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!