Wow… It has been months since my last post.  Although I probably had a lot to blog about, I just didn’t have the self-discipline to sit down and write.  In fact, these last few months I didn’t have the self-discipline to to do a lot of things.  I lost my balance.

Pretty much since the fall, I’ve preoccupied myself with my commitments to family, work, and church.  Unfortunately, I allowed my commitment to my own health and fitness has taken a back seat to the busyness of life.  I have not been exercising consistently and I have not been as careful as I should be with my food.  I’ve had episodes of high blood pressure and high blood sugar.  Thankfully, I have not gained a lot of weight back.

I need an intervention.  I need to regain my balance and get back on track.  I am not going to wait for January 1, 2013 to start.  I will be writing some new goals down soon… that will be my next post.  And no, it won’t be several months before my next blog post!

Have you started thinking about your health and fitness goals fro 2013?  What are some of your goals?

Wow! It’s been a long time since my last post!  How is it already August 1st?  You’d think with it being summer that I’d be blogging more… oops!

I’m happy to report that this has been a great summer.  This is the first summer in a long time where neither my wife nor I had to attend any school-related conferences.  It was nice to not have to think about school/work for a few weeks.

These weeks have been fun-filled with family and friends.

Family:  We got to visit my family in San Diego and my wife’s family in the Fresno area.

San Diego!

Biking on Coronado

Pre-movie lunch in Fresno

Packing up the car on our last morning in Fresno

Friends: We spent time at the beach and went camping with our friends from our Becoming One adult fellowship.

Relaxing at Huntington Beach

Perfect sunset to end a perfect day at the beach.

My buddy let us borrow his 12-person tent for this camping trip… it was huge!

Happy campers!

Leading campfire songs with guitar and ukulele!

Late nights playing “Settler of Catan”

All-in-all, this has been a very stress-free summer.  Hopefully my batteries will be fully charged in time for the start of school later this month.  In the meantime, I’m going to relax and enjoy these days off while I can.

What have you been up to this summer?  How has your summer been?

Mothers Day Weekend was a busy one!  It started out Friday evening when my son and wife came home not feeling well.  We originally planned to head down to San Diego right after school but we decided to exercise prudence and go to urgent care while we still in town.

By the time we got out of urgent care and picked up the meds we were all too tired to make the two hour drive.  While my family rested, I found myself restless.  I decided it was a good time to try out a cookie recipe that Jennah shared with me.  I figured cookies would make a nice present for my Mom this weekend.  They were delicious!

We finally hit the road for San Diego the next morning.  Thankfully, traffic was not an issue. We made one pit stop at about the halfway point in Carlsbad.

The reason for our visit to San Diego was two-fold: Mothers Day and my Mom’s birthday.  The festivities for my Mom weren’t going to be happening until later in the afternoon so my wife and I went out on quick date to get some gelato.

On the way back from our date, my car started to show signs of trouble!  Gah!  Perfect timing, right?!!!

It was too late in the evening to take it to a shop and I wasn’t going to try to drive my car back home tonight with all of those indicator lights on!  Thankfully, my dad was going to be out of town on business and he suggested we borrow his car for the week and that he’d take it into a shop for me when he got back home later in the week.  Wow… I’m lucky to have such accommodating parents.

With the problem solved, it was back to celebrating my Mom.  Here’s a picture of her with her grandkids… She doesn’t look a 60-year-old grandma, does she?

I take more after my Dad, so it isn’t likely that I’ll look so young when I’m 60.  Doh!

After all of the festivities wound down, we headed back home.  We had to be at church the next day and I wanted to make sure my wife got to enjoy her Mothers Day.

The kids and I woke up early Sunday morning to make breakfast.  The 9-year-old was in charge of the waffles and fruit.  The 12-year-old was in charge of eggs.

Mommy had breakfast in bed and was showered with love. Sorry, no picture available…

While they got to cuddle a little more in bed, I headed back down to the kitchen to prepare  my contribution to the Mothers Day potluck brunch at our adult fellowship at church.  The husbands were in charge of feeding the masses.  I decided to keep it simple and healthy by bringing fruit.  I bought a watermelon, two cantaloupes, and two honeydew melons.  I had visions of an amazing watermelon sculpture but it wasn’t gonna happen.  I had neither the time nor the talent… oh well.  Here is a photo of the final product:

We made it to our class at church.  There was plenty of food and fellowship.

This was my plate.

After church, we gave my wife some time to relax (nap).  After a little while, we went out for lunch (since the kids didn’t attend the brunch).  We went to one of our favorite Mexican buffets in Fullerton.  This was one of my plates.  I admit, I over-did it…

All-in-all, it was a good weekend.  How did you spend Mothers Day Weekend?

Last week I wrote about going beyond the first step and I can honestly say that I’m making progress.  I’ve been more consistent with my workouts:

I’ve also spent more time in my walk with God.  I still need to get into the habit of reading His Word more but I am praying more.  Getting closer to God has helped my relationship with my wife get stronger, too.  We even made the time to go out on a couple of dates together!

I know that maintaining my footing in this journey isn’t going to be easy… but I do know that if I keep taking these steps I will be rewarded.

How are your personal goals going?

“All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man has taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance the value of your first.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote was used to open the presentation in my adult fellowship class this past Sunday.  It convicted me…

I’ve taken pride in taking “that first step” — many times.  I’ve become a master at that first step but never following it with enough steps to create remarkable journey.  I haven’t walked the walk far enough… whether it be in my fitness journey, my professional journey, or my spiritual journey.

I decided to take another first step in my fitness journey this week.  I’ve owned P90X for a couple of years now.  I’ve started it several times but I’ve never completed the entire 90 days.  I have a new resolve now.  I will see the 90 days through.

Last night, I started with Day 1.

More importantly, I will also take more steps in my walk with God.  I will read His word daily.  I will pray at least daily– individually, with my kids, and with my wife. I know with God’s grace, this spiritual journey will have positive effects on the other areas of my life.

In the past, I failed continue to follow each step with another step because I tried to walk the journey(s) alone.  I’m so blessed to be part of a wonderful community of fitness friends and believers.  Can I ask a favor of you?  Can you help keep me accountable?