sometimes even a sandbag or rucksack, and in between you're running around like a crazy person doing pull ups or climbing a rope. As you can probably guess, this is hugely popular with military types, firefighters, and law enforcement. It's gaining a lot of popularity because, even though it's difficult, it really works. P90X is similar, but I would describe it as a watered-down version of Crossfit.
These workouts are unlike anything I've ever seen....sometimes things sound so simple, (i.e. "Farmers Walk"...which is carrying the heaviest weights you can hold in each hand and walking a certain distance). I always see these exercises and foolishly think, "well that sounds easy", and it never, ever is. Crossfit has made me realize I'm a bit of a masochist, because I really enjoy it. As crazy hard as all of it is, it gets me going in a major way. I've never been a very athletic person, meaning I'm straight up TERRIBLE at sports, but me and Crossfit seem to click. It has made me realize that I'm much stronger than I ever thought and in doing these workouts, I've discovered I'm capable of much more than I ever thought possible....Pull ups, anyone???
Tomorrow I will embark on a new phase in my "Crossfit career"....I'm actually going to start working out at a real Crossfit-type gym. I'm both nervous and incredibly excited. Nervous because puking during a workout is widely accepted in this community, and excited because I know tomorrow marks the beginning of me becoming stronger than I have ever been.
Bring on the bulge...after all, "Strong is the new skinny"...Hell. Yes.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Who's In Charge Here?
When I was a kid I used to love to watch a show called, "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee", which was by all accounts a form of "Dateline" for kids. It was the kind of show that gave kids the opportunity to speak up about their own opinions to current events, political candidates, and serious issues like AIDS and homosexuality. The show encouraged kids to think for themselves, form their own opinions, and in the words of Ms. Ellerbee herself, "If you don't know, ask". It empowered my generation to speak up, ask questions, and take an active role in making our world a better place.
I did not create this blog to be a soapbox for myself or the issues I feel passionate about. As a general rule I stay out of politics as much as possible, mainly because the inevitable confrontation makes me severely uncomfortable. However, there is something happening in my state's government that upsets me so much, I can't help but scream my disgust from the rooftops.
As some of you may know, the State Legislation is in session right now. Of the many things being debated, (like state budget reform, gun laws, medical marijuana, and civil unions), my dear friends up at the capitol have taken it upon themselves to decide whether or not grocery stores and convenience stores can sell full strength beer and malt beverages. I'm sure you all can guess, given my profession, that I vehemently do not want this to happen. The store I own is located less than 100 meters from a large grocery store, and beer equates to more than half of my yearly sales. Do the math and you come up with great news for the Kroger Corporation and devastating news for us.
But all this is old news. If you've lived in Colorado for any length of time you know that bills like this one have been floating around the capitol for decades. While I'm not completely convinced that our business would survive the addition of more than 50 new competitors, I know that we would do our very best to adapt as best we could and, (at the very least) go down fighting. It's not really even this bill in particular that makes me so mad...it's the underlying fact that after seeing how this works I've decided politics is a filthy and vile practice.
What makes me most upset is that this one decision, that directly affects the lives of more than 10,000 people in this state, is entirely in the hands of a few politicians. There is no talk of a ballot initiative, and while there WAS an open committee session where "anyone" could get up and voice their opinion to the Representatives, the public was given ONE DAY advance notice. They did, in fact, have three lovely ladies speak on behalf of the consumer but oddly enough, all three of them were in support of this bill. One Representative in particular (LISTON), the main sponsor of this bill, seems to be doing everything he can to speed this bill through the House...Maybe so the general public doesn't pick up on it? It baffles me to wonder why this issue is so important to Rep. Liston and his supporters when there are so many other, bigger issues at stake. What's my guess? Money. This is nothing more than old fashioned greed, placed under the cloak of "customer convenience" and "job creation". News of this bill is obviously the talk of our industry right now, and one particular distributor of ours has already taken action by laying off around a dozen people, including one of our best and most honest sales reps. Apparently this is what "job creation" looks like.
I've never fancied myself a corporate hater. I've shopped at Wal Mart, eaten at Applebee's, and I often find myself in Target or Best Buy. But there is certainly a balance we need to strike here. I fear that the powers that be, (whether they realize it or not), are working to homogenize this state and make us just like all the others. I fear that the powerful "armies" of lobbyists employed by these corporate giants are influencing our lawmakers more than we realize, and it makes me feel incredibly sad for our political system and this country as a whole.
Ms. Ellerbee, there are things I don't know, so here goes the asking: Do politicians really have any "power" or are they simply vessels through which lobbyists twist the laws to make them better fit their own needs? If so, can we really call ourselves a democratic nation if it's really the lobbyists who make all the decisions? Why is my own state government, that my tax dollars fund, spending so much time debating whether or not to eradicate AT LEAST 900 small businesses? Aren't small businesses and private employers the ones who are slowly repairing our ravaged economy?
One more thing. The civil unions bill, that would have given ALL unmarried couples (gay OR straight) the full rights of a married couple, including access to health benefits and next of kin rights, didn't even make it out of the committee stage. This makes my blood boil.
I did not create this blog to be a soapbox for myself or the issues I feel passionate about. As a general rule I stay out of politics as much as possible, mainly because the inevitable confrontation makes me severely uncomfortable. However, there is something happening in my state's government that upsets me so much, I can't help but scream my disgust from the rooftops.
As some of you may know, the State Legislation is in session right now. Of the many things being debated, (like state budget reform, gun laws, medical marijuana, and civil unions), my dear friends up at the capitol have taken it upon themselves to decide whether or not grocery stores and convenience stores can sell full strength beer and malt beverages. I'm sure you all can guess, given my profession, that I vehemently do not want this to happen. The store I own is located less than 100 meters from a large grocery store, and beer equates to more than half of my yearly sales. Do the math and you come up with great news for the Kroger Corporation and devastating news for us.
But all this is old news. If you've lived in Colorado for any length of time you know that bills like this one have been floating around the capitol for decades. While I'm not completely convinced that our business would survive the addition of more than 50 new competitors, I know that we would do our very best to adapt as best we could and, (at the very least) go down fighting. It's not really even this bill in particular that makes me so mad...it's the underlying fact that after seeing how this works I've decided politics is a filthy and vile practice.
What makes me most upset is that this one decision, that directly affects the lives of more than 10,000 people in this state, is entirely in the hands of a few politicians. There is no talk of a ballot initiative, and while there WAS an open committee session where "anyone" could get up and voice their opinion to the Representatives, the public was given ONE DAY advance notice. They did, in fact, have three lovely ladies speak on behalf of the consumer but oddly enough, all three of them were in support of this bill. One Representative in particular (LISTON), the main sponsor of this bill, seems to be doing everything he can to speed this bill through the House...Maybe so the general public doesn't pick up on it? It baffles me to wonder why this issue is so important to Rep. Liston and his supporters when there are so many other, bigger issues at stake. What's my guess? Money. This is nothing more than old fashioned greed, placed under the cloak of "customer convenience" and "job creation". News of this bill is obviously the talk of our industry right now, and one particular distributor of ours has already taken action by laying off around a dozen people, including one of our best and most honest sales reps. Apparently this is what "job creation" looks like.
I've never fancied myself a corporate hater. I've shopped at Wal Mart, eaten at Applebee's, and I often find myself in Target or Best Buy. But there is certainly a balance we need to strike here. I fear that the powers that be, (whether they realize it or not), are working to homogenize this state and make us just like all the others. I fear that the powerful "armies" of lobbyists employed by these corporate giants are influencing our lawmakers more than we realize, and it makes me feel incredibly sad for our political system and this country as a whole.
Ms. Ellerbee, there are things I don't know, so here goes the asking: Do politicians really have any "power" or are they simply vessels through which lobbyists twist the laws to make them better fit their own needs? If so, can we really call ourselves a democratic nation if it's really the lobbyists who make all the decisions? Why is my own state government, that my tax dollars fund, spending so much time debating whether or not to eradicate AT LEAST 900 small businesses? Aren't small businesses and private employers the ones who are slowly repairing our ravaged economy?
One more thing. The civil unions bill, that would have given ALL unmarried couples (gay OR straight) the full rights of a married couple, including access to health benefits and next of kin rights, didn't even make it out of the committee stage. This makes my blood boil.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
And so it begins...
I have recently discovered that it's very awkward to start a blog. Am I supposed to give you my life story and tell you every event that led me up to this point? I don't think so. From a reader's perspective, I think that would be boring. Or at least it would be boring for me, and blogs are somewhat self-indulgent, so I've decided that what I tell you is my call. Besides, I'm sure the majority of people reading this already know my back-story.
That brings us to the present. I live in Fort Collins and I own a liquor store. I didn't necessarily set out to do this, but life takes you in directions you never could have imagined. Sometimes I feel like my life is a perfect example of that, but we'll get to that later. The liquor business, and business ownership in general, has been a huge learning experience. I don’t think you ever stop learning new things, but this first year has certainly been a trial by fire. As if life weren’t interesting enough, we throw into the mix the fact that I’ve known Chris less than two years. Yes, known him for less than two years. I’ve always heard that you’re supposed to pick a business partner you’ve known for a while and know you can trust. There might be something similar in picking a partner for life, but my experience was, “when you know, you know”. We started talking about buying a business after just a few dates. Our relationship never seemed to follow the “normal” steps or follow a standard timeline. We’ve always been somewhat accelerated, but again, I’ll get to that later.
Luckily for me, Chris has some amazing luck in this life. We ended up buying the best liquor store in the city. Maybe I’m biased, but between the store itself and the crew it is the best possible scenario for a business. The people who work at the store are, in a word, awesome. They make our lives SO much easier on a daily basis. I love them all and consider them an extension of my new Ft. Collins family. Currently our store is in the top ten in sales out of 42 stores in the city. We are extremely lucky to be where we are and our customers are some of the best people on the planet. I often find myself overwhelmed by that statistic…. I’m just a kid from Bayfield; a town that most people can’t even point out on a map, yet somehow my life is taking me on this incredible journey. Life is definitely a beautiful, unpredictable mess.
I know that owning a small business is uncharted territory for most people, and let the record show that I never really set out to do what I’m doing now. It seems that becoming an entrepreneur is something that just sort of happens. You find yourself having a difficult time “fitting in” doing most jobs and we all say that we’re not the corporate type. In my personal experience most small business owners are slightly crazy, but after just once around the calendar I can kind of see where they’re coming from. After all the 24/7 worry and stress I ask you to find me in ten years, and I will probably be a much different person.
For now we’re doing the best we can. We’re both dealing with a lot of unseen obstacles and trying to balance life to the best of our ability. For now we’re having fun, enjoying our new industry and job to the fullest, and somehow still finding time to deepen our relationship with each other. All in all, I’d say life is pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.
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