Why We Do What We Do...

I'll be honest, waking up and 4:00am on a consistent basis is beginning to wear on me. Need an example? Saturday, I slept in until 6:00am and REJOICED!!!! This morning was no different. I woke up at 4:00am, packed up my gear and lunch for the day, had a little breakfast, checked over the day's schedule again and prayed for the clients, meetings, and practice for the day (yes, at Integrity, we pray for all our clients daily) and then I was on my way an hour and a half later leaving my gorgeous wife to sleep in our nice and warm comfy bed for another hour. Thankfully, my attitude changed as I crossed the bridge from Wisconsin to Minnesota. I remembered why I'm up so early today.

Today, I started with training Paul and Vicki, a fun loving couple with two daughters. What I do as a trainer is helping to make sure that Paul walks each one of them down the aisle, helps to ensure that the weekend family hikes aren't ending anytime soon, and that they'll have plenty of energy to chase the grandkids around when that day comes.

Later this afternoon, I'll be putting my time and energy into coaching. Coaching takes up a TON of time and I guarantee that no high school coach is being paid what they're worth for the time and effort that they put in. Ask my wife, she'll give you a fifteen point sermon with references and footnotes. Fortunately, the image emblazoned on my mind comes from last night's JV game. On our team, we have quite a few players that have never played the game before, and Hayden is one of them. Hayden plays defensive end for us, and last night was a BALLER! Text book on squeezing down the line to break up the option, coming off the edge with hands in the air to disrupt the pass, and making plays in the backfield. The smile on his face after each big play he made was worth every ounce of effort put in away from my wife since June. Thanks to that smile, I'll have a renewed energy at practice today.

After practice today, I'll be training the Russian Twins. The Russian Twins are autistic and a blast to train! Honestly, they bring such a joy that I've been tempted with the idea of training autistic clients only! I've been working with the two of them for a few months now and they are certainly healthier and happier!

All in all, that's a long day but worth all the time to know how much we are helping people. And, I say "We" because building our business and the time put into coaching is definitely a team effort for Jess and me. To hear clients talk to me about how great they feel, to see a quiet and timid boy start to walk around like a confident young man, and to spend quality time weekly investing in those with special needs sure makes getting up at 4:00am easy.

Another Team Update

Well, it's been a while again. And, again, I blame busyness. It's been another big month!

Football is in full swing and due to some CRAZY situations, we had another school added to our co-op. So far so good, as it brings more athletes and doubles the number of seniors. To be honest, we're a pretty solid team. Now, all they have to do is have the courage to believe they are as good as they truly are.

Two Saturdays ago, we saw our first action against other schools at a scrimmage. I think it was a great day for the Eagles as it was a HUGE step in seeing themselves as winners.

It was also pretty fun to take it to Ol' Papa Rojas' Alma Matter, North High!

Last Friday was our first game of Season 2010, and we came out on top of a 7-6 nail-bitter! In a game that close, you can imagine that there were many situations that our gentlemen (I'll never call anyone who has the guts to play a sport "boy) to overcome adversity and grow as athletes and young men.

Now that we are out of two-a-days, I'm able to get back full swing into training clients. Football was a nice little break, but I'm glad to be back. I'm continually amazed at the relationships that I have built with my clients. One even wants me to get them a NLA Football t-shirt!

Finally, Team Rojas has expanded! Here are the newest members of the Team:

This is Swarley. She's a little shy, and I think it's because she's constantly peeing in the different corners of the living room rather than the litter box. She's also really good at form tackling. Anyhow, there is debate that Swarley hates Jess and is totally in love with me. Exhibit A: She took a nap with me all day Sunday while I watched game film. Also, Swarley is totally that kid that gets all the brothers and sisters in trouble, and while you know this, you never catch them in the act so they never get in trouble. Except of course with that whole peeing in different corners thing.

This is Barnicle. He's really friendly and curious. Kind of like the little kid that strikes up conversation with the sketchy looking guy at the bus stop and you are politely and subtly trying to convey how high the sketchy guy ranks on the creeper scale. Anyhow, as I was typing this blog, I watched Barnicle make an easy 5 foot leap from our couch to our entertainment center. It was one of those bitter sweet moments where you're really proud of the physical ability, but then realize that now you have another entirely different world of problems. Also, for any PETA members out there, we do not promote drug use among our kittens. We actually just woke Barnicle up for this picture. I don't think he liked it. Another fun Barnicle Fact is that he sneezes a lot. I hold to the hilarious irony that he is allergic to pet dander.

Anyhow, we've had them for a couple of weeks now and they're still alive. I guess that means we're ready for adding humans to the Team!

Now, this is going to be a somewhat awkward part of this blog installment. This is where I'm going to talk about a sort of ending for the team blog. To be honest, I couldn't come up with anything original, so I'm going to steal from Coach Chad Miller: Give'em Heaven!

It's been a while, but at least I've been busy!

Well, it's been one month and one day since my last post. I know, I know... slacker... But, to my defense the Team has been very busy lately, which is a good thing!

Up until this past week, most of my work days have hovered around 12-14 hours. That's WONDERFUL news for the Team Rojas bank account, but not as good of news for the Team Rojas Time Spent account. We did what we could to find some time together though, which was a lot of fun!

Two weekends ago, we spent the weekend serving at Camp Victory for the Sr. high/college weekend. I've always loved being a part of camp and thought that nothing could've made that experience better, but, brace yourselves because this doesn't happen much, I was wrong! Serving at CV with my wife made the time so much better!

If you don't know Jess, her idea of a great weekend of camping involves a bed and breakfast, but she did amazing! I'm pretty sure the biggest blessing of the weekend was watching her bless much of the staff by taking over jobs that they were assigned so that they could get a little and much needed break. I certainly married up!

After another full week of helping clients and coaching the Eagles, I got to attend the North Central Regional National Strength and Conditioning Association clinic. WOW! It was a blast! Maybe I'm a geek, but going over the physics of impulse and strain during plymetrics is a lot of fun to me! For eight hours on Friday, I was subjected to some of the top minds in strength conditioning, sports nutrition, and athlete development! The information and contacts that I received are invaluable, and I was there for free! The following Saturday was a fun filled four hours of implementing all we learned the day before. This means I got to enjoy four hours of training like an athlete again! Now, if you know me, you know that I can be a little sarcastic at times, but this is not one of those times. I really enjoyed it! It brought back a lot of memories from my competing days and also showed me that I'm still pretty athletic, which helps me feel not as old!

After running and jumping and lifting for four hours, you'd think it was time for a break, but you'd be wrong! Team Rojas loaded up Mel (our Chili Pepper Red Saturn Vue that we bought because it's Chili Pepper Red) and headed back to Rochester to take advantage of an opportunity to preach at Journey Church for our good friend and pre-marriage counselor, Rich.

Journey Church has certainly come a long way over the past couple of years! They now have their own building and two services. Not too bad for a small church plant that started in a movie theater and is shooting for a demographic that in the typically upper middle class Rochester is small. It's also a miracle that Journey is funded so well by a congregation of young, new believers, former addicts, and the previously turned off to church of any kind.

After church, we had the opportunity to catch up with Julian. Julian was one of the ushers in our wedding and a former camper, athlete and youth group kid of mine. It was a HUGE blessing to see how much he has grown up over his freshman year of college! Jess and I are very proud of him and are looking forward to more chances to spend time with him over the school year.

This past week, Jess has had a few late nights hangin' with the girls. I'm all for this! I'm glad that she gets time to spend with her friends on a regular basis as this was a difficult thing for us in North Dakota. But, it also made it difficult for us to spend time together this past week. Thankfully, we have a standing rule for Sunday as Date Day! Today, Team Rojas is having a low key, restful day enjoying some iced coffee and vanilla lattes (decaf. of course!)! We're also very much looking forward to church tonight! The first time in a few weeks where we get to sit back and learn and worship and have our part of the ministry be helping stack chairs at the end rather than running the entire program or even speaking.

All in all, a great past month! I am eternally grateful that my job helps people live healthier, happier and longer lives! I'm always blessed with the "thank you"s I receive when a client realizes the changes they've made in their lives go way beyond outward appearance.

The fact that my job allows me a schedule in which I have the opportunity to coach is not lost on me either. Seeing the caliber of young men that are going to be sent into the world from New Life Academy and St. Croix Prep gives me hope for the future of our world.

So, over the past month, Team Rojas has put in long hours apart from each other. But, when we thing about what those hours have gone to, Jess blessing and being blessed by two and three year olds and her friends and me blessing and being blessed by the success of clients and athletes, we see the benefit. It also makes Date Day all the better!

Football...

I have been INCREDIBLY blessed over the past decade. Seriously, I've traveled many cool places, met some of the coolest people, and I can contribute most of those opportunities to football. Some of you may be thinking to yourselves, "Yeah, but I bet having good grades helped with some of those opportunities!" And you may be right, but one of the biggest reasons I worked hard in the classroom was so that I could stay on the field! So again, back to football.

I've been thinking a lot about football lately, as we've begun our summer workouts at NLA (not currently, for you rule sticklers, as it's the Non-contact portion of the summer), and the biggest thing on my mind is not wins and losses but hoping and praying that these young men I'm coaching grow to have the same opportunities that I've had over the years.

First off, I met my wife because of football. Simply put, I wouldn't have gone to Northwestern if it wasn't for the football program there. That's right, baby! Thank the ol' pigskin that we're "happily ever after"!

Along with my wife, my best friend played football with me. My oldest friend played football with me. And many of the relationships that I built with some great men started early August 2000 on the field at NWC.

Over the past few months of being back in the Twin Cities, I've had the great pleasure of running into a few of the guys I played with. Shaking hands as a flood of memories come back is a great feeling. Sharing stories of "remember when..." never gets old. And hearing about growing young families and new adventures is energizing. Over and over, however, I'm struck by how the memories and old stories are never really about scores and championships, but about the REAL things. Playing Footkick under the Gateway Arch, A-Wall at our last Break-A-Way, Wes Hope serenading Mary Krauel, or even just hugging a fellow brother that's struggling.

I just started reading a book about a small town in Kansas where life revolves around the local football team. "Our Boys". I remember being one of those boys. Looking back, it truly was an honor. It still is, in fact. To know that on many occasions over the years I represented an entire community, school and all those who have worn those colors before me. Both the Blue and White of Silver Bay and the Purple and Gold of NWC. It's an honor to know that, even though it's a silly game, what we did on that field brought a sense of pride and even hope to so many. I know it did for me when I was too young to be on the varsity. In fact, it still does ten years after walking across the stage of high school graduation and five years after having my degree handed to me by the President of NWC (a former tight end, I might add!).

So, this is my promise to those of you who may know even the slightest of what I'm talking about. My number one goal for this summer and fall is to help the young men that I coach to understand that yes, it is a game. But, however fair or not, there is a lot riding on that silly game. Not only for the people who cheer for them in the same Green and White that they wear, but also for their lives.

Yeah, It's Been a While...

I know, I know, you thought I was about to become a blog failure for the third time. Not so! I want to chalk up this latest lack of providing insight into the life of Team Rojas to a busy schedule and certainly NOT a lack of blogging effort. For real, a lot has gone on though!

First, Jess and I celebrated our second anniversary! That's right, Team Rojas has been officially established for two years now! It was a great weekend (we feel anything worth celebrating should be AT LEAST a weekend!). We had the opportunity to house sit for some friends, which is super cool because it's more like getting paid to go to a bed and breakfast that no one else is at! It's a good thing we were able to make some money off of this deal too, because we also went to the Science Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls! It was super cool to read what was possibly the original hand writing of David of a Psalm and some parts of Isaiah as well! Seriously, words cannot describe! Unfortunately, the Science Museum is incredibly expensive. The silver lining here is that because we now owe our first born to the museum, it'll be easier to have family outings there!

The Team also just got back from doing the photography for our first wedding! It was pretty nerve racking because my biggest fear is that the bride will look at the photos and proclaim from the highest hill "My wedding was ruined because of these photos!" Fortunately for us, the wedding was in North Dakota, so the highest hill around won't provide much of a chance for many to hear Nadine's proclaimation. It was a really good time though! We got to see some of our friends from Williston, enjoy a slower pace of life for a few days, and spend some time with Jessie's family, which is ALWAYS fun because when I pick on Jessie's mom, Dorry, she uses my name kind of like a swear word: "TONY ROJAS!" If you have a mother-in-law, see if you can get her to do this with your name. Trust me, it can be addictive, so use this in moderation.

Before we left on our trip, Jess got to join the Eagles for some strength and conditioning. This was nothing more than a clever ploy on my part, since I know that she is uncontrollably attracted to me when she sees me doing something I'm passionate about. Clever ploy: Success! She did say, however, that it was fun watching the guys work. In her short time with the Eagles, she was impressed with their caliber of character and at how they work. And, she's right. These are some fine young men, and they make coaching easy. I'm looking forward to getting them under the lights on Friday night in the fall and watching them let out all the pent up aggression that has undoubtedly been building up against their tyrant of a strength and conditioning coach.

Finally, the owners have decided to relocate the team! For those of you slow on the sports analogy, Jess and I are moving. We found a great place just southeast of Hudson out in the country. We have the up stairs of a duplex. It'll be a nice little place for us to begin the expansion of the Team as well. That's the sports analogy that we're using for having babies, for those of you gifted in analogies outside of the sports realm. No, we are not pregnant! But, we are starting to situate and plan as much as you can for something like this. When we know, our trusted 3 readers will be like numbers 43, 44, and 45 to know!

This last part is a new feature that I'm going to give a shot for the Team Rojas blog, Highlights!

This week's professional highlight: I have a client who has been laid up for nearly two years with ankle surgeries. We have been working together for six weeks now and she says that she can never remember feeling better! Even going back to her 20's! This is why I LOVE my job. I get to add years to peoples lives!

One Tank of Gas, Miles of Emotions...

As much as this past weekend was one of the best I can remember for quite a while, it was also really tough for me as far as emotions go. Now, I may be an emotional guy, but it tends to be the same emotion consistently at a high level: intensity. But this weekend was more of a roller coaster ride.

For starters, Josie got married! Over the years, I've gotten really close to Josie, as she worked with me at Camp Victory and was a volunteer for me when I was a youth pastor. Once I got married, my wife fell victim to Josie's infectious bubbly personality, and she is now one of our favorite people. In fact, we may or may not be naming one of our daughters after her. To sum it up, Josie is very much like a little sister to me, so you can imagine what I was going through at the wedding, especially when I don't know Stephan very well. (So, Nissa, if you're reading this, expect me to be a bumbling mess at your wedding. Maybe as bad as Dad.) It turns out, however, that Stephan is the complete opposite of Josie which is great! His weaknesses will be her strengths and vice versa. He also loves Jesus which shows in how he spends his time.

Thanks, Josie, for a great party at your wedding and Enjoy your life with Stephan!

Since the wedding was in Caledonia, Jess and I drove through a part of Minnesota that apparently means a lot to us. When we were first married, I was a youth pastor in St. Charles and while we were dating, I was working full time at Camp Victory in Zumbro Falls. In case you were wondering, a simple drive can bring back a flood of memories. It was a lot of fun for us to drive along the Mississippi and reminisce about the kids in our youth group and the adventures we had while living there.

Finally, on my last few miles of gas, I stopped by Snelling National Cemetery to say "thanks" to Grandpa Lund. Although we were never very close (not his fault, there are like 4.78 million in our family and many places on our family tree look like a tangled mess of spaghetti), I've always looked up to him, especially as I got older. He faithfully served our country, loved his wife, raised seven children, remarried and loved his second wife and step-fathered six more, and was a grand father to countless.

Here's what I find cool: To my knowledge, he never looked for recognition for all he did. In fact, he downplayed his military service. I was always under the assumption that he was a cook in the Philippines during the Korean war, which I think is admirable enough, but I came to find out that he served in WWII in Military Intelligence. Knowing Grandpa Lund, he very well could've liberated a concentration camp Jack Bauer style and not tell a soul. I cried at his grave site, thinking about the sacrifices he quietly made during his life and hope that right before he left us here on earth, that Jesus allowed his Alzheimer's to lift so he could remember and reflect on the legacy that he left for so many.

After leaving the cemetery, is when my emotions went nearly to blind rage. There was a small protest going on outside the cemetery, with one sign saying "Memorial day is for war worshipers!" and another saying "These men died for nothing". Even now, I'm having to fight back the tears thinking about how my Grandpa, and so many others, were willing to give up their lives so these people can have the freedom to hold signs like that. I had to pull over to compose myself before I continued driving, or to keep from doing my own Jack Bauer impersonation.

With all this said, right now I want to thank those that I personally know, or as many as I can remember, who served us as a country. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy the freedom that I do. The only way that I can think of to repay you is to enjoy it to its full extent and publicly say thank you. So, here goes.

Thank you:

Elmer Curtis Lund

Bob Krueger

Roger Krueger

Ronnie Krueger

John Lund

Terry Krueger

Micheal Krueger

Shane Hollenbeck

Joel Hare

Dave Shoen

Chad Robinson

Tanner Paulseth

Jerrick Lien

Andrew Kosivich

Pat Peterson

Monica Nelson

Jon Butler

Adam Tippery

R. D. Evitt

Dina Hougen

and anyone else that I may have forgotten. God Bless you all.

Simple Joys...

I've been learning lately that the simple joys in life are awesome! For example: it's a Friday night and we just enjoyed an amazing dinner outside while enjoying the great weather with an ice cold adult beverage in a frosty mug with two of our best friends. Unbeatable!

I know that it's repeated all the time, but enjoying your job makes it a lot easier to get out of bed in the morning to get after it! What I really love about being a personal trainer is the relationships that I get to build with people and using my education and experience to help them reach their goals.

Tomorrow, Team Rojas is heading to Josie's wedding. This day is going to be so great! To start things off, Jess and I are going to take the scenic route through the bluffs down to Caledonia. Gorgeous views, even more gorgeous woman! Then we get to see Josie get married! Jess and I LOVE Josie. She has been a huge blessing in our lives and we can't be happier for her! I'm sure the we'll have a lot of fun memories from our wedding too, all those two years ago. Seeing a lot of the Camp Victory staff will be pretty cool too.

As great as the above joys are, and adding a few more from the week like holding a cheetah kitten, the greatest joy this week was when a fan (or friend, whichever terminology you prefer) commented that she enjoys how much she can tell I love my wife just by spending time with us. And it's true, Jess is the greatest! The simple joys in my life that mean the most, revolve around my wife, and of course my faith. The simple things like noticing my ring as I'm typing, or feeling the bed move as she repositions in the night, or seeing her picture on my phone when she calls, make my day and remind me how blessed I am to be married to her. Now, I know that sounds all cheesy, but real men love their wives! It's in the Bible!

Third Time's the Charm!

Ok, you got me. This is in fact my third attempted blog. This one is going to go much better though, because I'm a Blackberry geek now and my life is COMPLETELY scheduled now, including blog time.

I guess if you're looking for something specific to read about, you've come to the wrong place. When I did the blog thing in the past, I had a hard time sticking to a single subject. This blog will be about my entire life! You'll get to: see me celebrate with my clients as they reach their goals, catch up on embarrassing moments of mine, stay up to date on New Life Academy Football, be privy to the life happenings of Team Rojas, and much more!

So, I guess it's time for an over all update as to where Jess and I (Team Rojas) are at in life!

In December we took a HUGE leap faith in moving back to the Twin Cities from Williston, ND. It's amazing how drained your heart and spirit can be when you're not doing what you are designed to do. The oil field was a great chance for us to pay down school loans and Williston is a wonderful place to raise a family, but not for Team Rojas.

Initially, I had a job lined up, but in the end it turned out to not be a place that I wanted to work or a company that I wanted to be a part of. Although Jessie found a job right away, it was really difficult for me not to be contributing at all to our little family's financial needs. It all worked out in the end though, as now I'm working with a couple of great places and even started my own business, which is growing slowly but surely!

The absolute best part of being back though is reconnecting with those that we built relationships with in our years at NWC. I never knew how important those people are to me until they weren't there.

So, what's ahead for Team Rojas? Well, as always Tony will be working with clients and football picks up next week with strength and agility training. Jessie is working with her two year olds, getting in much needed practice for when the Team expands. We're also on the hunt for a new church. Any ideas? It HAS TO have a Saturday night service though!