My Movie and Stage Production Lists for 2015

In case you missed it on The Clubhouse Podcast, here are all of the films I saw this year and their rankings.  On the show, I only covered my top and bottom ten:

1     1 He Named Me Malala
2 The Hateful Eight
3  Star Wars: The Force Awakens
4 Paddington
5 Kingsman: The Secret Service
6 Batkid Begins
7 Inside Out
8 Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made
9 Bridge of Spies
10 The Peanuts Movie
11 Spectre
12 Avengers: Age of Ultron
13 Ex Machina
14 Spy
15 Ant-Man
16 Minions
17 Spotlight
18 A Walk in the Woods
19 Southpaw
20 The Martian
21 The Night Before
22 My All-American
23 The Woman in Gold
24 The Walk
25 Victor Frankenstein
26 Joy
27 Miss You Already
28 Little Boy
29 Paper Towns
30 Tomorrowland
31 Sleeping With Other People
32 Hotel Transylvania 2
33 Home
34 Beyond the Brick: A Lego Brickumentary
35 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
36 Goosebumps
37 Suffragette
38 Macbeth
39 The Transporter: Refueled
40 Dope
41 Predestination
42 Pixels
43 Aloha
44 Learning to Drive
45 Spare Parts
46 Monkey Kingdom
47 The End of the Tour
48 Seventh Son
49 The Last Witch Hunter
50 Ricki & The Flash
51 Lone Star Holy War
52 Hitman: Agent 47
53 Adult Beginners
54 Kidnapping Mr. Heineken
55 99 Homes
56 The Overnight
57 Bravetown
58 The D Train
59 No Escape
60 A Most Violent Year
61 Good Kill
62 Fantastic Four
63 The Gunman
64 Strange Magic
65 Poltergeist
66 Blackhat
67 The Boy Next Door
68 Mistress America
69 Clouds of Sils Maria

 And as a special bonus, here is my list ranking the stage performances I saw this year as well:

   1.       Motown

   2.       The Sound of Music

   3.       Peter Pan 360

   4.       Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage

   5.       Jersey Boys

   6.       A Christmas Carol

   7.       Moonshine: The Hee Haw Musical

   8.       Kinky Boots

   9.       Cavalia: Odysseo

   10.   The King & I

   11.   Newsies

   12.   Pippin

   13.   The Illusionists

   14.   Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

   15.   Clarkston

   16.   Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy

   17.   Bull

   18.   Annie

   19.   Matilda

Rob

Farewell To A Friend I Have Never Met

In the fall of 1991, I was a freshman in college at the University of South Florida.  I was starting to truly embrace my love of radio and broadcasting, and I was about to change my major to reflect it.  I loved the power that a microphone, mixing board, and music source had: they could change the mood in a room, help heal wounds, give hope to life as we know it, and even make us feel a little better about ourselves and each other.

One day, someone that lived in my dorm told me that they had a cassette (OK, kids: there used to be these things... nevermind... ask your parents) that I HAD to hear.  Coupling my love of radio with my obsession with stand-up comedy, I put the tape in my player, and over the next sixty minutes, my life would change forever.

It was called "With a Little Help from Our Friends," and it was done by something called "The Bob & Tom Show".  They were a morning radio show broadcast from Indianapolis, and I could not get enough of that tape.  I wore it out, got a second one from my friend, and lost it a couple of years later when I lent it to another friend.  The bits on that tape stayed with me over the years, from "18 Wheels on a Big Rig" by Heywood Banks (yes, Dallasites... that bit Kidd Kraddick used to play was the EXACT track from "The Bob & Tom Show"... you can hear Heywood actually say "OK, Mr. Smart Bob" on it) to the Love Brothers to "The Chicken Song," I could not stop laughing even after the billionth time listening.

After I lost that tape, I would go into a B&T void for many years until 1999.  I was in the music store in my local mall, and as was my custom, I would head straight for the comedy section to seek out the next big thing that no one was listening to.  Rummaging through the CD's, I found "Greatest Hits, Vol. 1" and it was like I had found something Indiana Jones would drop everything he was doing to go after.

From that day forward, I would hit every music store that I could find to forage through and find any B&T CD's that I could get my grubby little mitts on.  Over the years, I have amassed quite a bit, and even though I have a ways to go, I am proud of the collection that I have.  I have even gotten to go to Indiana a couple of times and gotten to listen to them live on the radio, which was a true treat for me, along with the television show they had on WGN America for a time, as well as a VIP Membership with their website so I can get the show each and every weekday in my iPod to listen in.

About a month ago, I woke up to read the news that at their Radio Hall of Fame induction, one half of the duo, Bob Kevoian, announced that he would be retiring at the end of 2015.  As heartbroken as I was to read the announcement, my heart was also warmed to know that he will be able to continue on with his wife travelling across the country in their Airstream and will be able to enjoy their twilight years together.  I have no doubt that the show will go on just like it has with the time Bob has taken off over the last few years (hindsight being what it its, they have been setting this up, but I guess I had blinders on), but today is a bitter sweet day for me to know that he has just finished up his last show with Tom, Kristi, and Chick and I patiently await for today's show (which is also their last show before their end-of-year break) to download.  (Also being the day that I get to see "The Force Awakens" just furthers the emotional roller-coaster of this day.  So, there is THAT.)

There are people in this world that we feel like are a part of our being.  They touch our lives in ways we never thought imaginable.  They are like family to us.  In this case, it is someone that I have never been in the same room with, never had a conversation with, and may never do so.  Bob: thank you for being part of an entity that has brought me more joy that I could have ever imagined for over half my life.  You have given all of us a debt that we will never be able to repay, and we are all totally OK with that.  Enjoy retirement, but don't be afraid to call in and say hey to the gang every once in a while.  It will be good to hear your voice and maybe even see some pictures of your exploits.

And one more thing: if you drop something on the floor, be careful getting back up if you are under a desk.  All the best to you and your family, sir.

Why Do Old People Discount Young Love?

I have often said that one of the great things about music is that listening to a song can bring you back to a specific place and time in your life to the point that you can even hear certain sounds and even remember specific scents of that time.  I had one of those moments this morning with a song I won't name... OK, it was "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" by Michael Bolton... and it made me think of something.

When I wore a younger man's clothes (Billy Joel reference... nailed it), my luck with the ladies was not something you could consider stellar.  I seemed to be the King of the Friend Zone even before the Friend Zone had a name.  I even had a group of friends in that same boat and we called ourselves The Stepping Stones because we tended to be the nice guys girls dated in between the jerks.  It seemed to be our lot in life.  (Don't think this is a pity party here; we are all married and some of us have provided a new generation to our shenanigans.)  When we were fortunate to be able to call someone our girlfriend (much less have them refer to us as their boyfriend), life seemed a bit brighter.  The sun was warmer, food tasted better, air was cleaner to breathe, and we would waste more notebook paper on notes than we would on the classwork we were supposed to be paying attention to.

And then, there was the summertime.  There were quite a few times where I would go on vacations or to summer camp and somehow meet up with a young lady that would make my heart go pitter-patter.  I seriously was trying to figure out how to move to certain sections of the country so that I could meet girls based on where they were from.  It was like I had a War Room in my mind with maps of the United States everywhere, color coded based on my luck meeting girls from the different states.  Sad?  Maybe a little.  But I DO have an overactive imagination that I am not afraid to admit to.

But what happens when that budding love affair in those adolescent years ends?  Oh dear.  Hide the sharp objects and bring on the emotional rollercoaster that can only be equated to the effect they used on "Star Trek" whenever the Enterprise was fired upon: back and forth and back and forth and a lot of shaking.  We didn't want to talk and we felt that we were the only person in the world that understood what we were going through.  All the while, there were the adults in our lives telling us that we would see how silly we were when we got older.

Now that we ARE those adults, we do tend to use phrases like "Kiddo, you have not BEGUN to understand this," or "Everyone has to go through this at least once to grow," or even "Suck it up, buttercup: it's all downhill from here."  I get the fact that we have been there, done that, and have the scars to prove it, but why do we tend to discount these things to the generations that follow us?  It is true that we get frustrated that our kids don't want to listen to the advice of "the old people," but we all did the same thing.  Add to that the fact that each generations problems seem to get more complex (two words: THE INTERNET), and some of these kids don't know whether they are coming or going sometimes.  Heck, the same could be said of some of the adults that I know.

But here is where the complication comes in for me.  As I was listening to the Michael Bolton pseudo-power ballad lamenting for lost love and how it affected the songwriter's very existence, it made me realize something that young love lost has to deal with that we really don't.  Outside of the "summer love" that can truly be a struggle for young people in our age before computers made the entire planet accessible from our living rooms, most of their romantic relationships happen in school.  And what happens when they break up?  THEY STILL HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL.  They still have to see their former flame's friends, and they even have to see the next person they decide to bestow their affections on, and that has to be TORTURE.  As adults, it is a lot easier to bury our heads in the sand and avoid the other person.  (Unless you are dating within your office, and we all know the old saying about doing things where you eat.  That is just a tough deal.)  And outside of convincing your parents to put you in private school or one of the two of you moving to a different continent (because that is how we felt at that age... crossing international borders was the only solution), you were in that bubble five days a week for half of the year.  And heaven forbid if you had any classes together.  The mere proximity that you could not avoid was brutality, and it was somehow worse if it was not them in the class but one of their inner circle.  You KNEW that they knew stuff you didn't and that was enough to drive even a sane person to the brink of darkness.

Combine that with the hormone levels that can only be measured by the Hubble Telescope and you have a recipe for disaster.  Sure, the generation that dealt with that before us truly wants to help us through these times, but it was one of those things that we just had to fight through to get to the other side of. And all that us old people can do is wait for them to come to us.  And then we just tell them that this too will pass and to wake up and start another day tomorrow.  Because we were there and we understand on a certain level.

So, when the former Master of the Hair Cape sings about living without someone, remember how WE heard that song and it affected our world.  It's still going on with the younger people, and we need to respect that because all they have been living for may truly be gone in that moment.

Inside Prison Walls And Why I Can't Wait To Go Back

It is the night before a performance, and I can't go to bed just yet.  I know that I have to be up at 4:00 in the morning to get on the road to meet up with my guitarist down in Gatesville, Texas to do at least one (if not two) services in the morning.  Ken Belcher and I have been collectively known as Grace Descending for almost four years now, and I still get restless the night before we perform.

Many people have been clamoring to see us do what we do, and some have been able to see us at things like the Biker Bash in Granbury, Texas (which we will be at this year on September 5th in the late morning), or as part of the Battle of the Bands earlier this year in downtown Dallas.  Friends have been kind enough to check out our limited list of songs on Soundcloud and Reverb Nation, and some have even asked us to come and play for their churches, and we could not be more thankful for the friends we have made over the years that have also become some of our biggest supporters.  But the largest crowds that we have been able to play in front of are some of the most amazing and participatory crowds you will ever see.

They are in prison.

Now, when I say "they are in prison," I don't mean metaphorically (although some of them do qualify under this category).  I mean it literally.  Most of you know this, but for those of you that don't, Ken and I have been a part of a network of ministries that take the time to bring the Gospel to the men and women of various prisons of all levels around the state of Texas.  The first time I was able to do this was about four years ago when we were part of a Praise and Worship team at our church.  I have always been a "Lord, I will go where you send me" kind of guy, but when I agreed to do this for the first time, even I had to look up and say, "Did I hear you right?  THIS is where you want me to go?  Are you SURE?"  But knowing that I was going in surrounded by people that truly would not leave me on my own was enough to say I would try it at least once.

What I was not prepared for was how heavy the Holy Spirit would be in that place that evening.  These offenders truly had a heart for God that even made me ask myself some hard questions.  Their willingness to participate truly blew me away and it even made my faith a little bit stronger.  What I thought would be going into the darkness and hoping that a single person would hear what we had to say turned into a room with arms raised and voices singing that almost brought me to tears.

Since that day, we have just about seen it all in these services, but the biggest thing that we have seen is people changing their lives and focusing them on God.  I have heard my share of detractors that have a very jaded view of what may or may not go on while we are in there, but people will only believe what they want to believe.  I want to believe that we are truly doing our best to help people see the love of Jesus through us and want to be a part of the body of Christ.  Recently, we were even able to take our full band in with us thanks to the great Tammy Schaefer Ministries, who have stood by us through thick and thin with more love and support than any group of people should be allowed.  That service was one of the best services I have ever been a part of in any capacity.

And tomorrow, we get to do it again.  I have spent over 42 years on this planet, and my God has shown me so many things that I cannot understand what makes me worthy of the blessings that He gives me.  I am truly one of the luckiest souls on the planet on SO many levels: to be able to call Grace Descending a ministry that I am part of, to have people like Al & Tammy Schaefer and their entire ministry team past, present, and future in my life that support and give the chance to do what we do, to have people like Ken and Heather Belcher in my life as friends (someday, I will chronicle the Grace D story... it is an AMAZING one, kids) who I can honestly say are the yin to my yang, and I theirs, and to have so many great people that I have had the privilege to call "friend" and/or "family" that have lifted us up even when we didn't want to be.

Sure, the road can be long.  The temperatures can be less than desirable.  The hours can start early and end late.  But I would do it every day for the rest of my life if I could.  Hindsight being what it is, this thing called "music ministry" is something that has been in my blood my whole life.  Sometimes, I wish I could have figured it out much earlier, but there was no way that I would be ready for it.  Whether we want to believe it or not, God's time is on time, every time.  We can question why, we can shout to the heavens "WHY ME, LORD?  WHY NOT SOMEONE ELSE?"  But what we realize in the end, the answer is simple.

"Because it is part of My plan for you."

We don't always understand that plan; we are not meant to.  Sometimes, a leap of faith is just that.  It took me walking through that metal door for the first time to understand that plan, and that plan has taken me to places that I never thought possible and those places have made my understanding of the plan stronger and stronger.  I will tell you what I know is this: I can't wait to go through that metal door again and again and again.  I can't wait to bring The Word to the crowd in front of us.  I can't wait to see Kenny, Heather, Al, Tammy, and the rest of the crew.  And I hope someday, that we get to see all of you worshiping with us on the OUTSIDE of those gates.

I love you all more than you may ever know.

Rob

How Ring of Honor May Be Shooting Itself In Its Foot

With all of the turmoil surrounding TNA in recent months (talent not being paid in a timely manner, filming post-PPV episodes before the event, a lack of house shows), nothing has grabbed more headlines than the possible cancellation of “Impact Wrestling” from Destination America.  The rumors began in mid-May when there were allegations of an e-mail sent from TNA President Dixie Carter that spoke of the network in a very low light that was also sent to a Destination America executive.  As a result, a memo was allegedly leaked that spoke of the network dropping the show after the third quarter of 2015, even going so far as to say that it would delight their “DNA” sponsors (standing for “Do Not Advertise,” meaning they have certain sponsors that do not want their commercials to run during TNA programming).  Destination America would also cancel their Saturday morning recap show (hosted by Mike Tenay), where they would also reveal the Top 5 contenders for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship as well as a deeper look into the matches and storylines featured on “Impact Wrestling”.

Some saw the move of the show from Friday night back to Wednesday as a sign of some faith from the network because Friday night has always been seen as a “death slot” for programming.  Most people do not watch television on weekend nights, so many shows are sent to those slots to fade into obscurity.  With the advent of the DVR, the damage here has lessened and the reliance on the “+3” rating (meaning the number of people that have watched the show within three days of it airing on their DVRs) has helped more than one program stay on the air, albeit still on Friday nights.  Carter herself would tout these numbers on the Steve Austin Podcast recently, almost wearing it like a badge of courage.  There were many people that heard that interview, as well as her posts on social media, as rhetoric and spin to keep her talent happy and sticking around.  This may have been futile.

After the recent Slammiversary Pay-Per-View (which was POORLY attended last year in Arlington, Texas and took place in the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida this year holding about 1,000 people), a number of stars on the roster including mainstay James Storm, strong performer Magnus, up and coming personality Gunnar, and superstar Austin Aires left the company after their contracts expired, leaving larger questions of the company’s stability.  The rumors of trouble become even stronger with the departure of Storm, who has been there since the company’s inception and even was rumored to turn down an offer from World Wrestling Entertainment to make the jump a couple of years ago hot off of the very successful run of Beer Money, a tag team he was in with Bobby Roode and could be argued to be one of the greatest tag teams of the last two decades of the business.

In early June, Destination America made the announcement out of nowhere (and with little fanfare) that Ring of Honor would start airing a weekly show directly before “Impact Wrestling” on the very night that TNA would move to Wednesday nights.  There are two distinct schools of thought on this move: 1 – It was done in order to help boost ratings for TNA, as the two promotions have a long-standing relationship of talent swap and even full-time movement, or 2 – Ring of Honor was brought in to outshine TNA and therefore give Destination America sufficient reasoning to cancel “Impact Wrestling” and do its best to save face for the network.  Whether they would keep Ring of Honor after that can be left to speculation.

Where the fatal flaw in this plan lies is within the Ring of Honor organization.  For a time, their show aired on what used to be HDNet (currently known as AXS TV).  They had a little over a one year run on the premium cable network, and really knew how to focus on the wrestling aspect, letting the storyline aspect organically work its way out of the matches themselves.  It was wrestling for the sake of wrestling without having to try to beat that into the heads of its audience (reference the TNA campaign of “Wrestling Matters,” which it really did not seem to).  Once HDNet cancelled the show, ROH would bounce around here and there until landing a syndication deal with Sinclair Entertainment.  This would get them in some markets, but not enough to really give them the spark to get things moving.  For instance, there was no affiliate in the Dallas/Fort Worth market until recently, and now it is local, on the NESN channel through the cable sports package, and now Destination America.  The show still has the quality that it had before.  ROH seems to get it right: keep your shows in small arenas, focus on both your established talent and up-and-comers, do quality talent trades with promotions like New Japan and feature them on your programming as much as your partners feature your talent.  It does not have the big-time feel that WWE has, or the sitcom production vibe that TNA has; it is its own element.

But here lies the problem.  When Destination America aired the first episode of Ring of Honor on its network, IT WAS THE SAME EPISODE THAT NESN SHOWED THREE DAYS EARLIER.  The new episodes usually air on Saturdays and re-run throughout the week.  Some attributed that week to the short notice that ROH had to get SOMETHING on the air for 8 Eastern on Wednesday night (the announcement came down about four days earlier to those who pay attention on the Internet), but when it happened the next week, and the next, and the next, concern has started to set in.  It could be understood if the deal that ROH made with Destination America was more of the second school of thought two paragraphs ago, but this could also be seen as a golden opportunity.

By showing an episode that has been aired a half-dozen times before it hits Destination America lessens your chance of going out there and truly making your mark.  It would seem like ROH would treat Destination America like WWE treats the USA Network: as the flagship.  Make that the show where you make your moves and shakes, and work with Sinclair and NESN to do shows like WWE used to do with its syndicated affiliates with the lesser shows like “Wrestling Challenge” or “Superstars”.  These were one-hour shows that did not necessarily move any storylines forward (mostly main roster guys getting wins over a combination of local wrestlers or guys on the roster that would be the Washington Generals to the star’s Harlem Globetrotters, known as “jobbers to the stars”.  This would give the audience on Destination America the opportunity to have something truly for themselves, and ROH would have a show to develop any main angles that they want to but give their whole roster more time to get the exposure that they need.

To take it one step further, ROH could even use NESN for a B-show, as WWE uses SyFy for “SmackDown!”.  (That show will be moving to the USA Network in January of 2016, but they are both under the NBC/Universal umbrella, so it’s more like a lateral move for the network.)  This would give them another outlet to expand a bit more, and given that all of their programming are one-hour blocks, they could even get an entire week of programming in one or two nights per week by staying in the same venue and taping the Sinclair matches, followed by the NESN and Destination America shows.  Live shows may not benefit them at this point, but they also tend to tape a bunch of episodes in advance as well, evident by the episodes that have aired since they had their latest Pay-Per-View, “Best in the World,” that do not really deal with any fallout from the show.

Ring of Honor have a true opportunity here to show the strength of their promotion, as long as they do not squander it in the manner that they currently are.  Even the rumors of them getting a deal with Spike TV after “Impact Wrestling” was let go could fire back up in a strange reversal of fortune.

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Road Continues...

We wrap up this series with the tenth year of our marriage (2012-2013).  This past year has seen a lot of things: hard work, more experience with Grace Descending, Don Ford joining the ranks of The Clubhouse Podcast resulting in more exposure within the community, a normal work schedule for me, a new job for Jenn as the Payroll Supervisor for the corporate headquarters of Dave & Buster's, and more time together.

As I look back, I consider my self incredibly fortunate to have the blessings in my life that I do.  I told myself from a young age that when it came to getting married, I was only doing that one time, and if the road ahead is anything like the road so far... mission accomplished.  I married a woman who gets me on every level, and I like to think I know her pretty well.

Here's to more!

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Road Dims & Brightens

We are up to year nine of the Ervin household all having the same last name (2011-2012), and we would start it with Ken Belcher and myself leaving the church we played together at for a new experience.  We would wind up at New Community Church, at the request of one of his daughters.  We totally dug the place, and we still attend there to this day.  I even work with the Praise & Worship team from time to time.

Another important wrinkle to this story is that by moving churches, Ken and I decided to start our own music ministry.  And thus, Grace Descending was born.  We have been working together for over three years, and Grace D takes up about two thirds of it.  There have been ups and downs, but the ministry itself has been an amazing reward for me.

In December of 2011, I would end my six month unemployment period by getting a job with HMS as the Supervisor of Nesting (Training).  I am still there, with my role expanding and evolving seemingly daily.  I worked 2nd shift until recently, which prohibited me from seeing my wife as often as I would like to, but now I work 1st shift, so come tomorrow, we can celebrate properly without either of us having to take time off to do so.

Things would continue to roll, with the next significant event happening in September of 2012.  Jenn went to a Farmer's Market with her best friend, and there she would see that the local ASPCA had a booth.  She sat at a table near it, and a small black and white cat would peek out of a kennel and run right up to her and sit in her lap, purring like there was no tomorrow.  After some discussion, Jasper Bartholomew Ervin would come to live with us, giving us two cats now.  (And NO, there will not be a third.)  He and Hunter are actually very good for each other, and Hunter has even mellowed out quite a bit.  I guess his little brother tuckers him out. (And YES, I tried to get Jenn to name him Shawn, but she wouldn't get duped twice.)

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Future Dims & Brightens

Our series continues into year eight (2010 - 2011), with me working steadily and things looking up.  Things would take a further upswing in early February when I would get a call from Ken Belcher, who was the guitar player I worked with in Trinity Reign.  His church Praise & Worship team would be playing at a biker service on Easter, and he asked me if I wanted to sing with them.  I agreed, and started working with him again.  Things just felt right, and he asked me to work with them on a weekly basis for his church.  This turned into me going back to church on a regular basis, and a recharged faith that I needed.  Especially given what was to come.

In the spring, I would lose my grandmother.  I flew to Tampa to be with my family, which was bittersweet because I got to see all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I also knew that it would probably be the last time we would all be in the same room.  I hope that last sentence was not the truth, but I have come to grips with it.  It was a great weekend regardless.

About a month after that, I would get laid off from my job.  This one didn't sting as bad as the last one, but it still sucked.  The silver lining here is that my trip to Florida for my 20 year high school reunion got to be a little longer.

The reunion itself was on my birthday, which made it even more fun.  I got to spend some time with some of my favorite people in the world, whom I miss greatly.  I also got to spend some "Rob time," see my best friend and his wife, spend time with my sister, Julie (who lives about an hour from me, yet I still don't get to see as often as I would like), and take one of the greatest road trips EVER as Phil & Shannon Maher and their family would move out here in the same area where Julie live.  I love having them out here, and feel like they are my family.

So, there was a balance there, but things were starting to get to me as unemployment was going on WAY longer than I wanted it to.  It was taking a toll on my well being, and Jenn was doing everything she could to help me stay positive.  The rollercoaster would continue, as you will see in tomorrow's entry.

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Future Expands

Year seven of our marriage (2009 - 2010)  started out as things at my job were getting more chaotic and unpredictable.  In January of 2010, I would be let go from my job as a traveling corporate trainer and was unemployed for the first time in a LONG time, much less unemployed and responsible for bills with another person.  It was the first time in my life that I collected unemployment, and my self esteem took a HUGE blow.  Jenn was amazing during this time, helping me stay positive.  One of my best friends, Chad, lost his job the next day and we did what we could to keep each other motivated.

A couple of weeks after that, I ran into an old friend by the name of Tim Barry.  He had been trying to get me to make music with him and a music ministry he was involved with, but the first time I was working nights and the second time was when I was constantly on the road.  This time, I had no excuse, and the next week I would have my first rehearsal with a band called Trinity Reign.  The bad thing was that the ministry would disband about six months later.  The MAJOR positive thing was that I met a dude named Ken Belcher.  More about him in the next installment of this series.

In late May, I would run into an old boss from Southwest General Services, and I would end up working for him in a different branch of the company in June.  The office was 5 minutes from the house and without freeway driving.  This was an answer to prayer that restored some of my sanity and gave me even more knowledge and skills within the healthcare industry.  And I was making the best money of my life.

Around late spring, Chad and I were kicking around some ideas, and the concept of a podcast came up.  We brainstormed, and the first week in July, The Clubhouse Podcast was born, co-hosted by another friend, Cody Hawkins.  (If you don't know what this is, CLICK HERE.)  The show is still going strong to this day, and we are almost to our 200th episode.  Someday, I will convince my beautiful wife to do the podcast with me, and that could be THE GREATEST EPISODE EVER.  I am not telling my readers to convince her of this, but I am also not telling my readers to convince her of this.  :-)

The next year of our time together would bring more change, and a MAJOR life decision.

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Career Expands (And So Does The Family)

Marriage year six began (2008-2009) as my "road warrior" career really got moving.  I even got to spend a couple of weeks in South Florida on a business trip.  It was really good to get to go home and see a lot of people that I had not in a while.  It's odd to realize how big the world used to be.  Living in Dallas has made my world smaller.  This particular trip was an example, where I was in Jupiter, Florida.  Jupiter is about a 45 minute drive to my hometown, right outside of Fort Lauderdale.  When I landed and got settled in the hotel, I immediately called my best friend, Rico, and set up dinner with him and his wife.  When I was a kid, that drive would have KILLED me, since our area gave you everything that you needed within about a 5 mile radius.  In Dallas, if you don't drive for 20 minutes, you don't really go anywhere.  So, when Rico said "That's like a 45 minute drive, dude," my response was, "And?"  That drive now is SO much easier for me.  It's crazy, I tell you.

In the late spring of 2007, I made a decision that changed everything for us.  Jenn had been telling me that she wanted a cat for some time, and I was hesitant.  We could barely keep up with ourselves, much less another living being in our house.  Right around her birthday in early June, I finally realized that with as much as I was on the road, my beautiful bride needed to have a companion around to keep her company while I was on the road, and a cat seemed like there could be worse things she could ask for.  So, I came home from working one weekend (I had picked up the DJ thing to supplement a cut in pay for this job), there was a small, dark, furball running all over our bedroom.  Jenn had brought home a kitten from her best friend's something-or-other's litter.  He was the only black cat of the litter, and he could not have been cuter if he tried.  This is the conversation that followed:

Jenn: What should we name him?

Me: How about Hunter?

Jenn: That is a GREAT NAME!  He is always running around and looking for stuff!  That is awesome, honey!

Me: So, it's settled then?  His name is Hunter?

Jenn:  YES!

Me: Good.  Because his middle name shall be Hearst.

Jenn: (slowly realizing the trap she has fallen into... slowly turning her head with "that" look):  Did you just name our cat after Triple H?

Me: (with the pride of an 8 year old that did his first science project) Yep.

And thus, Hunter Hearst Ervin became our first "child".  Sure, he's almost twenty pounds, but he's OUR almost twenty pounds.

That summer was especially stressful for me with the job, as things were starting to get weird.  I will not go to deeply into it, but if it were not for some AMAZING friends (and you know who you are) and a wife that kept my head on straight for me, I might have gone loony.  (And yes, the argument could be made that we made it there a LONG time ago.)  I kept pushing forward, determined to keep everything moving properly.

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Career Evolves

Our story continues into our fifth year of marriage (2007-2008), which started with a bit of a curve ball.  When we drove down to San Antonio about six weeks before our anniversary, Jenn's back problems came to a head and finally went over the edge as a disc in her back fragmented, and the fragments choked out a nerve in her leg, causing her immense pain.  We took her to the emergency room to get her treated in enough time to get back home to Dallas, and later that week, she had to have surgery to remove the fragments and stabilize her back.  Her recovery time was seven weeks, and thankfully, she had Short Term Disability at her job that helped with the bills.  (If it is part of your benefits packaage at your job, enroll.  If it isn't, get your employer to do it.  Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.)  Jenn's parents were also a huge help with assisting me in keeping up with the day to day stuff that usually takes both of us to do.

I would also take my first road trip to Vegas at the end of Jenn's rehabilitation period.  Due to the fact that I drove it by myself made the trip even better because I got to have some "Rob time" and I got to drive on my own schedule.  That was also the last trip to Vegas that I have had.  Looking forward to another soon, for sure!

In March of 2008, I took a large leap of faith and left Southwest General Services to try to expand my career into what I was pretty much born to do: corporate training.  I would start with a company called HCFS, where I would become a bit of a "road warrior," traveling all over the country training their new hires in the environments they were hired to work in.  I learned a bit about myself in that time; mainly, I can handle a travel schedule, but it's a bit more complicated when you have another person that is your partner in life.  Again, my wife being the amazingly understanding person that she is, she handled it with grace and strength.  As our fifth year of marriage wrapped up, we were halfway to ten, and more was to come.

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Role Evolves

As our fourth year of marriage got under way (2006-2007), Jenn and I got to take our first trip to Vegas together.  It was a lot of fun, and my mom actually got us tickets to see the new-at-the-time "Beatles Love" show.  It was wonderful, and Jenn especially really enjoyed it. Whenever we get to take a true trip together, we have the best time.  Kinda proves how truly fit for each other we are.

I would take on more trips and trade shows, and even helped land a few accounts for my company at the time.  Things were getting more intense at the job, but my wife was incredibly patient and understood when duty called.  Even when she had ample reason not to.  Jenn's career was really taking off as well.

As we wrapped up Year Four, more changes were headed our way, including surgery, road trips from a driving standpoint, and a road trip change metaphorically.

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Role Changes

As we started our third year of marriage (2005-2006), my job got much more involved with helping out with the executive team as a friend, confidante, and other roles as needed.  This would also result in my first two trade shows, which were about two weeks apart: one in Austin, Texas and the other in Las Vegas, Nevada.  This was my first trip to Vegas, and I truly enjoyed myself.  I don't know if I can say it was more or less than I expected; it was a little bit of both.  I think I was the only one that manned our booth for the entire time we were at the shows (and I think that record stayed intact for my entire career when I did trade shows), but that was OK by me.  I still got to spend some leisure time as well.  Just walking around and looking at stuff was most of the fun for me.

Most of that year was spent handling work business, but still making time to spend with TL&TME.  No matter what has come around, she has always been supportive of what I am doing with an understanding that is unmatched.  But, we will save all of the sappy stuff for next Friday.

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Adventure Changes

During our second year of marriage (2004-2005), one of the biggest changes in our lives together would happen when I would leave Sports City Cafe and retire from the DJ/Karaoke business (for the first time).  In March of 2005, I started on a career in the healthcare industry, which I continue on in to this day.  That first weekend where I didn't have to work felt a little strange (I didn't have weekends completely off in about seven years), but it was nice to be able to see my wife when the sun was still up, and more than just a couple of times a week.  She also started a new step in her career, as she would take a promotion to the Major Accounts department at her work.

Shortly after I would start with this job, Jenn would go on a cruise that was also a fundraiser for her cousin's children.  (Yep.  That happened.)  I could not go with her, so her friend Tamy joined her for this week-long excursion through Central America.  It was the longest we had been apart to that point, and I remember her calling me in the middle of the day from a port of call, and just getting very emotional when we started talking.  She did have a great time, and I am still looking forward to my first cruise experience.  I also took a turn-and-burn trip to San Francisco during that week that I didn't know about until after that call, so by the time she got home, I had been to the West Coast and back.  I was not there very long, but really enjoyed my time on the West Coast.

That summer, we would also bring SummerBamm to the house, as we had about 60 people over to celebrate me turning one year older.  Had a GREAT time at that party, and the couple that would follow in the years that would follow.

As we celebrated our second anniversary, life was really in a good place.

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Adventure Begins

The first year of marriage for myself and TL&TME was very interesting.  It started with us going to the Mariott by the airport, which was provided for us by my mom.  Apparently, she told them that it was our wedding night and she wanted something special for us.  Sure, we were only going to be there for about six hours (we had an early morning flight to Orlando), but she still wanted it to be special.  I valeted our car so we could leave it there for our trip, and Jenn went to check us in.

When I met her at the counter, the nice gentleman there asked if we needed a wake-up call, and I said yes.  He then looked at the other guy and said, "... wake up call for room....".  As he said that, the other guy looked at him with a bit of a surprised expression.  I ignored it and we got our keys so that we could head up to our room.

As we got on the elevator, a concierge got on and had to use his cardkey to get to the room BELOW ours, which I thought was odd, but just continued on.  When the elevator opened, it was obvious that we were on the floor with the suites, as each door had a name for the room on it.  As we turned the corner, we saw a section of the wall that was all very nicely stained wood with a door that had beautifully crafted glass on it, and a doorbell.  As I looked at our cardkey, I could have sworn that the number next to this beautiful display matched the number on our envelope.  We were both very puzzled at this point.  Then, my wife in the wisdom that only she has, snapped me out of it with:

"Try it and see if it works!"

I did, and it did.  What we then learned (and not even my mom knew) is that they booked us in the Presidential Suite.  I have lived in apartments smaller than this thing that had it's own conference room, 1 1/2 baths, a full living room area, tiled fourier, and a whole lot more.  (We have a video tour of it.  It was THAT cool.)

We got up the next morning and headed to a week of the best honeymoon EVER at Walt Disney World.  Jenn tells people that I spent more time planning our honeymoon than she spent planning the wedding, and I wear that like a badge of courage.  We had a plan, and we executed it almost flawlessly.  That is another story for another time.

We returned and we went right back to work.  Over the next year, Sports City would go under its remodel, and I would spend that month working 18 hours every day going back and forth to The Colony (which then was about an hour each way), prepping that store and mine for the new computer system that would handle our DJ and karaoke functions.  We also saw Nickelback that summer, and it rained like crazy.  We bought T-shirts and sealed the bag so we at least had something dry to wear after the show.

In September of 2004, we would move out of the house we were in, and move into our current home.  That move could have been a lot worse, with us working opposite shifts and all, but we have some amazing friends that even showed up first thing in the morning on a Saturday and in a FLEET of trucks, got all of our big stuff moved in one trip.  I will always be thankful for the amazing people in our lives.

Since our first anniversary was on a Monday (leap year), and it was football season, I could not take the day off, but we still found time to have some anniversary time.  We even were able to eat our cake topper as is tradition.  I warn those of you that will go this: get it the first time.  It will not stay good after a few hours when you thaw it out.  Trust me.  There IS a time clock when you take it out of the freezer.  :-)

BB

Ten Years In Ten Days: The Countdown Begins

Next Friday, a milestone is reached.  So, as we count down to that day, I will do my best to do a blog post each day to tell you how the events went that lead up to that day.

October 11, 2003.  Four years after Jennifer Ralph decided she wanted to be known as my girlfriend.  We had met a couple of weeks earlier, and once we got together for the first time without either one of us working, we were pretty much inseparable.  Two years before the date that started this paragraph, we would attend a Dallas Stars game, where I would say to her as they came out for pre-game warmups, "So, we've been together for two years now... What's to say we wait two more and get married?"  Her reply was, "What just happened here?"  My reply was "I am waiting for you to tell me..."  Obviously, she said yes, and plans began.  A venue was found (The Dallas Women's Forum), deposits were laid down on services, personnel, and a honeymoon in the happiest place on earth, Walt Disney World.  Plans were in motion, and about a year out, I got a call from my buddy, Cody Hawkins:

"Um, dude... have you checked a calendar?"

"Why?"

"You may want to."

It was at that moment that I realized that the day that Jenn and I had picked for our wedding day was OU/Texas day.  For those of you that don't live here, this is one of the BIGGEST rivalry games in college football.  It is so intense that it has to be played at a neutral location, which is in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl.  Let me also remind you that I worked at the time as a DJ and karaoke host in a sports bar, so a HUGE chunk of our guests are sports fans and the game is in the middle of the day.  Sure, it would be over in time for our 7 PM wedding, but in some cases, I knew the damage would be done, so I pleaded with our guests to try to stay sober long enough to get through the ceremony.  For the most part, our guests did well.  Did I also mention that this would be a standing ceremony?

That day, I would wake up to our photographer, Ricky Futrell, trying to take a picture of me in that "I just woke up thing".  He did, and I didn't really worry about it.  We had a number of the guys crash at our house, while Jenn and the girls would be at the home of Shawn and Gidget Pritchard (which would end up being the house we currently live in).  Donuts were bought, tuxes were placed on bodies, Sonic was retrieved, and we were off to the wedding.  The girls did stuff to get ready, too.  :-)

The pictures were running a bit behind, and the guys were running a bit ahead, so what happens?  I get left in the car by myself while everybody went inside to see how beautiful my wife-to-be looked.  It was OK; I had Sonic food to keep me company.

We finally got inside, got the groomsman pictures taken, and then we were quarantined to the ballroom upstairs where the reception would take place until it was time for the ceremony.  When the time came, we walked down the stairs one by one until we were all in our places on the staircase.  My heart was in my throat as I waited for the music to hit.  One by one, the bridesmaids made their way up the stairs.  The one I remember the most was Gidget, who made it to her place and turned to smile at me like, "See?  I didn't trip or nothin'!"

And then, my wife rounded the corner.  And all of the nerves calmed themselves.  And all was right in the universe.

The ceremony went flawlessly.  Sure, we probably picked a unity candle song that was a bit longer than it should have ("Longer" by Dan Fogelberg... no pun intended), but it all went well. Nobody objected, which was nice... :-) ... and we went upstairs to the reception.  Could not have had a better time with our friends and family.  Then, it was to change clothes and head to the hotel before we would head to the airport.

And Year One began.

More later...

BB