Our first real family vacation

Every year since we’ve had our boys, we keep telling ourselves that we would take a family vacation, but for one reason or another, it seemed like it was mom and dad, who needed the vacation.

This year we decided to change that.  It had been a couple of years since Angie and I had taken any significant time off of work, and you know?  Time is short, and the kids will only be this little for so long.

So we decided we would take the kids to Florida over spring break.  We didn’t tell them we were going.  We really didn’t want them saying anything to anybody about the trip.  We just didn’t know how they would react and more than anything, I didn’t want them to keep asking if we were going “tomorrow”.

 

Singing along with the radio on the way to the airport

So we held out on them.  We didn’t tell them until the morning we left for the airport.  I think they had it in their mind that they were going to one of the Grandma’s houses for spring break.  They didn’t really react they way I had though they would, but once we got in the car, they couldn’t wait to go.

We thought we were doing a good thing by packing them each a backpack with their game system in it so they would have something to do.  We were met with “This is too heavy, you need to carry it!”  It was fun when the security guard stepped in and told Little Guy that if he didn’t carry his own bag, he couldn’t get on the airplane.  If she wouldn’t have said that to him, it would have been a meltdown.  It may have had something to do with our flight leaving at 7pm too, but I thought it would be better that way.

 

Heading down the ramp to board the flight

 

They didn’t stay awake very long

We arrived in Ft. Meyers late at night.  The boys were a bit tired, but powered through until they got to grandma’s house in Florida.  Once there, they saw the pool and wanted to go swimming immediately.  At midnight.  Needless to say, we didn’t go swimming, and they didn’t exactly go to bed right away either.

The next morning we woke up and headed out to spend 4 days at Disney World.  The boys had a blast getting to meet all of the characters, and go one a lot of the rides.  I’m not going to break this down by day, or moment to moment.  One thing I would have done differently would have been to bring an iPad along.  Even though we used the FastPass option a lot, the lines were still incredibly long on some of the days.  On our last day there, I saw an all-star dad pull out his iPad and give it to his kids.  They didn’t put up an ounce of fight due to waiting in line for so long.  Was the one moment when I thought to myself, I wish I would have thought of that!”

 

 

After our four days at Disney, it was time to head back south to the grandparents place.  The boys woke up the next morning and swam for a good portion of the morning.

We spent the afternoon at one of the beaches and watched the boys build sandcastles and pick up sea shells.

As the sun began to set, we came around a corner and noticed a photo shoot going on. I made the group sit down so I could watch for 30 minutes or so. While it wasn’t my shoot, it did give me an idea for a shoot sometime in the future!

On our last full day in Florida, we went out on grandpa’s boat towards the Gulf of Mexico.  We visited an island called Cayo Costa.  It is hands down, one of my favorite spots to go in Florida.  It is only accessible by boat, so the crowds are extremely small.  Angie and I spent the day walking up and down the beach taking photographs and walking in the Gulf.  On our way back, we laid down on the beach and listened to the waves crash against the shore.  For me, it was like nothing else in the world mattered at that moment.  It was one of the best moments of peace I’ve had in quite some time.

On the boat ride back to the house, I asked the boys, “What was your favorite part of the trip?”  Big Dude came back right away with “umm, the beach, and meeting the Disney characters.”  Little Guy didn’t have an answer right away. It wasn’t until we were back home and on the way to daycare that he said “Dad, you know what my favorite part was?  The characters at Disney.”

It was fun to hear him say that, because we had suffered through one tired kid tantrum on the last day when we had stood in line to meet Mickey Mouse.  So much so, that he refused to get his photograph taken with them when we went through as a family.  It wasn’t until he got to meet Chip & Dale that his attitude changed.  We were lucky that the character spot for Mickey was still open, or I don’t know what kind of epic meltdown we could have seen.

I’m so glad that we decided to take the boys.  While it may have been too early for some, I had wanted to take them while the “magic” still lived in them.

I hope that someday they will look back on the trip and remember something from going down there.

One thing I can say, is it won’t be our last trip.  Even though there were times of stress, I wouldn’t have traded anything to see the looks on their face the first time they say Mickey Mouse or when they saw the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s my one take away on the whole trip.  We need to take our kids on trips.  Big or small, it doesn’t matter.  We need to take the time off of work to spend more quality time with them.  We only get them in our lives at this stage for so long, and then they move out to be on their own.  I don’t want to look back someday and wish I had taken the time off.  There is never going to be a perfect time to go, but we have to force ourselves to look at what’s important in life too.

We only get one time around at this thing, so we had better take advantage of it when we can.

Stay awesome everyone,

Roman

A walk in the woods

 

 

 

 

While out snow shoeing this past weekend, I had only brought my iPhone along.  I hadn’t really planned on taking any photographs.  But while walking on the trail, I turned around and saw the leaves contrasting against the snow, I had to take a photo.

Long walks with the dog, are going to be a staple I think.

Roman

So it happened – the dog dilemma revisited

Last week I wrote about the kids’ persistence on getting a dog.

Angie and I started by going to the local shelter to “just look”. The first dog we looked at, didn’t really react to us at all. Neither good or bad. The dog right next to it was a mixed black lab named Allison. She immediately came up to the gate and just was generally excited to see us.

After we played with her for awhile outside, we decided that we needed to put down a deposit with the idea that we’d bring the boys back to meet her and go from there.

Big Dude had always been a little nervous around dogs, especially when they go to lick him. We figured it was a good plan then to bring him down to be up close and see how they interact together.

When we arrived for our second visit, Little Guy yelled out, “See, I knew we were getting a dog!!”

Big Dude seemed to be interested in the idea. It wasn’t until we got outside to play with her that the three of them, kids and dog, bonded.

We decided after that meeting that we needed to go home and “talk about it”. My goal was to get home and talk to the boys about the expectations of having a dog and what I hoped they would do when it came to helping out.

After Angie and I talked to the boys, Angie decided it was happening. We were bringing home a dog. I’m not sure I really had a choice in the matter, but the three if them pretended I had.

We picked her up on Friday and she has bee living it up since. Long walks, playing with the kids, chasing balls all over the house – it’s been a busy weekend.

She even got to go on a long hike with my sister’s dog Mika.

Tonight, she came home from another long hike, cuddled up with the boys and Angie and quickly got everyone to fall asleep.

So there you have it, we have a dog.

Stay awesome,
Roman

We’ve got another runner!

The Big Dude ran his first 5k today!

Super proud of him!!!

The Dog Dilema

I’m having a problem. Not with a dog, but with the possibility of one.

We don’t have a dog, but I grew up with one. He wasn’t really my dog, or for that matter, any of ours. He just kind of did what he wanted and kind of ran the place.

Angie grew up with a different type of dog than I did, but for them, she was a significant part of the family.

Over the past several weeks, the boys have been in a full court press on getting a dog.

This morning on the way to drop Little Guy off at daycare, he started with the full court pressure.

“Dad. When I get home, there better be a chocolate puppy at home or I’m going to kick your butt.”

Fairly strong words from a 4 year old.

He proceeded to tell me that it was going to be up to him to pick up the poop and take it for walks. Big Dude could let him out, but the rest would be up to him.

Side note, it’s funny to hear a 4 year old talk about poop so matter of factly.

I asked him questions to try and dissuade him.

It didn’t work. He just became more determined.

I think about a dog and how much fun it could be to have one. It would be fun if they liked to run so he or she could go jogging with me. Maybe even go on the kayak or something.

I mentioned the full court pressure to my sister and mom today. They are pretty sure we are going to end up with a dog.

So here we sit. On the fence.

I just know it is going to come down to me. I can feel it.

So how’s that New Year’s Resolution coming along?

It happens every year – some years more than others, but it was a staple of mine for probably the last 15 years. “This year…this one right here, is the year that I start working out!”

I’d proudly proclaim it every year and by the end of January, I was right back to doing what I did best. Sitting on the couch watching TV.

What does this have to do with your New Year’s resolution? We are a month in. Where are you with your resolution? If you were like me in January 2011, you probably signed up at a gym. I even had a personal trainer take an assessment of my health. I even told him on day 1 that I was committed to making a change. I told him to give me a call and we’ll set something up.

I never heard from the guy.

I quit the gym in less than two weeks. I didn’t feel connected in any way to the gym I was going to. Nobody talked. It was especially hard as a big guy to walk in, get on the treadmill and have everyone look at you, knowing, or at least thinking in their mind, that you’re just another person doing the resolution phase and you’ll be gone within a few weeks.

It’s too bad that it has to be that way, but it exists in way too many gyms across the country.

What now?

Recently, I talked with Jan Burley, the trainer who guided me on my weight loss journey, about what people should really focus on so that they don’t become another statistic. I asked her what were 3-5 things people could do to help make sure that resolution keeps going?

She said, “To keep your resolution goals, don’t have more than two. Tell ten people what your main goal is. Then, write down your goal, along with a list of people, places, and tasks that can help you achieve this goal. You can use this to refer back to when you need to be reminded. Then, every morning tell yourself 5 affirmations of why you can attain your goal.”

Everything that she said is true. If I had more than two goals during the last year and a half, I’m not sure I would have succeeded. It allowed me to focus.

Give yourself affirmations. It sounds goofy, but it works. Simply telling myself I was “going to do this”, was enough to push me out the door to the club or on the road to run.

Do you remember Richard Simmons from the 80′s? I totally agree with his recent comments in the Huffington Post when he was asked the same question. He said, “In 2013…
Beam and be on your own team.
In this coming year I will continue to take good care of me for all the world to see.
I will be able to cope because I have hope.
I will always remind myself that overeating is defeating.
I will tell myself to not rust but to lust for health.
And I will remember to tone what I own
And sweat ’til I’m wet.
And everyone has to know-
You don’t get a choice on how you are going to die,
But you do get a choice on how you are going to live.”

I never understood the guy when I was younger, but he makes a lot of sense.

1. You have to be on your own team. If you are trying to do this for someone else, more than likely, you aren’t going to be successful. You have to do this for yourself You have to be your biggest cheerleader.

2. Take good care of me. For sure. This isn’t just about eating right and exercising.

3. Cope because I have hope. It isn’t easy. There are times when I struggle still today. I didn’t lose weight every week. Don’t get down on yourself, even when you have a bad week. Don’t quit.

4. Overeating is defeating. When I didn’t know how to deal with stress, I ate. If I didn’t feel good, I ate. If I had a “bad day”, I ate. Watch what you eat, maybe even journal what you eat for a few weeks.

5. Not to rust, but lust for health. I know there will be people who see this blog post and think to themselves, “Not again!” I’ve heard it; my own family hated me for talking about it all of the time. They probably still do. To be successful, I have goals; My health will be at the forefront of everything I do.

6. Tone what I own. It’s never going to be easy. You may be sore. Tell your body to deal with it. I still believe that the reason it hurt so bad, was my body’s way of saying, ” just so you know, we aren’t going through this again”

7. Sweat ’til I’m wet. Sweat is really just fat crying. #makeitcount

8. You don’t get a choice in how you die, but you do get a choice in how you live. When I was at my heaviest, there were so many things I wanted to do, but couldn’t. It sucked. I had to decide that this was not going to be “it” for me. It was time to live life the way I wanted to.

That was me in May of 2011. A super heavy guy that needed to do something about it. With a lot of hard work, I was able to become the guy on the right.

We live in a society that will gladly sit in front of the TV to be entertained. We’ll sit in front of gaming systems instead of going out and being active.

Every year, too many of us sit down and say, “Yep, this is the year by gosh. I’m doing it!” Then find ourselves right back on the couch in less time than it took us to sign up to do something in the first place.

I was pushed in to beginning the program by my wife Angie. Being pushed wasn’t a bad thing. She knew I had signed up to begin with in January 2011 she knew it bothered me, but this time we were determined to make it work.

It was amazing to meet so many people who were there for the same reason I was. To finally get healthy. To be fit enough so I could play with my kids in the yard and not get tired or run out of breath. What I really wanted was to take back control of my life and not let it slip away because of something else.

This was something that I could control.

Being big was a choice, but it was too easy to blame someone or something, else.

We all have choices in our life.

We have the ability to change.

Even though I’ve heard complaints that I talk too much about health and fitness, I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback too.

I’ve heard from people who have chronic health issues who have told me how much their pain has gone away, just from getting active and losing weight. I’ve heard from friends and family who have decided to get healthy, just because they saw the success I was having. I even got one of my staunchest critics to join the same program – and guess what? She has done fantastic and has lost close to 100lbs!

I don’t believe in excuses anymore. We all have choices to make about being healthy. We have choices on getting our kids to eat right and to get them active in sports or the outdoors or in just simple active playing.

I’m really excited to begin the next chapter on this journey. I’m excited to help others as I teach more classes at AFC. I’m excited to be a voice that someone can talk to when they are just starting their journey. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

If you’re new to this blog, you probably haven’t seen these videos, so I’ll put them up again. Last summer, I was interviewed for a few promotional videos for the club where I talk more in depth about my journey. I had a lot of fun being on the other side of the camera for once.

You’ve got this. You can do this. I believe in you, why shouldn’t you?

Stay awesome!

Roman

Capture Minnesota and a year in Photography Review

This past year has been an amazing journey, not only from a fitness standpoint, but from a photography standpoint.

It has been an incredible year, taking more portraits, and selling a few of my photographs. A lot of credit goes to the local photography club that I’m in and to a few mentors of mine. It’s such a great group of people who strive to educate each other and drive each other to be better.

Capture Minnesota

For the past several months, I’ve been participating in a photography campaign called “Capture Minnesota”.

Tonight just happens to be the last night to vote. While I don’t know how I did, I am humbled by the amount of support I have been given by other photographers on the site, and to those I’ve met in person.

If you’d like to take a look at what I submitted for this year, you can follow the link to my profile on the site: www.captureminnesota.com/users/romanbloemke

2012 Review

I also took this last year to educate myself more. It started almost a year ago today when I drove to Appleton, WI to participate in Dave Jackson’s Break the Rules portrait workshop. I met a bunch of awesome people, many of whom I talk to on a regular basis.

It continued through the year on the photography club’s many field trips. We tried to schedule one trip per month from June through October.

Minneopa State Park near Mankato, MN

Above photo courtesy: Karlie Mosher

At Hot Sam’s Antiques near Lakeville, MN

Near downtown Minneapolis, near St. Anthony Falls

There was my Grandma’s trip to the North Shore of Minnesota.

 

 

There was the Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk that I helped organize at the Crow River Winery.

There was the walk along the Crow River in the mist one October morning.

 

And then one of the most awesome nights I’ve ever been a part of – our Annual Showcase at the Center for the Arts. We had over 150 people come to our event!

The above photograph will stay with me for a long time. This group of people helped rebuild the club from the ground up. In the time since this photo was taken, our membership has grown even larger, which is just fantastic. We’ve gone from a club that nobody in town knew existed, to one that people around town know about, and talk about.

I also took several portraits this year that I didn’t put on the blog, but uploaded to my Flickr site. Ok, you talked me in to posting a few.

First was one of my favorites from this past winter; the second was not camera shy at all (yay!), and the third is our own family photo for Christmas this year.

 

As you can see, the Little Guy was pretty cold. It could have been the quickest photo shoot I’ve done – ever.

This past year was really fun. I have a hard time choosing my favorite photographs, and I left too many off of this post to count.

I can’t wait to see what this year brings!

Stay awesome everyone!

Roman

 

 

We’ve got some catching up to do, don’t we?

Sometimes, I swear.  We all get busy, right?

I don’t even know when the last time I posted was, probably a long time ago.

I’m actually kind of scared to look.  Not doing it, sorry.

So yeah, we’ve got some catching up to do.

Instead of writing one long excruciating post, I’m going to break them up.

I did want to share with you a pretty cool event that I went to tonight.

About a week ago, I got invited to go snowshoeing during the last full moon of December.

I haven’t been on snowshoes since I was probably in 6th grade.  That was the year that my 6th grade class got to take a trip to Isabella, Minnesota and stay at a camp in the winter.  It was probably one of the cooler things I did in school.  (I miss my Waseca friends!)

While that’s a story for another time, I did get to go snowshoeing again tonight.  It was so cool to be out there with the moon all bright, just hiking through the woods.  There was so much to see out there, but I didn’t want to hold the group up taking photographs.

Well, I did anyway.
Here is the Flickr Stream of the photos

By the way, Flickr is upping their game.  Love their new app, and I love the update of the website.  I’m considering going to a FlickrPro account soon.  Just love the photo stream and the way it all looks on my screen.

It was so fun to be back out on the snowshoes.  I only fell once, and that was because I was messing around with my camera and didn’t want to trip over the tripod in the snow.

I know a lot of people complain about our winters here in Minnesota, but honestly, there is no place else I’d rather live.  This northern part of the country is our home and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

As for other things, we’ve got to talk about the Photography Showcase our photo club hosted.  It was amazing.  Also, there were a few holidays that just went by that we have to catch up on.

Yes, I’ve been off of the blog for awhile.  I have to make a better effort at taking the time to do this.

Thanks for sticking with us.

Stay awesome,

roman

Finishing Fall Workouts

The weather here in Minnesota is about as unpredictable as it can get.  Maybe other states are like this too, or maybe we just like to complain about it.  Either way, this fall has been back and forth on the temperature gauge.  A few weeks ago, I was all ready to begin bundling up for  the year.  Then this weekend it was in the 50′s.

It was a great weekend for being outside!  I wasn’t going to pass up the warmer weather, so I hit the road and had a couple of good runs and we put up the holiday lights on the outside of the house.

If you don’t think climbing around on top of a roof is some sort of workout, then you’ve never climbed up and down a ladder 10-15 times, each time with strands and strands of lights.

As I was going through my photos I’ve taken over the past couple of weeks, I came across two that I had intended on posting here.

Last weekend, the kids were away at their grandma’s house, so I decided that it would be great to get out and do a longer run.  Time has been so tight the past few weeks, getting out for anything over a 3 mile run has been tough.

The temps were supposed to be warmer, the sun was supposed to be out.  Neither was the case when I woke up.  When I peaked outside, I knew it was going to be a good run.

For some reason, after my first 5 mile run ever, in a downpour, I’ve been drawn to running in the rain, or fog, or snow.  Something about the conditions make me feel as if I’m escaping for a little bit.  On those runs, I’m not thinking about a thing, just one foot in front of the other.  It’s a great release to get out and not have to think about anything but being in nature.  In the photo below, I had stopped to tie my shoe.  When I looked up and saw how the trail was framed by the trees and the cool mist in the distance, I had to take a photo.

The seasons are changing, but that doesn’t dampen my enthusiasm for running outside.  I almost can’t wait for the first snowfall, and to anyone from around here, that’s almost like swearing.

Finisher, but never finished

Sometimes it’s tough to hear some people critique or criticize the goals that I set out for myself over the past couple of years.  I’ve heard rumblings, and I’ve had people say to me “Why do you always talk about your weight loss?”

I read about another person who had this question asked of them and after hearing the same question myself, I thought it would be good to talk about it for a minute.

For starters, it was a life changing event for me and something that will stay with me forever.  My only wish is that I had kept with it when I tried to start back in the early 2000′s.

Secondly, writing about this transformation is almost like therapy for me.  It wasn’t easy going through life as a heavier person.  It pains me to know that it was because of myself and what I was eating and not doing that made me a bigger person.  I think that pisses me off more than anything.  I had the ability to change, and I didn’t do it.

In today’s world of social media, we share everything about our lives.  This is just one more thing to read.  I’ve come the conclusion that if some people don’t want to hear, they don’t have to read about it.

What’s even cooler about the whole thing is that I’ve heard from many more people who have said reading about my progress and reaching my goals has inspired them to do the same.  I’ve met a great group of people who are supportive and push each other to reach their goals, then set new ones.

The photo above has become my new mantra, my new slogan for reaching my goals as I set new ones.  The slogan is on a t-shirt that I recently purchased because it reminds me of my new goals.

I’ve been a finisher in a lot of things that I never thought I would be able to do.  But I’m never going to be someone who is finished.  I’m going to keep setting new goals, and I’m going to keep writing about them – whether they are good or bad.  I’m going to continue to use writing to help me keep on track.

Stay Awesome,

Roman

 

Did someone say a world wide photo walk?

A couple of months ago, I was looking for another way to get out and shoot in the fall colors.

One night, while trying to decide what I was going to do, I came across Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk on Google+.  It looked like a pretty interesting event, so I signed up to lead one of the walks.

A couple of days later, our walk was accepted as one of close to 1,330 that would eventually happen around the world.

To be included in the event was really pretty cool to begin with.

What I hadn’t anticipated was just how fast the trees would lose their color around here.  Not only that, but the river where I had originally planned our walk to take place was almost dry.  We haven’t had much rain around here in awhile, so after talking it over with our Photography Club Board, we made the move to the Crow River Winery.

We were lucky enough to have about 15 people show up for our walk, which was pretty awesome.  We had gotten coverage for the walk in the local newspaper.  Front page, below the fold.  I’ve worked in marketing for a long time, that is an impossible spot to get – so we were really excited about the potential.

I’m glad that we made the move because on the day of the walk, wouldn’t you know it – it finally rained!

It started off kind of a gloomy, cloudy day, which for the most part was fine.  It didn’t make what colors were still available pop, but at least it hadn’t started to rain yet.

The owners of the Crow River Winery are really great people.  They gave us access to pretty much anything we wanted to shoot while we were there.  We had access to inside and outside the winery, they even allowed us to go up to their farm to shoot at the bigger vineyard.  They were really supportive and even came out to shoot with us a little bit towards the end of our walk.

When I signed up to lead the walk, I didn’t realize that I couldn’t participate in the competition portion of the event with the rest of the group.  It made complete sense, it was just something I missed.

However, there is a competition for all of the walk leaders.  So here’s where you come in.

Of the 5 photos below, I need to select one to submit.  I have a favorite, but I’d like to hear which one is your favorite.  Can you help me out?

Overall, this was a really fun experience and one I hope to do again next year.  Photo walks are a great way to talk with others about photography, learn new things and really get a chance to try new things out.

If you are interested in seeing other photos from events held around the world, search out Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk on Google+.  There are some really amazing photos out there!

Roman