day one of the NYC experience

So the time has finally come to break down the big trip. Much apologies, it has been quite some time since it happened.
DAY 1-
we left P-town bright and early- around 7:00 for a 10 o'clock flight-i have my father's disease of goin to the airport way too early. It was a direct flight with some sweet little tv's which made the time go by much faster. We arrived in New York at JFK in the early evening and met up with Ryan and Joselyn at the bag claim. After a while of trying to figure out where to go for the Airtrain and what stop to get off, we finally found our bus that took us to our hotel. Me and Erika had no idea where the hotel was located because Ryan had planned out our stay, all we knew was that Ryan had picked it out and it was "super convenient." To our surprise, this "convenience" as it were, was in the middle of the ghetto of beautiful Queens, right across form the airport.

We decided to go into the city, because the night was young. we didn't know where the subway was, so we had to hop on the local bus. Thats when things got a little interesting. Allow me to paint you a picture: We get on the bus and go through ghetto Queens, travelling around Rockaway Blvd- the neighborhood that 50 cent comes from on a friday night. We were the only white one's on the bus, and when i say white, we are talking WHITE. Me and Ryan passed for locals- Ryan looked like Joey from Friends, and I can pull of the mexican, latin american pretty well. However, the women were a different story. Here are Erika and Joselyn, both white, blonde and stickin out like sore thumbs. Both wearing white designer jackets with fur, designer jeans, designer purses...plus both them with eyes the size of saucers as the neighborhood locals hopped on the bus.

We finally got to the subway station, and bought what we thought at the time were useful subway/bus cards. It took us nearly 2 hours to get from our Holiday Inn in Queens to Manhattan. We headed into the city and cruised around SOHO a little. Surprisingly Erika handled her fear of homeless people remarkably and we cruised the busy streets. After wandering for a whilewWe ended up in Little Italy starving. Meandering down Mulberry St. we settled at Caffe Palermo aka the "Cannoli King of New York. It was pretty amazing, good paninis and even better desserts.




After eating tiramisu, bread pudding and some sort of mocha concauction that blew my mind we decided to venture around some more up in SOHO and then decided to head back to our "convenient" hotel. The funny thing though, was that we were realtively new to the whole subyway thang. All we thought was the different color lines took you to the places we needed. However we failed to understand that there are different trains within the different colored tracks to take you to the various parts of NYC. Unfortunately we learned that the hard way. and I do mean hard. We ended up taking the wrong, very wrong subway into the heart of Queens, just in time for the last train of the evening left. We were stranded, once again in the ghetto, with no more trains to catch. After watching the locals shoot up and deal different drugs in dark street corners, the girls kind of lost their cool. Upon being extremely terrified of the hood, Joselyn had to pee and was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second.

After one attempt of catching a cab gone awry, I rolled up to a pizza joint to ask for directions about getting a cab. The pizza dude was real coi aobut showing us the way to "the best cab co." in New York,which ended up to be down a dark alley, with broken down cars on the sides of the streets, under the subway overpass. We ended up getting a cab, and luckily made it back to our hotel safely. Our cab driver lightened our mood a bit as he could tell that we were not from Queens or NY at all. For some reason he kept complimenting Ryan on his ability to score three beautiful women on vacation. The old italian who was obssessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and tv in general kept us entertained for sure during the trek around Queens to the sweet Holiday Inn. To this day, we don't know how the driver got so confused- for one, how he confused me for a hot lady- I guess his standards are real low, or he is into his women having some serious 5 o'clock shadow. And 2nd, how Ryan could possibly be percieved as that big of a pimp.

Big Apple

the official day-to-day run down of the trip is coming soon!

the weekend update

so this past weekend was pretty enjoyable. me and the mrs. took a quick trip up to Park City to get away from the bubble for the night. it was a good change of pace and not very busy, which was also a plus. there was snow everywhere, which abruptly reminded us that it was winter. up and down main street, in and out of little shops and trying not to get too cold was how the evening went. we both endulged on some new jeans, and got our grub on at Main Street Noodle and Pizza Co. the best thing about gettting pizza is having it for breakfast the next day!a funny moment up in park city was this dude that was yelling at his wife/girlfriend for getting his car all dirty. let me paint you a picture: homeboy was in his late 40's maybe early 50's, but definitely stuck in the 80's. he was rockin one of the dirtiest mullets i had ever seen, even more hardcore than billy ray cyrus himself. the girl with him was distraught because she couldn't parrallel park, and mr. mullet was even more distraught by her pathetic excuse for a park job.

saturday was pretty sweet too. i woke up and took in the buggy to get an oil change and then started to clean the bathroom- etrain's orders. in the afternoon i went over to jake's house to watch a lil football. normally i am not much of a sports fanatic or football watcher, but it was good to get with the fellas. we watched the Ohio State vs. Michigan game, and it was just as intense as all the hype anticipated.even papa Katz came in and left Lil Sid Vicious with her mom. BYU put on a good show too, clinching the conference title and defeating New Mexico.

Later in the evening we went over to our friend Trish's b-day party. Not your typical girly party by any means. but then again, Trish isn't a typical girl. the party was themed around the UFC Welterweight Title fight between Hughes and St Pierre. I felt a lil outta place because i was the only dude there who couldn't dead lift 600 lbs. meat-head central, but good guys i suppose. we didn't stay to watch all the fights, but sent our b-day wishes to Miss Trish.

puppy training

we all have mile stones in our lives; our first day of school is probably the most memorable for our parents. well, we have reached that same mile stone with our pup and by request of my wife i will share it with you, while she is in san diego. tonight was his first day of obedience school, and it couldn't have come any sooner. there were a lot of puppies in the class, all different breeds and sizes, along with all different owners. some that stick out are jack the chihuahua and his gay owner, and the three hounds with there hippee parents. buster was all fired up about being around so many dogs and people, which caused a little a.d.d. he kept trying to play with the labradoodle next to him and steal her treats, instead of learn anything. the trainer was really nice. Karen has been doing this for quite some time, i just hope she can help us out with Buster. throughout the session Buster was a punk and wanted to play, not learn.he was used as a "demo dog" by the trainer to learn a command, but got distracted half-way through and tried to wrestle with the three hounds.we have our work cut out for us! plus he was a snob about the treats we had-which made training and positive reinforcement kind of hard. but, we have some homework to do- some commands and getting him used to his new training tool, the clicker. i worked with him when we got home, but he still wasn't havin any of it. anywho, i must go seeing as i have yet another test to study for. and etrain, i hope that was satisfactory to your needs.

tone the grad

so yesterday was a pretty sweet day. for one, it was about 75 degrees and the sun was shining. i was walking around campus with a short sleeve shirt on- or in my "shirt-sleeves" as my wonderful mother-in-law Mama G would say. school was a normal day, except for one little thing. what?what is it you say. well, i guess you can figure it out by the title of this entry. there goes the suspense.i applied for graduation!thats right, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter folks. it was quite an experience. the spanish department is a joke, and full of rude, unhelpful people. i won't go into details, but needless to say it will be a happy day when i turn my tassel, walk up to the podium, grab my diploma and walk out the door. i will never have to step foot on campus as a student again!

redemption

some people call me loke, some call me stroke...but i would like to refer to myslef from now on as the "comeback kid." thats right, after last weeks embarrassment and general dissapointment i came back strong with high hopes and full throttle. On friday night, Erika had hoped to be wined and dined and treated like royalty for our weekend date. Much to her dismay, I had planned for us to go out to dinner with the crew to celebrate "jakie-poo's" birthday. Erika had a rough day at school- to say the least- and i am sure she was just hoping to leave the night up to me. friday night was a bit unusual however. Jake had planned to go to the movies with some of who we like to refer as the "replacement friends" at around 6:30 or 7-ish. therefore, we- those friends who care about him most and vice-versa- had his Olive Garden b-day dinner at 4:45pm. Yup, just us and the denture squad. in fact, we had beat the senior citizen rush, if you could imagine. the dinner was fun though: nothing is better than gettin together with amazing people. the katz', francis, jake and the mendioroz's. we shared some pretty amazing laughs, and good food. i think that the quote that will be legendary forever is sarah's classic "Chris would be soo embarrassed!" as we discussed the new trend of nudist colonies becoming mainstream. sorry chris. what a line!

after dinner we went up to the Riverwoods and saw "The Prestige" with Chris and Sarah. it was our second time, and we still haven't gotten it all figured out. what a great flick-i highly recommend it. the first time with ty and jenny left us stumped, confused and wanting to figure out what had happened. the second time, we got most of the plot worked out, but still are lost on a few things. its awesome.

Now, for the whole reason of the new name- saturday was my turn to sing the great Bob Marley's Redemption song as i planned out our night. Erika had been gone all day at school, I didn't have to work, so i focused on "her day." as she was away, i got my domestication on. thats right, i have been known to cook from time to time, yet baking i have not ventured into. My boss made an amazing pumpkin cake thing the other day at work, and i brought a nugget home for erika to sample. if you know erika at all, you know that this is her favorite time of year because pumpkins are everywhere, in every form of edible food and she can't get enough of it. after 2 days of raving about the "punkin goodness" as she called it, i got the recipe and baked it while Erika was off at school pampering jeff.

i also went grocery shopping to put togther her new new favorite dinner- Giatta's veggie paninis- which i made for her hot and fresh when she walked in the door. she enjoyed the panini, but was distracted by the huge pan of pumpking deliciousness. with no hesitation we dove into the dessert and her eyes lit up. jackpot! she loved it.

the night did not end there however. after stuffing our faces with pumpkin, and letting our guts settle from such a quality meal, we headed up north to enjoy the highlight of the evening. i took her to see the classic "Man of La Mancha" up in SLC at the Hale Theatre. The cool thing about this particular theatre is that its a "theatre in the round," like Shakespeare's Globe. The drive up was a joke, we almost missed the show. I guess there was some orchestra concert at the E Center accross the street, which caused serious traffic. there is nothing worse than a utahrd traffic jam. But the gods were smiling because the show started late and we were able to make it.
the play really was entertaining, Don Quixote was really good and soo was Dulcinea, but the real show stopper was Sancho.one of my favorite parts was when he sang to a dying Quixote about "this and that." Also the fight against Gypsies was a classic scene. he was hillarious and the production was great. we still have the songs stuck in our heads today.it was good to be enriched with culture, especially spanish culture and it was a great end to a great night.

most important of all was the appreciation and happiness that oozed from erika all night long. i always love seeing her face light up, as she gets treated special or is pampered in any way. its soo worth the time and effort to really show how much you love someone, and then feel the love ten times more right back.

dropping the ball

so this past weekend was a sad one folks. nothing tragic happened, nothing exciting. just sad. it was sad because i totally let erika down and that is probably the worst feeling that i can have. the thing that sucks is that i was trying to plan all week long a fun date to take her on.it being around halloween there are lots of haunted houses and such to check out. erika loves scary things and its the perfect time for it.i had been making calls all week to get other friends to come along, but it all came down to saturday afternoon and no one could go. sadly, we just went to dinner then went home to watch a movie on tv. i write this because i feel like i owe her an apology, becuase even though our friends couldn't go out, i should have taken her out all by ourselves. besides thats what its all about anyway right?making her feel loved and special. those of you who are married know how much it hurts when you know you have let someone down, even though they claim to not care. for all the guys out there, we should consider ourselves lucky that our wives still keep us around after dropping the ball soo much. at least i feel lucky.

i feel lucky to be in the game still, and have a wife who does so much for me. its the little things ya know? as i sit hear i realize that there are so many little things that she does for me everyday. lots of times i drop the ball and don't recognize them or just fail to acknowledge them.little things like get my favorite ice cream at the store, or taking out buster early in the morning. or paying all the bills on time.i really am lucky to have such a keeper of a wife and that she keeps me around.i am sorry that i dropped the ball snig. i love you.thanks for all you do.

OH SNAP!!

so saturday was an eventful day for mr loke stroke. i decided to help a brother out-a mr T. Brown- with his car. the car has had issues since he has been up here, so i gave him a tow to the dealership. it was the first time i had ever given anyone a tow, and i must say that the Taco performed beautifully.
everything was going well. there was a little scare going down ty's hill, when his breaks barely worked-luckily he didn't rear end me. but it was a fine trip from north springville to the chevy dealer on university ave. Luckily for us, it was a BYU gameday-or maybe not so lucky-depending on if your a football fan- but the traffic was thick, so lots of stop and go. all this stop and go caused a few jerks when the tow roped tightened up. As we were turning into the turn lane to go into the dealership, suddenly i noticed that my load seemed a little lighter. I looked in my rear-view, and saw ty sitting there laughing his head off.

fortunately for us, we only had to push the blazer about 50 ft into the chevy repair shop. because the rope had gotten tugged at a few times, the knot was pretty much impossible to get off. I had to cut the rope off by using a razor blade for about 20 min of incessant slicing. but i got it off and me and ty still chuckle at the thought of our little adventure.



nothin but love t brown. nothin but.

mr loke stroke at the strokes...

boys night out and what did we do? rocked the casbah like it was our job. the night started out a little, shakey...On board with us was Jacob "sign me up..." Melzer, Corporate Marlo, Tyson aka "capitan" Brown and myself. So as we are headin north up to the great SLC Marlo pulls out his ticket and asks us where we got ours. thats when it hit me. MY TICKET!! not in my pocket, my wallet or in my hand, but taped nicely to my pottery barn message center in my house. shoot. but alas, i was not alone, my friends. ty brown also left his golden ticket in his casita. so a 40 min detour later and we we on the road again, pointed in the right direction, tickets close to our hearts. luckily Melzer has premium traffic driving skillz, and we made it up in time.

we met up with the rest of our crew- half the members of the infamous Otters: Joel "i used to date a grandma" Baer and Nate Barnes. Along with them came "philipino Jeremy." the final member of the crew showed up about 15 minutes later...none other than the ring leader himself Zachy James. I am goin to be real honest with you folks...i wasn't exactly thrilled to see mr. james. Zach is one of those kids who makes life interesting- sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way. its a love/ hate relationship with the kid. just like zach himself, its all or nothing. But, Zach proved to swing things for the better this time around and got us all pumped and crazy during the show.

oh the show...one word: Glorious. the music and the crowd anyway. the band- i have never seen anyone as wasted as lead singer Julian Casablancas before. he was trippin on something, but luckily was coherent enough to perform amazingly. the crowd was fun. theres nothing like goin to a show 10 deep with bros. its been a while since i was completely saturated with sweat-most of which was not my own- from head to toe. its kind of amazing sometimes when you are at a concert and a complete stranger all of the sudden becomes your best friend-just for liking the same music and gettin into it. thats how it went down, our crew joined forces with the neighboring groups with camaraderie for the Strokes. its also amazing how fun it is to go nuts, with some of your closest friends.

the best song of the night for me was "Reptilia," or maybe their opening diddy "You only live Once." another highlight of the night was tossing Zach up into the crowd to crowd surf. what a nut. the only bad thing about the show, was that their set wasn't very long.they should have played a couple more, but hey thats rock stars for ya.

other highlights of the night:
going to Chevron for gatorade. as melzer went to pay, the cashier took his debit card and put it down her bra. sick as all get out, but made us laugh none the less.
Del Taco- marlo talking about a movie character "Chinegro"- those of who know, laugh now

Tyson took some sic pics throughout the night so be on the look out for the next update.

a small recap

this here is my new addiction and release. me and erika tivo scrubs evrynight. its freakin hillarious. But on to more important things. like what was done before, i shall impress you with a hit list of exciting crap that has gone down on the past two weeks.

bustin' my chops...
we have had buster for two weeks now. time flies when you are having fun. our "lil baby bus" as e-train likes to call him is growing like a weed and is one smart cookie. in two weeks we have taught him how to go up and down stairs and he is getting way better at not leaving his special trademark in the house. after two weeks, i would asy thats pretty darn good. i also taught him how to fetch. yeah, he got skillz.

da birfday girl-


Etrain turned the big double duece on the 19th. i can speak for her when i say that she got pretty hooked up on her special day. mom and pop etrain were in town for the weekend and they treated us right.thats fo sho!! erika spent the day with her mom, doing "girl stuff" was pampered by yours truly--a special breakfast on the big red plate, some amazing gifts, a foot massage...we had a party in her honor too. it was good to see such good friends all in one place. we seriously have the best friends in the world. highlight of the party was watching erika light up like a four year old when she asked people to sing "happy birthday" while she blew out her candles. man she's cute! a special shot out to all you who hooked her up- you know who you are. she seriously was stoked off everyone's interest and love.

NYC...
some exciting news is that we are goin to the big apple in december! we found a sweet deal and gave that to each other for our x-mas present. we will be goin to NYC with yeen and jose-aka ryan and joselyn- erika is extatic. she has never been before, and has been dying to go. we can't wait.


ok,ok. so i lied. my life is not as exciting as anticipated. but i love it. the past two weeks have been busy with work, school and taking care of our child. i am not one of those crazy dog persons who thinks their dog is all there is in life, so don't get any crazy ideas about me calling buster our child. BUT, it is a big responsibility to have a pup, he keeps us on our toes and i am glad he is ours.

here is some more scrubs for you to nibble on...

the man, the myth, the legend...

sometimes pictures speak louder than words...

mr. & mrs. N1X0N

so this weekend was pretty fun. we hung out with ty and jenny brown saturday night and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. the browns have been away in AZ for the summer and now have graced the p-town bubble with their presence. we went to our new favorite joint- the happy sumo and exposed them to some quality japanese food. the service sucked, and our waitress was a complete moron, but she did give us free drinks and appetizers because she struggles at life. so that was cool. it was definitely good to hang out with ty and jen again- they are kinda like cartoon characters... especially ty. seriously hillarious. we were able to finally give them their wedding gift. its always fun to see how people react to presents. its more exciting to give than to recieve in my opinion.we had an awesome time, and spent like 40 min on ty's mac photobooth- here are some of the highlights:

puppy news: our lil pup comes on tues at 12:00. we are both goin nuts with anticipation. the name is still up in the air. we are waiting to see him, and hopefully it will just come to us. we went to petco. on thursday and got all this puppy stuff in preparation for our lil guy.

mr. metro is still in full effect. i got another facial on saturday- this time a chemical peel and an oatmeal mask. in true spirit of mr loke stroke, i snacked on the oats as e-train put them on my face. not quite like quaker oatmeal- needed some brown sugar and honey!

provo madness- so today was the stake regional conference in the bubble. translation: pres. monson came and spoke at the marriot center. it was mayhem. took us 45 min to get to the marriot ctr., then by the time we got parking, the place was filled to capacity and they had to turn people away! only in provo, my friends.

we are glad to find out that clint and jess finally finished their maiden voyage and returned to san diego!

a new addition...

so i have been seriously slacking on my posts. so sorry to disappoint. the last couple of days have been busy so i will fill you in on what's been goin on... Leno style.

the top 10 reasons why my life is cool are:

10.- Yoga. i am harnessing my chi like you would not believe. a new unlimited monthly pass has got me hooked. yesterday i did head stands and binding!

9. ear candling- if you have not done it, and think your ears are clean, guess again. i almost wretched in my mouth after seeing how much wax was removed from my melon.i can actually whisper in erika's ear and she can hear me!

8. homemade Carne Asada- mr loke stroke strikes again in the cocina. fresh bajio tortillas, fresh guacamole, salsa fresca,refried beans, succulent steak...(wipe the drool now)


7. the last good-bye: sending clint and jess off on their maiden voyage to o'side. if you haven't seen the mayflower yet, you're in for a treat!the pics don't do it justice.diego's mop- lil diego kicked it with us again.he is much bigger and his mane is off the chain. did you guys break a bottle of bubbly on the bow of the boat before your trip?


6. first day of school- what? wait a minute. school makes tone's life sweet? must be a typo. it is. provo is back to full capacity- full of clueless freshman, provo all-stars/burn-outs trying to swoo the women-folk, and even more bad drivers. so the twist is, only one more semester here! that is why my life is sweet.

5. mr. metro- clint and jess described me as the "ultimate metro" because i get facials, wax my nose hair and eyebrows, get back treatments. thats what happens when your wife is an esthetician and you have hairy mexican/spanish genes. a smooth tone means a happy e-train. besides, have you had a facial from erika? you are missin out my friend- magical hands, magical. Also the recent discovery of Yoga and my vegetarian meals are tip offs. don't worry friends, mr loke stroke could never call it quits to meat.

4. pork barbacoa salad-oh yes, the rio my friends. on monday night we celebrated our labor day with "manuel labor" and our latino friends at cafe rio. nothing like it, nothing. thats the one redeeming factor of the p-town bubble.


3. melzer- seeing jake in his "first-day corporate attire" to impress his professors and colleagues. let me spell it out for you; a white button shirt-good. solid red christmas tie- decent. black nautica "sweater vest"- looked like something jamie foxx should wear. more of a shirt than a vest really. now for the "melzer flare"- bright red dickies shorts. i could literally see him across campus. i think he caused a few wrecks on east campus drive with those ones. haviana sandals- viva brasil! his mop of Jewish locks on his skull. some sweet versace glasses.(they really are pretty dope)and to finish off the look, a dirty goatee. you da man melzer!

2. arrested development season 3- if you haven't seen the show, well then that sucks for you. season one and two have blessed my life with laughter for years to come. buster, gob, george-michael and maybe...tobias. i have only seen 3 episodes of season 3 and already am addicted. who knew little opie griffith would grow up to make soo many people laugh.














ladies and gentlemen, drumroll please......the title of the blog, the newest addition to the mendioroz crew, the tiny ball of fur that makes Erika melt like ice cream on the 4th of July

1...the one, the only- PUPPY!!a 1.1 lbs. short-legged jack russell terrier. we still haven't picked out a name yet so how 'bout we take a vote. here is what is on the ballot: jack, buster, rico, dino, bean, kepa, peanut.

breathe, bend, be

so its been a few days since my last entry, but man some interesting things sure have happened! Thursday night i got my pamper on- Erika took me into to her school where she gave me the most incredible facial i have ever had. yes, folks mr. loke stroke is now a facial and wax junkie, getting the hook up from the mrs. The hour and a half long european facial is something that everyone needs to indulge on. a lil trimmage of the eyebrows was also on the menu- something Dad could use, according to mom. the facial totally knocked me out, and i went home and fell asleep at 10:00. it was off the hizee fo shizee...as far as the menu for thursday- Bajio Grill. I got a break from the kitchen.

Friday- was a cool day, because i was able to reflect on some very important counsel from Ty and Jenny's wedding. I took notes from their sealing and reread them. Ty, if you read this, your sealing was amazing! After that, i was able to hit up the bidnay course with Francis and Melzer. Not our best game i'd say- i will leave out the scores so as to not embarrass anyone. except that jake beat chris the day before with a bumb knee...thats embarrassing enough. We attempted to kick off that round as our tour starter, but it was my first game back in a month or so...the tour is pending at the moment. We determined that empty bellies was the reason of our off game and hit up del taco to refuel.

Oh yeah, for dinner i made hawaiin haystacks. E-train was skeptic at first, but ended up loving it. I impressed myeself cuz they tasted just like mom's!

Later that day, Erika and I hit up a round of minigolf with Chris and Sarah- all cheated our brains out...Erika is definitely entertaining to watch in any competiive environment. those of you who know her-laugh now. The golf was brutal for everyone, but at least we all got a hole in one at some point of the night! After hitting up the links, we did what every other person in provo does- Got ice cream. did you know that provo is the #1 seller of ice cream in america? quick sociology tid-bit for ya. that and diapers...mormons- who knew? A great time had by all.

Saturday-- my favorite day of the week so far! we started off the day gettin the mind, body and soul flowing through Yoga. Thats right, yoga! i fell in love with it. It really was an eye opener for me, of how strong you have to be and can get through yoga. Erika is gnarly and pretty much dominated. she has been goin to it for a couple months now and can do all sorts of crazy poses- from head stands to binding/balancing- she's ripped! chris and sarah also attended with us, so i wouldn't be the only amateur on the mats. i look forward to goin more and getting better. its relaxing, but a really good work out at the same time!


saturday night we spent with Erika's old roommate and her recently returned missionary. we went out to the Happy Sumo and ate some amazing japanese food. it was really good. Chong's chicken is definitely a good plate, for those of you who know the place. sooo scrumptious! It was entertaining to watch Preston the new rm interact with people. i could relate to his awkwardness and "deer caught in headlights syndrome." All in all, he is a cool kid, and i think he enjoyed himself.

this blog is already creepin and way too long, so i will end the suffering. I will keep you posted on my yoga progression.

so its now 4 days into my week of improvement, and i must admit i like the new me. i have to confess i did not do anything physical yesterday(wed), but everyone needs a break right? speaking of breaks, my super wife needs to take a break from her running for a lil while because a festering heel problem hasn't gotten to be unbearable. it has now started to swell, and really affects her in everything she does. curse those 26.2 miles in Moab of self abuse and torture!! A marathon is a cool thing to say that you accomplished, but man it sure beats the crap out of ya. No worries though, yoga is there to keep her busy. speaking of which, thats my activity for saturday. can you picture mr loke stroke, on a yoga mat all twisted up like a pretzel? I am in for humiliation for sure, but at least i won't be alone. Erika scored some free passes for me, Chris and Sarah to go. i can't wait to see Francis get his zen on!

so last night i surprised myself again with my amazing cooking skills. I went old school and busted out a traditional spanish tortilla. man, it took me back to my preachin days in the mother land. this was the best tortilla i ever made though, because i actually had the time to make it good. the trick to a good tortilla is low heat. the lowest possible...so at that rate you could cook one for nearly an hour! needless to say, i didn't have time to kill as a missionary. so half of the tortilla was filled with roasted red pepper, and the other galf bacon(potato and onion throughout the entire thing of course). Erika approved as i showed her how to eat it like a true spaniard- we had to have fresh baked bread. along side the tortilla i made a fruit salad-strawberries, peaches and bananas. E-train is lovin the not having to cook bit. i am enjoying my cooking experience as well.

So yesterday i met up with Chris and David at a favorite spot of ours in Orem. Maria Bonitas is a little mex joint that me and Dave frequent for lunch when we have the time. We discussed important matters of life over beans, rice, tacos and enchiladas. One thing that was discussed was the Francis' plans for winter. turns out they are gunna load up the credits to be done in december, then move back to Ca to avoid a Utah winter. as sad as it is to not have them here, its a good move and one that they will hopefully be happy with. selfishly i want them to stay, but i know that if i was in there situation, i would choose san diego over provo any day.

another important matter discussed was a bidnay tour. a trip out to g-rides with the bidnays on hand is somthing to look forward to. no official plans or dates yet, but when it all falls down, it will be posted.

team discovery

so as you know, i have taken on the challenge of getting back into shape...monday started off with a quick run, but tuesday involved something a little more tolerable. like usual, erika started her day with a run. the nice guy that i am, and keeping to my promise i joined her. this time though i wised up and decided to ride my bike along side her. ahh yeah...eat your heart out mr. armstrong!Unfortunately, my bike tire was running a lil low on air, and i had to ride Erika's bike...which incase you haven't seen her bike, let me paint you a picture: a women's beach cruiser (sized for someone about 5'5), spearmint green with white detail, and a white basket on the handle bars. NICE!! so me and the e-train ran/rode down through south provo on 900 e and state street...good times, good time. Oh yeah, the bike also has a bell on it, that i rang as we passed fellow joggers.

i felt pretty good though. awake and much happier than after my run. the rest of the day pretty boring...but i did get my haircut- prepped to grow out a dope shag.some people say i look like foo fighter's own dave grohl with a shag, what do you think? you be the judge until next time...

run forrest, run

today marks an interesting day in the life of mr loke stroke...why you ask? well, today is the day that i was officially brought to the pathetic realization of how weak sauce i really am. after discussing with Erika, we decided that we needed to do more things together. well, things that don't involve tivo and food. so we deicded to take an "easy" run togther. for those of you who don't know my amazingly fit wife, she tends to dominate in all areas of life. she just aced a final exam at school (1oo% kids), she is a star chef, and enjoys "extra curricular activities" as she likes to call it: running each morning, pilates, and yoga to name a few. so our run-- if you can call it that-- consisted of 2 miles, and erika dragging me along, yet always encouraging me with "youre doing great" etc..after our 30 minute stroll, we came back to the house, her just perked up and ready to take on the day. meanwhile i passed out on the couch, ready to go back to bed,

with all that said and done, I have decided to take my wifes advice and get back into shape. i have come to the harsh reality that i am no longer the anatomical specimen i once was in my summer days of surfing. so, i hold myself accountable for trying to get some life back into my veins, keep the heart rate up and be able to keep up with the lil mrs. E-Train. with all this said i done, i now have no excuse, and will be looking to you, to keep me in check. capiche?

in better news, i have decided to tackle the kitchen this week. unlike my struggles in the p.e. dept. i am an excellent chef. today on the menu was vegetarian paninis-packed with italian flava. tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, grilled zuccini, eggplant and red onion, fresh basil, and pesto sauce. bon apetit! until next time kids, wish me luck!

its all about the fam

so i am glad that some of you have checked out my little nugget and left me some feedback. i am glad i can inspire from afar for some of you as well. kudos to me i guess. but miq, my wise, oldest sister made a good point about representin the fam! where is the love you ask? don't worry folks, its in full effect whether you have equal representation or not...but for today its all about Los Mendioroz!! (and the Provosts and Erickson)



Carribbean Cruise August '05


Jonathan James
Miss Jules
Mini-me..Drewseff

Good times guys.good times.

who could forget the e-train?!!oh the fam...thanks for the inspiration, the suppport, the laughs, the cries and the love. each of you have contributed to my life more than you will ever know. i am forever in debt to you and what you have given me. i hope that i have been able to give back or some day will- as a son, a baby brother, an uncle, and a husband. os quiero
-t