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Category: Family

There is NO PLACE like the Finish Line.

“When you finish these events, you inspire EVERYONE around you.“ There is no place like the finish line. A place that a few hours before was your start. Familiar but new. It transforms into something you can see and you can hear about but you can’t really FEEL until you have crossed it. The physical space transforms… so that you can transform. At one moment, a starting line. Hours later… a finish. At 8:00a, you will start and suffer and think you will fail and you either will or you won’t. But you won’t because you are made for this.…

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I would never have imagined it.

(this has NOTHING to do with coffee or business or Edmond or anything more than something that is bringing ALL the joy at the moment) For the past 3 years, our oldest son – TUK – has jumped head first into the world of lacrosse and has since played day in and day out it seems. Last year, he decided to try out for Impulse Lacrosse based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and headed up by Pro Callum Crawford – one of the top forward in the National Lacrosse League and Ryan Fournier. None of that really made any since to me…

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Can I talk about ME for a minute?

This has been a tough year. It’s the truth. I can’t put my finger on why exactly but just one of those years that feels like a mental wall sit for days and days on end. I think some of it is leftover from the 2019 sale of EVOKE. I think some of it is a lack of focus and clarity on my health and fitness. I think some of it is a discomfort with the day to day of living in Oklahoma and a longing for mountains and more suitable weather. I’ve had professional success. Had a chance to…

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This is your chance to change someones day. You going to take it?

Yes, ok… You are selling a product or service. That is what you are ringing up and taking money for but I’d argue that this process is just the beginning! Let me tell you a little story. This summer, my family and I spent nearly 6 weeks cruising around the country in our van – riding bikes, hiking, sipping coffee and just enjoying everything we were seeing (more on that trip later). At one point, we found ourselves in Truckee, CA spending some time at Northstar Resort. As we traveled up the gondola to the top for a little hike,…

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And.. They are back. Let that school bell ring!

The town has never, in its history, owned school buses, so streets are designed to ensure that every child can walk or bike to school. It is August 11th – the day the kids have secretly waiting for (they won’t tell you that though). It’s time for them to go back to school. In our house, that means the youngest hits kindergarten, the middle in 3rd Grade and our oldest in 6th. Wow. One of my FAVORITE parts of the school year is the 7 or so minute walk I get to take with my boys as we hoof it…

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Honestly? I’m sick and tired.

The truth? I’m sick of living in a town that refuses to install crosswalks in front of all community schools under some lame excuse of a “gap study”. I’m sick of living in a town full of parents advocating for child safety while running neighborhood stop signs, texting and driving, blocking what crosswalks we do have, and never yielding to pedestrians (even in front of schools). I’m sick of people thinking the answer to traffic in town is to add streets and lanes. I’m sick of people honking because I’m not walking fast enough across 5 lanes of traffic with…

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This is not the end of our story.

I talked a few days ago about this idea of living with less. A time to declutter physically but also mentally. Spiritually. Holistically. A chance to start anew and to really begin to feel the freedom to live out the life we have wanted to live. Dreamed to live. I don’t know where I heard it but through the noise of an afternoon at the house, I remember hearing this quote. It popped in my head so clearly and I’ve been trying to unpack it ever since. “This is not the end of your story.” Feeling stuck. At a dead…

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Are we better with… less?

Throughout our married life, my wife and I have always teetered on this balance of “less” and how our lives might be better without all the stuff. In fact, we even downsized a handful of years ago with our two sons from about 1,700 SF to less than 900 SF in order to try and “force our hands” into this idea. We had our third son there as well but had the opportunity to move into a bit better location and “bigger” house and took advantage of it a couple of years later. We had this idea dream that we…

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Proof that it was more than just coffee

Whew… take a breath. It was only mere minutes after writing a bit about my cousin’s dad -a giant in the Oklahoma City Metro hospitality world – passing away that I got more hard news. I want you to meet Harry and Carol. They mean the absolute world to me and have been a fixture around EVOKE since basically the first day we opened in Downtown Edmond back in 2012. They were the sort of special guests that I could have only dreamed of for our little coffee company. They took care of our staff, knew our staff, kept up…

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