Back to Blogging

For those playing along at home... or at least following me on Twitter, you know that it has been a busy year. I always post saying I will try to post more, and the next post... starts the same way. Well now with my term with SLB being done, my convention over, and new job getting into some rhythm... I hope I can start posting more. I have a list of things I need to blog about...

Summer Pictures of Novali
Our Rain Barrel Project
Update on the Yard Flowers
Let's not forget about the Z...

So lots of things are falling behind... so to catch up first, lets post some pictures for Cruz. Since we got our iPhones, and Cruz is hard to catch on camera anyways... we have been taking less pics. However on Facebook you can catch some fun vids once in a while, or just some old fashion pictures of Mr. Cruz.

Here is his June 2012 Album.

I hope you enjoy it, I actually worked on July a little already, so hopefully that album I can post sooner. Well off to enjoy what is left of the weekend... CIAO!

New Rocker

A couple weeks ago when walking in the neighborhood... we saw a cute little kids rocking chair on a curb. It had one missing slat and one cracked in half... it was sturdy and cute, and we took it home. Cruz right away enjoyed rocking away on it... even in its abused shape.

Novali of course wanted to fix it for her brother, and I of course love working on projects with Novali. Her task was to pick the color, and mine was to figure out how we would fix it. A trip to Hobby Lobby netted us some wood project strips (for a birdhouse) that were nearly the right size. We did the math in the store (cause we actually remembered to take measurements with us to the store for this project) and figured out a plan.

Sanding the curves.

The new seat of the rocker!

Prepping the chair for paint.

We pried the slats off, keeping track of parts and we made a game plan to put it back together. We then took our straight slats and cut two of them to curves for like the end pieces. A careful assembly process of cut, test fit, cut... and we had her back together!

Then a trip to Menards to cruise the paint isle for what Novali thought Cruz might want... mostly going off color names she decided on "Paprika" from Rustoleum. So we will have a little baby paprika chair...time to paint... Novali helped lay the layers of paint down, and after a few coats...

Spray painting

Before...

After!

After $6 in wood, $2 in paint and some free elbow grease.... WhaaLaa!


Once the paint dries fully, we get to watch Cruz take it for a test drive...

Tennis, Running and Powertools

Called my parents Saturday morning, since I was not sure I'd catch my dad on Sunday with Novali and Cruz together. He was out playing tennis.

So my mom said they would call back later. Well then I got busy mowing my lawn, while Novali and Cruz played on the patio and playscape.

We skyped later, dad had a good tennis game, I told him that Novali and I went for a run this morning. She did a great 1.2 mile run in 10:53.... good pace! She won a big award at school on Thursday for an essay she wrote. Cruz ran up the slide, gave his mom a heart attack again and for breakfast ate a whole slice of pizza.  New personal record.

I had a fun day with my kids, and a great talk with my dad.

Novali and I ran... I love to run, and would love to see her be competitive at something, running would be fun. Novali and I worked on building a rain barrel... hit some snags, solved some problems, did some math, used powertools... I love having a daughter who loves powertools and figuring out how long to cut the next piece of wood (she is 11 now, we will see how long it lasts). We made an addition on our backyard playscape, taught Novali how to use a level, and to remember to include the thickness of the wood when measuring to build something.

Cruz blew bubbles, started climbing the ladder all by himself (mom heart attack number two for the day). He helped water the plants like a good gardener, and showed off his strength by pushing Novali around on his Winnie the Pooh car... that boyo is a beast.

I don't remember being Cruz's age, but I think today I managed to cram in all the fun stuff I used to do with my dad but today with my kids. Building something, mowing the lawn, using powertools, blowing bubbles, going to the hardware store, going for a run, and cooking on the grill (Novali made the sweet potato fries)... ah days with my dad on the grill...

Happy Father's Day Pop... Looking forward to firing up the grill with you in Florida in a couple weeks and maybe I can get out on the tennis court with you... I am a little rusty, but I think you always took it easy on me on the court anyways, maybe one year I can play a real game with you, but just not this year... so keep taking it easy on me. Love You.

Oh and I posted May photos of Cruz... and I am working on pics of Novali and I working on the rain barrel... coming soon...

Mama's Boy

There is no doubt about it, that I am a Mama's boy... I was always close with my mom and we would be the only ones up early on the weekends making breakfast together. I always tried to learn how to cook Bolivian food from her.... I'm still not very good at it.

So today I will plant a few flowers and plants around the house, for my mom as that is what we did growing up. I have a few flowers out there Cruz and I already picked for Heather... I got more mama's now to take care of for Mother's Day.

Today to honor my mama, I get to brag about another mama, that does the job that would make my mama proud. Weird sentence huh? I think the best way to honor your parents, is to do what they taught you, to teach important life lessons, like the ones that were taught to you. Well I can't mother baby Cruz... but Heather does, and does a job that is all I could of asked for from my mama, and that makes me thankful and proud.

So for Heather... Cruz and I wanted to plan a nice little day, but Heather just wants to do nothing. Which is very hard for me, and even harder for Cruz, we like to stay busy. So our job was to do all the things that mama does, so mama doesn't have to and can do nothing...

We cleaned cars and the driveway.

"Cleaning the kitchen floor... I make a mess on it." ~ Cruz

"I know mom likes things vacuumed." ~ Cruz

Then we got mama some gifts...We know she likes flowers and jewelry. We did some shopping and picked out stuff for mama.

Picking out something for mama...

Novali and Cruz planted this rose last year for Mother's Day

Picking flowers for mama...

Flowers and kisses!

Mother's Day morning we got up early and got to work. Cruz hauled around the laundry baskets for a while, and we went for a walk so mama could take a long uninterrupted shower.

Papi... don't turn the lights on, lets do laundry for mama.

Made breakfast...

Omelet, Cruz ate most of Heather's bacon...

Then I finally gave her my Pandora

I hope she likes it...

It is a bug... Mama will have to get used to having a boyo... who likes bugs.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there! Hope you get what you want, even if its nothing.

Whirlwind Week

The past week was a little nuts... Apologies to anyone that I didn't reply to right away, or folks that I might of snapped at this week during my busyness. So what had me so stressed?

Saturday (4/21) - I had our SLB Board of Directors Meeting. These are always hectic trying to prep agenda, travel, read all the documents. It didn't help that I had travel issues with a canceled flight en route, and we had some big business items. That evening we had an Alumni Reception in DC and that was nice to unwind with some Brothers I have not seen in a while.

Sunday/Monday - North American Interfraternity Conference (www.nicindy.org) House of Delegates meeting. Not as stressful, but still hectic reading all the business items and keeping up. We had an awesome educational session with Miriam Carver the mother of Policy Governance, that was my highlight.

 Tuesday (4/24) - I had a program in Elkhart at my campus there. Plus SGA elections started on all three campuses and it was a long day...

Wednesday (4/25) - Honors Convocation, which I was pretty much in charge of for my campus. Juggling getting honors cords there, PTK Stoles, and that food and the room was set up correctly. then that evening I had an SLB Conference call with our national board candidates.

Thursday (4/26) - Off to Warsaw, for tabling and a little town hall meeting there... Whew... rolling rolling.

Friday (4/27) - Game night at Ivy Tech with Best Buy. Not a ton to do for that, but lots of prep for my two events the following evening... Friday evening was low key, game night wasn't huge, but I did get to kill Zombies with some students. That was fun.

Saturday - Up at 5:30AM to go to the Tire Rack for Street Survival (www.streetsurvival.org). Then once that finished, a short nap and then Novali and I went to Evening of Elegance for Ivy Tech. Hectic day, to end a hectic week...

Sunday - Relaxing finally with the family. Walk this morning, now Novali and I are gonna hit the store, and then grill while she finishes homework.

Busy week... oh yeah, and SLB is dealing with the most significant risk management issue in the past 10 years... good times. This week will be slower... I hope.

Presidential Reflections on an Unlucky Year

So here, in my 13th year of membership, I think I can try to explain why this unlucky year, will be my best yet. On April 17th, 1999 with a group of other young men, I became a member of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. It has been an interesting, fantastic and sometimes indescribable experience.

I swore that after my 10th year I would stop counting, and not turn into that Brother who celebrates Betaversaries like we are still 21 years old... last year I had the honor of speaking at Colorado State and Metro State for founders week. Today won't be a huge celebration, but I did get to reflecting about my time in Sigma Lambda Beta.

This year is a big Beta year for me... I will have the honor of convening my third convention, the most of any elected fraternity president. This year I end my time on my fraternity board, six years in total, five as president, and it was stressful, invigorating, frustrating and and and... I can't think of all the great ways to describe this experience. For example this weekend I will get a tour of the White House, set up by one of our alums. That type of stuff, unmeasurable and describable.

Many Brothers always say they love the fraternity more each year on their annual anniversary... I really can't say that. For sure I don't love the fraternity any less, I think I just love it different each year. It's changed, and its grown with me, matured as my needs have, and morphed into the experiences that meet my life. As a father, all us Beta dads posting pictures online of the kids, talking about the cost of daycare... as a professional sitting around with Brothers talking about the best place to get work dress shirts, or about the pants you loved so much you bought em in every color available. Yep... we're all growns up now and we're all growns up.

I am looking forward to less conference calls at night, more time with my family, maybe actually taking a vacation with my vacation time instead of Beta trips... I hope to still stay in contact with so many of the members I have met, and I hope that I don't become a bitter ex-president mad and saying, "Well when I was president...".

So what am I doing tonight? Interestingly doing what I do best, going to a program, what started it all... but tonight I am getting a special honor. The IUSB Student Government renamed the Student Leader of the Year award after me... What you say? That is what I said, yes I am way too young for such an honor. From now on the "Centellas Leadership Award" plaque will be hung up on my former campus. If it had not been for Sigma Lambda Beta I would of never been an involved campus leader, I would not of changed my career track, I would not of had all the great opportunities.

In my years in the fraternity I have gotten to do a lot of interesting things... the college road trips (as an undergrad I visited 21 campuses with chapters), as an alumnus traveling around the country (I have been to every region), rides from the airport, welcome parties, going away parties, most importantly graduation parties, weddings, birth announcements... all the great things about having great friends, ERRR... Having Great Brothers.

It hasn't always been gravy... the years dealing with difficult Brothers, or being challenged over the decisions I have made as a leader. Learning more about myself, learning that no matter what, change is the only constant.

So who knows when I will actually stop counting the years... but for now, another big thank you to my fraternity, my Brothers and my family and friends that have supported my time on my board.

PEACE. /\B.

Is Murray There?

One thing we loved in the South, that you can't capture on film is the accent. One day someone came by the house asking for Murray, and we told them there was no Murray here. So I went and told Mary, the homeowners mom that someone stopped by asking for a Murray... well it turns out that people around here say Mary, but it sounds to us, like Murray. Just one example of the many times we got confused down here...

We are driving today, but wanted to post out a photo roll of a few fun shots from our trip. We have a lot more photos we will share with the group later, but hope you enjoy these shots of our trip and time for Alternative Spring Break 2012 at Indiana University South Bend.









We will miss you ASP... until next time, GO TITANS

Drumroll Please

Well warm up the drumroll... get it in high gear... a little faster now... our project is finished!

They didn't think we would get our project done and that a weekend crew would have to finish our job because it was such a large project. We had solid teamwork, made sure everyone was included in the project, and had a great time along the way. We covered some of the details before but here is a recap of the project.

This home was damaged in a fire, and our family purchased it at a mega discount. They sunk all they had into the house, but it looked like it might not be enough and they could possibly have to walk away. So here comes team IU... IUSB tackling outside projects, and IUB tackling laying down floors. The IUSB job would be helping keep wind and water from under the house and house to keep it warm, the IUB crew would be getting the house ready for the family to move in. I don't have many pictures of the IUB portions except in areas that we helped out (like when we killed our saw blades and work outside stopped) in the afternoons.

Here is a chronological look at the home and our work...







We also want to highlight a little of our time with the IU Bloomington crew. They were all from the Kelly School of business and were a great work team to be paired with for the week. We bonded over lunch time, struggled on projects, and helped each other. We wish them well on their travel home, and the time spent working on flooring built great memories.



We hope this home is a great foundation for a new young family and that it creates opportunities for the children to have space to play, to study, to explore their world and create a solid future. It was our pleasure to help, to learn, and to leave with a feeling that we helped make a difference. So here is the before and after shot... we are really proud...


Tomorrow we hit the road nice and early for home... See you in South Bend!

Appalachian Time

Several people have asked about how our schedule is daily so today's post is all about our normal day.

Each day a team has a chore... some help with breakfast, or clean the grounds, organize tools or other random jobs needed around the camp. So each day we have a chore to do, those are sprinkled throughout the day. Our camp has around 100 people here, we have Univ Minnesota, St. Louis University, IUB, IUSB (Go Titans!) and then two youth groups here and a couple other random volunteers. The camp is run by 5 staff who live here full time and a couple other part time/seasonal staff, and two cooks... Kay and Serita take great care of us and our stomachs!

Here is our typical routine:

7:15 AM - Optional Devotion Time (this is a religious camp)
7:30 AM - Breakfast
8:00 AM - Lunch Prep (make sandwiches and pack lunch)
8:30 AM - Tool Shed (get more tools/supplies)
9:00 AM - Leave for the site (we have a 35 min drive)
12:15 PM - Lunch break
1:00 PM - Back to work
4:00 PM - Pack Up and head home
6:00 PM - Dinner Time
7:30 PM - Nightly Activity (Educational or Cultural)
11:00 PM - Lights Out in cabins (people can stay outside as long as they want)

So here are a few pics from us from throughout the day. One morning we caught a rainbow, our crazy drive through the mountains to our site, lunch breaks, of course a pic each time we finish a project, nighttime music or bonfires, etc.







It has been a great trip so far, hopefully tomorrow we will have some great before and after shots to show. I think even if we don't finish, the powerful conversations we have been having each night about poverty, politics and how to help make the world a better place will make a ripple effect on these issues...

Play Us Some Mountain Progress

Today we made progress... we worked hard, and then played hard as a BlueGrass band came to camp and we enjoyed some down home country music.

We made a lot of progress at the house today. We took three metal cutting disks, and did manage to mangle the last one, but not until after 3PM. So we got a full days worth of work on the underpinning. Then we helped the IUB crew inside the house with their flooring job. Progress inside the house was also really noticeable today, and everyone left in high spirits. Enjoy a few pics of our crew hard at work:

Each night we do something educational. Last night was the educational programming about the area, which as I wrote about added to our frustration of an already frustrating day at the work site. Tonight was once again the perfect blend to our day, local BlueGrass music. We got to dance, hear some traditional southern music played on a banjo a bass and just got us in a good southern mood.
We heard some mountain music, we made progress on our mountain home, and now we have two days to bring our mountain sized projects to the finish line. May the force be with us....