LA Livin it Universally

For those of you who have not been to California, specifically LA, go, and go within the next 5 years.  Sure, it is crowded, somewhat chaotic, but it has an energy / aura around it that rivals Vegas.  While some of you may have thought my weekend in LA finished with the movie-like scene in the Pasadena shopping complex, it did not. 

After a much-needed nap, running errands, moving into a new room, we cleaned up and went down to the LA Live Ara.  Here, the epicenter of anything ‘LA’ (traditionally speaking), one will find the Staples Center, the US Bank Center, historic hotels, sky scrapers, and pure excitement.  The X games were going on, so add in a large alternative crowd and you have yourself a contemporary version of a melting pot. 

CJ, Tara, Kristina, and I grabbed drinks and aps at some type of Asian Bistro (PF chang’s I think?) in LA Live before heading to the rooftop bar at the Standard for more drinks, food, and a skyline sunset.  To our dismay, our plans unraveled as a pool part was lasting until 8pm; we had an hour and a half to kill.  One of the closest places was this quaint, dark bar called The Library (is that right?).  Its ambiance felt somewhat upscale Northwestern, but now looking back, I laugh at the fact it might have been more a wannabee Harvard Bar (no offense offered).  It was dark, green clothed couches, provided plenty of craft brews (bottled and draft), and contained walls and walls of books.  Taking it a step further, it reminded me of a place you go to get a scotch on the rocks and smoke a cigar (yes, I have done this = amazing).  Laughing the hour away with ‘2 truths and a lie’, we gorged ourselves with delicious sliders, fries, edimame (sp), a grilled cheese to boot, and went back to the standard. 

The rooftop bar at the Standard is swanky, stylish, and reeks of coolness.  Neat lighting, waterbeds (yeah, cool), amazing views, rooftop pool, good drinks, dance floor, the list goes on.  There are a couple of photos from the previous blog that might reflect a little of what this place contained, but I give it 2 thumbs up; we had a ton of fun. 

By the time we got back to our place it was after midnight; two seconds after my head hit the pillow, I was out cold. Tomorrow, universal studios. 

Being the newcomer to LA that I was, I did not know Universal Studios had more than just attractions.  Mall, events, movie theatres, more energy and light filled the afternoon.  To say that I was awestruck over everything that went on here is an understatement.  Finally arriving at the lines for tickets, my eyes were in a perma-wide-eyed position trying to soak in everything that was going on; Heck, I am from Blooming PrairieJ. 

This next tip is something that I recommend everything take into consideration when going to universal studios.  If you hate lines, hate the time waiting for a 3 minute ride, buy the ‘front in line’ access pass.  Budget, save, do whatever you have to do to pay the extra $75 (?) for the tickets.  It is the best way to save you at least 3 hours standing in line for a total of 30 minutes of rides. 

Now with that said, I am not going to spoil everything by describing each of the rides, but I will do this:

1. Pleasantly Surprised by the Simpsons ride (there was even a funny picture taken of me screaming like a sallas).  CJ, Tara, and Kristina looked unphased…I don’t know how; it was a pretty crazy ride

2. King Kong 3D – A fire burned down the original; I think more people might have preferred that one

3. Jurassic Park –Piece of advice – Don’t wear a white t-shirt

4. Mummy – Interesting

5. Tour of Studios – Pleasant, Make sure you have good company (I did)

6. Terminator – Judge it yourself

Instead of capping off the day with a fancy, romantic dinner, Kristina and I decided to part ways from CJ and Tara for a dinner and movie dine in, getting food from a top Mexican food establishment….Chipotle. 

The 4:30am wake-up call came too early and with a snap of a finger and a blink of an eye, I had to say good-bye to the K-Gal for a 34 day breakL.  Great weekend, great times, great people…I could not have asked for more. 

CALifornia Dreamin'

The week up to my LA weekend was one of the biggest patience testers I have experienced in quite some time.   You know that feeling when you circle an important date on the calendar and how unbearably slow the preceding days move…well, that happened here in full fury.  I could throw in another couple dozen analogies but you get the point.  Hey Kraig, why was LA so important?  I can tell you several reasons, First time experiencing LA other than LAX, Hanging out with a couple of new friends (CJ and Tara), but most importantly, I was going to see the lovely K-Gal after a month’s separation.

Friday morning greeted me with sunshine and after finishing a quick morning of work (I am being nice here, seconds felt like hours), I took a nap and woke up in the LAX airport.  Knowing that my ride was 3 hours in route, I saddled up at a corner spot in the bar intending to do work, grabbed a tall one, and started typing…Well, that lasted about two seconds before the chatter in my started talking to anyone and everyone.  “Oh, you are from New York, what the heck are you doing here?”  “What do you do? I work in healthcare?” “Oh, me too, what a coincidence (chuckle, chuckle)”  “Want a beer” “I have never been to Idaho, what is there to do there?”  It’s fun talking to people, getting suggestions on places to see if/when I/we visit their places of interest, and it certainly helps pass the time.  You never know whom you are going to meet.

By 6:30pm, the host arrived and we were off touring LA on the way back to their place.  After dinner, drinks, a couple of TV shows (ever see Dexter? Funny show), I was sound asleep anxiously waiting for the alarm…Kristina’s phone call. 

That phone call came fairly early for a couple of different reasons: 1) CJ and I had more to drink than I originally had thought and 2) it was at 6am. 

I didn’t care.  She was here!

CJ and Tara have a fantastic place in an ideal location.  I ran downstairs to meet Kristina who had parked in the garage below and in doing so, transported myself into a movie scene.  Yeah, cliché right? Big Deal, unless you have had something like this happen to you, then don’t judge and keep watching the Sappy romance movies.  Here, I lived it. 

She called, then walked past where I was, I missed her call, couldn’t find her…and then…I locked in and saw her.  She was roughly 100 yards away.  It was that distance where you want to run, but figured you would get tired in trying to run that far (guys, it’s been awhile since I have exercised).  So, instead of running, I sauntered, but it wasn’t a saunter.  I was still too excited to see her that I kind of skipped.  Really, Kraig, you are going to skip to see your girlfriend who you haven’t see in 30 days, 2 hours, and 16 minutes? Hmm…figure it out.  Okay, I quickened my pace and we were eye to eye.  What’s next? Oh, that was easy.  Have you seen the movies? Enough said J. 

California was great! To keep this blog short, I am going to sum up the remainder of the weekend with the collage below.  Enjoy!

Aloha Hawaii and my K-Gal; Aloha Tucson, Skype, and Haboobs

Throwing myself into a black hole of love, work, living 'Aloha', and limitless travel, I find myself sitting on a plane (I am riding first class....up in the sky...) thinking about the wild ride that this job provides.  There are pictures below that share the end of my adventures in Hawaii; Feel free to take a peak, check them out and the fun that is clearly visible. 

Today, this wonderful Monday, July 25th, we year round workers must sit and saddle jealousy of educators for their blissful 12 week 'vacation'.  Coming from a family of educators, I am quickly reminded of this fact.  But, then again, it is well deserved and I hold nothing but the highest respect for each and every teacher, school administrator, and member of public/private education out there. 

Well, shucks, more happened in these past 9 weeks than I could ever imagine.  Heck, it's enough to fill a year of excitement.  Let's try and recap with a VERY long list. 

Hawaii (round 2 with the parents), Jared and Erin Sieling visited Hawaii (amazing), K-Miss and Man (Kristina and I) ventured over to Lanai for a perfect stay, vacation in Hawaii, buh bye to the Watermark, see yah later Kaiser, hello Tucson, WELCOME NORA ANNE BODURTHA (probably the world's cutest baby...and this is said without Bias), Luke Nelson Wedding (congrats), bachelorette party? really?, cabin weekend/4th of july with K-Miss and K-Man's families, Lien/Heidi Engaged, Tommy/Kaley engaged, golf weekend with Phil in Tucson (desert golf is painful), old man golf trip, shout out to my boy Harry Potter (yes, I did go see this, can you blame me?), skypin with the gf (a constant), babysitting Nora (thanks Jared and Erin for the help), Kramer Wedding weekend (Congrats David and Stacy...a fun, fun wedding)....and last of all, plenty quality time with the family.  Am I missing anything, probably, but heck, I missed bloggin for the past 3 months.  What can I say, life is pretty hectic? 

I am not going to preach today or provide any crazy stories; once the consistency, flow and routine are visible, there will be plenty of time to share the antics of this day by day adventure we call life.  But, before i unveil the end of Hawaii slideshow, I want to give you a heads up to the next 6 weeks (yes, stories to come for a lot of these):

1. LA weekend (watch out Hollywood)
2. Twins Game / Nick Greve Memorial Golf Tournament / Visiting Cousins
3. Andrew Walker Wedding
4. Golf Event / Cabin Weekend? Hmm....I sure hope so
5. Justin Hahn Wedding (going to be chaotic) / BP Trip home / Fantasy Draft???? Yes please.  Bringing home the title this year. Kenny Britt for MVP?
6. Vegas Weekend - Will be spectacular
7. K-Gal Weekend
8. K-Gal Weekend - yep, that is 3 in a row :)

Enjoy the slide show.  Miss you all. 

Airport Interactions

I love meeting and seeing people in the airport.  Well, I love meeting seeing people in general, friends at home, Kristina in Honolulu (or wherever we go), and family, but there is something about people lurking in the airports and on planes. 

Today I the President of a Company called Connect point.  He was by far one of the most humble, personable presidents that I have ever met.  Kraig, have you met many presidents of companies before?  Well, to be honest, I do not know what ‘many’ constitutes, but there have been others.  Each one contains his/her own background, pursuit to greatness, but this last guy put me in awe. 

A psychology major, this guy’s current company is a roof diagramming software company that utilizes satellites and drones to take easy and accurate roof measurements for insurance companies.  The goal: minimize the number of insurance related injuries to claims adjusters (and make a couple of $$$ doing it).  No, the individuals are not losing jobs..yet, because the satellites can’t perform damage assessments. 

Isn’t that something?  Satellites, roof measurements, drones, detailed diagrams.  Absolutely incredible where things are going.  Pretty soon satellites are going to be used to cut hair.  The other day, I used a pen and paper to write a part of a story.  Now we have million dollar satellites and drones for insurance bids.  In-frickin-credible. 

The best part about this guy is that we looked over, saw what I was reading, “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect,” by John Maxwell and started talking to me.  From here we talked about other great books (gladwell, pink) and his company.  We didn’t overdue it; you have to have space.  Intermittent conversations in First Class are interesting; they need to be well timed otherwise it is awkward and uncomfortable.  For the rest of the flight I watched 60 minute episodes (depressing) because they talked about “the winter of our hardship” when DHL in willmingham?, ohio went under.  Talk about a perspective shake up. 

After exchanging business cards, I didn’t inquire about positions, but more about what he thinks about “Blink” by Gladwell.  I hope he writes.  The last guy I talked to wrote a bit which was neat. 

With one interaction there is bound to be more, and the next one was more from a lurking perspective.  In Atlanta travelling from the T concourse to the E concourse (for those of you that haven’t been to Atlanta airport, this is from one end of the airport to the other and Atlanta is an international airport; it’s huge), I spotted a unique looking lady.  Yes, unique.  I could have used a combo of the clichés, gothic, rebel, liberal, contemporary, you name it, all of those fall into her description.  3 earrings on her lip, a half dozen in her ears, nose, eyebrow, some type of dyed hair, skinny jeans, baggie shirt, vest, sour/confused attitude (well, this is what her face displayed), and numerous bands.  My favorite part: She wore two bands on the right wrist that said, “F*&U! You” and “F&%$! Off.”  Guys, for those of you that know me, you might get a chuckle out of this, but every part of me was desperately itching to talk to her.  I wanted to SO frickin bad, but I couldn’t think of the appropriate clichéd comment to say.  “Why do you hate the word?” “Hmm, am I to take that literally.”  “How was your childhood?” “I love your artwork.”  Perhaps, I could have gone this route, “Where are you travelling to? Portland?”  All in all I lurched forward, climbed closer in the rising escalator, but ran out of real estate and missed a golden opportunity.  Ah, failure.  One successful interaction followed by an unsuccessful one.  To be honest, I put partial blame on myself, but also partial blame on when Kristina makes fun of me.  She is key in preventing me from making abnormally awkward interactions, and this certainly could have been one.  Next time you meet her, or get a chance to interact with her, ask about impressions of me attempting to talk to someone.  You will laugh out loud. 

Overall though, gang.  I am taking off for Honolulu as we speak.  There are a couple of individuals that are left to take their seats, but I am off.  The picture below awaits me....in 9 hours and 19 minutes. 

Shoot me a message, give me a call.  I hope all of you are doing well and thinking of the beautiful summer that awaits Minnesota and/or the city that you currently live in. 

Love, Kraig

Blinked and Woke Up in March; Where oh Where did the time go?

Gang, I hit a dryspell. It took me 4 months to come up with new material, and this material is a bit of a cop out.  No nifty stories, no funny anecdotes, just pure facts and photos.  You may be asking yourself, "Well Kraig, why the change, why the delay?" I would like to blame it on someone other than myself, but frankly, the last 4 months brought me on a hiatus to become one with myself.  Well, to be honest, that lines is full of (fill in blank here).  I look back and think of the different areas of blame, but ultimately, numero uno points back to mua. 

Because the writing has been minimal, non existent, doesn’t necessarily mean  that I haven’t been busy.  You factor in weddings, interisland trips, visitors 3-4x per month, trips back to Minnesota, a demanding job/client, another longer run (no, not another marathon), and you find yourself in the midst of a whirlwind and time warp.  So, what have we / I been doing, in detail? Here is a bit of a breakdown:

·         Kristin Married / Kari Announces Pregnancy

·         Viking outdoor football game / Favre’s last performance

·         Kristina’s Birthday / Christmas with K-Gals Family
·         Maui

·         Date Night (Less impressive than Carrell and Fey’s, but fun nonetheless)

·         North Shore Ginormous Waves

·         ProBowl

·         Visitors

o   Stockampers Galore

o   Ms. Waterman

o   Mike and Carly

o   K-Gal Family / Kaui

o   Kaley / Tommy / Sam / Malia

o   Vince and Tyler (Beasts)

o   Janelle, Chris, Phil

·         Great Aloha Run (8.2 miles)

·         Tsunami



Metrodome collapsed and so did Brett Favre.  Old Man River made it through the first part of the first quarter, but had a heart attack putting the lid on our Pandora's Box of a season. 





Perfect weekend in Perfect Maui featured great sites, whales, and time with the K-gal (top row); Bottom left (big waves roll into O'ahu and yours truly attempts to swim; can you see me? Kristina is swimming out to save me); Bottom Middle (Date night!!! woot woot! this photo should be used for sales), Bottom Right (pro bowl)




K-Gals family brought nerves (week with the GFs family, of course this is nervewracking), humor, and good times to both O'ahu and Kaui.  Top Left (Napali coastline), Top Middle (view from Condo), top right (Pat trying on Kristina's hat; This image will never be deleted), Middle Left (It was not a dry viewing of this coast, but still spectacular), Middle ($5 if you can guess the Non-K-Gal Family Member), Middle Right (The camera caught it, seems as though there is always a glow about K-Gals Dad...Oh, there is, her name is Rosie), Bottom right (K-Gals Family), Bottom Middle (Steven filming himself ziplining; He was too engrossed in the film to realize he was zipling over a 100 foot canyon); Bottom Left (the ladies)





As the beasts (jared hokenson and tyler kramer, picture bottom right) ventured to Hawaii, they climbed rainbows (bottom middle, they are up there somewhere), looked everywhere for their long lost hawaiian loves (top middle and bottom right), realized they were not on land and jumped into the ocean in search of mermans (top left)
*On another note, the golf out here is difficult; Yes, there are holes cut back into the jungle; I never found them (Bottom left and top Right)



26.2 Miles..Guys, seriously..it isn't that bad

The next line is going to come as a bit of a surprise to some of you, or may be viewed with skepticism, but trust that it did happen; there is proof.

I ran a marathon.

A lot of factors went into this decision, but at the time of make it I had just finished running 10 miles at a “Turkey Trot”, thoroughly enjoyed Pumpkin spiced pancakes with a delicious caramel topping, and my parents were visiting me in Hawaii. I feel timelines are important, so I want to give you the full preparation prior to taking my first step at the 26.2.
11/25-Ran 10 miles (Turkey Trot), Overjoyed, Silly enough to verbally commit to a marathon

11/30-Parents leave Hawaii; Run 6 miles
12/1-Run a couple of miles
12/2-Fly to Oregon for the Civil War
12/5-No running in Oregon; Fly back to Hawaii
12/6-Run for 2 hours and 15 minutes
12/8-Light jog for about a mile
12/11-Officially Register for Marathon
12/12-Marathon Day

Beep! Beep! Beep! My alarm sounded at an inconvenient 3:15am, but I really didn’t need the alarm; I probably woke up every half an hour from 1am, nervous, excited, and terrified for the hours to come. My pre-race ritual was still TBD, so I decided to start the morning off with a nice shower. Post shower brought the Vasoline; I am just going to leave it at that, but I did use roughly 75% of the jar…No bloody nipples for this guy. Following the Vasoline was the band aids to cover them; Like I said, every precaution to take regarding nipple chafing was taken.

My race uniform consisted of Eddie’s running shorts, a tank top like running shirt, some type of running socks, and of course, the shoes. Sorry Eddie, but I openly admit that I kept a certain amount of freedom and refrained from using spandex. For a pre-race breakfast I had piece of peanut butter toast with honey and a 5 hr energy drink. Hip, Hup, Hip, Let’s go. Grabbing my iPod and the 4 energy gel packets, I left my apartment and walked towards the starting line (fortunate enough for me, the starting line was just around the corner).

They said, in terms of number of racers, that it was a down year for the Honolulu Marathon; I couldn’t tell. As soon as I approached a half a mile from the starting line, the floods of people overwhelmed me, and I stood out like a sore thumb. To my left I witnessed Japanese pre-race cheers; To my right I noticed Hawaiian running clubs; and in the middle stood me, a 6’4” howlie…what a goofball?!

For what little strategy I had going into the race, I felt that it was a solid one, however. Hashing through my plan while stretching, getting loose, jumping up and down with the typical pre-activity calisthenics, the firework start shook my concentration. The Race officially started.
Awesome Blossoms reading this blog, compare them to the BP 4th of July finale, multiple by 10, add 2, and divide by .47 and that is the magnitude and longevity of the firework display. And, these were just for a marathon. I nearly ran over 3 grandmas (I don’t know how they were in front of me), 2 kids (why were kids running this), and tripped a Korean gentlemen who seemed unenthused by my presence. 2 minutes after the gun, #10607 crossed the starting line and was off into the abyss.

The first mile seemed like a fast paced walk; crowded people jockeying for position, elbows flying, smiles ear to ear, naïve 6’4, Caucasians who decide to run a marathon two weeks prior were all crammed into a elongated rectangle. By the time mile two came around (geez, mile two already), I looked down at my stopwatch on my iTouch to realize, “Kraig, what the hell are you doing? You are starting off at a 10:32 pace!!” don’t worry gang, I understood that it was slow. Between miles 1 and 2, something inspired me. No, I did not turn on the playlist heard round the world. Nope, no siree. Instead, it was the guy off the beaten path, left leg lightly raised, peeing. I almost cried laughing, but rounding the corner, the lights off of the Irish pub blinded me back into reality. Perhaps this was the moment where the great white hope (me), kicked it into gear. It was.

Playlist. Begin.

“The smell of your skin…the taste of your…” What? Wrong song? Thanks though for the effort Lonestar. The actual beat got me going though; it was Citizen Cope, The Son’s Gonna Rise. Yep, the sun did rise…at mile 13.

I prayed for it to go back down.

By the time mile 13 came around, it was a ‘pinch-me’ moment to determine where, but most importantly, when, it was (that is a partial LOST reference). Things were feeling good though, legs fresh, people handed me pretzels, a banana, and the make shift garage band jammed out to Carry on My Wayward Son; Yes, please carry me!!!!

When everything was looking down and out, running up a gradual incline, sun blazing at a chart topping 78, I was blessed to have two people show up in my corner, Eddie (roommate) and Kristina. The joy in having somebody specifically call you out and cheer on your name is an instant adrenaline boost. When we were at the Ironman shouting at everyone to ‘keep trucking’, it didn’t sink in. To me, those were your basic every day words of encouragement, but to be on the receiving end adds perspective and most importantly, appreciation. So, prior to seeing Eddie and Kristina, I was starting to get emotional. Not because I was in pain, but rather because I was thinking about the relief upon crossing the finish line. Sure the pain was starting to arrive (no chaffing), but legs were tight, numb, and feet, hell, they burned.

Here we are, itching closer to the finish line when these two beaming faces surprised me. Their presence and support was a blessing, but they brought snacks! 5 hr energy, pretzels, and bananas, what else could you ask for?! Oh my, but there was more. Eddie proceeded to run the next 6.5 miles with me! Are you kidding me? That man is a saint, simply incredible. I wasn’t in the mood to talk, but Eddie sensed that and offered endless words of encouragement. “Kraig, you are doing a great job!” “Kraig, keep up the good work; you are on a great pace.” Perhaps Eddie’s biggest contribution is that he forced me to enter into unknown competitions with other runners.

Up until mile 20, I was jockeying for position with a shirtless guy wearing a Swedish flag and Viking horns; I did actually help the guy out at one point by throwing him extra iced sponges that I had snagged at one point. Back to the story now. Eddie was quick to say, “Kraig, you are not losing to that Viking. You need to beat him.” I did win, but the victory was in doubt. The last two miles of the race were downhill and it wasn’t until mile 25 that I was able to pass the Swede for the last time; He stopped, but this guy kept going. For the last stretch, Eddie had to take off, but I was able to find additional motivation to finish, another competition. This time, no swede. This time, a petite lady in her upper 50-60s was 100 yards in front of me. Facing exhaustion, complete soreness, I sprinted. I sprinted and took her down with 50 yards remaining. Oh man, what was I thinking?!.

Dizzy, light headed, too exhausted to even shed another drop of sweat, I reached the finish line at 4:11 and some change.

Guys, with the length of the blog nearing 2.5 pages already, I am going to cap it off here. Many, many thanks to Kristina, Eddie, Maggie, Thomas Risse and others that cheered me along the way. What an incredible experience; it is most certainly one that I will always hold near and dear.

Pictures to come, more blogs to post. If you want more exciting stories about the race, feel free to shoot me an email. Am I going to do more marathons? Yeah, definitely. But, let’s get a little variety. Triathalon? Hmm…Might need a couple months of training for that.