Fitness Update - First Spinning Class, Keep Reading
I got up around 7 am in order to do some cheery good morning pilates. Marni called and said, “Hey hon! You ready for your first spin class at 9:30?” I said, “You betchya’ cannot wait! Is Ginger going?” Marni replies, “Yes, she’ll be there but we have to keep her from flirting with Tip … she can get so distracted with him around.” After a few minutes of chit chat while waxing my Lexus, I went to have a bowl of South Beach High Fiber cereal with organic 1% milk.
Num nums for my tum tums! I am so serious :).
On the way to the gym I thought a good quick pick me up would be and Iced Venti Skinny Vanilla latte. So I picked up six of them for our “crew.” Once I got to the gym and handed them out, we guys all just laughed with hearty chuckles and the girls in pony tails, Marsha in pig tails … silly Marsha, giggled.
I mean seriously, we are SO addicted to Starbucks. It’s how we roll and it’s just SO crazy!
So, I met the trainer, Lori, and she was so cute. Very soft spoken and good for encouragement. During the class, we listened to a lot of vintage Amy Grant and when things got a little “crazy” we listened to Old School Wham. OMG(osh) how crazy is it to hear “Wake Me Up before you Go Go” while riding a stationary bike at 9:45 am! Our crew just looked at each other and chuckagiggled. And this Lori, HA! She wasn’t merciful either! Good Gracious no! after about 40 minutes I even broke a sweat and had to whip out my personal battery powered hand fan while sucking down the last of my latte.
Afterward we all slapped each other on the back … more chuckling … more giggling … and then we all went off in our separate luxury cars and made afternoon plans for beach volleyball.
Now if you, dear reader, are thinking,”hey… that doesn’t sound quite right and it certainly doesn’t match the picture.” *YOU* are very smart! The above is not exactly what happened.
PhotoFriday - “The Good Life”
March 14, 2008 by Randy
Filed under Environment, Photofriday, Photography, Travel, War Against Whining
I submitted the above to PhotoFriday’s theme of “The Good Life” for this week. The above is in Naples Florida while on vacation in July 2007. I am *ready* for beach weather to return.
Orlando Life
A facebook friend mentioned that she was hoping to move to Orando within the next few years. She asks …
I have a couple of quick questions that I’ve been meaning to ask you: How long have you lived in Orlando? Which part of Orlando do you live in, and what has your overall experience been there?
I have lived in Orlando for almost six years. Which part? The best of course :). I don’t share that info online :). Although, some suggestions of where to live are Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Longwood, Maitland but there is a lot of places in Orlando proper as well.
My overall experience has been positive. The first year was rough. The humid weather is something to get used too. There was a little bit of culture shock for this Southern boy (the “South” ends at around Ocala.) Orlando is a true “melting pot” because it is a very young city. It is true that this is a city built by Disney. While I think it would do fine on its own now … Disney built “The City Beautiful.”
It’s a fast paced city and the population has outgrown its road system. Even so, it is no where near the commutes and jams of a really large city. I like Orlando in another sense that it seems like people here really know how to relax and have a good time. It takes longer to have a sense of community but once it comes… it’s a great community.
Plus, it is Florida, there is a lot of things to do. I love going to the beach and kayaking and going to the beach :). The theme parks are fun to go to about once a year.
The only downside is that crime has been on the upswing the past couple of years and the local government is a little nuts. Oh and the three Hurricane in 2004. Another upside is that development is going through the roof and housing prices are in your favor now through the next year or so.
I am excited you are moving here!
Let’s End the Day at the Beach
July 16, 2007 by Randy
Filed under Photography, Travel
After a crazy busy Monday and several serious blog posts, lets end the day with a beach scene I took on my vacation last week in Naples FL. It was taken from the pier.
The Best Kayaking Trip Ever - A Survivors Story
***Heads up: This is the longest blog post I think I may have ever written. Go grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and pull up a chair. It’s a long story***
The Benevolent Trainer (TBT… I haven’t asked him if I can call him by his first name here or not yet) and I share the same birthday. I am eight years older than him but we were both born on May 14th. This year we decided to do something in honor of our birthdays. We both love to kayak but we had not ever gone kayaking together. We had planned to but it hadn’t worked out to date so we wanted to correct that delay and enjoy a nice day on the river.TBT was kind enough to stake out all the different kayaking places in central Florida and he was specifically looking for scenery, challenge and not to far out from Orlando. Where I go, Rainbow River, is pretty far north of Orlando. He even borrowed a two seater kayak and a Lincoln Navigator from a couple he knows, Mr. & Mrs. C. They were very
kind to extend the use of their resources and we felt truly blessed. TBT thought it would be fun to explore The Black River. We got to the drop point and we were surprised to see that no one else was there. As we untied the two seater kayak, love bugs swarmed the car we were in and got all inside the interior. Every May the love bugs (don’t know their real scientific name) swarm over Central Florida. They are EVERYWHERE and annoying. They are nasty to clean up and really do a mess up your car when you drive. Even so, we went down to the water and instead of The Black River, it was more like The Black Trickle.
We only went down 50 yards or so and back. In that short span we:
* had to lay completely backwards into the kayak as we tried to clear the first obstruction of fallen trees.
* crashed through the second obstruction of fallen trees and brush. There were only the top branches of the trees coming up through the plane of water so we had to go through them, not around or under.
* Five paddle strokes later we were going under a bridge that was being expanded. The pile driver thing started up right about then. It was excruciatingly loud.
* We pressed forward and had to clear two more man made obstructions, one on each side of the bridge. The
water in between was nasty and stagnate.
* After clearing those we went about 3 paddle strokes to the next trash filled obstruction. It was huge and there was no getting through it… and we got stuck in the Florida muck.
* Frustrated, I jumped out of the kayak to pull us out and sank in the muck up to around mid thigh level.
* The only true thing about the black river was that the water was black. I was NOT a happy camper and told TBT so. We turned back and had to go back through all of that just to get back to the car.
I asked TBT if he just wanted to pack it in and go to the beach. He said, “No, we are close to another river that will be better than this.” He wanted to try something new and this other place, Kings Landing, he had been to many times before. While we were disappointed with The Black River, we were glad to be close to somewhere else that was a well known place for canoes and kayaking. Also, Kings Landing is King Springs which feeds into Wekiwa springs, so I knew that those waterways were more than a trickle. But I also knew that they had a lot more wildlife, seriously wooded and dark water (not clear.) Dark water is where all KINDS of things live, including alligators, water moccasins,larrrrgggee spiders
etc. I knew all of that but as we were leaving the Black River I said, “Well, at least we can say the worst part of our day is over.” TBT prophetically states,”Don’t say that … you never know what else could happen.”
Beach Break
May 10, 2007 by Randy
Filed under Photography, Travel
I have a feeling that if Sub-Tropical Storm Andrea gets out of the way … this is where I am going to be this weekend.
pssst … STS Andrea … GO AWAY! Please 
New Smyrna Beach
I went with the room mate to New Smyrna Beach today and folks that is one great beach. It is Labor Day and while there were quite a few folks, we got on the beach easily and we weren’t run over with tourists.
It was a gorgeous Florida beach day. The breeze coming off the ocean was very refreshing, the sun was fun and not opressive. The waves were huge today. They were very fun to dive through and just jump around in.
I love water. Don’t you?
Man am I blessed or what? Two days ago I hiked up to 8800 feet above sea level and today I had a great hike down the waterline at literal sea level.
::: content sigh :::
Siesta Beach Break
Took a much need beach break on the other side of the state this time. Siesta Beach is amazing and beautiful.
The water was gorgeous. Clear and every shade of aqua-marine possible. As I swam around for a bit it was easy to be grateful to God for beauty and freedom. Nice, relaxing day…much needed.
I took a handful of pictures so click here if you want to see them.
Trip to Daytona connects three points in time
The first time I visited Daytona Beach in 1986 The Pet Shop Boys were singing about West End Girls. Today it was Gwen Stefani and Eve singing about being a rich girl or something like that.
The first time in Daytona, I was on my Senior trip for Spring Break. We had gotten an old “mini” school bus. Painted it black and called it “Party Barge.” I painted that title on the flip out stop sign that we transformed. I slept on its roof for a week. We couldn’t get a hotel room.
Molly Hatchet concert, end of Bike Week, MTV Springfest….beer (I know Mom I was a bad boy). I just remembered that my first time on tv was not the Ann Richards rally when she was running for government. The first time on tv was on MTV in the North Vs. South tug of war. My friend Cameron (a very large teenager…had to be close to 300 lbs at that time) was the anchor. Running up and down the strip, throwing beers out to other partyers stuck in traffic. Sunburn BIG TIME. Jefferson Starship concert and eating nothing but beach food for a week.
During that trip I was in the party barge and the other guys were roaming around the beach somewhere. I had my foot hanging out the passenger window. A lady came buy in an ankle length dress and long sleeved blouse with a sign that literally said “YOU ARE GOING TO HELL!” and had flames painted all over it. I wasn’t really coherent, I think I offered her a beer. People just ignored or openly laughed at her. Later in the week I was car surfing (I know Mom….REALLY bad boy) and part of that was whatever whoever was doing in the car…you just joined them. Well, when a friend and I got tired of that we started walking back to the Party Barge and another group of Christians came up and started talking.
They were different because they looked like everyone else and were nice. The other young man asked me if I knew Jesus. I said “Yeah I know Jesus.” He asked “Do you know who He is?” I said “yeah yeah , Savior of the world the Son of God and all that.” He then asked something along the lines of “well you know OF Him but do you “know” Him, have a relationship?” That confused me and I don’t know that I had been asked that up to that point.
I can remember that guy … the truth never comes back void.
I was 17 then, now 19 years later I walked on the same beach redeemed. Lots of things have changed. I still see a lot of kids on Spring Break doing silly stupid and bad things. Yet I “know” Jesus this time around. As I walked on the waterline I am reminded of the vision the Lord gave me in 1995. I hadn’t thought of it in a very long time and even yesterday Alan reminded me of that vision (in passing) and it didn’t occur to me to think about it until the tide was actually washing over my feet today. I almost didn’t go to the beach but when I woke up earlier than expected I think I heard the Lord say He wanted me to go.
So I did. It was worth the trip to go and remember where I was and who I am now. Plus, the Lord reminded me that my calling is to be a bridge between the church and those dealing with same sex attraction.
The vision (dream) was of me walking down the waterline of a beach. Some religious folks were out in the ocean yelling not great things at the gay identified community that was walking on to the beach. I turned to educate the church on the truth of the situation and the appropriate response when the homosexuals started taunting and persecuting me for being a part of the church. I turned to the gay identified community and started quoting scripture and the most beautiful thing happened. The Spirit came from heaven and descended upon them.
My calling to ministry is to educate the church (a teacher) on this and surrounding issues. The other part is to be a witness to the gay identified community.
As I meditate on this vision and I look at all that has happened since my days at Living Hope and during my time with Exodus it dawned on me that this vision from 10 years ago is being fulfilled today.
Bless the Lord.
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD , “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
