Happy New Year!

The past month has flown by! We raced (literally doing 5k and 10k races) through Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas. We are officially on the “Brooks Joggle Happy Tour” until the end of April. The past week we were in Wisconsin visiting family and it was a much needed break from the road. We were excited to hand deliver our annual Christmas Extravaganza CD to each of our family members. We flew into Milwaukee to stay with Bob’s family for a few days in Oconomowoc. We surprised Bob’s little sis Katie at her school as soon as we got in. The next day Trish sprained her ankle playing some pick-up basketball at the local YMCA. :( She is icing like crazy and is praying for a fast recovery. The next few days were a blur of family fun and Christmas parties with the Evans clan. Then we drove north to Iron River, Wisconsin to hang out with Trisha’s side of the family. We collaborated with Trisha’s younger sisters, Jess and Nicole (ages 24 and 21), and Trisha’s dad, Scott, on a new shoe idea: heals made of deer hooves… look for the prototype in 2012! ;) We played a lot of cards with Trisha’s mom, Linnea and her husband, Al. Bob, Trish, and Nikki made a good run, but in the end, Linnea, Al and Jess were the Euchre victors.

It was really great being with family for Christmas. Now we are back on the road, making our way through Texas. We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a safe and fun New Year. Let us know what your 2012 goals are!

Love,

Bob and Trish

Here is the list of our 2012 goals and resolutions:

Bob

-develop and perform a basketball-juggling routine

-4 clubs on back (50 throws - doubles)

-create a tutorial for 5-ball partner juggling

-create a tutorual for 5-ball juggling

-create a tutorial for beginning club passing

-5 clubs (300 throws with clean finish… aka 1 minute - doubles)

-6 balls (50 throws with clean finish - asynch)

-stationary handstand for 30 seconds

-do 20 consecutive pull-ups

-20 consecutive crotch throws (alberts and treblas)

-joggle a half-marathon

-break world record for one-mile joggle (4:42)

-collaborate with Dude Perfect on a trick shot

-include collaboration on all monthly trick shots

-pass with Owen Morse

-joggle a 16:40 5K on a track

Trish

-50 pushups in a row (NOT girly ones!)

-juggle 5 balls continuously for 1 minute

-joggle a sub-20:00 5k

-get the 100m joggling world record

-hold right and left splits for 1 minute each (all the way down)

-Dehydrate our own snacks and make our own juices (which means we need a dehydrator and a juicer!)

-Make a music video for one of my songs

-Read Birthing From Within (book on being a mid-wife)

-Consciously strive for a better attitude (more patient when I’m hungry and/or tired, appreciate myself)

-Develop an artistic juggling routine that tells a story

Bob and Trish

-8 clubs (2-ct. doubles) for one minute

-8 clubs back-to-back (20 throws 2-ct. doubles)

-"sitting" with 8 clubs (20 throws each)

-9 club doubles (20 throws 2-ct. doubles)

-7 clubs back2back (2-ct. doubles) for one minute

-8-ultimates with clubs (20 throws - singles/doubles) and rings (40 throws)

-tandem cart-wheel (4 turns)

-pass out of shoulder-stack (10 passes - 6 clubs)

-7 clubs on unis (20 passes 2-ct. doubles and singles)

-develop and perform 6-club 4-count routine

-develop and perform an acroyoga routine

-develop and perform two-headed guitar song

-perform at a halftime show

-juggle a triathlon

-create a juggling video with a story

-create a successful grant proposal

-financial Organization

-finish book with Tim and Josie

-perform a music act together (open mic?)

-joggle a relay marathon

-get summer jobs

-Visit the Kalvan Gym

-Meet Mills Family

Brooks Joggle Happy Tour!

We are excited to announce that Brooks Running Company has decided to make us sponsored jogglers! They will be supporting all our running shoe/gear needs and giving us a lot of exposure through their various platforms. In exchange, we get to keep joggling races on the weekends and doing free juggling shows at the events. It’s a win-win relationship - it’s the Brooks Joggle Happy Tour! Brooks will be posting videos and blog posts on our adventures like this one: Introducing the Brooks Joggle Happy Tour!

So how do a couple jogglers get sponsored by a major shoe company? Well, it all started when Trish broke the 5K world record in Minnesota this past summer while wearing Brooks shoes. A few weeks later, we “liked” Brooks Running on Facebook and posted a picture to their wall of Trish joggling in Brooks shoes with the caption, “Women Breaks Joggling World Record in Brooks Green Silence Shoes.” They really liked the picture and contacted us to learn more. After talking to us, they posted this blog post. Then, when I (Bob) broke the 5K world record in Nashville last month, also wearing Brooks shoes, we posted another picture to their Facebook wall which got more good feedback from their fans. Brooks contacted us again and pitched their offer to give us free stuff and share our story with thousands of people… we said yes.

Stay tuned for more “Joggle Happy” adventures and some Brooks giveaways on the Bob and Trish Juggling Facebook Page.

Believing in Love

We really enjoy receiving positive feedback from our juggling shows, videos, and joggling adventures... but the most meaningful compliment we have ever received is, "You two make me believe in love again."

That is the same way that we feel when we watch the "Mayo Clinic Piano Duet" viral video from Marlow and Francis Cowan. We are so inspired by this couple from Iowa and we hope that we can can continue to use our unique talents to make people smile into our 80s; )

This video reminds us that it's not about the tricks or the times... it's about the love and the reason you do it all.

"We play together, we pray together, and we have fun... we think God has a sense of humor." -Marlow and Francis Cowan

World Record!!!

Hey everyone! Bob got the world record in Nashville on Saturday! The Komen 5k turned out to be the perfect place. The weather wasn't too cold, definitely not too hot. The course wasn't flat, but not too hilly. And we even found a pacer! The whole Catch It Early (jogglers for cancer awareness) group was there and the race was a blast. I heard the announcer verify that the world record had been achieved as I was rounding the last few corners of the race. I gave a "whoop, whoop" and got back to concentrating on breathing. Bob won the race with a 16:51 and I won for the females with a 20:23... I'll get that sub 20 soon, I know it! :) All in all, a really fun day.

We capped off the evening with a halloween party that the neighbors of our hosts were throwing... and we of course ended up throwing some things ourselves! Can you guess what are costumes are?

Begin and Adapt

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now."

-Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Ready or not, here we go! After years of dreaming and planning, we are finally living our dream of exploring the US without much of an agenda besides the cliche-but-honest mission of learning (by experience) to live more fully and love more truly.

We’ve been on the road for over one month and we’ve already experienced so much (too much to get into details here). We’ve seen some beautiful nature/wildlife, ate some tasty local foods, visited many touristy attractions, experienced the highs of open-road freedom and the lows of new challenges and a near-constant sense of insecurity.

The highlight of our adventure has definitely been the many amazing people we have met on a daily basis. Going into this trip we knew that we were taking a leap of faith and putting a lot of trust in the goodness of people. So far, we have not been disappointed. When given the opportunity, people are good (from what we’ve experienced). For lodging, we have been using an online network for travelers and hosts called couchsurfing.org. Between this network and the hospitality of friends/family and the juggling community, we have paid nearly-nothing for lodging in the first chapter of our adventure. We can’t say enough good things about our “couch surfing” experiences the generous hospitality we’ve received all over the Northeast.

Pizza. New friends. Pancakes. Juggling. Driving. YMCA. Hiking. Podcasts. Hospitality. Fall colors. Green Mountains. Juggling. Joggling. Experience. New challenges. Instability.

There are many words that do a good job of summing-up the beginning of our wandering adventures, but if I had to pick one word to describe our experiences so far I would have to say: ADAPT. Every day is a new adventure full of unexpected twists and turns. The first four years of our marriage were largely based on routine and predictability, but these last 50 days have been anything but-. It can be stressful waking up in the morning and not knowing where we are going to sleep that night (which has happened a few times). It is difficult to go from sleeping in a private room in the 3rd floor of a Cambridge mansion to sharing a cold and bug-infested front porch with a smelly cat the next night (which has happened). But every day we are becoming more adaptable and that, to me, has been the theme of our adventures so far.

To see more pictures and get daily updates on our adventures, log on to Facebook and check out "Bob and Trish Juggling".

Making Statues out of Stone...

Hey everyone!

Recently we went to a juggling festival in Philadelphia, PA. The juggling festival was a lot of fun and so was the city! We ran up the Rocky steps, found the liberty bell, and played tourist, taking pictures with statues and old buildings… (see pictures!) We ran a 5k in the city and both of us beat our previous best times! Bob ran a 16:59 and I ran a 19:45. Watch out world record, Bob is about to break you! The city is a mess of zig-zagging roads and on two different runs I found myself lost. But overall the city is a fun place to visit. We stayed with a great guy named Jackie, who is the leader of the Philadelphia juggling club. He has a somewhat “grumpy-old-men” type of hatred for squirrels and told us how he captures them in a live trap, spray-paints their butts red, and lets them go in the city zoo. Classic. Right now we are enjoying Asheville, North Carolina. What a beautiful combination of the warm, hospitable south, and the seasonal, mountainous north.

9/29/11

We have been traveling for a month now and are starting to get into a groove. We decided that Bob will put up a monthly general blog update while I share some of the more memorable stories and put up some pictures.

Bob does most of the driving while I navigate. We have been mostly couch surfing, but have also stayed with friends, jugglers, and done a little camping. We have met some really interesting people and have had some great experiences. We have also been checking out many YMCAs. With our yearly membership to the Marquette, MI YMCA, we are able to participate in the AWAY program with other YMCAs and work out for free! It has been really nice for rainy days, or when we have been injured. One of our goals starting out was to climb all the highest peaks in the U.S. As of today, we have checked off 14 of 50. (WI, MI, CO, AZ, SD, IA, IN, OH, NJ, VT, NH, MA, RI, CT) We have taught at least 3 people we’ve stayed with to juggle and have learned even more from them.

The first major stop on our trip was New York City. We were there for 10 days and were able to do a lot! We started the weekend with a unicycle festival. There were a couple hundred unicylers together on Govornor’s Island for a day of uni-tricks, uni-hockey, uni-basketball, a ride over the Brooklyn Bridge and general unicycle fun. We watched a uni-basketball game between the Puerto Rican Nationals (national uni-basketball team) and the King Charles Troupe (based out of NYC). The game was intense! Puerto Rican won by a landslide… they had a lot more team skill vs. the showmanship that the U.S. team had. Think about a real good college team seriously playing the Harlem Globe-Trotters. We watched some kids do some crazy tricks with their unicycles (jumps, wheel walks, hulahooping at the same time, riding on see-saws and small pipes) Nearby the festival was a Trapeze School class going on. I decided to sign up and came back to the island the following Monday for a 2 hour beginners experience, while Bob checked out a local YMCA. I was sore the next day in places I didn’t know I could be sore, but it was so much fun! The next thing I’d like to try is the areal silks.