Feeling Better & Sleeping Better : Day 5

Name: Divorce661
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Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 16, 2016

I have to say that just 5 days in I am feeling much better and sleeping much better. Today I was a little run down, a little tired. There was no personal training today, but my wife and I did go to the gym and did your heavy lifting day with the weights.

Tomorrow is the cardio day. James O’Rourke does his training with weights on Monday and Friday and Wednesday and Saturday are reserved for cardio days. The cardio days are more like a Cross Fit class with weights and a lot of motion.

I already notice myself getting stronger and even losing a little weight. Today I mistook a pair of pants that I have not worn in a while for a pair I do wear all the time. I don’t wear the other pair because they just didn’t fit well. Yep, too tight. Today I put them on by error and they fit. I only noticed they were wrong because they were still a bit snug, but they fit actually pretty good.

I think just a quick post tonight, getting late but still wanted to post an article as this was my plan to keep me on track and motivated. I was just about to go to bed, then remembered I was going to write a post everyday to track my fitness, how I feel and to remind me to eat well and everything else. So far, so good. It seems to be working.

My Valencia Divorce Judgment Rejected 3 Times

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 15, 2016

I hear it every day. I tried to do my own Valencia divorce and my Valencia divorce judgment was rejected. In this case, this gal’s Valencia divorce judgment was rejected 3 times.

Why Your Valencia Divorce Judgment Is Being Rejected

This is not the most times someone has told me their . Nope, the most times someone said their Valencia divorce judgment was rejected was 7 times. Can you imagine having your Valencia divorce judgment rejected 7 times? Even if you have had your Valencia divorce judgment rejected once, it is enough to frustrate you completely. You think you have completed your Valencia divorce properly and then one day, you receive the rejected Valencia divorce judgment in the mail.

Valencia Divorce Judgments Get Rejected All The Time

Valencia divorce judgments get rejected all the time. In fact, so much that we have a service just for cleaning up the judgement and resubmitting. But we have talked about that in many articles and if you find yourself in a situation where your Valencia divorce judgment has been rejected.

But the purpose of this article was not so much to talk about our service is it is to discuss a situation I ran into today.

So today, I received a message on Facebook from someone I knew several years ago. Someone that worked in an office near me. So not friends, per se, but an acquaintance would be the best way to explain it.

Anyways, I ran into her in the Ralph’s grocery store in Valencia about 6 months ago. She said she knew I was doing divorce’s and said she was having trouble with her divorce as far as the paperwork was concerned. So she asked me for some advice and I gave her a few pointers to trouble shoot her case based upon what she told me the problems were.

Back to today. She reached out to me via Facebook and asks me how much it would be to fix her Valencia divorce paperwork. I give her a price via messenger and explain that we will take care of everything. Her response was, ” It is just the judgment, everything else is fine”.

Honestly, this irritated me.

Here is why. I know that not “everything else is fine” when you are turning in your divorce judgment. This is because when you turn in your divorce judgment, this is the first time that the court reviews any of your paperwork.

Everyone things all their divorce forms are correct, until they turn the judgment into the court.

Why Your Valencia Divorce Will Be Rejected Multiple Times

Here is a secret that I have told a million times. When you turn in your judgment to the court, the clerks will find one or two maybe three reasons to reject your divorce judgment paperwork and send it back. You fix those few mistakes and then they reject it again.

This is why we have created Valencia divorce judgment checklists.

Why do you think the judgment gets rejected so many times? If everything is fine then why does it keep getting rejected for new reasons?

Exactly.

What also irritated me is that I also have her a second option. I said, “pay for the California Divorce Tutor Uncontested Divorce package which is just $97 and I will walk you through wrapping up your Valencia divorce case.

I didn’t get a thank you or even a reply.

If you are not willing to spend even $97 to finalize your Valencia divorce, then I suppose your only option is to keep having your Valencia divorce judgment rejected.

Look folks, the Valencia divorce process is complicated. You need professional help. Otherwise you will struggle and your divorce will take years.

You are undoing a marriage of how ever many years. Get it done right and have a professional company handle your divorce case.

Valencia Workouts Getting Serious With Survival Of The Fittest – Day 4

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 15, 2016

So it is only day 4 of working out. Is that right? Started Friday, worked out then, and Saturday, took Sunday off and again today. Yep, just day 4.

I have to tell you that the whole diet thing is hard. I do very well during the week when I am busy with work, etc., but the weekend proves challenging.

This past weekend I tried to stay busy, but no matter what I did, I would feel hungry. I swear was saying, “When will the weekend be over?” lol.

Anyways, today is Monday and a holiday. My youngest did not have school, so i decided to sleep in a bit and hit the 8:30 personal training class at Ignition Fitness. That went well, we did another 4 rounds of high rep weights after warning up.

But I have always liked to get strong. So tonight, I went back to the gym and did a heavy, low-rep chest and triceps workout. The personal training is good for the high intensity stuff so I can lose weight, but I still want to get strong. I think the two will work out well.

Well, that is all for today, not a whole lot to report.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Valentines Day 2016, No Flowers For My Wife & Doing The Little Things

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 14, 2016

So today is Valentines day. My wife and I don’t buy into the hype of the holidays, not after being married now over 20 years. Now most people would say this is the most important time to do things, after all these years, but I don’t agree.

I think Valentines is like very other holiday such as Christmas to get people moving in a certain direction. And that is to spend money.

For Valentines day it is buying expensive gifts and overly marked up flowers. It is going to a fancy restaurant and making this huge day of it. I think it is sad. Just my opinion.

My wife is very pragmatic – very down to earth. She also does not buy into the hype. In fact, this year, as she has said the last few years is don’t spend money on flowers. So I didn’t, sort of.

What my wife hates is buying flowers that will only die in a couple of days. But she does not bat an eye when I buy her plants. Especially her favorite plants, Hydrangea’s and Tulips.

So I got her two of each which she loved and will be around until she forgets to water them. Don’t tell her I said that.

I try to do the little things that matter when I can. I am in no way perfect, but I try to do the little things that my wife wants or appreciates.

For instance, we had to do our weekly shopping on Sunday. I know she was not feeling good on Saturday night and didn’t go to bed until after midnight. I knew she would be sleeping in. I, on the other hand am a morning person and up at the break of dawn.

So I headed out early and did our weekly shopping at Traders Joe’s. Then I mowed the lawn. All before 8 a.m. (This is Sunday, mind you). So when she woke up, those two things were done and gives us more time to just be together.

Tonight, I cleaned up the kitchen. Not a big deal, but I could tell that we both just wanted to go upstairs and rest so I just got it done. And I got a big “thank you for doing that”

It is the little things you do all the time, not a big spend on flowers, dinner and gifts all rolled up into one day per year.

So we spent the day at Home Depot getting little projects that we completed around the house. Cleaned out the garage, again. I swear, we clean it out every other month. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Well, this is day 3 of working out and is was just a day of rest. No gym today. Felt this body needed a little rest. Tomorrow is a big cardio day with the personal trainer. Got to get a good nights sleep.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Jim Johnson : Ignition Fitness Valencia : Day – 2

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 13, 2016

Okay, so here we are at day 2 of working out and day 2 of making it a priority to blog about it.

In addition to talking about me, I wanted to talk about the place I am now working out. Ignition Fitness. Ignition Fitness is where the personal trainer I started working with, James O’Roarke, now holds his training classes.

From what I understand, Ignition Fitness was opened by Jim Johnson who previously was a trainer at Big John McCarthy’s in Valencia. And when Big John’s closed down, Jim opened up Ignition Fitness at just the right time.

As I am writing this article, I am realizing that I don’t have all the information. I think what I will do is ask to interview Jim Johnson to get some of the back story. For now, I will discuss why I decided to sign up at Ignition Fitness and what I think about it.

I had never been to Ignition Fitness in Valencia when my trainer said to meet him there. I showed up and realized that Ignition Fitness is in an industrial building near Valencia High School (sort of) on the corner of Ave. Tibbits and Newhall Ranch Road. This seems to be the popular way to go and I don’t mind it at all.

Ignition Fitness is where you want to go to work out. Period. Ignition Fitness is also the place you want to go if you want to support local business owners and not your typical franchise gym. Ignition Fitness is also the place you want to go if you like feeling like you belong somewhere. Hope that makes sense.

Ignition Fitness is not what you are probably used to. The best way to say it, is that it is the polar opposite of LA Fitness or say Gold’s Gym. I know people like these gym’s for certain reasons, and I’m sure your reasons are valid, but for the same reasons, I don’t like the big chains.

But I don’t want to talk about what I don’t like about the big chains. Let’s focus on what I like about Ignition Fitness.

First, when you walk in you are greeted by either Jim a family member. Or sometimes nobody at all if Jim is training somebody. It is totally relaxed. Didn’t see Jim when you walked in? Oh, there he is in the corner or helping spot someone. Pretty cool. And when he is there it’s, “Hey Tim” and I’m like, “I just signed up yesterday and you already know my name!” Juuuuussst a little bit different than handing your key tag to some girl at a desk to scan it.

Second, what I like is that Ignition Fitness is no frills. Today I took my wife (secretly trying to convert her) to show her what it was like. We walked in at about 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday and there were 2 people there. This was aside from Jim running a personal training group.

It is literally like walking into your own private gym and it makes you want to treat it that way. Not to mention that you can park right in front of the gym. Not that this was a deal breaker, because I would always make fun of the people at LA Fitness in Valencia circling the parking lot trying to find a closer space. I would always yell at them (windows up and laughing ) “You’re here to work out for christ sakes, what’s a little walking going to hurt?”

And then we would park far off and walk past them as they were still looking for parking.

Third. Tires. Not just regular tires. Tractor Tires. I don’t have trouble gaining muscle (or fat) but my cardio is terrible. I get tired going up a flight of stairs and this is what I want to work on. Flipping tires must be the best (worst) way of totally exhausting someone. But in a weird way I like it. I don’t know if there is another exercise to completely exhaust you.

On the first day I was there, Jim saw me flipping tires and figured I liked them. Today when I walked in he said, “I’ll unlock the gate to the tires”. Now, I was there to do legs and shoulders and then do the tires, but now I felt I had to. Then he says something about flipping the 400 pound tire. So, of course, when I was done working out, I had to do that, right?

So I did. I did 4 rounds (4 times for those not in the know) of 10 flips with the 400 pound tire. Admittedly, I had to stop after each 10 flips for a few minutes to catch my breath. By the time i did the last round, I was completely done. Take it to exhaustion and for some reason, once you can breath normally, you just feel so good. And this after a heavy leg and shoulder workout.

Okay, signing off for today. Will try to connect with Jim Johnson in the coming days or weeks and see If I can dig in more about his personal story. For now, you can just go to their website at Ignition Fitness.

Now I need to get back to my divorce business.

Day 1 – Personal Training With James O’Rourke In Valencia

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 12, 2016

Today is my first personal training day with James O’Rourke in Valencia. That is actually a lie, because about a year ago my daughter wanted to change gyms because the training staff at LA Fitness was hitting on her and we were introduced to James O’Rourke who at the time was doing personal training at Big Johns in Valencia which has now closed.

At the time I was not looking for personal training for me (even though I needed it) but signed up with him because my daughter wanted me to work out with her. How could I say no? I hung in there for about a month or so, but when your head is just not into doing something, it sure effects your motivation. So I stopped going.

When I decided this time to start working out and to get a personal trainer in Valencia my first call was to James. When I met up with him to talk about my new goals, I could not believe it that it was almost a year ago that I started the first time.

Man, I always think, “what if i stayed then? I would be in amazing shape!” Okay, I am over that now.

Well, the reason for this article was to introduce you to James O’Rourke with Survival of the Fittest (that is his business Facebook page)

The other thing I want to introduce you to is the new gym we are at called Ignition Fitness in Valencia. I will talk more about that in tomorrows article.

How Today’s Training Went:

Today was weights day. Thank god. Not that it was easy by any means, but the cardio days can be very tough, especially for me. I am in very poor cardio shape. You know this if you read my article about my kids and I running the Spartan Race a few weeks ago. I get tired after just a few minutes.

So today I got there a little early and warmed up. For me the warm up seems the hardest. So I did 10 minutes on the stair climber just to get sweat going and it seemed to help.

Today’s workout was weights and hitting every body part. We started with 150 sit-up/crunched and then pushed this box with weight on top around the gym.

We then did 4 rounds of weights hitting every muscle group. Because you are moving from one exercise to the next, there is a definite cardio component to it. This is why I signed up. I am the guy that does a set and then takes 2 to 3 minutes of rest and never breaks a sweat.

I needed this type of workout infused into my regular gym days, where I still like to go heavy and take a few minutes break in between.

The great part about working with James is that he corrects you. Even If you have worked out since high school like I have (so for about 20 sum odd years) there are still some things to be corrected on. Today I was doing seated dumbbell shoulder presses and he said it was better to stand. I said, “for some reason, i have always sat for dumbbells and stood for barbell presses” His reply, “Yeah, that is how it was done in the 80’s!” Lol

So one day down and feeling good. I think the personal training, new gym and writing daily about working out will keep me in the game.

Tomorrow I am going to talk about the new gym Ignition Fitness in Valencia.

Here was today’s check-in on Facebook. Talk to you tomorrow.

Really, Really Starting To Work Out This Time

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 11, 2016

Okay, so I may have had one or two false starts at working out. Okay, maybe 4 or 5, but I swear this is it.

How do I know? Because I am taking drastic measures this time. Last time, I just said, “okay, time to start working out again” and then it would only last for a few days. I think I was failing because I didn’t make a real plan.

This time, i took measures for success.

First, I hired a personal trainer. I did this so I would have some accountability. The accountability is from both a financial one ( I paid up front for 3 months of training) and second, from a personal, well thought out commitment I am making this time.

I had to ask myself, “why did I want to start working out again”? The reasons this time around were about health. Health to the point of the fact I am now 45 and I need to have good health If I plan on making it to old age. That and the fact that I just have not been feeling “healthy” for a long time. And what frustrates me is that just 4 years ago, I weighed 75 pounds less and felt great.

In addition, I decided to change gyms. I thought I needed a change of scenery (and plus this new place is where the trainer does his thing).

The last thing I decided to do is to write about my progress. Not necessarily every day (although that is the goal) but often enough that it becomes a habit, just like working out.

So here we go.

Tomorrow will be my first personal training day. The last 3 days, I did go to the gym on my own, mostly just to test myself if I was really committed. These last few days I have eaten right, and even decided not to have my evening cocktail, um cocktails, which proved more challenging than I thought.

Do you know how much more you get accomplished at night if you don’t spend the time with a cocktail in your hand in front of the TV? Even now, here I am after 9 p.m. writing this article (because I can’t sleep). Usually, I would be watching TV and ignoring the family. (sorta).

But not today. Got home from work, cleaned the house, made dinner, paid the bills, watched tv for a bit with the wife and now just trying to find something to do to pass the time. Weird!

More tomorrow. Promise.

Valencia Divorce Form FL-150: How To Complete FL-150: California Divorce Tutor

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 8, 2016

Valencia Divorce Form FL-150 – Income and Expense Declaration

If you are going through a Valencia Divorce one of the forms you will need to complete is the divorce form FL-150 also known as the Income & Expense Declaration. The FL-150 is needed for multiple reason during the divorce process. Even if you are going through an amicable divorce, you will have to complete a FL-150, income and expense declaration.

Other uses for the FL-150, income and expense declaration, is when you are filing a motion, called a Request For Order. The FL-150, income and expense declaration is used for motions when you are dealing with anything having to do with money.

Super Bowl & Making A Wood Gate With My Son

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 8, 2016

I am not a big fan of sports. In fact, the only sporting events I watch are the final games such as the Super Bowl. So the family and I watched the Super Bowl yesterday, but it was just me, my wife and our son. Our daughter ended up going to a Super Bowl party with her friends. I have to admit I did enjoy it. I really liked the half time show.

I made our Sunday a son and father do-it-yourself project day. About a year ago we moved into our Valencia home and it was built around 1997 or so. I think it was the only house in the area that absolutely no upgrades were added and certainly no updates since it was built. So we have been doing lots of projects here and there.

This weekends project was the small side gate that leads to our backyard. It was in really bad shape and had never been taken care of. It appeared that all they did was put more and more paint on it. On Saturday I thought it might be easier to just sand it all down, but there was so much paint that it was very difficult to remove.

Come Sunday morning I decided it would just be easier to build a new wood gate. Something I had never done before.

So I made a supply list and headed down to Home Depot. It did not take much to make the wood gate. Just a few 2 x 4’s, fence posts, screws, hardware and some stain. It took my son and I approximately 6 hours to get the gate made. For a first time gate builder we did pretty good.

Here is the before and after with our brand new gate.

Overall it was a good family weekend. Glad to have spent the time with my son in building something. At least I got him off the computer for a few hours.

Talk to you later. Tim

The Value We Provide With Our Divorce Service Is Invaluable

Posted by Tim Blankenship on February 4, 2016

When I started this business it was to provide affordable divorce services that focused on providing great customer service and value. We provide so much value for the dollar spent that I personally feel you are a fool to go anyplace else but to our company for assistance with your divorce. No, I am not calling you stupid!

I simply feel that with our years of experience in the business and completing 30+ divorce cases every month, to having worked for the Los Angeles Superior Court’s divorce court’s that you will not find a more experienced company to assist you.

However, there are those people who don’t understand the value that given until it is too late. What I am referring to is other people out there saying they provide the same service as us when they really don’t. They are unlicensed and offering services they are not allowed to perform. Not to mention they don’t know what they are doing and are a bad example of our industry.

I didn’t mean to start down this negative rant, but this is just how serious I take my business. There are other companies out there. Sure. They might even be a little less money, or at least it appears at first. Until you start working with them and realize that you really get what you pay for.

We provide so much value for the money spent it is ridiculous. You get attorney quality assistance with your divorce for a fraction of the cost of hiring an attorney. We have handled just about every type of divorce situation there is and because I have worked for the courts, the self help centers and for attorney’s I know the process and procedure frontward and backwards.

When you hire our company to complete your divorce, you are not just getting divorce document preparation. You are getting our years of experience in the courts, helping now thousands of folks with their divorce. Sure, some divorce cases are easier than others, but some are as difficult as they come. And we can handle all of them.

Point of the story is this. There is a lot on the line when getting your divorce completed. Yes, you may be in agreement which is great. But there are so many things that can still go wrong especially related to how you handle the division of your assets and debts and what you are doing with spousal support.

You are not familiar with the divorce process and the in’s and out’s of it.

When it comes to divorce, ignorance is not bliss. It’s dangerous.