First video up of my training! I need to work on the audio in my next videos but let me know what you think!
Half Ironman Training Week 1
Steak and Sweet Potatoes (Paleo Friendly)
Tonight after my workout of mostly pull-ups, push-ups, and kettlebell exercises. I made a delicious dinner of steak and sweet potatoes. Starting the diet has been a struggle adjusting to from my normal eating habits, the cravings for bread are ridiculous especially when walking past the bakery at the commissary. The dish would be easy to make a large amount then slice the steak to separate for meal prep containers. This dinner will definitely be added to my meals list though!
Ingredients:
Favorite cut of steak
Sweet potatoes
Tonkatsu Sauce
Onion
Garlic
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Parsley
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
I started by marinating my steak in a light coating of tonkatsu sauce. After several hours I preheated the oven to 350 and began to saute the garlic and a medium layer of olive oil in a braiser pan for easy transition to the oven. Once the garlic is caramelized add in the onions for caramelizing. Cut up the sweet potato into cubes then throw into pan and season with parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook until outside is golden brown and crispy. Push potatoes and onions to edge of pan to make a space in the middle for the steak. Place steak in pan then place in the oven for 10 minutes. Broil for another 5 to crisp everything up.
Next time I make this dish I will marinate my steak longer and add in a little vinegar to tenderize the steak better. I will also try just broiling the dish because the pan is already cooking the steak from the underside.
Please comment your suggestions and recommendation to the recipe!
I will update as I experiment with different techniques.
Lifestyle Post
I was fortunate enough to go home for 10 days to see my wife, parents, sister, in-laws, and friends. It was not nearly long enough but it was a much needed trip. There is nothing like coming home to that kind of support I have, also spending time with my two dogs gives a huge positive emotional boost. Watching two dogs play has to be the most sincere pleasure.
This is supposed to be a multi dynamic blog and I have really just focus on adventure. Well today I want to share some lifestyle updates I am changing up. This is not some of that new year new me BS people usually post. Most of this has come from months in the planning making. The topic will I want to cover is a post I wrote before Christmas but wanted to wait until after the holiday season to share it for obvious reasons. This posting will be apart of a series of reflection and lifestyle posts.
Journey in my mind, thoughts, and beliefs
Written December 14, 2017
“After 105 days of restriction I am finally able to feel like myself again! The time I once thought to be a negative aspect on my life turned out to be a positive. This experience taught me a lot on who I am as person. As you might have seen from the blog, I enjoy freedom to go and experience adventures. This experience gave me the time to clear my head and unwind on stress. In August, I was caught up in mishap that lead me to being restricted to only base and work. The restriction was a dampener to my personal instincts; by nature I am a curious human being who thrives off the sense of adventure. Taking this away forced me to take on my depression and suicidal thoughts head on. I struggled for weeks trying to make sense as to why I was on restriction, why I stayed in a career that had that power over me, and how it personally affected me deep down. I was able to harness this emotion and figure out my goals, values, and morals. I will create a miniseries that examines each topic and how I used negative emotion to give me new drive. The miniseries will also include the constant battle with depression and suicidal thoughts. Hopefully this helps others who have hard time dealing with emotions and expressing themselves.”
With this being said somethings I will be changing up are my diet and exercise habits, friendships, and education/business.
I have waiting till I got back to Okinawa before testing out the paleo diet. I have researched not only the physical benefits of a good diet but how it affects people mentally. Throughout this I will document weight, strength, cardio, energy, and mentally how I am feeling. I have always been extremely physically fit but this past year since moving to Okinawa I have noticed myself starting to slack, I want to get back to that level I was a couple years ago where I was doing a cardio and a strength workout a day.
Friendships is a huge part of my life, I feel just as comfortable solo but meeting new people and learning their adventures and experiences is fascinating to me. There is something in hanging out with someone who gets you and has the same success goals as you. This is why I am going to start cutting out negatively draining people from my daily. This doesn’t mean I won’t help you or say hi but I need to focus on what is best for me and my family.
Lastly I have 22 months left in the Military then I am done for good so it is time to get my hustle on and get my education and business ideas in order. I recently started going back to college but that is not my only means of education. I have probably read more books in the past couple months than I have my entire life. Majority of these books have been on business and finances but an interesting one I have start is the “The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT”. This book has actually inspired me to open up on what is going on in my own mind. The business side of my life is to continue working on Drunken Wanderlust and to design some outdoors apparel soon. I will also continue to bring the raw unedited photography to the blog.
Choosing the cover picture because Cain has a wild side to him but he is extremely loyal to my wife and I. (Emily won’t admit it but he is a daddy’s boy)
Wifes Trip to Colorado
Carl and I have always wanted to live somewhere that we can find an adventure every day, so when my friend and bride-to- be said her bachelorette would be in Denver, Colorado, I was thrilled! The cheaper option was to drive, which is only a ten-hour ride from Tulsa, OK. The best part about driving was seeing the Rocky Mountains get closer and closer, and eventually getting close enough to see the snow covered peaks.
This was a short trip, but we were able to pack several activities into one day.
We started off Saturday morning driving to Golden, Colorado for a Coors Brewery Tour. Golden is home to School of Mines, which is one of the best colleges for engineering, geology, and mining. The Coors Brewery Tour started with a tour of downtown Golden. One of the coolest facts I learned is that Adolph Coors, founder of Coors Brew, was only 26 years old when he started the well-known company. After the bus tour, we walked through the brewery and saw the production of Coors while listening to the company’s history. At the end of the tour, we got to sample three beers! The best part is- the whole tour was free, including the beer tasting!
After the brewery, we headed northwest to Estes Park. On our way to Estes Park, which was about a two and a half hour drive, we got to wind through the mountains and see a bunch of Elk! On the way up the mountains, the temperature dropped about thirty degrees. It began to rain, which turned to sleet, and before we knew it, there was blizzard-like snow all around us! We finally got to the top where there were several different trails to chose from. There are all kinds of options whether you want an all day hike, short hike, or guided hike. There is a $20 entrance fee for a day pass, or there are season passes to buy as well. Due to our packed day, we chose a two-mile trail called “Alberta Falls”. There were quite a few hikers out on the same trail that we chose. Words and pictures cannot describe how breathtaking the trail was. Snow was falling heavily and it started to pile up on trees and bridges. At the end of this particular trail, there was a very tall, large waterfall. Throughout the whole walk, you can hear the waterfall, but you don’t see it until the end. I could have sat and listened to the waterfall all day! Pictures truly do not do this park justice. I would highly recommend Estes Park and the hiking trails.
Once we came down the mountain, there was clear blue sky and the temperature rose back up in the sixties. We went back to the hotel and fixed up, then went to dinner at “The View House”. This restaurant is towards the higher end of dining. It is a two-story building- the first floor is a huge bar on one half and a banquet side on the other half. A wedding reception had just concluded when we arrived. The second floor is what the restaurant is named for. The whole second floor is glass so you can see Denver’s views and mountains. The food was excellent and priced well. I would definitely recommend “The View House” for a nice dinner on your trip!
After dinner, we went to a bar in downtown Denver called “Punch Bowl Social”. This place is awesome! It is a huge building with a bar, bowling, darts, a photo booth, and arcade games on the first floor. On the second floor, there is another bar with Ping-Pong, pool, and a few more arcade games. We went to a couple more bars throughout the night, but I would recommend checking out Punch Bowl!
Even after a short trip, I completely fell in love with Colorado. This is definitely the place for Carl and I!
Between a rock and a hard place
Hello readers!
Recently things haven’t gone according to plan but it has given me time to focus on some reading and getting started back up with college. Being in the military has given me tons of great opportunities and experiences but it comes with a price by the amount of rules we must abide by. I got in a little trouble for not signing out the barracks to go out into town so as a punishment I haven’t been able to leave base for almost 60 days now. It has been rough because I am a very adventurous and social person but as soon as this punishment is up I will be spending every day at a new location exploring.
A couple new books I have been reading have been “How to Master the Art of Selling” by Tom Hopkins, “Way of the Wolf” by Jordan Belfort and “#ASKGARYVEE” by Gary Vaynerchuk. Some of you may know my plans for when I get out are to be an entrepreneur in the fields of real estate and cybersecurity. These books are very well written and offer good insight on business, sales and life in general. As my mom always told me growing up “Leaders are readers” but it never struck me until I found a genre that I was interested in. I will also by starting online classes soon for a degree in cybersecurity then when I get out of the military I want to use my GI Bill to get another degree in business. I will be designing a “Drunken Wanderlust” logo soon to start an adventure clothing line so stay tuned on that!
Along with computers I built up two cryptocurrency mining rigs about a month ago. I have been following Bitcoin and a few other for years now and have always seen the potential for a currency that can be used universally. I see the biggest benefit of this in the travel industry that I could go to another country and pay for lodging, transportation and souvenirs without every having to find a currency exchange. Imagine how much easier travel would be!
Lately here at work has been busy with not much off time anyways so I guess being restricted to base isn’t that bad. Over the weekend we were barely out of the way of Typhoon Lan so all we got was a little wind and rain.
Lastly I will be looking at coming home to Tulsa, Ok at the end of December to beginning of January! Spend some quality time with my wifey, dogs and family! My wife and I are trying to plan a trip to a fun location while I am so if you have any recommendation please share!
Another EPIC week with my wife!
As some of you all know my wife and I live in different countries. It’s difficult at times but it makes seeing each other that much better! In just 5 days we jammed packed our schedule. We went to two waterfalls, the aquarium, Kokusai Dori Naha, Okinawa World, and to many great restaurants! We used Airbnb to rent a small studio apartment, it was perfect for us and close to all the fun.
Emily arrived on a Friday and the next day was her BIRTHDAY! We spent most of the time at Kokusai Dori trying to see sights before Typhoon Noru. Kokusai Dori is translated into “International Street” which means it has a little bit of everything. Lots of cool little shops selling Okinawa items and a huge fish/meat market. We stumbled upon the market just by walking into a random door. I will have to go back and buy some fish to try because it looked delicious and fresh! That night we found small Japanese karaoke bar and celebrated her birthday with some friends! Unfortunately we were having too much fun having tequila and singing to take pictures. But the next day was another windy cloudy day so we spent most of it recovering.
Monday we had to make a stop on base to get Emily her military dependent’s ID then it was off to the 2nd largest aquarium in the world, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. For being a monday it was crowded and jammed packed! We looked at some of the small exhibits but we were focus on seeing the 1.9 million gallon tank with TWO whale sharks swimming in it. That was truly an experience seeing creatures that large swimming at eye level with you. There were three outdoor exhibits that we looked at with dolphins, sea turtles, and manatees. What lives below us in the ocean is amazing, some of the most colorful and interesting living creatures.
That afternoon was very interesting going to Pineapple Park… A whole park dedicated to pineapples! You go in through the park entrance and get into a self driving jeep that takes you through a tour of the fields and gardens. Once that is over you are able to walk around the park and see everything up close, they have lots of beautiful plants and decorations. The trails lead you into the area where they make pineapple wine and you even get to try some! It’s good wine to pair with a desert that had some pineapple in it. Then we discovered a whole new world of pineapples… THEY HAD PINEAPPLE EVERYTHING! I am not even kidding if you can think of it they made it with pineapples. That evening we walked to sea wall and took some awesome pictures then had the famous CiCi’s chicken and waffles.
Okinawa has quite a few waterfalls that are a must see! They take a small hike to get to but the fresh cool water and views are worth it! We left early in the morning to have breakfast and get on with the two hour drive. Unfortunately we were delayed due to being rear ended on the highway, it’s not like the United States where you just swap information and move on. Here they have to bring out the Japanese Police and since I was involved I had to call the military police. Aha Falls have a big deep swimming area with two small cliffs to jump off of. There is a small waterfall that you will see first but the big waterfall at Aha Falls is extremely dangerous to be on top of but it’s cool to look at how the rock has formed. Fukugawa Falls are nice because they are shallow and offer better relaxing areas. The waterfall itself is true natural beauty in how it flows and the nature surrounding it. On our way home we witnessed a perfect sunset and stopped to take pictures at a seawall.
Last day here we saw that Okinawa World had good reviews to go see so we decided to check it out! It was very reasonably priced for all the activities and sights you get to see. They have a snake exhibit that has snakes of every kind to include the viper on Okinawa and the deadly sea snake. They’ll even put on a show where they bring out a cobra and smack it on the back of the head. Not sure the meaning behind it but the guy had some balls to smack a deadly snake. Emily and I had been through underground caves before but I think we both can agree that this one was the largest and most interesting. Going through it seems to be never ending and every new area brings new formations of rock. They have traditional Ryukyu Island song and dance with dragon costumes. I wish I was able to take pictures/video of it but they were strict on no cameras.
(Will update last day with pictures, didn’t realize I couldn’t upload Canon RAW images)
Low light Photography
This is one of my favorite pictures taken with the GoPro Hero 5. I took this with my wife at her family lake house at Table Rock Lake in Missouri. First time really messing around with long exposures. I played around with different angles to get the campfire in the right position along with facing the dam over the lake.
Photo taken: 12-29-2016
Storm Rollin In
I was able to capture a perfect picture of a storm rolling in from the East China Sea! Watched in on a small sea wall in Naha city.
New camera! New adventures!
Ordered a new DSLR camera off Amazon a bit ago but had to ship it to my wife’s apartment then she shipped it to me. It was something weird with international shipping. It’s the Canon Rebel T6i with an 18-55mm lense, it also came with a wide angle lense, macro lense and a magnification lense.
I was able to take it out yesterday and play around with a couple different locations! We were also able to go free diving/spear fishing (if we were relying on our ability to spear fish we would had starved) off the seawall. Here are a couple shots I took!
The photos below were taken with the Gopro Hero 5 Black.
