you just gotta stop and smell the roses sometimes..

Hey everyone, I hope things are going well for everyone. I have been nonstop since getting back from indoor nationals, now that my arm is letting me work again, that's all i feel like i have been doing! I'm heading to a clinic this weekend, I hope it goes well, and the "students" learn alot from me.

I got this in an e-mail from my Mom, but it wasn't one of those annoying chain e-mails, it was just something that made me smile and think a little. Read each one, and if you want to, read each one twice.. you will smile.


1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18.. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
26.. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28.. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.


God bless yall, see ya in a few weeks at NIRA and the US10K!

The long day.....

This has been a long day.. first thing this morning, around 9:15 I watched as once again, we were denied the Olympics... denied the chance to win an Olympic medal in the sport that i have basically dedicated my life to. I live and breathe inline skating. My job is skating, when i go skating, i feel freedom. When i talk on the phone, its almost always something about skating. Most of my friends are skaters, or involved in skating. When i go on vacation, its to a race. So, needless to say, my life is skating, and family of course.

Now that i have said that, that i absolutely love skating, here is what i think about the decision...

We have been skating for decades, without being in the Olympics, do we NEED to get in to survive? no, we don't. We have proven that every four years that goes by that we don't get in, we still skate. The skaters that are "lifers" will continue to do what we do. I think that we will loose some of the fastest skaters to ice, but that will let a new breed in for a new face of skating. There will still be races, indoor, outdoor, track and road, and we will all still love the fact that we can strap on our boots and go for a skate. I'm still going to build boots for inline skating, and will try to get a small hand(or foot) in the ice market also. Will I go to ice? nah, its too cold for me. I will still enjoy heading to bluegrass where we skate, and do loops to clear my head, and enjoy the outdoor air!

I have said this before, as others have.. Inline skaters are some of the most fit, in shape, and healthiest athletes in the world! We will still strive for the top spot in the greatest sport in the world (ours), and that is being a world champion. A WORLD CHAMPION.. wow.. that is big, seriously, how many of your friends can say they are a world champion? That's a big deal! Even if you will never get to that point, whatever you want in your skating career is still great! a regional champ? that is awsome.. if you win your local league meet? congratulations!!! whatever you can do, is a personal best and that will live with you for the rest of your life.. you strive to be the best you can? That will teach you to be the best in your future job. So, we didn't get in.. again.. oh well... we still have a bunch to skate for!

Now i don't have the answer to "grow" our sport at all.. to be honest, I'm not sure anyone does.. The way that we would eventually get in the Olympics would be to be in the media, TV, movies, papers, etc.... The way to get in the media is to have major sponsors that pour tons of cash into advertising. To get sponsors to see us is to be on TV.. see what I'm getting at here? we are stuck between a rock, and a really hard place. I hope that everyone can work together to build up skating in the public eye, we could use it..

So, we aren't in the Olympics.. eh, whatever.. do i wish we got in? yes, very much so! do i think that we will still continue to do what we do? yep, of course!



Well, I think my wife wants me to get off here, yall get out and tell some people about the greatest sport on earth! Go skate, stay healthy, safe, and God bless ya!!!!!!