Personal Stories

I took my dog outside today for our evening routine. I happen to walk out to the edge of my backyard fence and just got lost in the view. I stopped and just stared at this sunset for a few minutes. Sometimes it is nice to just simply slow down for a few minutes and take it all in. It’s amazing how many things I miss when I am running at full-speed all the time.

I am sure that most everyone that reads this post has probably heard of the Minnesota Miracle from the Vikings vs Saints playoff game already. Whatever has been shown on TV, talked about in the papers, and shared across social media cannot do justice to the experience of being in that stadium and hearing the constant cheering throughout the building.

A little context for why we were there. My head football coach in college was Coach Steve Keenum, one of the most genuinely good people in this world that I have had the pleasure to meet. His son, a youngster at the time, was our ball boy named Case. You probably see where I am going with this. Case grew up and is currently in the NFL playing quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. I won’t get deep into his story. It’s been shared quite a bit already through many media outlets.

The other part that pulled me to the freezing cold weather of Minnesota in January was my new neighbor grew up there and is an avid fan. Put those two connections together, and let’s go watch a football game!

Long story short, because I could go on and on about that day, we got to be present during one of the greatest finishes in NFL playoff history, and then after the game got to hang out with a hero of the game, Case Keenum and his dad. We were all still quite speechless, not that I could have spoken very much with all the screaming that took place a few hours earlier. What an amazing thing to experience in person!

We had a lot of fun this Halloween dressing up as a circus characters. Everyone looked great in their costumes, but I have to say that the “strong man” ended up taking the cake on funniest costume. I’m still not sure exactly what character I was.

Every year the kids get older, I know we are getting closer to not having them all around one day to keep capturing these moments. Take them in. Be present everyday. Enjoy the moment!