Our Story
CHAPTER 1: GROWING UP
B: I didn’t know Trish as a kid, but from what I’ve heard, we were both active, energetic, and skinny...
T: Yes... athletic all-stars on the playground and goofy bookworms in the classroom.
B: I guess we’ve always had that paradoxical mix of cool and nerdy.
T: You’re right. Fortunately, we were both blessed with with loving parents who raised us in homes full of play and learning experiences. I was born in Nebraska...
B: ...and I was born in Wisconsin.
T: After I was born in Nebraska, my family moved to Massachusetts for a few years, but I spent most of my childhood in Northern Wisconsin... surrounded by trees, lakes, and wild animals.
B: I grew up in the suburbs of Southeast Wisconsin and spent A LOT of time at the YMCA where my mom worked. I played many sports as a kid and was rarely seen sitting-still or without a ball in my hands. I was obsessed with basketball from an early age and that obsession lasted until I was about 22. I was also a super-irritating younger brother to my sister, Amy. She’s a couple years older than me and we had some epic fights growing up.
T: I was really into gymnastics when I was a kid, and have always enjoyed running. I spent a lot of time playing in the woods and by the lake with my two sisters... climbing trees, making tree houses, building snow forts, swimming, skiing, tubing, etc.
B: Let’s see... What else can we say?
T: Siblings... I have two younger sisters... and now two younger half-brothers...
B: I have three sisters (1 older and 2 younger).
T: Let’s talk about high school.
B: From what I know, we were both awkward, angsty teenagers...
T: Aren’t all teenagers awkward and angsty?
B: Good point. In high school, I was an obsessive three-sport athlete (basketball, football, track) who also enjoyed playing Sega Genesis and chatting on AOL Instant Messenger in my free time. I had a little black Toyota pick-up truck.
T: I was also a three-sport athlete (cross-country running, track, basketball) and played saxophone in the school band... I drove an old Ford Taurus called “The Green Stallion”.
B: So, to sum up our childhoods, we were cool/nerdy and we loved to play sports.
T: Yes... athletic all-stars on the playground and goofy bookworms in the classroom.
B: I guess we’ve always had that paradoxical mix of cool and nerdy.
T: You’re right. Fortunately, we were both blessed with with loving parents who raised us in homes full of play and learning experiences. I was born in Nebraska...
B: ...and I was born in Wisconsin.
T: After I was born in Nebraska, my family moved to Massachusetts for a few years, but I spent most of my childhood in Northern Wisconsin... surrounded by trees, lakes, and wild animals.
B: I grew up in the suburbs of Southeast Wisconsin and spent A LOT of time at the YMCA where my mom worked. I played many sports as a kid and was rarely seen sitting-still or without a ball in my hands. I was obsessed with basketball from an early age and that obsession lasted until I was about 22. I was also a super-irritating younger brother to my sister, Amy. She’s a couple years older than me and we had some epic fights growing up.
T: I was really into gymnastics when I was a kid, and have always enjoyed running. I spent a lot of time playing in the woods and by the lake with my two sisters... climbing trees, making tree houses, building snow forts, swimming, skiing, tubing, etc.
B: Let’s see... What else can we say?
T: Siblings... I have two younger sisters... and now two younger half-brothers...
B: I have three sisters (1 older and 2 younger).
T: Let’s talk about high school.
B: From what I know, we were both awkward, angsty teenagers...
T: Aren’t all teenagers awkward and angsty?
B: Good point. In high school, I was an obsessive three-sport athlete (basketball, football, track) who also enjoyed playing Sega Genesis and chatting on AOL Instant Messenger in my free time. I had a little black Toyota pick-up truck.
T: I was also a three-sport athlete (cross-country running, track, basketball) and played saxophone in the school band... I drove an old Ford Taurus called “The Green Stallion”.
B: So, to sum up our childhoods, we were cool/nerdy and we loved to play sports.
CHAPTER 2: HOW WE MET
T: I think we first met in 2003 up in Houghton, Michigan.
B: We were both student-athletes at Michigan Tech University.
T: Random fact... Michigan Tech was recently named the snowiest university in America!
B: Trish was a member of the cross-country running and skiing teams. I played shooting guard on the basketball team.
T: I was studying Math and Education and Bob was studying Psychology and Physical Education.
B: We were both were active leaders of a group called FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). In the summer of 2004, we independently (serendipitously) read a book called, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye".
T: That book was about Christian courtship.
B: Ironically, our first "date" was a 4-hour hike in the fall of 2004 during which we discussed "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". We got lost wandering in the forest. It reminded me of that Brad Paisley lyric, “lost but holding hands”, and that theme has stuck with us through our marriage.
T: Speaking of “kissed”, that courtship book and others inspired us to save our first kiss for our wedding day, but that’s another story for another time...
B: And it’s not something we’d necessarily recommend for other couples, but it worked well for us.
B: We were both student-athletes at Michigan Tech University.
T: Random fact... Michigan Tech was recently named the snowiest university in America!
B: Trish was a member of the cross-country running and skiing teams. I played shooting guard on the basketball team.
T: I was studying Math and Education and Bob was studying Psychology and Physical Education.
B: We were both were active leaders of a group called FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). In the summer of 2004, we independently (serendipitously) read a book called, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye".
T: That book was about Christian courtship.
B: Ironically, our first "date" was a 4-hour hike in the fall of 2004 during which we discussed "I Kissed Dating Goodbye". We got lost wandering in the forest. It reminded me of that Brad Paisley lyric, “lost but holding hands”, and that theme has stuck with us through our marriage.
T: Speaking of “kissed”, that courtship book and others inspired us to save our first kiss for our wedding day, but that’s another story for another time...
B: And it’s not something we’d necessarily recommend for other couples, but it worked well for us.
CHAPTER 3: LEARNING TO JUGGLE
T: At the time we started dating (or courting), we were approaching the ends of our college sports careers.
B: As the highly-regimented life of organized athletics came to an end, we found ourselves with lots of extra time/energy.
T: During this season of newfound free time, we enjoyed many activities together: ballroom dancing lessons, water polo, rock climbing clubs, hula-hooping, backwards running (aka retro running), guitar, ping-pong, magic, and more.
B: During this time (the spring of 2007), one of my best friends (Jason Marcotte) showed me how to juggle 3 balls. It was love-at-first-juggle. I was hooked right away. Immediately after learning, I found Trish and gave her a demonstration of my fledgling, but enthusiastic, juggling skills [drop, drop, drop]. I asked Trish if she wanted me to teach her how to juggle.
T: I hated to burst Bob’s juggling excitement, but after he showed me his /our new activity, I picked up the three balls and started juggling (much better than Bob) and explained that my dad taught me to juggle when I was in middle school.
B: This was the start of our juggling adventures.
T: A couple days later, we found some instructions for partner juggling on the Internet and we were able to learn enough to juggle at our wedding on June 23rd, 2007.
B: We often joke that partner juggling was our pre-marital counseling, but it many ways it was.
T: We lived our first year of marriage in a lakeside cabin (owned by my Grandma Helen) in Northern Michigan. At this time, Bob was practicing juggling everyday (still does) and started performing with his friend, Jason.
B: Trish occasionally practiced with me and Jason, but was less enthusiastic about the performing part. Our friend Ben eventually joined the "Jason and Bob" team and the trio became "Bob-Jason-Ben". You can still see a lot of BJB-influence in our performances today.
B: As the highly-regimented life of organized athletics came to an end, we found ourselves with lots of extra time/energy.
T: During this season of newfound free time, we enjoyed many activities together: ballroom dancing lessons, water polo, rock climbing clubs, hula-hooping, backwards running (aka retro running), guitar, ping-pong, magic, and more.
B: During this time (the spring of 2007), one of my best friends (Jason Marcotte) showed me how to juggle 3 balls. It was love-at-first-juggle. I was hooked right away. Immediately after learning, I found Trish and gave her a demonstration of my fledgling, but enthusiastic, juggling skills [drop, drop, drop]. I asked Trish if she wanted me to teach her how to juggle.
T: I hated to burst Bob’s juggling excitement, but after he showed me his /our new activity, I picked up the three balls and started juggling (much better than Bob) and explained that my dad taught me to juggle when I was in middle school.
B: This was the start of our juggling adventures.
T: A couple days later, we found some instructions for partner juggling on the Internet and we were able to learn enough to juggle at our wedding on June 23rd, 2007.
B: We often joke that partner juggling was our pre-marital counseling, but it many ways it was.
T: We lived our first year of marriage in a lakeside cabin (owned by my Grandma Helen) in Northern Michigan. At this time, Bob was practicing juggling everyday (still does) and started performing with his friend, Jason.
B: Trish occasionally practiced with me and Jason, but was less enthusiastic about the performing part. Our friend Ben eventually joined the "Jason and Bob" team and the trio became "Bob-Jason-Ben". You can still see a lot of BJB-influence in our performances today.
CHAPTER 3: ARIZONA
T: In the summer of 2008, we moved moved from Northern Michigan to Southern Arizona. We lived in Arizona for 3 years, working as high school teachers and coaches in a smallish town called Sahuarita (near Tucson, AZ).
B: During our time in AZ, we connected with the Tucson Juggling Club and a local AcroYoga Club. These two clubs and a spacious garage (practice space!) were hugely influential in our development as an acrobatic juggling duo.
T: After Bob-Jason-Ben split up, I decided to start performing with Bob. We did A LOT of shows in Arizona.
B: A lot of bad shows (and often for free), but eventually we got pretty good.
T: The first step to being good at a skill is sucking at that skill.
B: Our first "big gig" was the 4th Avenue Street Fair in April of 2009.
T: This was a grueling 3 days of busking on the streets, but it was a great opportunity for us to develop our "act".
B: In Arizona, we also started a "Community Juggling Class". We had an 6-year-old and an 80-year-old in the same class!
T: Arizona was also where we began training as jogglers (running + juggling).
B: Arizona was good to us.
B: During our time in AZ, we connected with the Tucson Juggling Club and a local AcroYoga Club. These two clubs and a spacious garage (practice space!) were hugely influential in our development as an acrobatic juggling duo.
T: After Bob-Jason-Ben split up, I decided to start performing with Bob. We did A LOT of shows in Arizona.
B: A lot of bad shows (and often for free), but eventually we got pretty good.
T: The first step to being good at a skill is sucking at that skill.
B: Our first "big gig" was the 4th Avenue Street Fair in April of 2009.
T: This was a grueling 3 days of busking on the streets, but it was a great opportunity for us to develop our "act".
B: In Arizona, we also started a "Community Juggling Class". We had an 6-year-old and an 80-year-old in the same class!
T: Arizona was also where we began training as jogglers (running + juggling).
B: Arizona was good to us.
CHAPTER 4: USA ROAD TRIP TOUR
B: In 2011, we quit our teaching jobs in Arizona and embarked on a 9-month USA road trip / tour.
T: We refer to this experience as "the travel year". We visited every state except Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada,
B: We could have visited Nevada, but we decided to stay an extra week in Yosemite National Park instead of going to Las Vegas for a weekend.
T: It was an awesome year, a “dreaming to doing” challenge.
B: We did a lot of joggling during the travel year and actually got sponsored by Brooks Running.
T: There is a good story about our travel year here: Bob and Trish USA Tour.
T: We refer to this experience as "the travel year". We visited every state except Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada,
B: We could have visited Nevada, but we decided to stay an extra week in Yosemite National Park instead of going to Las Vegas for a weekend.
T: It was an awesome year, a “dreaming to doing” challenge.
B: We did a lot of joggling during the travel year and actually got sponsored by Brooks Running.
T: There is a good story about our travel year here: Bob and Trish USA Tour.
CHAPTER 5: TRIATHLON JUGGLING
T: On August 11th (2012), we became the first people to juggle 3 balls through an entire triathlon.
B: You can read about that whole experience here: Triathlon Juggling Couple.
B: You can read about that whole experience here: Triathlon Juggling Couple.
CHAPTER 6: SOUTH KOREA
T: After the “travel year” and the triathlon juggling challenge, we were out of money, but we still had a strong desire to travel and explore the world.
B: So, we googled “travel and make money” and one of the first options that we discovered was teaching English in South Korea.
T: We taught English for two years in Cheongju, South Korea and it was a great experience.
B: The people of South Korea were so kind, generous, and hospitable.
T: Bob’s school gave us keys to the school gym so we had a great practice space.
B: We got to perform on a few South Korea TV shows too!
T: While we were in South Korea, we visited the Philippines, Bali, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and other places in Asia.
B: So, we googled “travel and make money” and one of the first options that we discovered was teaching English in South Korea.
T: We taught English for two years in Cheongju, South Korea and it was a great experience.
B: The people of South Korea were so kind, generous, and hospitable.
T: Bob’s school gave us keys to the school gym so we had a great practice space.
B: We got to perform on a few South Korea TV shows too!
T: While we were in South Korea, we visited the Philippines, Bali, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and other places in Asia.
CHAPTER 7: THAILAND
B: After our Korea experience and a few months enjoying our families in Wisconsin, we moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand.
T: The original plan was to study Thai massage for a few months and then move to another country...
B: ...but we fell in love with Chiang Mai and the “Thai Life” and have decided to stay here indefinitely.
T: We are working as teachers in an international school. I teach math and Bob teaches PE/Health.
B: We’re hoping to have our first child here.
T: For the indefinite future, we’ll work each year from August until mid-June in Thailand, and then we’ll spend all of July in Wisconsin to stay connected with our families.
T: The original plan was to study Thai massage for a few months and then move to another country...
B: ...but we fell in love with Chiang Mai and the “Thai Life” and have decided to stay here indefinitely.
T: We are working as teachers in an international school. I teach math and Bob teaches PE/Health.
B: We’re hoping to have our first child here.
T: For the indefinite future, we’ll work each year from August until mid-June in Thailand, and then we’ll spend all of July in Wisconsin to stay connected with our families.
