Buckhorn Trail - Colorado Springs

I went on a hike this past weekend with a few friends.

It was a loop hike, meaning we were going to make a circle and end up where we started.

About halfway in the hike we were a bit lost. We didn’t have a map, just a hunch on which direction to go.

Adrenaline kicks up a bit when this happens. What also kicked up for me was excitement.

Sometimes when I have a predictable path to a predictable destination life can feel a little … hmmm … blah?

Looping this back around (get that reference … nice?) I began to think about God’s will in my life.

I’d love to know what life will be like in a year, five years, ten years, and more. Will I still be alive? Will I still be married? How much will I weight? Will I still be this good looking?

This is where trusting comes in.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11

Do I really believe that? Do I really trust that?

The answer is yes, yes I do.

Do I ever feel like my life is somewhere in that hike, lost? Yes, yes I do. But God has plans to “prosper me” and “not to harm me”. I can trust in that.

Lord, help me to trust, even when I feel like I’m lost, help me to trust.

Their tagline: Thousands of Albums. Completely Free. Completely Legal.

Okay, I’m in!

There really isn’t much to it. Browse around the site, listen to some of the artists and then drop in your email and voila they email you a link to download the album.

One artist I’m really digging is a guy named Josh Garrels.
http://noisetrade.com/joshgarrels

He’s a bit like if Mat Kearney and Ray LaMontagne had a baby.

Here’s the disc Love & War & The Sea In Between. #9 is my personal favorite.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There is a reason The Hunger Games is the #1 bestselling book on Amazon right now, because it’s good.

What was really cool about the book is that I got to read it for free. Being an Amazon Prime member you can check out books through your Kindle for free.

Not all books are available on there, but a lot are.

You get one book a month. Combine that with the ebook library at Pike’s Peak Library and I have access to great content … for free.

What I liked about The Hunger Games:

• Great storyline. Although a friend (Mike Salisbury) mentioned to me how the storyline was totally ripped off from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Running Man. And he’s right.
• Easy to read. I read most my fiction before bed. I need “light” fiction. That is exactly what The Hunger Games delivers.
• The idea of the the small guy taking on “the man”. I admit I like stories that do that. Stories like David vs Goliath.

Pick up this book. You’ll enjoy it.

This was my office, in Vail. #toughlife

Four days away from Lisa and our four (very young) children.

Did I feel guilty about this? A little. Should I feel guilty? No.

Every person should leave their family behind for these three reasons.

1. Recharge – Young children can be a bit draining on you … okay that is a bit of an understatement. Young children are very draining on you. They can, and will, burn you out. Getting away for a few days helps recharge the your mind and body.
2. Reflect  - Life moves at 1,000 MPH, we all know that. Spending a few days away from the family gives me time to think about all that is/has/is going to be going on. I end up thanking God quite a bit during this time.
3. Return – Coming back after a few days of being away makes returning home so … umm … awesome? Yep, awesome. I long to return home after being away. There is just something about opening the door and having the smiles of your kids and especially that beautiful wife of mine when I return. That, my friends, is priceless.

I get away for a few days every quarter. That works for me and my family. I can say fairly confidently that it’ll work for you as well.

It went well. I have this guy named Bubba teaching me. Pretty old. Scruffy beard. Bit of a belly. You know typical swim coach.

Anyway the lesson went good. Bubba is an old Navy rescue diver (don’t let his looks fool you). He did a great job breaking down the things I was doing wrong (which was almost everything) and gave me some tips to help me breath (the key here is to keep blowing air out of your body while your head is under water).

Why are you taking swim classes Mike? Well, glad you asked. I’d like to do another triathlon sometime next summer (http://trifind.com).
Why’s that? I don’t know. Quit asking me stupid questions.

5 more weeks with Bubba and I shall be the next Michael Phelps (minus the medicinal marijuana).  Looking forward to it.

Why did you write this post Mike? I think of this site as my accountability group. So once I write it on here it’s official. You’ll hold me accountable, right? You bet good looking man.

I also need a road bike for the race. Gotta start saving up the cash now. Hire me to consult you on … stuff … and maybe I can get that bike sooner, ok?

A little triathlon motivation. This dude is amazing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Last week we were told by the social worker to change their names … their first names. That’s probably a good indicator that they may be staying with us forever.

Changing an 18 month old’s name is not the easiest thing, but we’re doing alright with it. They’ll pretty much answer to any name right now. But, working on getting them to learn their names.

I think Lisa and I went from the excitement of “wow, we may have these children forever” to “wow, me may have these children forever”.

It IS exciting, and it IS a little bit terrifying.

Sidenote: We’re also beginning work (again) on our fosterbook.com site. We figure we have a whole lot of experience we can pass on, may as well put that on a website.

As I’m working on the posts for that I figured I’d share with you the 3 songs we used during the worship porting. Good stuff.

Enjoy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What I love about the book are the tips and tricks that Todd teaches you. He goes step-by-step from theory to life application.

The book has helped me implement a few things in my life. Here are my Top 5.

1. Use Index Cards for EVERYTHING – This is something I was already doing so the book helped solidify that. I have index cards in my books, notebooks, pant pockets, by the toilet (cause we all know that’s where most good ideas come from). Bottom line buy some notecards and start putting them to use. There is something about handwriting ideas down.
2. Scheduling Idea Time – What Todd talks about is having structure in your life where you can be creative. This needs to be dedicated time that is all about thinking up ideas.
3. Getting Outside My Cube – I love my office but sometimes it can be more distracting than I’d like. Going to the library, a coffee shop, somewhere else can help spark creativity in my life.
4. A Circle of Trust – Todd talks about this idea of a personal board of directors. People use trust in your life that can help direct it. Kind of a crazy idea, but I like it. Working on building that circle now.
5. Personal Study Plan – Each quarter I’m going to pick a new skill and focus on that. For the next 3 months I’m dedicated a lot of time to copy-writing and swimming.

Summers are crazy for everyone, we’re no exception to that. We decided early in the summer that we wanted to join the sweet gym by our house. Problem is sweet gyms cost sweet cash. So we canceled cable, internet, and phone to pay for the gym. So no internet at home means no blogging for Mike.

With Cooper starting school here in a few weeks (I know, I’m getting old) we have decided that the internet must return. Cable and phone not so much.

So, I’m back. And I’m going to rededicate (one again) to blogging. For me it’s therapeutic and that’s what I could really use right now, therapy.

Just a few bullet points of the fun that this summer has brought.

* Road trip from Colorado to Michigan with a 3 year old, 1 year old, 1 year old, and 10 month old. Overall not as bad as I was predicting. Still very loooooong.
* Lisa’s wedding ring was stolen. *insert long story here* It has made it’s way home.
* All three babies are (kinda) walking. It’s very friggin cute.
* New paint job in the house. New flooring in the house. It’s looking stellar.
* Went to a superb training in Fort Collins called Personal MBA Mastermind. Highly recommend it.

I did get to take Cooper to Pop’s grave site while we were there. We miss ya Pop!

Props to the folks in GR for this awesome video. Way to raise awareness for a cool town in a cool way.