2010: An honest recap of our experiences in 2010

Many times blogs and our blog in particular are vehicles which portray a life that is void of hardship or life's gray subjects. These subjects are either too personal or impolite to address.

This isn't one of those blog posts. This is a post for us/me to remember how I felt about things and what was my honest impression of the experiences I've collected in 2010. If you want to read it, great. If you don't that's great too. I'm bad at keeping a journal and so this is my best attempt to document my experience with the past year. I'm going to be as honest as I can or feel comfortable with. Many repeat pics, sorry about that. So, here it goes...

Travel: Like most people, we love to experience the world. We feel very blessed to live in a time where you don't have to be rich to experience all the wonders this planet offers. The bad economy made us a little more reluctant to spend money and thus, negatively impacted our usual worldly adventures. That said, we still did a few international trips as well as some domestic excursions.

We've over documented our experiences in Quebec but again, we were blown away at how wonderful that place is.

You only turn 30 once and it's a big deal. For Candice's big day we said to the heck with the economy and we celebrated it with panache in lush Costa Rica. It was just what we needed and making Candice feel special is always something I treasure, you can throw up now.

A few local trips proved to be awesome as well. Boston, ID, UT, Breckinridge, Aspen.

Candice snaps some pics as I exit the shower. Some people sing in the shower, others may dance in their cubicles. I flex in the mirror. Embarrassing? Yes but I'm trying to keep it real.

Physical: We crushed physical goals we had set for ourselves this last year. I set personal bests in bench press, squat and deadlifts in 2010. I feel like I'm finally at a point where I know consistently how to manipulate my body to get where I want to go.

On the negative front, I got Dengue fever. I lost a ton of weight and have never been so miserable in my life. I feel fortunate as this disease killed pro surfer Andy Irons not long after I received it.

Candice completed her first triathlon. She liked it a lot, so much so, that she's planning on competing in a few races this next summer. She has also really gotten into yoga. Blowing minds is the norm when she shows up for class. Work it girl!

Financial: This last year my business has been kinda crappy. Being self employed is awesome but it also means there is not a safety net should things slow down. I'm not going to lie, my ego has been shaken and my self confidence has been cracked. I've thought about finding other work but it's been hard for a lot of reasons. Luckily, we've saved a lot. I need to figure out where my passion lies and step forward but it seems despite my efforts that I've struggled with this. It's been good in some ways. I needed to be humbled and even though I don't want to repeat any of life's hurdles, they are potent teachers. I just wish I was smart enough to remember their lessons so I wouldn't have to go through them as much.

Garth and Trisha playing with our niece Avery

Candice has dominated and truly come into her own. She made her gala look easy, managing wealthy patrons, celebrities and staff with ease. Her gala raised millions and was nominated by the trade organization for event planners as one of the best events in the city last year. She's a rock star that one.

She's been modeling for years but has gotten a lot of cool jobs this year. She's modeled for Under Armor, Cabelas, Marriott, Smart wool, Wrangler, 5280 magazine, Crocs, Saks 5th Ave., HDNET, Sports Authority and other companies that I can't remember. It's been so fun for her and the cash is really good.

Adventures: Cool new things we've tried include Dog sledding (driving the sled ourselves), surfing, wake boarding, trapeze (ing?). In general, we made it a priority to experience all the beauty that Colorado affords. We did a lot of hiking, backpacking and camping.

Family: Well we wanted to have a baby in 2010, we gave it a decent effort although there is always room for more sexin.' I've only recently felt mentally ready to be a father. Candice has been ready for a much longer time and is really anxious to take our family to the next level. After 12 months we still aren't pregnant but the truth is we have the best marriage ever. This next May will mark our friggin' 10 year anniversary. It's hard to believe that 10 years have come and gone. We have so much fun every single day and every night is a sleepover.

We also added our dear little mastiff last January. He's grown into a 120lb ball of love and dog aggression. He is far from easy but we love him so much. If I had to assess our love, I would say we're just above the weird dog lady who thinks her dog is a child. Thankfully, we aren't there yet. He snuggles us everyday and cries if we don't give him enough attention. He excels at delivering quality beat downs to only the toughest dogs at the park. What a guy!! We don't go to the dog park anymore. He also makes gangstas and mailmen act like screaming school girls at his mere glance. I'm actually not exaggerating. When he graces the public with his presence we are bombarded with questions. Here is Rocco's daily FAQ.

1. "That mother------r is tight" not so much a question, I realize but it's become such a common statement that I'm considering filing some sort of trademark.

2. "Is that a pitbull?" This is frequent and astonishingly enough, asked by actual pitbull owners. Pitbulls are max 70lbs unless they are an American bully, in which case they aren't pitbulls but an offshoot of the breed. Also, pitbulls are short. For the record, no he is not a pitbull, shar pei, or bull mastiff but a Cane Corso or Italian Mastiff.

3. "How much you pay for em?" or "How much you want for em?" or "Does he have any pups?" Many Michael Vick wannabes inquire about Rocco because of his badassity. Most are wearing some sort of Tapout t-shirt or other equally menacing/retarded line of clothing. He's not a fighting dog and we would never sell you one of his offspring because you'd probably end up making some sweet rap video or dog fighting venture.

4. "That's a big ass dog" Are you recognizing the pattern? Rocco is a magnet for this and other scholarly questions. Yes, I know this isn't a question. I may sound a little bitter or pretentious but then again how many times have you been interrupted from a good run so that Mr. OG can tell you that you have a big ass dog? Exactly.

Cooking: I've cooked a lot. Probably more than any other time in my life. I've expanded my skills and have come to realize that onions, garlic and wine are pretty much the keys to life and a happy tongue. Also, baking is not longer ethereal. You want cupcakes? You got em'. You want sugar cookies? Comin' up sucka! Coconut cake? Loosen your pants, homeboy.

Candice is the best sous-chef a guy could ask for. She is also the real baker in our family, not to mention, you've never seen hot unless you've seen her pulling warm cookies out of the oven. A vision.

Spirituality: Hmmmm...This is a tough one for me. Being honest, I have always felt a bit out of place at my place of worship and with my relationship with God in general. I'm not sure I've made too much progress but to say I've remained stagnant wouldn't be accurate. Constant battle but that's okay.

Socially: Candice is the social one in our family. She has made some new friends, I think but I can't think of who at the moment. I'm actually quite unsocial/anti-social. I wasn't always like this but I'm becoming more like my dad as I age, content to spend my time with Candice or myself. That's not totally true, I do like friends but find that it's harder to connect with people in my mid-life state. It seems like adults have less in common than we did when we were young. I'm probably alone on this one.

Entertainment: Thanks to Candice, we get hooked up with free tickets to concerts, sporting events, restaurant openings and exclusive parties all the freakin' time. For me, the best concerts we went to last year were: Paul McCartney-pretty much the last time to see a Beatle perform live. Amazing. I also saw Social Distortion for the first time. They are the only punk band I like that I haven't seen live, with the exception of the Misfits. Mike Ness is a legend for good reason. Also, at Candice's gala Garth Brooks put on an amazing show. It was just he and his guitar for like 3 hours. He told a lot of stories and it just felt very intimate. I'm not really into modern country music but it's hard not to like a man who is just killing it in every which way.

So, I think that's it. 2010 like most experiences has been a blend of good and bad but mostly good. 2011 will rock, I'm confident of that.