Drag me behind a boat

Its off to the cabin this weekend! I'll start it off with a little golf with the Bro, Dad and Uncle. I always enjoy golf at my parents cabin. The course is very nice and always a challenge, especially when Uncle Dave leads the charge and challenge of drinking at least a 6 pack before the first 9 holes are done. :-)
Then it will be back to the cabin to hang out with the fam and head off to the Stones Throw once Kelsey arrives (poor wifey has to work on Friday!!). After that I'm sure we'll get into a game of dominoes or something like that, which is always fun!
Saturday will bring an early rise both with our dog and the little niece and nephew. I will be taking full advantage of this though because we now have a new boat and a wake board! I'm making Brian get out of bed (or if Dad is up) and getting on that boat as soon as i can to get on the wakeboard. I did a little practice run last week at Kelsey's parents cabin, and while I got up OK, as soon as I climbed back into the boat, my triceps, deltoids and hamstrings really started to flame up. Something tells me I'm going to be one hurting kid after wakeboarding and the tubing challenge that Brian has accepted. We'll need my dad for that one for sure.
The fun part will be seeing Trevor's reactions. I remember being raised on this very same lake and I always enjoyed the water sports. It might not be his cup of tea, but knowing his crazy uncles, he might just want to partake in it after we show him how much fun it is. Either that, or we'll just hang out at the Rhino beach and go swimming with some rafts and play some games there. Remember kids, don't go in the lake farther than your knees! Kids have drowed there! WEAR A LIFE JACKET!! Otherwise Auntie Barb will make you sit up on the beach. (Video evidence is availaable).

I'm sure I'll have a better entry once the weekend is done, if i can lift my fingers to type. :-) Should be a great weekend!

HO K PEACE OUT!

Over 1/3 of my life

Well hell. I just had a realization. Back in 1999 I started a form of "employment" that would change my life forever. I listed to some advice a good friend gave me and decided to try to stand on top of a log floating in a duck-pond. From that moment on, my life would forever be changed. I began training to be a "lumberjack" when i was 17. I turn 27 next sunday. That's ten years. Ten frieking years of my life (some more involved than others) have had lumberjack events that provided stories, memories, and experiences that will be with me for the rest of my life. I've done this a number of times but I continue to remind myself how unique this stuff is, and how lucky I am to say that I got to take part in a number of different things. Lets go over some of the key things my lumberjack career has contained:

Highlight - appearing on ESPN for my 15 seconds of "fame"

Lowlight - failing on ESPN for my 15 seconds of shame

Best Memory (G-rated) - Being called a "heavyweight" when rolling with Dan. ( I can honestly say that was the beggining of the end for me. I weighed a svelt 195 lbs and was still "skinny Kevin" yet still viewed as a heavyweight. Now look at me!)

Worst Memory - Driving to Texas in a rainstorm somewhere in Kansas. The trailer and truck went into a fishtail-like swing and I haven't been able to peacfully sleep in a moving vehicle since.

Best skill gained (lumberjack variety) - being able to stay on a log in the water.. that's cool enough for me

Best skill gained (non-lumberjack variety) - I'd say either my ability to perform under pressure, because i"ve already failed on ESPN and nothing is worse than that! - or being a well versed traveller.

Favorite place that i've competed - Other than Hayward because of the History, it would have to be West Virginia. That's where Nate and I really became good friends.

Least favorite place that i've competed - Anywhere in Ohio.

The one thing I wish i could take back - throwing up in the RV during my sleep. To this day I STILL can't figure out how it happened.

Biggest thing I wish I could still do - Make as much money lumberjacking as I do with my "stupid desk job" as the true lumberjacks call it.

All this is due to the fact that I'm going to help out the Fischers once again and compete in a lumberjack show in Iowa. Nothing special for them, but for me its revisiting a life I will always remember. I mean, I've been doing it for 1/3 of my life! That's amazing! I know some people have been doing it for their ENTIRE lives, but this is me we're talking about.. its just crazy! It seems like yesterday I was bringing home a bag of lumberjack laundry (aweful stuff) to get cleaned before we headed out to our next site! What the hell happened? I am old. :-)

Oh well.. time for one more go-around this weekend. I'll be singing the Craig and Terry Lumberjack songs, wearing flannel, running with chainsaws and enjoying another fair. Looking forward to it!

HO-K Peace out!!

A new season

Well, with four weddings out of the way this year, I can finally say that wedding season has reached the "All-star break." We're not quite half-way with the wedding season or the summer, but it certainly feels like we've been to a lot of weddings. They have all been fantastic and Kelsey, myself, and all our friends definitely have memories at each one. The good news is that we don't have to keep spending our money on wedding gifts, figuring out what we have and what we need to return where, or store someplace in our ever shrinking storage space within our house. Nope, no more of that, for now at least. Now its time to move on to the other season during the summer... CABIN SEASON!!

We're off to Balsam Lake this weekend for a bit of relaxing with Kelsey's parents. I'm looking forward to this weekend because I get to go swimming and such, which is really how I kick off summer. It isn't summer till I hit that water! Frank went out and got a Sea-Doo Jet ski for the lake this year and we couldn't be more excited for it. We now have access to the two best modes of transportation around Balsam Lake. The pontoon for tooling around and getting some sun while stopping off at the bars for beer and cheese curds, as well as the Jet ski for all the fun and excitement you need on a sunny day. Luckily for us the weather looks like it might hold out for a decent weekend at the cabin. Better than last weekend anyway. :-)

We will be heading down to Lake Arbutus at the end of the month for this old man's Birthday. There is also a new toy there waiting for us as well. Dad got a new boat, and since he likes making deals, the salesman threw in the only water toy that we were missing, a wakeboard! I've done the tubing, and kneeboarding throughout my youth, and just don't have the strength to do it anymore, and waterskiing isn't that entertaining to me. Wakeboarding seems right up my alley to provide a few bruises for the Monday meetings at work. Needless to say I'm just happy the lake is up this year and that we have a chance to get out on the lake for some water sports, swimming and of course drinking. :-) It should be fun to take Trevor on the boat as well. We'll show him how much fun the toys can be and before you know it, he'll be out there carrying on the "King of the tube" title that I succesfully held until I gained enough weight to throw myself off. Maybe Brian and I need to make another title match to see if my 200+ lbs will knock his skinny butt off the tube while going 30 mph. I just hope I don't pop the tube when we hit the waves. :-)

Well, we just gotta get through one last friday shift of work and then we're Cabin bound! Get the beers cold, and enjoy your weekend!

HO K PEACE OUT!

The the fun times begin.

After the ceremony we got on our big limo-party bus loaded with champagne and beer. We set off to Pioneer Park to take some pictures and as we made our way down Hwy 36 we hit some traffic just as we approached Stillwater. This isn't uncommon and as we later learned that there was a couple of weddings and proms on the boats we should have figured we'd be sitting in traffic for about an hour. We were originally OK with this because we had beer and good music to keep us occupied. But then, the beer ran out. Luckily we got to the park and took some more amazing pictures and decided that it was about time we went somewhere where they had beer. Considering the reception had free beer we figured we might as well go there and start the festivities.

We got to the reception around 5:15 and started making our way through the crowd. We cut the cake for the photo-op and made our way even further through the crowd. The groomsmen and I got up to the bar for our first shot of the night. The LeBron bomb was something to behold, and all I can say about it is that I still had sugar on me later that night.

The dinner was very good, and the cake was amazing. Kelsey didn't get too much cake and is still very upset with that, but all in all I think the food portion went very well. The little hiccup in the night was Kelsey's grandma having some health issues, and all I can say is that thank goodness there were plenty of Nurse and medical personnel in attendance to make sure everything was OK. The photo booth was a big hit throughout the night, once it finally got there. :-) There are many photos throughout the night of drunken debauchery and all around good times. Kelsey and I will treasure the numerous pictures we have in a little guest book the attendant gave us at the end of the night. Apparently I threw up a few too many middle fingers (thanks Rich) in my pictures and I might have to edit them out before my nephew tells me I'm going to "Hellen"

The dance floor was packed all night and I was extremely grateful that everyone I talked to said how much fun they had. I think in essence that's what I wanted our wedding to be. We strived to make sure that the guests would have something to do, or that things would be easy for them so that they would have a good time. I think our hard work (mostly Kelsey's) paid off in the end. It seemed like a night to remember for everyone, and not just ourselves. I couldn't have been happier with the slide show, the speeches, the family that attended, and all the great things people had to say about our big day. It really was the greatest day of my life. :-)

Next post I'll get into the Honeymoon, minus the dirty details. I don't want to go to "Hellen" right?

HO K Peace out!!

Where to begin??

It seems like forever ago that the biggest day of my life came and went. Because its been so long since I've posted I'm having a little trouble trying to figure out where to start.

I guess I could always "go back to the beginning."

Friday, May 15th was the day of our rehearsal. In the morning I got to go golfing with a lot of friends and family. It turned out to be a very nice day, although very windy which made the golf a little challenging. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun and it really helped relieve some pre-wedding day stress. :-)

The rehearsal went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed very excited for the big day. Everyone learned their roles and knew what they had to do so all-in-all it was a good rehearsal. The grooms dinner was held back at Tartan Park and was a really fun dinner. Kelsey surprised me by having a 3D cake made of a boom running race. I was one of the 3D frosting dudes, and the funniest part was that during transportation, my dude tipped over off his log and fell into the "water." Originally Kelsey was a bit worried that this would wreck the cake, but once she found out that it was my dude that fell in, it suddenly became the most realistic cake ever. ;-)

The other big hit of the night was something that Kelsey had planned for us a few months before our wedding day. She had found online a description of a "Dutch Tradition" where the couple puts two wine glasses, a bottle of wine, and two letters, one for each person written by the other, into a box. The mothers of the bride and groom nail the box shut and it is to remain sealed. The only way you are supposed to open the box is to pry it open when you are at your last resort before a potential divorce. The idea is that the wine is supposed to get you to sit together and drink, while you read the letters reminding each other why you loved each other when you began. If you make it without ever needing "the box" then Kelsey and I set a time of 20 years to open it anyway as a little wedding anniversary idea. Needless to say a lot of the comments about the box were positive and even more were humorous in nature. A couple of my friends said they'd already would have been through at least two boxes in their marriage. A couple of the groomsmen starting quoting that they are going to start new drinking traditions and claim that it's a "Dutch Tradition" and Kelsey and I found a new joke to say when we are on each other's nerves... "That's it.. GET THE BOX!!" All jokes aside, its a very nice thing to have as a new tradition in our family and I will enjoy opening it in 20 years. :-)

The wedding day began rather early for me, but not as early as the girls. :-) Brian and I had to drive down to Stillwater to drop off my car for the night as we were staying in a hotel in downtown Stillwater that night. We got back and I got showered up and headed over to the Church when I was told to. I got there at 11:00am ready to have Kelsey come and begin our big day together. We decided to see each other before the ceremony because that way we could get all our pictures in before the ceremony and still have a little time to not be rushed afterwords and to just enjoy the day. She was supposed to meet me in the little Chapel outside the Church at 11:15am. Well, 11:45 rolled around and she finally came out. :-) We realized that I was on time, and she was running a little late. It worked out fine, but with my nerves being as they were that morning anyway, I got a little worried for about 5 minutes in that span. :-)

She was as anyone would expect, the most beautiful bride I had ever seen. She looked AMAZING in her dress and it really was everything I had hoped for. We took some great pictures and were all smiles throughout the ceremony. Nothing really went wrong in the ceremony, except that when I went to light the unity candle, my candle stuck to the candle holder and as I pried it out the wax spilled on my hand... it didn't feel too great.

We even had my nephew and Kelsey's niece make it down the aisle as they entered the Church! Chloe, the flower girl, was to everyone's surprise, in a dress and down the aisle right with Trevor. It was spectacular!

The ceremony continued without a hitch and before we knew it, we were married. We ushered everyone out of the Church and after a little cleanup, it was time to get on the limo bus and begin the party time. :-)

I think i'm all set

I'm going to pick up my tux in a few hours, all of my gifts and cards and letters for Kelsey are all set to go, the rings are well hidden in the house, our out of town guests are starting to arrive, we're all packed for our Honeymoon, I'm done with work for the month of May, i'm ready for golf tomorrow, and all the little details seem to be wrapping up nicely. Yep.. I think i'm ready to get married.
I'm 26 years old and I'm getting married. Life never works out the way you think it will, and I guess it didn't take me the full 26 years to realize the full meaning of that phrase, but in the end, I'm very glad life didn't work out the way I planned.
There are so many thoughts going through my head but I think the one thing I can hold onto is the happiness that I feel to be experiencing this art of finding someone special. I tried so hard to force myself to find someone, when in the end she found me. I've discovered a lot of new things about myself through her and some of the new things will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Its also exciting to look forward to seeing old faces and sharing a few drinks with all my friends and family.
The slide show is complete and barring a technical glitch with the software at the reception hall it should go over very well. I'm happy with the timing and quality of both of our songs choices and the timing worked out exceptionally well.
All in all it should be a great weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.

time to make some memories.. I'll follow up with some pictures and insightful postings later.

Ho K.. Peace out... last time as a "single" blogger. :-)

168 Hours

168 hours from now I will be taking my position and getting ready to get married. :-) Its really getting close now! The good news is that we have almost everything taken care of. We have a few loose ends to tie up but nothing that is extremely stress worthy (in my humble opinion). In fact this weekend, the biggest task I have is yard work, and that is mostly self appointed work. Other stuff that will get done is other house work and cleaning getting ready for our guests this upcoming week and for when we are gone on our honeymoon. Its kinda nice and settling knowing that the big day is so close, and I guess all I have to do now is just wait and look forward to what will be a wonderful day.

Kona seems to be settling into her groove of the non-winter seasons. She spends more time outside then in, and she is exponentially harder to get inside when you need her to come in. Luckily I've got my own little trick that works 90% of the time, so at least there is that. She's sorted through her toys and bones and found two of her favorites and will only pay attention to them. She's settling down into a very nice dog in my book. I think you have to try and remember how bad she used to be, and just be able to look at her now and say... its not that bad. :-)

I had a little realization the other day when it comes to this blog contest. I'm actually going to have to take some time on my honeymoon to post something. I think i'll have to do it when Kelsey is in the shower getting ready for dinner or something, because I'd rather take a DDT, a four-figure leglock, or a pile driver than skip any of the good time on our honeymoon to post a blog entry. We'll see what happens.

That's about it for me today. We've got some errands to run and some Mothers day stuff to figure out, and then before you know it, it will be Sunday and one day closer to the wedding.

Ho K Peace out!