Left Field Sucks...

February has always been a crazy month for the Team, and 2011's version was no different. I guess I should have seen this coming since this year's Super Bowl match up was Pittsburgh vs. Green Bay. As a born and raised Minnesotan, living in Wisconsin is HORRIBLE when the Packers are doing well at all. As far as Pittsburgh is concerned, I guess I'm indifferent based on geography. As bad as that was, I tried going into the game with a good attitude as I am a fan of the game and we were going to a party with some of the coolest people I know. Unfortunately, Left Field decided to throw somethings our way.

The night before the Super Bowl, I had to go to the emergency room with an infected tooth. Honestly, this was the most pain I've ever felt in my life. It even beat out the spinal tap I had in 7th Grade. Thankfully, my friendly ER doc gave me some sweet injections to numb my face as it swelled up enough to make my face look like the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man. Well, at least it was only the right side of my face. Once the numbing went away, I also had some great pain killers to help me get by.

On a positive note, overall my teeth were in such good shape that the dentist office couldn't guess that it had been over 10 years since my last appointment. They should know since I've been there three times in four weeks. Thank you, Oakwood Dental!

The next week, I found out that I have more family than I thought. A lot more. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing but it sure did mess with me for a while. Here's a little background. I have a biological father (here on out referred to as glorified sperm donor, or GSD) who split not long after I was born. About 20 years ago I found out the situation and never really thought much about it because a year and a half after I was born my mom married the man who adopted me and has been my Dad ever since. Because my Dad was always there, I never thought too much about my GSD, or the implications of his actions.

However, as I got older I started to wonder more and more if I had more siblings out there. As it turns out, I do. Six. Four sisters and two brothers. At least four different women. To make matters more complicated, I'm the oldest. For those of you that are not the oldest, it's a hard position to be in. I feel responsible. I feel like I should have done more to seek them out. I feel I should have been there somehow to been the big brother I always was to Nissa. While I know this is a completely unfair burden to put on myself, that knowledge doesn't take those feelings away.

As a bit of a disclaimer, I'm in no way upset with anyone about the situation. Had Ol' Momma Rojas not moved us all up to The Bay, I don't think I'd be as blessed as I am today. I actually am only upset at GSD for the legacy he has left and I'm now responsible for fixing. My sons will know about him and will know what he did, but they WILL be raised to be men of integrity and courage.

With all that being said, this Saturday The Team will meet the new family members for one of my niece's second birthday. We're looking forward to it, but it's kind of a weird situation for us. Also, anyone know what to get a two-year old you've never met? I'm leaning towards pixie-sticks, Mountain Dew, a puppy and an ant farm.

There has been some good things coming out of Left Field however. First off, Boomer is getting married! Jess and I are in the wedding and, drum roll, please... IT'S IN ROME!!! That's right, the Team is making it's first trip across the pond together. There is a issue with even this joyous occasion though as it will take place during Birthday Week 2011 and the actual wedding on my birthday, the 7th. While initially ready to go toe-to-toe with my future sis-in-law, Lindsey (seriously, she wrecks EVERYTHING!!!), I've decided to forgive them as they are giving me a trip to Italy for my birthday. Little do they know, I expect them to top their gift every year. I figure I'll be on a space shuttle sometime in the early '20s.

In all seriousness, the Team couldn't be happier for them and we are so honored that Boom and Lindsey would even think about us joining them on their day. It'll also be nice to have another normal person around when hanging with the Evitt's, so here's a BIG thank you to Lindsey!

The second cool thing to happen is that I'm now the track and field coach at St. Croix Prep Academy. This is a really cool situation because it's one of the schools that co-ops to make our football team, so it's another opportunity to invest in those young men. Also, this will be the first ever track team there so I've very honored to be a part of it.

The Team is also taking some major steps in being more involved at church. Jess helps out setting up the service we go to every week, and then she helps me with greeting for two weekends out of the month. It's already paying off as we are building some relationships with with other people, mostly couples, which makes it feel more and more like "our" church.

Finally, we both have new jobs. Jess will be going back into being a PCA. She'll be back with the ever amazing Hannah two days a week and starting with another great family for the rest of her hours! We're looking forward to this as it's something that Jess is really good at and that she loves to do. The new family is also looking forward to Alex catching some track meets and football games as well!

I was just recently hired as the fitness director at Life's 5 Fitness Center in Hudson. It's a great situation for me as I get to gain some more experience and really help with developing the business. It also makes me a TON more productive because I have an office there instead of in my house which is so close to the super comfy couch we have in our living room.

All in all, as much as February started out craptastic (copy-write Rocky Hovda), it ended pretty well. We learned a lot of lessons, like keep your pants on and don't live in the state of your most hated NFL team when they're in the Super Bowl. Mostly, however, we've learned that our God truly is faithful, and family and friends truly mean it when they say they're there for you.

But seriously, nothing else out of Left Field for a while... please!

Monday is AWESOME!

Seriously, I really enjoy Monday's. It means I'm back to helping as many people as possible live better lives. Don't get me wrong, weekends are pretty great, and this one was exceptionally rocktastic!

Friday was the big kick-off. As my faithful three readers (Ladies, thank you.) know, the football team I coach is a co-op or three schools; New Life Academy, Bethany Academy and St. Croix Prep Academy. Well on this night, New Life and Bethany were playing basketball against each other. This game has always been a bit of a rivalry, but now there's the added element of competing against guys that are teammates just a couple of short months ago. To be honest, I was hoping for somewhere around 12 overtimes, but was treated to a tight first half and then a second half where NLA put up a sizable lead only to have BA scrape back and make it fun. In the end, NLA escaped with a 10 point win. The best part of the whole night though was to see what this game truly was at its core, a pretty sweet church service. Ok, that's a stretch, but for someone who is so enamored with how awesome the human body is and what you can do with it though some hard work and discipline, it was close. I say church service because of the amazing fellowship aspect. I have never seen so much interaction and catching up between parents of opposing teams, players greeting each other at center court with a hug rather than just a handshake, good natured ribbing during the game instead of typical trash talk, and a deep passion to give the absolute best effort you can because you expect it from the guy in the other color because you've competed with him on the football field. What a sense of community! Also, those young men on the court truly lived out 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (I'd write it here, but you should look it up!)

Saturday, Jess and I joined some friends at the Shout House in Downtown Minneapolis to celebrate Jackie's birthday! She's 29, and she should be really good at being 29 now that she's going at it for the fifth or sixth time! (Just kidding, Jackie! I tease because I love.) If you've never been, you should think about going sometime. I say "think" because there is quite a bit of, shall we say, culture. But, with the right group of people to have your back, it's a great time belting out some classic piano rock!

Sunday was pretty low key. Well, for me anyway. Jess got to hang with one of her favorite redheads, Hannah. She'll have to fill you in on their adventures on her own time, however. I spent most of the morning reading. And not even reading for research or business development, just reading for fun! It doesn't happen as much as I'd like lately, I typically enjoy whatever I read. Mostly because it puts my father-in-law into a position where he has to admit my superior intellect based off how well read I am (Thank you Thomas the Train and Clifford the Big Red Dog!). Jess got home and we promptly left for church and then came back home for some Po' Man Blizzards with Team Fjelstad. It was cool hanging with Zach and Heather and to get to know them a little better and hear how God worked in their relationship. Next time, stuffed burgers at your place!

And now, its Monday, which means back to work! Actually, it's hard for me to call it "work". I really have a passion for and enjoy what I do! It's hard not to when a grandmother, while holding back tears, thanks you for helping her be able to walk her granddaughter to her classroom without having to stop to take three breakes. Monday also means that youth group is coming up in a couple of days, that I get to work with a few of my athletes, no lame weekend sports talk radio and putting time into studying the latest in health and fitness until Friday when it's back to spending time with friends and family! Also, I'm currently sitting across from my super gorgeous wife at Caribou while we enjoy Dollar Monday (if you bring your own mug you get $0.50 off which brought my bill to $0.57! seriously, Monday is such a blessing)!

Monday is also usually Jess's day off. She works hard. She chases 18 three year olds around all week. While it's great practice for our future kids, who promise to be a handful with me as their father, she needs her break and I enjoy hearing about how "lazy" she is on these days.

Well, have a great week everyone! And be sure to enjoy Monday for all it has to offer

SURPRISE, I STILL BLOG!!!

Yes, it's been a while. I'm sorry. My wife has been on me about blogging over the past few months, but Sweetie, this isn't my high school English class, I don't just pull this stuff out of the air. I give some thought to this blogging thing (sorry, Mr. Dettmen).

So, where to start... Football ended well. After a hard fought game with some of the craziest weather conditions I've ever seen, we bowed out of the playoffs to St. Anthony. The loss hurt, but the email we got from the head coach of St. Anthony going on and on about how "different" our team is was incredible. I'm very proud of our young men. They handled more adversity then most teams with great integrity and maturity.

One of the coolest things that happened during the season was my wife's growth in perspective of football. Now, she's still working on how a safety can get an interception and be worth two points, but she's learning. As the season progressed, however, she saw how much more coaching and the game of football is than wins and losses. So much so that after one of our games later in the season she told me that I'm required to coach again next season and for the foreseeable future. She also saw that coaching is truly a ministry, not only to the players, but parents as well. Here's what I'm most proud of Jess for pertaining to football though. As the season went on, she became attached to our players. She picked up on the positions I coached and would cheer for them during the games. She picked out "favorite" players and would be interested in how they were doing not only on the field but in life. She would spend time in the stands talking with moms which is HUGE because if you want to know the character of a coach, you talk to his wife. She truly loves our guys, to the point that she may be more sad then I am to see some of our seniors leave. In fact, she even got on me to do my best to talk some of them into going to NWC so we can continue to watch them play. Jessie is a great coaches wife. She may not know the game well, but she's the best kind of coaches wife. She sees that the long, underpaid hours I put in are an investment for both of us into the lives of not only these young men, but to their current and future families. So, thank you, Jess, for being a great wife! I look forward to many, many seasons coming home to you and charting tackles together!

Integrity Fitness & Performance is quickly picking up! We signed a lot of clients at the end of December and look to sign a few more as we go along, obviously. Another thing I love about my wife and feel so blessed she's on the Team with me is that while yes we need to make money to survive, we really do what we do to help people. That same love she shows for our football team, she shows for our clients. She asks me how to pray for them, asks me how they are progressing, and celebrates with me when they make gains on their goals.

Over the summer we found a church to call home in Hudson, Faith Community Church. In fact, we go to a kind of off-shoot service called The Well. It's a great fit for us as it is full of young families in a similar stage of life that we are. I'm a big fan of the preaching as they speak the truth of the Bible without glossing over the parts that may not be popular to preach in our current culture, like gender roles and what the Bible has to say about divorce. Jess LOVES the music, which means I like it because I like my wife. I think the best part of our new church home is that we have such an opportunity to serve.

As you can expect, I'm working with the sr. high. It's been a blessing, as always, because I have a group of freshmen. That means I have four years to build a relationship before they're off to college. That responsibility truly weighs on me. I'm often reminded of the young men that I had as a small group ten years ago st Eagle Brook and how encouraging it is to now see the type of young men that Nate, Jon, and Dan have turned out to be.

Jess has gone for the younger crowd and is helping with AWANA. I'm happy to see her serve and enjoy hearing about her girls. She also has been attending a monthly get together for the ladies of the church, which, if you know Jess is a big step for her. A step that she has taken with great success and received much joy from.

As a couple, we are expanding our friend circle. I'm continually amazed that there is always room for people to share life with. What's really cool is that the friends we're making are apart of the ministries that we work with. After years of having friends, I've learned that there is just a special connection with the friends that you serve the Lord with.

To wrap up the "church" section of this latest Team Rojas installment, we have decided that being broke sucks and it's time to do something about it. Because we want to use the money and resources that God has given us in a way that glorifies Him, we are taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University through our church. It's been amazing! We just sat down this weekend for our first Team Rojas Budget Committee Meeting and instead of a long "discussion" on where money should go, I was encouraged at how much we were on the same page. It was also encouraging to see that we're doing a lot better then we thought, and with some focus and guidance we'll be financially set with in the foreseeable future.

Well, thanks for stopping by and reading up on us! For real, I hope to make this a more regular thing than once every several months, but it's a growing process so stick with me!

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.