April Running brings May Abs

Team- Coach Mossman here. Are you ready? Are you ready to deflate that spare tire around your waist? Its time to put the brownies down and put on your garmin watch. More running, less running to the kitchen. Its time to stop making excuses to cheat on eating healthy or not put in extra effort into a leg workout. THIS AINT NO GARDEN PARTY!!! Get to it!

OK just doing an impression of me as a coach (can you imagine me being mean to the team?) In all seriousness, April 1 brings a new commitment from JEM- I will be doing 30 minutes of cardio every day in April. Ive been disciplined with working out through lifting weights. Many days I am up at 5 am to workout with Chet, Zack and Heath at Sky South. Its early and it feels like im in a weird dream because its so early. But in any case, I am headed to Las Vegas on May 11th for a work trip. Kelly is joining me for a couple of days so we will hit up the pool at the Wynn on Sunday, the 10th. It would be fun to have a cut physique (vain much?) but seriously, why work so hard if you cant on rare occasions feel like you want to walk around the pool with some confidence! Im near the peak of my personal best for strength, which has been a long but rewarding journey. Cutting fat is the other key thing I have not mastered. So, to help me stay accountable, I signed up for another half marathon on April 11th in Jenks. I get to visit the aquarium as a treat after the race. I will also have to pay a fine if there is a day I miss. I will not miss a day.

April Commitments.....
1) Cardio 30 minutes or more daily
2) No fried foods
3) No dairy (other than greek yogurt)

Im excited for this challenge because I want to develop my "muscle" of self discipline. Saying no to unhealthy choices and yes to the right ones.  So many times I say something or commit then falter. Im doing this people.

Make it a great night!

You're tense

I got a mall massage last night. It was amazing. Thirty minutes of pure bliss. The Chinese workers must all be taught the same methods because its all very similar before they come over to America. Not sure why I felt like I needed to sneak into the store, but I gingerly made my way inside to get the table massage. I started having flashbacks to my first massage experience at 10,000 Waves in Santa Fe, NM. It was a Japanese inspired pergola adorned spa.  Lets just cut to the chase and say it was a nudist-skewed awkward, "we're serious take your clothes off and get into a robe now while we're standing here" kind of place. The massage was decent, but I was still deer-in-headlights concerning what or what I wasn't wearing. Not exactly a nice transition for a first-timer getting a massage who is 20.
 Oddly enough, this is not the weirdest place I have gotten a massage. There is an indoor flea market at the Tulsa Fairgrounds and about once a month, I'll make my way over there to see Tony, who sells jewelry at his table and gives massages....sometimes simultaneously. He is really good, and his slots fill up quickly, so I have to get over there early on a Saturday to sign up for a time. The dull murmurings of the older-skewing crowd at the flea market make it a soothing sound as Tony works on several areas of issue. Once he is done, I want to melt off the table....so soothing and refreshing. Occasionally, I will head over to Dr. Peace, a chiropractor who has massage at his practice. They have this great table that is like a half-sized twin bed and they wrap you tightly in sheets like a cocoon. Its so cozy I would almost pay just to sleep on that bed without the massage. Alas, its back to the grind. Maybe some day soon I'll tackle the infamous Chinese Foot Massage place that several of my friends have frequented. Its in south Tulsa, so it may be a while before I can get down there.


 

Catching up....

Hello!
Its been exactly one year since I last posted in this blog. I can't decide why its difficult to blog more, but after much procrastination, I'm back in 2015. I haven't seen any flying cars, nor hoverboards to my dismay, but I'm still hoping the Cubbies and Florida play in the World Series (people who haven't seen Back to the Future are not getting this...).
I'd say 2014 was a success in reflecting over the past year.
Things I'm thankful for:
1) Trips to glorious places ( a New year's cruise in the Carribean, Washington DC for Cherry Blossom Festivals, Las Vegas 5 times (yes that's not a typo), Colorado for the 4th with the wonderful Miss Kelly, Kevin, and Suzy, the UK with Baylor friends, Switzerland with Kyle, and even a bowl game in Phoenix with Wes and several friends.

2) Spending time with Kelly- we have had so many fun times and eaten at so many wonderful places around Tulsa (its kind of our thing we like to do). Some of my favorite things we have done include art night at the Philbrook Museum, pulled pork taco night, scrabble, Red Rock, Los Cabos,  trips to Vegas in February, and Breckenridge hiking, fireworks and the roadtrip to Denver. Cafe Ole, Keo, Shades, Brookside, are just some of our favorite places!  We just know how to have a good time!

3) Meeting new friends and sustaining and growing closer to established friends. New ones like Evan and Jessica Myers who I met early last year through the Wilsons. They are cherished people. I took a memorable trip to Vegas to celebrate Mocky's 30th birthday. What a blast to get to experience Cirque du Soleil, breakfast outside the fountains of Bellagio, hiking etc. The Vegas 7 as I call them are all friends I feel very comfortable around and can be in my own skin. Chet and I continue to work out and laugh (make fools of ourselves) at the gym as we try every gym in Tulsa. Sharing time with the Stevenson's and their kids has given me great joy as well. I love knowing I'm"Uncle Mossman" to sweet Eden. We have started to take a traditional picture at Ole every year on my birthday. Jay and I get to hang out many a coffee shop to catch up and talk about politics, football, or whatever else is germane to the situation.

4)Time with my family over Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was one of my favorites this year. We spent time at Grand Lake with my dad's family, and had so much fun playing table games, croquet, and sitting by the outdoor fireplace. Christmas Eve was lovely with a shrimp dinner after a great church service. We watched a ton of Christmas movies. Overall, just a very cozy and relaxing break.

5) Work.... I acheived my quota for the 3rd year in a row at IBM! I started the year off painfully slow, but I didn't give up. I had an amazing 4Q due to our investment in accounts earlier in the year. I'm very proud to overachieve, and hope that IBM gives us some travel points to take a fun 100% club trip. I am so thankful I get to visit so many cool places through work. Last year, I got to go to Vegas, Austin (played TopGolf which was awesome!), Alabama, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago for a week at the Palmer House, and Washington DC in August with a night trip to the monuments).

6) Fitness- got to work out quite a bit in 2014 and also ran in a couple of half marathons. I set a personal record for a half marathon at the Irving Marathon with a time of 1:46:54. That beat my previous record by over 5 minutes. I also was consistent in lifting weights and making some small gains.
7) Investing in the Kingdom- was able to help support 3 ministries in addition to my church home in Tulsa in 2014. I also made a commitment to help with some fundraising for a building in which The Gathering is trying to buy at some point. I felt God leading me to do that in August. Malachi 3:16 is right on target by the way. When you are obidient to God in how he leads us to use his money he gives us, great and mighty things happen.
8) In general, in 2014 I was able to reflect and be thankful for all that I have and to be thankful for a house, a car that has been a consistent, no issue friend for 100,000 miles now, an ability to have some margin to take trips, invest in others, etc.

These things and many more I am thankful for in 2014. So many times we sit and sulk thinking about things not going our way. I have to remind myself of the wonderful things God has blessed me with and it really puts things in perspective.
Make it a great day!
Jeff
-

Jan 20

Today was packed. I spent the night in Bentonville last night in order to make a meeting this morning at 7:45 AM, so I headed to the Doubletree last night after getting back from my Aunt Holly's funeral. We had her service on Saturday afternoon in a very busy day. It was a beautiful funeral and I told my mom Holly and watching with a smile along with Granny and Papa. Having your parents and only sibling die in less than 2 years is a hard thing. It was so beautiful seeing so much support from the extended family, Holly's real estate network, and church friends.
I worked out this afternoon after working a bit longer. One awesome thing to see tonight was the 2 puppies of my good friend Lindsey Mocky. She kept talking to them in a mommy voice, which was cute. I'm glad she has those puppies- she seems to be in good spirits and is enjoying 2014 so far!

I don't have a lot of coherent thoughts right now. I'm all over the place, so just bear with me. Its been a long, tiring day.

I've been looking at some of my friends' old blog posts the past hour. There are some really funny and memorable posts in there. I really do enjoy getting into the minds of some of my friends through the written word. i want to get in a time machine and go back to some of those experiences. I thumbed through Lindey's blog that she printed out from 2013, and it was darn near the size of an encyclopedia. Pretty cool all those thoughts in there.

I weighed in about 208.6 today. That seems high for the fact I've been eating pretty healthy and trying to work out. Maybe its just fluctuation. Who knows. It was kind of depressing honestly....demotivating. I am needing to really start training for the Bearathon on March 22. I heard another one of my friends from Baylor will be running with us, so that will be fun.

On Feb 9th, I'll have worked 10 years at IBM....yeah! Bonus is I now get 4 weeks of vacation instead of 3. I remember starting in 2003 with 13 people in my class. I think there are 3 of us left. Thankful for great bosses, tons of places I've seen, and consistent pay.

I'm overdue for a Sam and Ella's run. Its about the best pizza place in the country in Talequah- an hour away. We tried to go there for Kyle's birthday but it was too snowy. I passed by the exit on the way back home today. Lindsey's dogs, who I met tonight, are named Sam and Ella after that restaurant. These constant reminders make me hungry and want to go there. Who wants to go with me in the next couple of weeks????

I received kindness, generosity and demonstrations of Christian love from people who I hold most dear to me in the past several days as I traveled home to Dallas and came back to Tulsa. These people have encouraged me, spent time with me, sent nice texts and even gave me a couple of gifts. I'm beyond thankful. Its so nice when you feel like friends and loved ones reciproate the feelings you have for them. I seek the opportunity bless those who bless me. I hope that chance comes soon.

Soon I'll post my very brief 2014 goals and a review of what I was able to meet in 2013.
Good night!!!!

My Five Favorite Places in Tulsa

 This was in my draft folder from early 2012 and never published it....so here you go. Kind of fun to look back on a time stamp. I'd add in 2013 that I love the Brady District (Guthrie Green, Chimera, Rusty Crane, etc) but this is kind of fun.

I've lived in Tulsa for over 3 years now, and have discovered some great places that have become a part of my whole Tulsa experience. So, here are my five favorite places in Tulsa in no particular order. They are:

1) Drinking a grasshopper at Shades of Brown. My comfort blanket. I went here probably 4 nights a week when I lived over on Brookside. I used to get vanilla lattes, but now I've switched over to grasshoppers. I have many cherished memories from times spent with friends talking about life, playing games, or just wanting to be somewhere with people around. Some of my most valued friendships I have blossomed at Shades. I've always seen people there that I know at Shades.

2) Cafe Ole in Brookside- If ever a way to enjoy and evening (or lunch) on a patio, its at Cafe Ole. They have mouth-watering fajitas, creme-cheese queso, drinks, and ambiance. Their patio has a fireplace that's on in the fall and winter. I lived one block from the place, so had easy access. I went there many times alone my first year in Tulsa. About a year ago, I went there for my birthday with friends, and it has been an almost weekly staple from then on.

3) Walking around the Fairgrounds at the flea market.

4) In the Raw Sushi- Sushi is a new love. It started when I lived in Grapevine when my neighbors invited me to join them for sushi one night. It was good, but my craving for sushi really took off in Tulsa. I first started going to Fuji, but In the Raw is now my favorite.

5) The Mayo Hotel- I've always been interested in restored buildings, and the Mayo is an old world hotel that makes you feel like you are staying in Chicago or New York, not in Oklahoma. I've walked through and sat in the lobby many times thinking about how it would have been in the 1920's when it was built. One of the treasures is its ballroom on the 16th floor. It has spectacular views of downtown, and a nice place to take a date. They have a coffee shop and nice restaurant in there as well. I'm glad I ran into it.

Snow and such

Christmas season is in full swing in Tulsa. We have had a blanket of snow on the ground the past several days and more snow was falling as I came home from hanging out with a friend tonight. With Christmas music blaring in the car, it felt festive indeed.  I've always been a winter guy. I'd take 25 degrees over 95 degrees any day, although I still get really cold sometimes.  I came home tonight after being outside and ran into my bed and hid under the covers for 30 minutes trying to warm up.

I enjoyed a nice weekend. I got to celebrate one of my favorite people in the whole world... Tall Kyle. His birthday is on the 15th, but we went out early to celebrate since he has family coming in town next weekend. I have always admired this guy- humble, soft spoken, genuine and wise. We desperately need more Kyles in this world.  I've traveled to Europe with him and am just blessed to have known him since that first trip to Pops with him back in 2011 (April I think). We met him at Red Rock Canyon Grill, the de facto birthday place to celebrate. He had chosen 4 guys that are his close friends to join him. We dined on ribs and chicken and had a Luger's Bavarian cake to celebrate. Afterward, we went over to Lindsey's house to hang out a bit. On Saturday, Kelly and I went to downtown to eat at Hey Mambo. We had delicious pear, honey, walnut and a cured ham pizza. After that, we walked around Guthrie Green and looked at the Christmas lights- so pretty. We walked over to Chimera after that and had a cozy latte. It was a very fun night indeed, especially after just watching Baylor win the Big 12!

One random side note- something I've been wanting to do for a long time and not doing it for an excuse after excuse reason was memorize scripture. On Sunday, I got to celebrate learning 25 new verses by heart. Our goal is to learn 52 verses in one year, so its cool to being halfway there. I have found so much value in being able to quote scripture in my head. Some of the verses that convict me the most often are "set your mind on things above, not on earthly things" - Colossians 3:2 and Romans 1:16- "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God that brings salvation to those who believe, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." Great reminders!

OK- I've been trying to get up to do some cardio by myself in the mornings to keep as much fat off as possible as the holiday season "rolls" on. I've been able to do some 5Ks but there is no comparison to going to a spin class.  I'm going to try to get out of bed to go see my favorite instructor Ann. 5:45 is early but it will be worth it!

Camping!

This past weekend I went camping with some “missions” friends that I have made over the last few months. After work on Friday, I headed 3 hours east near Ponca, AR on the Buffalo River to meet 7 friends. Libby and Katie, who are two twin sisters, along with Brittne from my China travels and Jarod Townsend, Luke and a couple of new friends made a campfire quite cozy on Friday evening. I arrived a little late, and lucky for me, the tents were set up and the fire was blazing. Set right on the Buffalo River, I knew we would be in for a treat when the sun came up. You could see the granite cliffs rising above the river in the moonlight.

Everyone was so inviting and genuine to me throughout the weekend. I was the only one who doesn’t attend Mercyview with them, but they treated me as one of their own. We chatted around the fire, ate smores and toasted bananas, and laughed a lot. We encouraged each other and just enjoyed one another’s’ company.

Saturday morning, I woke up to Luke and Mitch making “pourover” coffee, which takes way more science and measuring than I realized. It’s a funnel that flows into a beaker like object. You pour boiling water over hand-ground beans and it slowly trickles into the glass. Very strong and very good. We had a divine breakfast of Katie’s scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits cooked in a dutch oven over a fire. Yum! With our stomachs full, we headed out for a hike in the mountain wilderness. This 3 mile hike did not disappoint. We meandered through woods, then eventually hugged the side of a mountain that had a several hundred foot drop. Lots of sitting, pondering and pictures followed. I wish I had some to post but hopefully soon. The leaves were mostly off the trees, but the silence of the Ozarks was really cool, broken up by the occasional eagle flying over the valley below. I came back to Tulsa Saturday afternoon, but the rest of the group stayed through Sunday. It sounds like the weekend continued to entertain after I left.

Its always good to get away for a time of refreshment. On my drive to and from camping, I got a chance to spend time talking with the Father. I’m really trying to be thankful for all he has provided for me, especially during this time of the year. He has been so gracious to me- providing me employment, putting people in my life who truly care and love me, giving me challenges for growth, and forgiving me when I fail Him. I’m thankful for this year- the good and the bad. In looking back on what I wanted to accomplish in 2013, many things have been done. Some haven’t but there is still time. Just like the river below our tents, I yearn to always be flowing and never stagnant. Being stagnant causes water to lose its vitality and life. Things stop moving in a river that stops flowing. I don’t want to be stagnant or lukewarm.  Rather, I want to be challenged daily to live for him and show what “living water” is like- refreshing, purifying and nourishing. To a great weekend!

Make it a great day,

Jeff