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90 Day Journey – End of Week 2

That is what this 90 Days is about – Some new direction.
Now I am not trashing my previous life, or how I did things, the reality I have done really well all in all. I like who I am, I think most people like who I am… Right? Right…?

This is more about life changes, fixing, tweeking, rounding corners, sharpening edges as needed, minor course correction on things.
My basic goals:
* Get into better shape
* Increase my income, adding at least an extra $20K in 2024, and $30K in 2025
* Sharpen some skills, become a better leader
* Learn some new skills (that will lead to the added income)
* Get my Soul right, align my life with who God designed me to be
* Get my Heart right, I want marriage and (God Willing) kids

This week (Week 2) was about really getting use to the plan, getting comfortable with 4am, really dialing in the work outs and readings, working on ways to simplify meals (as I find in the morning I quickly run out of time).

The week was a success, energy is starting to roll up from the morning and evening work outs, so while 4am sucks, it does not suck near as bad as it did last week, and I feel it will get easier and easier the next couple weeks.

Going into Week 3 I will increase the Peloton in the AM to 15 to 20 work outs, along with my 7-10 minute morning work out routine (thus the need for quicker/easier breakfasts as I was already jammed for time, and now I am adding 5 to 10 mins to the work out period)

I have made a few dietary changes this first two weeks.
First, alcohol consumption is way down. I was averaging about a bottle of wine per day plus wine tasting most weekends. Week 1 I did not drink until my Wine Event on Saturday 11th, Week 2 was only two bottles all week. Week 3 will likely stay at 2-3 bottles. I expect this becomes the new norm, 2-3 bottles a week.
Second, Fruits and Veggies. I have always done a decent amount of veggies I feel. A lot of asparagus and cauliflower. I have added salads almost every day, and some greens like kale or collard greens a couple times per week. Fruit I have stepped up a lot. Pineapple, cantaloupe, honey dew, almost every day at breakfast and sometimes dinner or a snack.
Third working on portion size a little. Making sure I get what I need, but not over doing it.
Forth, I have cut energy drink consumption in half as compared to my last 20 years of life. I substituted Wheat Grass and Matcha powder for the morning energy drink, but those are definitely better than an energy drink, mixing them with OJ is a little on the sugary side, but worth it.

Over all not a lot of noticeable changes body wise. My hope/desire is the small gut I have being gone sometime soon (the “dad bod”). I do feel my chest has started to gain shape. Weight wise I started at 203lb, I am 200 most weigh ins. 3lb is really a rounding error/when I eat/when I hit the bathroom. So not a change in my mind. In my perfect world I would get down to 195ish without the spare tire.

Faith wise, I am in the Book of Matthew. Calling Jesus, my daily devotional, starts my day, the Bible and The Light of His Presence (prayer book) ends the day. I will blog on those learnings in a different post.

Progress is good. I am happy with the efforts I have put forth, as my buddy DCT said on a FB post, he does not want to see “Crushing It” shout outs until day “39 or 63” so I will not say that here. But I do feel very good about where I am at.

90 Day Journey – One Week In

One week into this and feeling GREAT about it.
Struggles? YES…getting up at 4am is difficult. On Friday I almost did not get up, laid in bed 10 minutes debating changing that days work out to after work, so doubling up on afternoon work outs. A little self talk and I was up and at it.

Change Your Life in 7 Days by Paul McKenna was a great way to start this journey. I have had the book for 10ish years and started it once. It comes with a hypnosis CD you listen too, has practical lessons using imagination and coupling that with a thumb to middle finger pinch (sort of Pavlov’s Dog like training). Need a positive boost thumb to middle finger pressure, triggers the memory you associated with it and Boom a little burst of positive thought process.

I am about halfway through Matthew in the New Testament, I need to do some posting about that on its own.

I added a work out routine, not sure how I feel about it yet “Muscle Booster” has an app, and a small feel for a “customized” work out based on some metrics that it counts on your knowing what you put in. 7 Minutes in the morning, then a Strength based routing in afternoons. Only two days into that, so we will see how that goes. Peloton is my main source of work, with all the classes they have.

Have cut alcohol dramatically. Did not drink last week Saturday (4th) to Friday (10th). Had a glass of wine Friday (10th), and then Saturday (11th) had Taste of Washington, so a lot of wine. Nothing Sunday.
Verses recently pretty close to a bottle of wine a day… so a 75 to 80% cut in alcohol consumption this last week. I will likely return to something pretty close to daily this week or next, but def will not be returning to a bottle a night.

Massive progress on the garage clean up. Will need a dump run next weekend for sure. A LOT of paper getting tossed. Notebooks and papers from as long ago as Highschool (so 1988…) and college. Will sort the books also and unload a ton of them.
Also have a lot of GameClucks/Northwest Majors equipment to get rid of as well.

Next book up is Before The Coffer Gets Cold. I wanted to get Being Happy in the mix, but cannot find my copies right now, will find them as I clean the garage.

90 Day Journey – The Plan

As mentioned in the previous post, I need to make somethings right within me. Round some corners, maybe sharpen a couple of edges, be better with me, so that I can be better with someone else.
Get God Centered as well. I have been a regular Church go’er for about 20, 21, 22 years. I like Church, I always leave feeling better about life, myself, others, but I have not formed the habit of Prayer, Thanks, Praise that I want.

The next 90 days, starting on Monday March 6th 2023, will be a deep dive into myself, my health, my home, my Faith, my relationships.

The TV gets shut off for the most part, outings are cut down to only the “need to go to”, dating is out, reading is in, working out is in, cleaning my home and doing maintenance is in, eating better is in.

I will be getting up at 415am daily, maybe 6 on weekends, in bed by 9pm, targeting 7hrs minimum sleep, which for me will be a lot, as I am lucky to actually sleep much more than 5ish hours a night. Hoping I am sync up my body clock and get the sleep needed.

The books for this 90 Days are split into two groups. The ones standing up (Bible, Jesus Calling, The Light of His Presence, and the two small Maxwell Books) will be daily reading throughout the day. The ones laying down (Change Your Life in 7 Days, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Marriage Rules, Make Your Bed, Single On Purpose, Relationship Cure, The Four Agreements and Building Up One Another) will be the books I read through, about 20-30 pages per day.

The basic schedule:
Monday – Fridays
Morning – Up at 415am, Peloton 10-20 mins, Jesus Calling, Pray, Breakfast, Go to Work
Afternoon – At Work
Evening – Peloton (ride and/or body conditioning class 20-30 mins), Bible Study (reading New Test from front to back, one chapter a day), Read 20-30 pages from Book List, Dinner, One hour TV max, Light of His Presence, Pray, Bed by 9pm

Saturday
Morning – Up by 6am, Peloton 10-20 mins, Jesus Calling, Pray, Breakfast, One Hour+ Home Maint/Cleaning
Afternoon – If I have an outing to do, do it, else Home Maint for an Additional One of Two Hours. Home by 3pm though
Evening – Bible Study (reading New Test from front to back, one chapter a day), Read 20-30 pages from Book List, Dinner, One hour TV max, Light of His Presence, Pray, Bed by 10pm

Sunday
Morning – Up by 6am, Peloton 10-20 mins, Jesus Calling, Pray, Breakfast, Church
Afternoon – This is my “Free Day”, if you do not Rest after a week of hard work, what is the point?
Evening – Prep for the Week, Dinner, One hour TV max, Light of His Presence, Pray, Bed by 9pm

I will be writing and note taking as I do this, will blog it a couple times a week as well. I have a few TedTalks I cycle into this mix as well (so likely give up some TV for a TedTalk once week, luckily I do not watch a lot of TV unless there is nothing else to do.

I will be cutting my alcohol consumption significantly as well, starting with this week. The goal is 50% less on a daily basis. This week starting yesterday (Saturday 3/4) and until Saturday 3/11/23 when I have the Taste of Washington event, I will not drink this week at all, then cut by 50% the rest of the time.

Replace Bad Habits with Good Ones, become more well rounded, healthier, and get my mind and body right for whatever comes next in life. I have not given up the dream of marriage and kids, or moving to Italy part time by 2024, or any of that, just need to get somethings in order to make all of that happen.

For those reading this, please spread the word on my journey, better yet join me on it? If me doing something like this can help one other person get themselves “right” then BRAVO!
Thanks for the support in this.

Let’s Get Real… (about myself)

The second half of 2022 and early 2023… ROUGH. Not sure rough even covers it.

Now I am a pretty real person, I am pretty honest with myself about who and what I am. Honest about what I can do, and not do. Sure I am cocky in how I speak often, but if you know me, that is more of an “act”, not a fake act, just a confident act mixed with humour. I joke about my ability good and bad. I am sort of Friends Chandler funny at times, except actually pretty confident. I am well educated, two degrees, a ton of business experience across a half dozen industries. I am pretty honest and real with myself about who I am.

A great family trip to Italy (Aug/Sept 2022), and then my father gets sick near the end of the trip. He spends six weeks in a hospital in Rome, we get him home to the US, and a week later he is in the hospital here in the States, we all agree to have him intubated, and then a few days later we make the tough decision to let him go (Oct 23rd 2022).
My World is shaken in a way I could not expect, in a way I could not comprehend.

His memorial, Nov 13th 2022, I give his eulogy. I posted it once before, the video. Hardest speaking I have ever done. God had a message for me to give in that eulogy… I was certain then it was for someone else in the room (I still am), but maybe it was not just for them?

From his eulogy:
“Judge not and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven” Luke 6:37
“I am not sure who this is for, not sure why this has weighted on me, but if you at any level, feel any sort of anger, resentment, what have you toward Tom, Dad, he would want to have known (about it) and solved it with you.
So please take this opportunity and Let It Go!
Allow him to stay in your memory and heart, as the man he was… ‘fair, even handed, stern when needed, cheer leader, teacher, boss, manager, leader, father, husband, grandfather, uncle, friend.'”

My father and I had a great relationship, no anger between us, no resentment, he was my hero day in and day out, EXCEPT I was mad. I was (am?) angry. He left us. I feel some measure of guilt as well, I made the decision to let him go (not just me, we all made the decision, but I feel a great responsibility for it, whether I should or not, I do), when I knew (believed?) there was another way.
Dont get me wrong I am not (really) second guessing Doctors, except I am.
That message God put on me, was for ME as much as someone else in the crowd.

My love related relationships have always been some measure of a mess, whose havent?
The last 22 years has been dominated by two long term relationships and two shorter ones. 10 years with HS, almost 8 years with BW, a few months with PS and the one that just ended with RS, 1.5 years.
The relationship with RS was def a candle burning at both ends. It was the hottest, and really, most significant relationship of those four. The dirty details are not needed.
Why did these fail? A lot of reasons, some not in my control, many in my control.
I am difficult to live with, especially now at 53, I am set in my ways with some basics to be sure. RS and I had a lot of disagreement about many of these things, things I see as just common sense (dishes into the dish washer, use a cutting board do not just cut straight on the counter, clean up after yourself, if you spill wipe it up), and some things I just have never seen as important (pictures on the walls, allowing the other person to feel as at home as you do by having their things mixed in as well, making agreements on what things are important to have and which ones are not). I need to have more honest/strightforward conversations about those non-negotiable items and the negotiable ones, and not just think I can roll with some of the ones I may not like, or some of the ones I believe are common sense, because sense is NOT common anymore. So another failed relationship that really could have been saved or made a lot better, maybe it would have failed anyway? But it should not have failed in the way it did, or not right now (maybe a blessing it failed now and not 5 years from now? But that is a different discussion. It was not supposed to fail when and how it did, that I know)

What does all of this lead up too?
I have work to do… This weekend (March 3rd/4th) I will launch into a 60 or 90 day plan to deep clean my house, and myself. My garage needs to desperately be organized, I have a three car garage that I cannot park a car in.
My house is pretty clean, but needs some serious attention. April I will redo the master bathroom, but simple things like the carpet cleaned, baseboards touched up. Drywall cracks fixed. Cupboards organized.
In addition, I need a Deep Cleaning.
Identify the things I need to improve on, and improve on them. Maybe learn a new skill or two. Buff up my managerial process and practices.

I need to get Real Real with myself about some things. I need to “unbecome everything that isn’t really (me), so (I) can be who (I was) meant to be“
That is my journey. The next 60-90 days will all about that.
Social media will be minimized (exc to post about this and food/wine pics, one of the skills I hope to improve is the picture taking), TV shut off, outtings limited to things I have to do for work or have a commitment to, intense Bible study, intense dive into some books, Ted Talks, deep cleaning of the house and myself. I think I have 10 books right now I want to get into, some of them are daily 2-3 page inspiration things, some are read and note take, contemplate, internalize. get back to the trading desk and trade Options and Forex again.

Do I think this will make me a whole new person? No, that is not what it is meant to do. I am still Me, and will still be me. But can I round some sharp edges? Learn some things? Improve some things?
That is the goal.
Set myself up for the next 10 years of Income Earning, Peace, Joy, Health and Happiness.

Next post will be more in depth as to the plan, the goals, to hold me accountable.

Let’s get to it.

Chicken and Orzo for NYE

This was such a fun dish to make. I saw a chicken and orzo rec online a few weeks ago, it used a whole chicken for it, which in general I am not a fan of “whole chicken” recipes.
I quickly read it, filed in my memory banks, then a day or two before New Years, thought of it and decided I needed to make it. I chose to use bone in thighs for it. We were going to a friends house for NYE, so I decided to cook this up.

  • Chicken and Orzo Steps
    Chicken and Orzo Steps

I browned the thighs with a garlic salt and pepper mixture. I think quickly sauteed the leeks, anise, garlic and carrots (added some fresh thyme, salt and pepper to it as well) in the fat left over from browning the chicken. I then deglazed the pan with about two cups of dry white wine and threeish cups of chicken stock, and added the juice of one lemon and some zest.

I arranged the chicken in a large baking pan. Put the saute around the pieces of chicken, then bakes it for about 30 minutes at 350.

I added the wine and stock mixture, baked for another 10 or so minutes, then added the orzo, and allowed to cook for another 15 minutes (or until liquid is gone and orzo is finished).

Italian Parsley to garnish and serve.

Couple things I would do different next time:
More lemon for sure. Likely a second one. Maybe even a third. This was 10 thighs, so maybe a lemon per every 4ish?
Finish with Parmesan Cheese maybe?
More garlic. 1 clove per piece of chicken I think.

Recipe:
8-10 Bone in Chicken Thighs (could use breasts, or boneless thighs also)
Garlic Salt, Pepper to taste to Season Chicken with
2 carrots cut into small circles
1 Leek, white part only. Sliced thin
1 Anise Bulb. Sliced thin
1 Lemon. Juiced and Zest from it (In Future: 1 lemon per 4 pieces of chicken)
5 Cloves of Garlic. Crushed (In Future: 1 clove per piece of chicken)
1 1/2 to 2 cups Orzo
2tsp Thyme
2tsp Salt
2tsp Pepper
2 cups Dry White Wine
3-4 cups Chicken Stock
Italian Parsley and Parmesan Cheese to serve

Took a break…

Took a bit of a break from the site, but have still hitting the wineries in the area. Hope to get back to regular posting this week or next!
My IG is still flowing with what I have been up too, so please check it out (right side of the page)

Thanks
–Chris

2021 Genesis G70

So I have wanted an Audi since somewhere around 2007, when I worked with Audi on their dealer website program. The last few weeks I have been looking for an Audi, has both the Bellingham and Tacoma dealership contact me, but really only once… Inventory is LOW, so I get that, but I hit up the AudiUSA.com site for help… nothing from them.

Tacoma got back to me saying they found an Audi close to what i wanted, asked for pics and a link.. NOTHING back from them. Bellingham emailed me once or twice, but no responses when I emailed them back.

So I decided I would but a $16Kish Hyundai until the 2022 Audi’s came out. So I rolled to SkagitHyundai.com ‘s lot, with a guy from the Day job. We pulled up and parked in front of this amazing blue car. I looked at the RW and said “What in the hell is that thing?” Neither of knew much about a Genesis. Sales person comes out and I said, I came here for a $16K Hyundai, but you need to tell me about this car!

He did… I bought. This care is awesome! The Audi Dream may have just been replaced by this thing! GREAT CAR!

Snohomish Wine Walk 9.14.19

Had a great night at the Snohomish Wine Walk last night pouring with Jim VanCamp from https://www.vancampcellars.com/

It was a last minute addition for me, so I was not prepared to even go to the Walk. We stopped by VanCamp to have a glass and he was packing up to go, so I asked if he needed help… he did, so I poured with him.

Met a ton of people, talked about wine with everyone. Had a lot of fun.

Next time I will try and make sure I have cards to give out so we can do Winery Meetups in the future!

THANK YOU Jim for letting me help you!

Hit Them All Quest in Woodinville Wine Country

So I have said for about 4 years now that I hit every winery in Woodinville atleast once per year… Likely true, or 95% true ?

I am sure I have missed someone in this Hit Them All quest.

So I started a new quest (modified quest) in July 2019. I picked a Wine District, picked a starting point and am systematically working through Woodinville, logging every winery as I do it. Hoping to set up my own interactive map of the areas so that wineries could be clicked on taking you to my write up and links to their pages, or something. Still a lot to work out on how I do that.

What I will have, eventually, is my tasting notes and thoughts about the wineries. I have hit about 20 so far, trying to do 3-5 a weekend, at least 10 a month, but as winter comes, I will step it up.

So I started with Artisan Hill at the bottom and am currently working up the hill. This weekend, I made it to the main complex in Artisan Hill, the top of the hill. How to work through those. After that, Warehouse is next, satrting at the bottom of the hill and working up.

That is my plan, my Quest for Woodinville in 2019/2020 – Make sure I Hit Them All.

What are your favourite wineries in Woodinville? Lets connect and hit some together!