Throwing Limitations To The Wind...Epic Man 2011

The Brand:The spirit of challenging themselves through a fusion of fitness, lifestyle, culture, and inspiration is what represents each of these Epic Men. When I first learned about the Epic Man brand I was spellbound by the 'nothing can stop me' mentality of it all...{see post on Urban Epic triathlon}.  In a world full of money hungry big business it is so refreshing to experience a brand with such a positive message and kickass representation. In my opinion, it's rare!

The Quest: Hanging out with the 2011 Epic Man team for only a little bit of time left me feeling energized & inspired. This was a true testament of  "Dreaming Big Dreams". This is proof that we as human beings can handle and achieve a hell of  a lot more than we ever think we can. When Justin told me he was going to Kayak 2.5 miles, Bike 157 miles {overnight} to the start of the Boston Marathon and RUN the marathon 26.2 miles {on no sleep}, I thought he was out of his mind!!! I didn't want to discourage him from dreaming big but damn, that's aggressive! Regardless of what I thought, I supported him through his training and was excited for him and the rest of the team.

A Journey Of Thoughts {& Questions}: While the race was underway it got me thinking ALOT…What is it that holds one back from achieving their true potential?How will you ever know your true potential if you aren't constantly pushing your own limits? Well, I won't really get into all of the details but know that I walked away from this a changed person! I've gone as far as committing to running my first half marathon {and I DO NOT enjoy running…yet, read more about that here}. I feel this is an appropriate time to use one of my favorite quotes…

The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same. It is for you to *DREAM BIG DREAMS*. There is nothing more important, and nothing that works faster than for you to cast off your own limitations than for you to begin dreaming and fantasizing about the wonderful things that you can become, have, and do.

Unfortunately the task of shooting the entire Epic Man, which took place from April 16-18th, fell through because I came down with a serious case of Bronchitis (thanks to my sister Kristy).  Since I didn't want to get any of the athletes sick I only got to shoot a little bit of their trek, here it is!

Will (co-creater of Epic Man, in yellow) and Jason lead the team into the Trek Bicycle Shop in Portsmouth, NH.

Bianca (in yellow) 2011's only Epic Woman made this team look good ;) Her sister Jenna followed her along the way to cheer her on!

Seth (left) co-creater of the Epic Man with his dad and brother Tyler who also was an Epic Man

The short break consisted of quenching their thirst with Miller Highlife and curing hunger with juicy Chipotle burritos to fuel up for the overnight bike

Oakley also provided these sweet shades to each team member

Men stretching in tights… yes, there was a lot of that going on!

Not to worry, there was also mini celebrations along the way… sorta like this

Trek was awesome enough to tune up the bikes before they hit the midnight roads!

Among other things, Epic Man also supports the fight against Cystic Fibrosis

Dinner was served and the team was off into the night...

After stalking Justin with phone calls throughout the night I met him down at the halfway point of the Boston Marathon for the last leg of the journey

THE EPIC MAN CHEER SQUAD… the most essential part of this teams success!

{March Madness with April K}

I’m pretty sure I painted a new picture for the term “March Madness”, literally!  Before Justin and I moved into our chic new pad, we had a few things to spruce up. 18 rollers, 12 cans of paint, 5 colors (including 1 gallon of Electric Blue for the office), and over 27 hours of straight painting later… it was finished!!! Our friends and family were generous enough to donate their time and elbow grease to help us out one rockin’ Saturday night at our “painting party”.  Here are some pics I snapped during the moving and painting process! …{aprilkphoto.com}

Packing up

And shipping out {I had to write love letters on the boxes since Justin was nice enough to move me out while I was out of town!}

Can't forget to pack these...

Taking a quick drive out to the new diggs...

And the painting party has begun, but not before we finish up our Chinese feast!

Brian, Kristen & Kate lathered up that back room in "Popcorn" paint, those walls never saw it comin!

Jake's precision, tact and strategery left the bathroom trim *sparkling* white

And our very own Trixie Tay painting away the awful Salmon color in the living room.

Living Out A Dream {Shredding In Colorado}

{Preface} I will start this entry by first apologizing that there are hardly any pictures to show from my 7 day trip to the Rockies! While I shredded the first day with my camera on my back, I had full intentions of taking pictures!!! I really did. However, the snow was too fresh to stop & take the camera out of the bag! {The Sitch} 14 POWDER HUNGRY 20-somethings headed out to Winter Park, CO in celebration of Lisa's 30th Birthday. What a celebration it turned out to be!!! I have never in my life shredded on such deep, beautiful, fluffy, pow! It was like gliding across champagne.  Shredding in Colorado was truly a dream come true. Justin and I ended up skiing 6 consecutive days in Arapahoe Basin, Winter Park, and Vail and left thirsty for more!

1.1.11 Make a Wish!

On the very early morning of 1.1.11 Justin and I went out for a nice walk along the Boston pier. It was a very warm New Years day and he had just hosted an epic 500 person party for his company. Excited and eager we walked around Boston with our cameras, taking pictures, reminiscing of this time last year. {NYE 2010 was when I briefly met Justin...and my world changed! } As we were walking he got up on some rocks and said "let me model for you" {He knows how much I love taking pictures of people, and capturing emotion}. There he was modeling and being the goofball that he is... and there I was, without a clue, snapping away! He got down on one knee and put his hand in his pocket {still no clue & still snapping away} and pulled out a little black box with gold corners. La la la, still checking my settings and snapping. He started to open the box and I realized what was going on!!!! "ARE YOU SERIOUS!" I yelled, followed by "AAAHHHHH, OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS!!!" {Here are a few pics I snapped of my own engagement!}

Urban Epic - Boston

ur·ban [ur-buh n]–adjective 1. living in a city.

ep·ic [ep-ik]–adjective 1. heroic; majestic; impressively great

Bringing together the world of athletes, artists and everyone in between is exactly what the founders of the Urban Epic sought out to do… and crushed it!  The Urban Epic was born in Portland, OR by a group of “feel good’ers” who wanted to put the kibosh on triathlon cliques and open up the realm to anyone who wants in.  How awesome is that?!  As both an athlete and artist I am 100% sold on how amazing this event is and how much potential it has to be HUGE! Read more at - http://urban-epic.com/the-concept-of-urban-epic/

Now…If you were to compete in a 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike followed up by a 4 mile run how long would it take you to train? I'm thinking… a few months to mentally and physically prepare myself for a sprint triathlon, yeah that would be a good amount of time.  This was not the case for Justin Obey and Cortlandt Johnson who decided within weeks (Justin) and hours (Cort) that they were going to throw down at the Urban Epic this year.  Both competed well (naturally) and finished with great times!  Take a look at how the day turned out, I hope you enjoy.

{"Leave Love"}

Krueger Family "Fun Explosion"

Oh Hey! Thought I fell off the face of the earth didn't you?! You haven't seen me because... well... I've been LIVIN IT UP {and soakin up the hot rays of JULY}! Last weekend I flew home to celebrate a LOT of things {my niece Lily's Baptism, to celebrate a new Baby Vogel, to see my Brother Waylon who serves in the Air Force, and to have Justin meet the fam}... I had the time of my LIFE! I hope you enjoy my family as much as I do and I hope your summer is shining bright.{"Leave Love"}

"One if by land, and two if by sea"

There once were two women from Western NY who decided to dazzle Boston with their charm and wisdom. Those two women would be my Mom and Aunt Jean. With great cheer and laughter we spent the weekend exploring new places and faces and I started to really get a good feel for the city. We walked and walked until our feet would take us no further and here are some of the sites we saw along the way! {"Leave Love"}