Oh the joys of Spring!

Ariel View of the new medium security expansion at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center. We are currently expanding from a 600 bed minimum security facility to a 2014 bed medium facility. In the end we will have a total of 2600 offenders give or take a few. We will be the largest medium security facility in the state!

Some friendly elephants at the Woodinville zoo.

Spring is a wonderful time of year for Eastern Washingtonians! Farming is getting underway after a long sleepy winter. Gardeners are abundant in their neighborhood taking care of their carefully manicured lawns. We start having the spectacular thunder storms were I can sit on my porch and watch the lightning dance across the sky. But the best thing about spring...The one thing that I enjoy the most...Is SPRING VACATION!

This year Kat family broke out of the norm and decided to spend spring vacation separately. Normally we all take a trip to the Oregon coast. Kat and I decided that we would take Kylee to the zoo. We headed out Thursday morning down the Columbia River Gorge for Troutdale. Last year Kathleen found a great sale on children's clothes at OshKosh Bagosh. This year the sale was still on and Kylee now has an extensive summer wardrobe! She is at the height of fashion this year!

We also decided to spend the weekend with Jeff and Steve. They have a great house in Redmond/Woodinville. We enjoyed spending Friday evening with their friend Tom and three lovely dogs which Kylee really enjoyed. She was fond of their cat until it scratched her. She tried to mend the tift between her and the cat, but I don't think the cat was having anything to do with Kylee. Tess loved Kylee! For the most part Kylee loved Tess! Until he became too friendly and licked her a lot. Kylee would follow the gentle advise from Uncle Jeff and would say "Tess...Tess". After some coaxing from Jeff Tess would comply.

Saturday was a beautiful day in Seattle. The problem was everybody in Seattle thought so to. There was a lot of traffic, and a lot of people. At that point I was ready to get home to our minimal traffic issues. We eventually made it to the Woodinville zoo. Kylee loved the animals! Especially the elephants and the orangutan. All in all it was a good weekend and were are truly grateful to uncle Jeff and Uncle Steve for being our taxi service and such gracious hosts!

frailing banjo and the joys of fiddling on a nice Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon

Have you ever had one of those windy Eastern Washington Saturday afternoons where you don't feel like doing anything? I have lost momentum in trying to get "things" done today. Kylee and Kat are both taking in their usual Saturday pass time of napping. Me on the other hand, I should be getting our music room/guest room cleaned up. What am I really doing besides typing this blog? Playing fiddle and practicing my frailing banjo! The Washington Old Time State fiddle contest is coming up. I am trying to put together two "rounds" in order to feel comfortable competing. In a fiddle contest a "round" is three song: a hoedown, a waltz, and a tune of choice. Each round can not take longer then four minutes to play. If you play over four minutes then points are deducted. It is a little stressful and I am debating weather I really want to play in the contest. I am seriously considering it though because I am now in the adult division. I decided that my fiddle was a little loud to be playing when the girls we sleeping so I packed it up for a while.
I then decided to practice the banjo. I have wanted to learn a style of banjo playing that dates back to the earliest stages of bluegrass, and old time music. It's considered more of a mountain style of playing. It's called "frailling", or clawhammer style. I think I am getting it down. It's a lot of fun to play. Mom keeps telling me that Grandpa Whitby was into bluegrass music. I knew he played harmonica (I think I still have one of his harmonicas laying around. I had better get the music room cleaned up and maybe I will find when I stored it.) She recently told me that he played banjo. As I sit here and write this blog I miss all of my grandparents. I especially miss my Grandpa's! For years my Grandpa Whitby lived next to us in a double wide trailer. When I was younger I often went over to see him. We shared a lot of laughs, and he was always interested I my boyhood adventures. I bet he is up there is heaven picking out a banjo song with me. He would have really enjoyed the old time fiddle group I'm in.
The few times that Grandpa Arlo came to see the fiddlers he truly enjoyed it. I know if he and Grandma we in better health they would have been up and dancing! Before Grandma passed she told me that he dad was played the fiddle. I tried to get her to let me know what song he played. There were two that she could think of, but a failing memory was not on her side. She could remember that he dad play a tune called Cherokee Maiden which is a Bob Wills and the Texas playboys song. It's kind of a western swing tune. She also told me that he played a tune called the Heel Toe Polka. The Heel Toe Polka is a fun little tune to play. I learned it a year ago and still enjoy playing that song. I am trying to figure out how I can get ahold of some old time fiddlers in Idaho to see if they remember my great grandpa. I want to find out it they know what songs he played. I want to carry on the fiddle tradition that is in our family by learning these songs and passing them along to my children and grand children.
Well the time for reminiscing is over. I have a half hour before I have to wake up the girls. I had better get some more frailling in. Until next time....

A good hard look at my health

Last year I was having what I thought were pretty serious health problems. This may sound a little disgusting, but after I would eat I would have to go to the bathroom. I would get serious cramping and would be in the bathroom for a good 15 to 20 minutes. Then the problem started getting worst. There were times when I would not eat anything and would still have digestion problems. I consulted my physician. We came to the conclusion that I had irritable Bowl Syndrome, or IBS. This caused problems in my life. I stopped riding in a vanpool that I would ride to work everyday because I did not want to have a problem, or have to tell them to pull over so I could run to a bush somewhere on the side of the road. Since the gas prices were, and are still rising this costs me a great deal of money. Traveling with people was an issue.



One of the triggers of IBS is stress. But the main issue is my diet. At the time I was 35 years old and I did not know how much I weighed. I entered a "Biggest Loser" contest at work. On the initial weigh-in I weighed in at a whopping 298 lbs. It was time to make a change. I was fortunate enough to have a good team comprised of three of my co-workers. Throughout the twelve weeks one of my teammates encouraged all of us to keep at it. I did not win the competition, but I lost 30 lbs. and was a slim trim 260.

Since then old habits crept back into my life and the exercise plan is now non-existent. I am back up to 292 lbs. and the clothes that fit at 260 rest in my closet. It's time to get back on the healthy lifestyle bandwagon! So from here on out I am going to use my blog as a motivational tool! I am going to make entries regarding my fight to get down to a svelte 230-220 lbs. All the statistics say that in order to be in the "normal" healthy range for my height, and age I should be 190-180 lbs. I am going to shoot for 220 and see how I feel when I get there. Besides what is normal any way. I am asking for you help though. You are going to be my accountability partners! Feel free to make comments positive or negative about my progress or lack there of!

Here is the plan:

1. I am going to start eating like I did when I was in the Biggest loser. A lot of salads, and healthy foods. I have cut out a lot of soda already because caffeine is a trigger for IBS. But I am also going to cut out any and all fast food!
2. I am the cook in the family so even thought I am tired and burned out after a long days work I am going to make sure I exercise for 30-minutes a night, and cook a healthy meal for dinner.
3. I am going to include my wife and daughter. Meaning that I am going to make them eat the same food that I do and engage in healthy activity with me in the evenings.
4. The big key that I found when I was doing the biggest loser is that it is a lifestyle change. So...I am not going to call this a diet. I refuse! I should be eating healthy anyway! My mother did not take us to fast food establishments everynight, or when it was convienient.

So...The saga is starting today...right now!

Above: Kat and Kylee at the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Distrcit 12 christmas party jam.

Middle: Daryl and I playing music at the Kinghts of Columbus Hall

<--One of my favorite pictures of Kylee playing he fiddle. She's a little over a year old at the time of this picture! Is this picture she looks a lot like Janeen!

More info

Ok...I am a beginer with this blogging thing! Forgive my grammer and spelling mistakes. Here are a couple of pictures

Keeping in touch

Greetings family and friends!

After a long hiatis from the internet world I have returned! My family for the most part communicates via email, instant messanging, and blogging. Is it the modern age or what! I will definately date myself when I say that I can remember a time when you had to actually use a rotary phone to keep in touch with your neighbors and family! When I was growing up we only had four channels. One was PBS. If the presidential debate was on your night was shot. Oh well...enough ranting for now.

I work in a prison in Eastern Washington State. Now most people don't grow up thinking that they would like to go to prison or even work in a prison. Personally, I love it! It started out as a " in between" job for me. Meaning that I went to work there to try and figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Eight years, three kids, and one divorce into it I now have a career! The perks are that it is a stable job. I know there are always going to be criminals, and there are always going to be people who just can live a normal life. I know that I am not going anywhere! I started out as a correctional officer. I then decided to give counseling a try. I like counseling. Especially when a guy who has made some bad choices in his life decides that he has had enough. He starts making changes to better himself, and suddenly he gets it! Right now I am working as a recruiter for our new expansion! We are expanding from a 600 bed minimum facility to a 2,200 bed medium facility! When it is all said an done we will be the biggest correctional facility in the state! Check out a few of the pictures!

Passions

My first passion is my wife and family! My wife is a truly my soul. If you've every met her you would swear that she could change your life. She has that effect on people. She has a thread bear gypsy soul. I have four children...Elsie, Gavin, Darby, and Kylee. The three oldest live in Georgia with my first wife who has found herself in the Muslim religion. I write the as much as I can, but have not been able to see them for the past five years. I know it's sad. IT bums me out too. but they are my passion. I think about them everyday.

My youngest, Kylee, truly has her mothers heart! She is two and has become rather independant over the last couple of months. She loves her fiddle, and perfoming at the KC hall. Everytime I look at her I am reminded of the person that I need to be. I have the wonderful oppurtunity to watch her and her cousin (how is also two!) on Fridays. They keep me running! We are in the middle of potty training. One day I was cleaning the kitchen and heard the sound of my daughters little feet pounding acrossed the kitchen floor. I watched as her and her cousin we on their way to the next event that has captured their little minds for the moment. They took a turn into the bathroom. I didn't hear any water running so I figured I had better go check things out. When I got tot he bathroom. Kylee was on the potty. Her cousin Ashlee had the biggest wad of toilet paper I had ever seen. When I asked what they were doing Kylee looked at me and said "Potty Daddy!" Potty Daddy has become a Friday theme. It reminds me to stop and take time for the little things in my life. When I am having a stressful day at the office my mind repeats "potty daddy". I am able to stop and refocus.

One of my other passions is old time fiddling! My introduction to old time fiddle was from a dear old neighbor back in Royal Camp. I can remember several occasions where John and Ellen Kuske would entertain our ward with their fiddle tunes. Sad to report I did not get into old time fiddling until I was in my thirties. I had taught myself how to play guitar, and considered myself an amature. Now I have learned to play back-up guitar for fiddlers and occasionally sing. That's right baby! Who knew Joe could sing! I also taught myself how to play the mandolin, and the fiddle. I still consider myself an amature, and give my wife (who is also a fiddler) all the credit. She is the talent in the family! I'm just the background player. Growing up I can remember always wanting a guitar, I remember asking my dad if I could have one. Being the wise man that he is he never bought me one. At the time I probably would have never learned how to play it and like many boyhood things it would be sitting in the actic collecting dust. But, one of my prized possessions in the world is a six string banjo that my parents bought me for my birthday! I am learning how to play it and hope to have a good banjo tune ready for our family reunion at Ensign this year. I am currently in the process of starting a small fiddle contest this year. It has turned out to be a lot of work. But I think that it is going to be fun and rewarding. I could go on and on...But the story of my life has yet to be written. Stay tuned...

Love, Joe