2012 at a glance

2012 has been a great year.  Lots of ups and some downs.  Growth within this crazy mind of mine, and of course, the growth of my family.  I set many goals this year, and achieved some of them, others, I will continue to work on.  I was fortunate to travel a lot, and make some great friends.  Its hard to put into words how lucky I am, but just know that I understand what I have in my life and wont take it for granted.

Have you ever thought your heart was just going to jump right out of your chest?  Everytime I think of my grom it happens.  Good thing for blood pressure medication. Eh, when I take it.  I live on the edge.

I was going to do a 2012 recap in pictures. but really Im not that ambitious, but I did want to share some of my favorite from the past year.

She looks so little in this pic. 

I think the picture above speaks volumes for the attitude that little one has.  She knows she's awesome, and we agree.

When I traveled to Tulsa for the Grands, the wife made me a care package full of pictures to keep my spirits up.  This was one of them.  I mean really, how do you look at this and not smile.  If you do, we're not friends and you can stop reading now.

We spent time at Aggie games and in Park City.  Living life the way we're supposed to.  Spoiled and happy.  Oh and hauling ass down the slidey mathingy in PC.  The girls experienced the Front Runner.  The Grom loves Choo Choos, and pretty much everything else.

The Groms raced in her first race in September and is straight hooked.  She is also hooked on Dancing, gymanstics, toys, Macklemore, Elmo, popcorn, and just life in general.  I want to be her when I grow up.

Nothing more to say other than Life is effing awesome!

And We danced

Besides being consistantly sick for what seems like forever, we had a pretty decent time over the last weekend.  The wifester and I, along with zach and the midget were lucky enough, and proactive enough, to snag up some Macklemore tickets for his show at the Depot in SLC.  I have been obsessed with everything Macklemore for about 8 months now, and the ol hussy and I were pretty dang excited to go to a show.  I think this was also our second outing in a pretty long time.  The concert was one of my all time favorite shows.  The dude puts it out there and really gets into his shows.  We will for sure see him again.

We also went out to the BMX track on Saturday for a little presentation and to let the gromlin ride in the big wheels class.   She rolls deep when it comes to anything she wants to do, four grandparents, two uncles, and mom and dad there to support her.  She was having so much fun and wasnt too pumped on having to leave.  I think I might try to get her out there a bit earlier next time so she can just play.  Its a bummer living in such a cold area, playing outside with her is seriously the best.

Being sick is the suck of suck.  I dont think the wifester has slept in weeks, makes me fear for my life on the daily.  Yes Ill do the dishes, yes Ill take out the trash, yes I fluff your love sac, (woah that sounds dirty), whatever I have to do to not get stabbed in my sleep, Ill do.

I have also re-signed with GT for 2013, pretty pumped on that.  Im over the cold, and it is ruining my will do much, including writing any more on this blog today.........................

Recap

Have you ever had a dream that was so awesome, that you just thought it would never come true.  Have you ever set a goal, that you thought was going to be too hard to achieve, but set it anyway because it coincides with your dreams?  For me and the entire time I raced BMX it was going into the grands in the hunt for the NAG (national age group) title, and winning the greatest race on earth and being crowned the champion.
Fast forward 16 years, and after a short retirement, I have achieved a dream and goal.  This past weekend I once again missed Turkey dinner with the family to travel to Tulsa for the Grands.  It was the largest BMX race in the history of the sport and to be honest, my nerves were shot.  I have probably been the worst person ever to be around for the past month or so.  My thoughts were consumed with fear, excitement, doubt, and anxiety.  My gym sessions got longer and longer, as well as harder and harder.  By the time I had my last session of training, I was spent.  I told myself, there is nothing else I can do. If Im not ready now, I never will be.
I went in pretty excited.  Once I saw the track, I felt good about it.  They had built a fun little option on the second straight that seperated the meat heads from the people that like to ride their bikes and it shows.  So I like to be able to jump, and the second straight suited me.  Gotta follow in my boy Nick Vs steps and get on with some bikes skill, minus backflips, tailwhips and barspins.  I can however throw some mean turnbars. 
Friday nights races were kinda rough and I didnt do as well as I had hoped in cruiser, but class I was able to come away with a clean second place.  Had a great gate and just never looked back.  Just saw the guy in pink that was unbeatable on his 20" all weekend.
Qualifying for the grands is a huge process. starts saturday and ends sunday around six, and thats just the qualies.  Stressin for almost two days, I found myself in the main on both bikes and with a great gate pick on cruiser, I felt good about my chances. 
The gate drops and Luke and I drag race to the first corner, with me getting the inside I had a slight advantage and took it the wire.  So PUMPED!!  I crossed the finish line only to get mobbed by my TM steve spencer.  It was awesome and all I could think about was calling my girls. 
After a quick facetime with the girls, and what seemed like a billion hugs I was back on the gate for my tweny inch.  I found my self in lane seven next to two powerhouse riders.  I knew what was coming. I was getting shut down 5th pedal in for sure.  So I game planned.  high in the first corner to dive bomb to the second straight.  Just as I had thought, I was shut down 5th pedal in and moving my way to the outside to set up for the corner.  I started my dive in the corner as the rest of the pack went up high, and just as I passed by they all blew up.  I was now in third and that is where I would finish.  Never could I imagine getting two podiums at the grands, let alone in the same day.
I ended up the season NAG 1 on cruiser and NAG 2 class.  Pretty excited about that.

I will post a thank you blog later.  Too drained for it right now and this blog is long enough.

I would make a good stoner

For those of you that know me, know that I would never touch the stuff, but damn, I have anxiety and I would make such a fun stoner.
A few years back traveling came easy, no stress, just whatever, rolling with the punches.  Fast forward a few years and a wife and gromlin in the picture and I am a complete mess while traveling.  My anxiety levels just booking a ticket for a flight leads me to closing the webpage three to four times before I actually book the ticket.  This generally costs me more money because, afterall, procrastination is like masterbation, youre only screwing yourself.  When I get to the airport my levels are pretty normal for the most part.  Security always sucks, so I come prepared for that.  But I have a little ritual.  A 16 oz coffee and a fruit parfait from Starbucks is the ticket.  Yeah, yeah, Im sure the caffeine probably doesnt help my situation, but hey get off me, its my jam.
I always try to get on the left side of the plane.  For some reason, and I dont know why, I feel more comfortable on the left side, and try and be at the wing or forward.  Everytime I go to the back of the plane I swear I can feel every little bumps there is. Its the suck!  Enter medicinal marijuana.  ahhh calm and collected Jonas, with more munchies than usual. hahaha.
It isnt going to happen, weed is lame, so is self medicating.  But I do need to meditate or something.  I already have high blood pressure (thanks dad), so I need to be careful with my stress levels.
At the end of the day, I have a good life insurance policy, and alway book my tickets with my AMEX that also pays out to the wifester, so she is set, and really, thats all she cares about.

So yeah, in ending, Im not going to start smoking weed, maybe just lay off the caffeine and hijack/plane crash movies................ 

Driving with assholes 101

Everyday I drive, I drive with assholes. For work everyday I drive to the Ogden/sunset area and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of lunacy there is on our roadways. Almost guaranteed I will find people texting, doing makeup, eating with both hands, and just being an overall asshole. Have you ever noticed that people and their sense of self importance is much greater than yours? I find it laughable really, and sometimes I just want to throw the middle finger salute to many that I encounter on the road.

So for a few quick lessons that I have learned over the past 48000 miles,or year. Whatever.

Be patient. If you encounter a traffic jam or waiting to pull out into traffic, just be patient and wait your turn. It will come.

As much as you want to, don't flip anyone off or over react, especially if there are kids in the car with them. You will regret it and god hates jerks.

Also as much As you would like it, don't ram anybody. Vehicular manslaughter is bad and if you're reading this, I'm assuming jail won't suit you.

If car waits til the least minute to merge or cuts you off,let em in. You're not a highway vigilante and like I said, god hates jerks so they will get theirs.

When it snows, slow the eff down. I cannot say how stressed out this makes me. Especially with the grom in the car with me. I would really hate to see myself if somebody hits me with the grom. Eff. It freaks me out, but I digress.

Be careful out there.

Jonas



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:With snakes on a plane

old man winter

Totally woke up to 3 inches of snow this morning.  The first couple of snow storms actually scare the shit out of me.  Just pulling out of my neighborhood is stressful. When the snow just pops up like it did today, it doesnt really register with people that they cant drive the way that they have been for the past 6 months, leading to an always interesting commute. 

This last weekend me and homies painted the upstairs while the girls were out of town.  We had to wait for a while to do this, because we didnt want the grom there when we paint.  Paint fumes are bad mmmmkkkkkk. Also got to play in Zachs STI, which is fun.  Makes me miss my car, but not enough to make me want to buy one.  It was a weekend of Instagram, Coffee, paint, car rides, an Aggie game, and a stupid workout on campus. 

This week I head off to Orlando for a little BMX action.  I havent been to Florida in a decade, so it should be fun and I heard the weather there is perfect right now. 

 A couple of weeks ago I brought this home for us to play on but forgot to post a pic.  It may or may not have barely fit in our backyard.

The wifester said that she wants to go to San Francisco for our next trip.  Hmmmmm, just makes me think of Full house, and I hate that show.

its life, deal with it.

Crazy amounts of stuff going on in my head lately.  Yesterday we were able to watch history be made by Felix B and the Redbull team as he sky dived from 127000 feet, become the first human to break the speed of sound and to jump from the edge of space.  I have been following this for about three years now and was super excited to wake up early on tuesday to watch it, but then it be aborted for a hopeful sunday launch.  Man was that exciting!  We cheered as he landed, and the grom just wanted more.  Kind of sad to think though that she might not get to experience milestones like that because of the killed NASA program.  But hell, who needs NASA when you have Redbull.

It was also a day of sadness in the BMX world, as 2008 USA BMX Olympian Kyle Bennett passed away in a car crash.  Even though I have only met Kyle in passing at races, it pained me to know that so many of my friends across the country were in pain.  BMX aside, he was a father, and a great person, and one that was taken way too early. Rest in peace #KB88

Racing is going good lately.  Back in the end of the season, and have some fun races coming up.  Went to Canada where they eat toddler portions for meals, and did some racing.  I like it up there, and some of the most excellent competitors/friends are up there. 

The gromtastic one is growing like a weed and has truly become my little sidekick.  She has been on her bike everyday since her race, and everyday I get home from work, while the weather is good, she gets me out into the garage.  She is very good about getting her helmet on, and making sure I put mine on.  This weekend I decided that I wanted to do something different, and brought home a bouncy slide, the thing was so big and it weighs about 350 pounds, so my weak wife didnt even bother help me move it. pssshhhhh, weak sauce.  The grom had so much fun, and seeing her smile constantly warms the void in my chest where my heart should be.  I love being a dad.

We did some family photos a couple weeks back, and I like them.  If I were allowed to grow out my beard, I would have the ultimate lumber jack style.

 Fall is in full swing in the valley of Cache, and days of walking outside will soon come to an end.  We took advantage of an awesome day, and the quietness of a sunday in Logan to hit campus.  This is one of our most favorite things to do.  The grom says hello to any body that walks by and they cant help but smile and say hello back.  I dont think she will have any problems making friends. 

 Enjoy Life peeps.  Its not as bad as you let yourself think it is.

Slicin and dicing

I'm in canada again right now and both ankles are sliced up. That is all.

Im the suck at interviews

yeah I switch microphone hands like seventeen times.  Eh, dont care.

staying on time and looking fresh.

Yeah, Im a slacker and not a care will be given.  I have been taking life pretty easy lately.  After a very busy first half of the year, I got to take a halftime of about six weeks from racing and have gotten some much needed time in with my awesome girls.  July started out in SLC for nationals.  This race is one of the most stressful races of the circuit for me.  I guess its because its the local national and people generally come out to watch/support me and I dont want to disappoint them.  It was like 700 degrees that weekend and the wind, like always, was blowing.  The weekend ended well, finished up with 2 1sts, and 2 2nds.  My lil grom was there to show some support and I won the race she was there for.

The following weekend I was able to go to Pittsburgh for a race.  Holy hot!  The humidity had this mtn boy sweating every ounce of water out of my body.  It was crazy, but the times that were had made up for the intense heat.  I was roomed with 2008 olympic silver medalist mike day for the weekend, and he had my mind right where it needed to be to grab another set of wins.  Stoked.




Then it was time to be home and be a dad and a husband.  I have to tell you I am one lucky cat to have such a great lil family.  I have truly been blessed and couldnt ask for anything better.  The grom is such a little miss independent, riding her bikes, coloring, talking, climbing, cuddling, watching shows with a sore dad, and helping around the house.  The wifester got her a little desk to sit next to hers when she is working from home, aka bringing in the bacon!  It makes me happy that we lucky enough to have the wiff, yes wiff, working from home and be there with our grom.  It would crush me to have her at a sitters house all day, we would miss out on so much.

The craziness that was my garage before

I have wanted to finish my garage/bike shop for quite some time, but being gone all the time left very little chance of it getting done.  Its not like I was doing the majority of the work, but still, I dont want to be gone when someone is around all my stuff at my house.  So one weekend I was home I had a guy that owed me some money drywall the garage.  I painted it, and rearranged it, and with the help of my boy zach got all the base on, and tv on the wall.  You know, important stuff for a garage. Super pumped on how it all came together.  We also fixed some sprinkler issues that we had going on at our house as well, who cares that it took three years?  Not me.

The finished product.  well except for that blank space...............

Grabbed some great new sponsors in the past couple of months that I am really stoked on.  Two local companies have stepped up and are keeping not only me fresh, but my hussy as well.  Its nice to have some local support, and really nice that the hook her up as well.  Moms need free stuff too!  Check em out if you feel so inclined. 

  I love her more than anything in this world.  My best homie.

This weekend its off to Park City for a mini vacation with the girls.  I have been given permission to take the bike, so I might get three hours or so on it.  Park City is my most favorite place ever, well, next to Seattle.  Oh yeah Macklemore in December, Zach, Chris, get your tickets!


Life is good in the hood.

May Day

Here we are at the end of the month of May.  May has been a pretty good month.  Went to Canada, did some running, some riding, some photo shoots, and started gymnastics with the grom.  The wee one is loving gymnastics, and we like it too.  Last night one of the ugly girls pushed her off the trampoline, holy shit it was terrifying to watch.  thankfully she is ok, and has already forgotten about it, but it scared the living hell out of us.

Im just going to post photos and let them tell the stories of the past little while.

Canada Cruiser

 

 while judging cheer tryouts for SLCC, I got talked into some stunting

 Hanging out in Brett Metcalfs trailer at the SLC supercross.

 our awesome seats at the SLC supercross

 The wife and I on a sunday stroll through the back roads of Cache Valley.  She has a huge road ride in a week.  Good thing she has rode her bike once.  

 I caved and bought the book.  Hope its good.

 We will be taking advantage of the empty campus.  The grom loved the longboard

 Got me one of those downhill bikes.

 Got the flu last week, it was lame.  Sat in front of the TV for hours.

Photo shoot for my bike check.  braaaapppp

I do what I want Friday

I have been pretty productive so far today.  4:30 wake up call, a little laughing session at the gym (no training), coffee, breakfast, clouds, traffic, work, emails, faxes, facebook, twitter, blogs, email, billout, phone calls, and texts. 
No one else is in the office, rumor has it that the new office lady just got offered a new job, awesome.  However, all else fails miserably in comparison to the news that I got that my lil groms gets to start gymnastics soon.  Wow.  I got butterflies in my stomach when the wifester sent me that text.  I am so pumped that  I will even be able to be there one day week cause they start late enough. 
I have been sitting here imagining her running around and jumping and then one day doing flips and shit.  hahaha, so PUMPED! 
On top of that I stumbled upon a new macklemore video this morning that reminded me just how awesome my trip to Seattle was earlier this year with the mrs.  I love it there, and if I could handle the cloud cover I would probably move there.  But I cant, because I am a moody little woman when it comes to not seeing the sun, and I think the wife would for sure leave me if  was even more moody.
So I leave you with the video that I speak of.  Yeah I post alot of videos on my blog, and if you dont like it, eh, who am I kidding, no one reads this.

Phoenix or Africa?

 Well I was going to do a San Diego recap a bit back, but I was lazy and decided not to.  But this last weekend was Phoenix and due to the major heat exhaustion that I am still experiencing, I am not doing anything at work, so I thought I would do this.

To say that it was hot in Phoenix would be an understatement.  The unusually high temps (105 sunday), really put a hurt on this northern Utah cat.  I have gotten soft since leaving lake powell, thats for sure.  Thankfully our awesome TM Steve was at the finish line with a ice soaked towel to throw on our necks and bottled water, I probably wouldnt have made it back to the pits if it werent for that comfort.

Racing went well.  Scored some good finishes,and kept it rubber side down.  The comp was really good considering the moto count wasnt super high.  My class is just tough all the time, so I have to be ready all the time.  Up next is BC next month, it shouldnt be too hot there. 

Well back to the grind, so I can continue to be a dink.

 1st round qualifier into the dumb turn.

 This is my Bart Taylor impersonation

 a little go pro action

going faster than Nick V ever dreamed of in the Phoenix where it was hotter than a mexican fiesta

Neat

A while back I tested out the stainless steel GT. Chuck Fallon was there to film it. Turns out they used the footy for a commercial. Pretty stoked on this. Thanks for the heads up Nick

GT Commercial, April 2012 - More BMX Videos

Texas

Texas is crazy. When they say everything is bigger in Texas, well, they mean it. Went for racing, did pretty good. Im going to let the pictures do the talking. I will say though, I love states that have smoking restrictions. Heres to eating some mashed potatoes and getting lung cancer at the same time.

Jerry with bmxmania.com getting all abstract on this one

This is part of the mtn. pass I drive over everyday, thought it was cool so I put it in here.

Martijn Jaspers from Holland. Taking a nap in between motos.

the door of our trailer, really pumped to be on that door.

What in the Sam hell? these things were everywhere.

check out the sweet horns underneath the trunk.

Our pit area in Texas.

I like the green spokes in the rims.

Grammas role in style in Texas.

All and all it was a good trip. Texas was a decent place to visit for two and a half days, but thats about it. Everytime I have been to Texas the wind blows, and I hate the wind. Its awesome to see the culture of other states, and makes me appreciate Utah when I leave. Up next is Chula Vista in a week so that will be good. This weekend is the bday, so we will be racing Go Karts, and I plan on putting the wife into a corner or two.