Hello

It is funny the things you think of when you are sitting by yourself 3000 odd km away from your family.

Like a blog you haven't touched since mid 2012. Oh the things that have happened in the past three years........

I would love to tell you everything but that would take me a lot longer than my attention span can handle right now. So here is a quick round up, Dani and I now have three boys! Little Isaac was born on August 12 2013, pretty sure we have our hands full with this little fella. Dani is still working at Royal Darwin Hospital only two days a week though, her full time job is looking after the boys and holding our household together. I am still in the Army, I have been promoted and now work in the Mortar Platoon. Tennyson is almost eight and in year 2 at school and Naythan is five and in Transition. Both boys are playing rugby for Casuarina Cougars and making both mum and dad proud in so many ways.
Done very brief but I will endeavour to keep up with posting now that I have remembered about this thing. Talk soon..

I'm back!

It has been well over a year since I was on blogging. In that time a lot has changed. I am still a Territory boy but currently am in Singleton NSW five weeks out from finishing my training to become an Australian Infantry Soldier. Yes that's right I joined the Army! My family and I as a result sold our house (made a nice little profit to might I add) and became debt free. The last five months have been pretty hard as I have only seen my family for a total of one week in that time and considering that in the seven years Danielle and I have been together the longest that we have been apart is two weeks and the longest I have been away from my boys was a weekend it has been tough. Saying that it has definitely made me appreciate more what I have and realize how much I truly love my family. Selling our house was a big call, but joining the Army and not knowing where I could be sent as a result added to the reasons to sell the house. So when I received my first posting and it was Darwin we were very surprised and releived. We now can get cheap housing through defence and it is good cause I am not going to be uprooting the family. Another good thing about the sale was zeroing our debt. We also had enough to buy ourselves a new car (Ford Territory) and still have some to put aside for future endevours. There is so much I need to write but I will put stuff up but I will put it up bit by bit. Anyway I will blog again soon catch ya!

What the!

Hello.....

what the.....

My mind has been thinking too much over the last week and has been a bit all over the place. That is what happens when good mates pass away. The scary thing is that it is almost 12 months to the day after another mate died....and for what. Somehow these young men need to know that there are options available. Both lads part aboriginal....coincidence??? 18 months ago I also attended another mates funeral. It seems as you get over one, another tragedy occurs.
Yesterday morning my brother Josh and I attended the final goodbye for my mate Slade McElhone. I think myself and others have been holding together pretty well but we let everything out and nothing was left unsaid. We all had our own stories and memories of Slade. I found the day pretty difficult as did others and we arrived locked in arms as a guard of honour and left the same way showing to all that none of us are alone and with a couple hundred people at the funeral neither was my brother boy.

When you are confronted with these situations it does reinforce what you have and how lucky you are. My wife and my boys are my life, I would do anything for any of them.

See ya mate, I will see you agian in another life!

On the 5th June (Danielle's birthday) is judgment day for me. I have my Police fitness and theory testing. I had a practice run about two weeks ago at a Police open day and scored 91 out of 100, getting 11.2 on the beep test and receiving full marks on everything else except for the sit and reach. This is not just going to be another job for me, this is going to be my career and something I will do for the rest of my life. I have got alot of drive to smash this test and the theory afterwards, not just for me but for my family. Danielle is working four days a week. Two days at the hospital which she loves (nursing) and the other two days at a doctors surgery doing admin work. I know that the admin stuff is frustrating Danielle and I don't blame her. I need to get into the police to give her a break and not have to do admin work for a bunch of people who don't give her the respect that she deserves.

The hospital has been really good and I have been open to them about applying for the police. They have given me next week off and have just offered me a new job which will take me up to when the police training starts in October. Everyone has been very positive and supportive during this process. So I am currently 81kg and the fittest that I have been. Unfortunately I have had a couple of niggling injuries that hopefully I can smooth out over the next week.

So the countdown is now on, it seems like I have been waiting for this test forever and it is now here. I will blog regularly over the next week to keep everyone updated on how it is going.

9 DAYS TO GO!

Onwards and Upwards!

Things are looking up! I contacted the police recruitment office in regards to my eyes and there response was

"All medical conditions are judged on a case by case basis and if you are successful in the selection process you may be offered a position with the condition that you wear contacts or glasses at all times whilst on duty."

Talk about relief! I was worried there, but now back on track. This does mean though that I am going to have to so much better than all other applicants. In the process of cracking the shits I have slipped back a few steps in regards to my strength and conditioning. I have been eating crap, not doing nearly enough exercise and when I do get off my backside only going half arsed.

This morning I went to the gym and absolutely smashed my upper body....damn even after two weeks I had forgotten that rush of energy you get when you hit the weights early. Great start to the day! Combine that with a carefully measured amount of CSIRO Protein cereal for breakfast and a homemade pasta and chicken salad out of...yes you guessed it the CSIRO recipe book for lunch and I can't really think of too many day starters better than that. Considering on my last weigh in I tipped the scales at 83kg on the dot...which is a gain of 1.1kg from my low point of 81.9kg it is time go hard or should not even bother.

Police testing is now less than two months away and the count down is now on time for me to start finalising what I need to do and where I need to be, so for the next little while I will be posting regularly not just to let everyone know how I am going but also to give me motivation to keep going and so I can look back and know that I gave it my all!

Seriously CSIRO need to pay Danielle and I some form of advertising fee or something!!!!

Lighten Things Up!

I thought that it was about time that I brighten the @#$% up, so what better way than with a prayer.....

A Rugby Prayer
Our beer, Which art in kegs
Hallowed be thy Sport
Thy will be drunk, I will be drunk
At home, As it is in the pub
Give us each day our daily beverage
And forgive us our spillage,

As we forgive those who spillest against us
Lead us not into poofy wine tasting
And deliver us from Tequila
For mine is the lager,
The ale and the Rugby
Forever and ever.

AMEN

A Slap in the Face

Hello no bullshit just straight to it. I had an eye test on Friday last week (one of the requirements for the police) and they ask for not only your corrected vision test but also your uncorrected vision ie: no glasses or contacts. With my contacts in perfect vision 6/6 which is the same as 20/20 vision. It is my uncorrected vision which is the interesting part for entrance into the police you need to have an uncorreected visual acuity of 6/19 in the bad eye, which is equivelent to 1/3 of normal vision in the bad eye....here is the good part. My good eye's visual acuity is 6/24 which is the the same as having 1/4 of normal vision, my bad eye is 6/30. If you do the math that is 1/5 normal vision.

What does this mean? Buggered if I know if you use logic it means that there will be no chance of getting into the police. Unless we spend $10,000 getting corrective laser surgery with no assurances that I will get in anyway. The police do say that they take each application and judge it on a case by case basis so my only hope is that I do everything else at 100% and they decide to give me a chance. I have come too far for this to shoot me down. I have lost the 'most' of the excess weight I have been carrying around plus courses and getting fit all for the one goal and that is to get into the police.

No more half ass bullshit from me anymore so far everything physical I have done in the last 6 months I have been pushing myself but not to the extreme, for the simple fact that if I came out of somthing with an injury or the like that put me out of the testing for the police I would crack it big time.....well guess what I have cracked it  anyway. That means that the few rugby tournaments I have played in over the last few months, the gym and anything else physical I have definantly not gone up to that final gear.. well ch chink! (noise of changing gears) full throttle from now on with no backward step. Through my life thing generally happen which make the decisions for me not any more what ever happens from now on it is because I want it to happen not because other outside events or things have changed.......This is my life............



We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving. And we all have some power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.

- Louisa May Alcott

I had a plan!

Yesterday I had a little spare time at work so I was having a scan across the net when I thought I would have a look at my wife blog to see if anything interesting was happening at home while I was at work. Something was happening and it was not good. It was a frustrated blog from my wife mixed with all other negative emotions you can think of.......read this seriously made me feel physically sick  in the stomach knowing that this was how she was feeling. Unfortunately we do not get to just sit down and talk much because of the boys, work, rugby and fitness. Here is our typical day. I get up at 5.30am to go to the gym from there I go straight to work sometimes I come home for lunch but usually I don't see my family until after 4.30 in the afternoon. Then at quarter to 5 Danielle goes to the gym and it is my turn to watch the boys. When she gets back it is a mad rush to get dinner boys fed, showered and bed. Danielle generally looks after my youngest son Naythan and I get Tennyson to bed unless he wants to go to bed with mummy. On the other days I am going to rugby or Danielle to work. Currently the weekends haven't been great family time either. Because money isn't our friend I find myself working Saturday and Sunday helping my dad with his gardening business. Any free time I get I am quite literally "Fucked" pardon the french! I know that all of our bills, lack of money and lack of time for each other are playing on both of our minds at the moment.

Anyway my plan. Mum was going to take the boys for the evening while I was at Rugby and Danielle was at work. So I thought after realising Danielle's frustration I would do the initial fitness training at Rugby then go home and give the house a bit of a once over. So I got home plugged in the ipod into the stereo, turned the music up and cleaned up. All I wanted to do was give the house a clean so when Danielle got up this morning all she needs to think about is breakfast and the boys, not the dishes, washing, floors, benches and multitude of crap that some amazingly appears before you know it. I am going to make a consious effort to try and make Danielle's life a little easier...Love you Baby.

Also I also read something about Danielle feels that she is cheating on me when she gives me a cuddle because I have lost so much weight and the good old squishy bits are dissappearing.....I have now created an alter ego aka: Enrique her latin lover.....



Tenno's first taste of Rugby

Today my son Tennyson had his first training run for the Casuarina Cougars under 5's. In this age group they don't actually tackle it is like a hybrid game of touch. Tennyson was in his element and started running with the under 7's and was loving it.

Tenno is the one on the right of the lad with the ball. Passing in a circle with the under 7's

This, like I said was his first training session, but honestly and ignore that I am a bias, proud and excited father you could not tell. He was like a duck to water. He was running, passing, kicking and even a bit of tackling. Anyway pictures speak louder than words so take a look.

Tenno with his arms out making sure the spacing is right!

A bit of agility training.

Tenno in full flight out to get a football.

 

Running with some team mates

Tenno running up to Dad to let me know how much fun he is having and to tell me what he is doing.



That's my boy the first of many I think. Well done Tennyson!

General Update

I have been really slack of late but seriously, are you suprised? Last week I came down with some random bug that the boys had which knocked me around a bit. Then this week I had the flu pretty good and I have had to take the last two days off. As with most things there is a silver lining and that was that my boys were home with me. What would have capped it off would have been if Danielle was home to but the last two days she has been working at the hospital.

Obviously being crook and living in Darwin where it rains most of the day lately there was not much outside time. But today I was able to sqeeze a bit of time at the park with the boys and this was the result.

And with this result my face was looking the same they had a ball and I don't get to do this much with my sons because I am at work all week and most weekends I am working with my dad halping out with his gardening business. So I savour these moments, like I said the perfect day would have had my wife in the middle of the boys.

Just thought I would throw this photo in because I could.

On another issue, my weight loss/fitness update. Current weight stands at 82.9kg down 13.4kg since I started this blog. It is amazing how you feel when you loose weight and get fit. We have been in full swing at Rugby doing the beep test then sprint after sprint mix a bit of impact work and ball skills followed by timed multiple 400, 200, 100 and 50 metre sprints, before I know it the oval's lights are on and we have been doing this for almost 2 hours. Add my 6am gym sessions three days a week and doing garden work with dad on weekends, I think I am on track to smash this police testing. Which might I add has been scheduled for the 5th of June......Danielle's birthday! Did I mention that the testing starts at 6am and finishes at about 4.30am..........Bugger!! Applications for the police close on the 13th of May so not long to go now. Also at Rugby training our fitness trainer is actually one of the police trainers at the college, so Matty has been pushing me at training...which I love almost like having your own personal trainer...for free!

Ok that is it for me today and I promise my next blog will have some updated photos of me. See ya!

Top End Rugby

Hello I have created a new blog called Top End Rugby. This blog will have a pile of information on both forms of rugby from the Top End and beyond.

It is a work in progress so have a look and see what you think!

Another Step Forward

Another step towards the Police is now complete.

In the Police application you need to supply a completed form which says that you can complete a 200m swim. That form needs to be signed of by a life guard or someone that holds a bronze medallion. The last time I went for the Police I did exactly that. Do I need to remind anyone that I did not get into the Police last time around.

So how did I improve myself in this regard? Well weekend just gone I completed my bronze medallion course through the Royal Lifesavers. The course went all weekend so unfortunately I did not see my family for the third weekend running but at least I have something out of it.

I have decided that I am going to put everything into getting into the Police this time. If I am not accepted this time, I will not try again! I have been trying for at least three years and I am goinig to do everything in my power to get through this time but if it is not to be I need to look at other opportunities.

"Some men succeed because they are destined to, but most men succeed because they are determined to."

Doubters!!

Yes my first blog for this year is a February blog and a slight bitch session.

Why oh why does it seem that everywhere I look there are people around who seem to just look for things that I am doing that they can tell me how much short of the mark I am. My wife 99% of the time is the reason I stick things out and try for a positive outcome. Whether it is in sport or lately my professional aspirations it seems that most people are saying good for you for trying even though you know it is out of your league! WTF is wrong with people??
If people are thinking this about what I am doing now what do they really think about my dream of becoming a police officer?? What am I supposed to start acting like a complete prick like most people seem to think all cops are like??

As you could probably tell this is starting to really get to me. As the old saying says "If you have nothing nice to say shut the #@*! up" It is funny what motivation you get when you are doing weights at 11pm....ps still training to be a cop! I am going to be doing my Bronze Medallion this weekend.

Anyway this is a good vent at the beginning of the year.

Because I have not updated my weight or anything I shall inform you that right now for the first time in my life I am now lighter than my two younger brothers @ 84.6kg, only 6kg to go until my goal and in the health BMI catagory. And yes I am slowly starting to see abs emerge from my stomach, something I have not seen since school. I would insert a photo here but our camera has decided to stop working so this is the best I can do until next time. Both shot at the Darwin Wave pool.

Weight and Fitness update!

I am still an amature on the blog scene so when I do not blog for a while just stay with me it will get better. Ok so my goal is to eventually get into the NT Police, with that I need to be in the healthy weight range but also get my core fitness up to a level where I will give the recruitment staff no choice but to take notice.

Unfortunately I am still in the 'overweight category' which sucks but I am getting there. I can't beleive I am going to do this but I am about to post some before and after photo's.

Ok on the left was me earlier this year, and mind you not even at my biggest. At this stage I weighed in at about 96kg. In my last attempt to get into the police I weighed in at 97kg. The heaviest I got to was 98.8kg that was just after we returned from Tassie in August. On the right was me the weekend just gone weighing in at 86.9kg.   

I am going to the gym at 6am most mornings try to get there at least 3-4 times a week and also the rugby 7's training twice a week to look after my cardio. The plan at the moment is to try and shed another 4-5kg by January 22. I have chosen this date because this is my first milestone, that weekend I will be playing (with my brothers) in the Hottest 7's in the world tournament which is held here in Darwin every year. This tournament has become a very popular international tournament because of the $65000 prize money involed in it. This is going to be a real test as the opposition are real quality alot of the guys playing have represented their country from time to time in tournaments such as the Commonwealth Games and World Cup events not to mention the IRB sevens competition.....pure class. If I can get through this then I will have proven to myself that I am a real chance to get into the police. Then milestone 2 is that I will be going for my Bronze Medallion in February, and milestone 3 will be my police recruitment testing in June. Hopefully the end result goes my way. Between now and then it is going to be hard don't get me wrong, right now a have hit a little hill where I am always exhausted not so much sleepy but my body just needs to recharge a little. Maybe Christmas has come at a good time for a little break....maybe! Talking about sleepy and recharging it is time to go to bed me thinks.

Rugby and Stuff!

The weekend just gone we had our Corporate Rugby Sevens comp Grand Final. Even though we finished the seven week comp in second place we still had to qualify to play in the big game against the team who finished in third spot. The team we had to play first was named Defcredit, and you guessed it full of Army boys. They had good things going for them and some not so good. They were super fit and they had enough players to field two teams but they were not the most skillful bunch of guys.

My younger brother Josh and teammate George takling a Defcredit lad.

We had a little scare in the beginning of the game and after the first half we were only one try in front. Second half started and we went up a level and they had no chance. This was a very physical game and we all felt a lot better when it was over.

That win had put us into the decider against Hot 100 who had gone through the season undefeated and the only team who had beaten us during the season.

Ready for the start of play the first photo of all three Phillips brothers on the same Rugby park. Josh closest, Zac forth down and me at the far end.

This Hot 100 team have been the favourites to take this comp out from the very first day, something we wanted to make sure did not happen. The first half of play there was a lot of physical play with flashes of speed and skill. We played hard and at half time we were all locked up. When the second half began it was like there was no half time break we started where we left off. Our biggest plus was our defence, they had the highest try scorer on their side and through the whole game he touched the ball twice. Our defence made them get frustrated and they started to give away a few penalties.

We are being awarded a penalty.

Our boys held strong and started to put some points on the board. So the unbeatable team was beaten by us in the final. What a great feeling and to do it with my two younger brothers was pretty special. I also had my wife and kids there to share the moment as well. For someone who has never played any form of Rugby Union and to finish the comp as the second highest try scorer I thought was pretty cool....10 tries. So this Rugby tournament has finished and this week training starts for the next one in mid January The Hottest Sevens played here in Darwin. This comp has a total prize pool of $65,000 so this is now a fairly major tournament on the international calander. So my fitness will continue through into the new year. Bring it on!

I should give a little weight update while I am here also, I am now sitting at 87.4kg lowest point so far. Currently feel like I have hit a little peak that I just need to push thru to start losing even more but why stop now, I have lost over 10kg since I began my fitness program. I will be updating more regularly so talk to you soon.

My Grandfather!

So I have gathered the motivation to jump on line and post something. So it has been two weeks since my Grandfathers funeral and I think it has knocked me around a little more than I would like to admit. In the lead up to his funeral all I could think about was if the town would actually give a shit about him concidering what Katherine is like at the moment. Lets just say it is a long way from the town that I grew up in.
When we arrived at the church the first thing I noticed was the cars parked all over the place. Then I walked in to the church and there were people everywhere I knew almost all of them and some a didn't. It was an interesting feeling that I had at that time, a mixture of relief and pride. The service was good there was some good stories told. Seen that when My grandfather arrived in Katherine the population was 400 we had a bit of Katherine's history mixed with my grandfathers.
When the service had finished we proceeded to the cemetery in a large convoy. It was at this time it hit me, I noticed that the police had blocked off the entire town. They were blocking vehicles from turning down the Victoria Highway from the Stuart Highway and then cleared the way through the town all the way to the cemetery. I started sobbing! I knew my grandfather meant something to this town and it was just received my proof.
When we arrived at the cemetery my brothers, younger cousins and I carried grandpa to his eventual resting place. When we put him down I looked up and saw a mound of soil with eight shovels stuck in it, then it hit me we will be burying grandpa. All the men of the family started shoveling, as we were filling the hole we were joking that he was looking down saying to God that he has finally made the lot of us do some physical work. When my family and I got back to the hotel where we were staying I started to notice the blisters on both hands and I thanked Grandpa for his last gift to me!

Back in action

Sorry I have been neglecting my blog probably too many other things happening at the moment. If anyone has been following my get fit quest I have broken the 90kg mark and now stand at 89.6kg. First time in the past 5-6 years since I was under 90kg.

I have been playing Rugby sevens over the last three weeks and I seem to be going alright. I have played 6 games and so far have six tries to show for my efforts. Considering this is my first crack at any form of Rugby Union I think that counts as a pass. It is fun playing on the same team as my two younger brothers a sense of pride to watch the two play and brotherly rivalry considering I have racked up more points than they have.

I was going to put some photos and talk about a whole bunch of stuff but the body has decided it is bed time so I shall do that tomorrow. 

Pull the finger out!

Time for me to really pull my finger out. You know when you do something and you know you are doing it well but no where near what you know you can do it. That is how I feel right now. My weight today dropped but only by 200g. Yes it went down and I exercised almost everyday last week but within myself I know that I am finishing each session whether it is at the gym or at rugby training with a little more left in the tank and in some cases a lot. My eating is good so I know that that is not the reason for not loosing as much as I thought I would. I am sick and tired of hearing people complain like I am right now about not getting fit or not losing weight and making it sound like it is not their fault but everything and everyone around them. When you are trying to acheive something like this the only person that you should blame is yourself. An example of what I am talking about is that at rugby this week I keep up with the boys but at the end when we are meant to finish off with 4 lots of 200m sprints I have been doing the first then make it look like I have pinched a muscle or something then it remarkably fixes itself and I am able to do the last sprint....LAZY....this is what I am talking about those extra sprints will make a difference and it is me that has been choosing to do this. But no more! my finger has been well and truly removed and I now have no one else to blame but myself.

My weight today was 94.4kg so like I said down but not enough for the standard I have now set myself.

"If you are going to do something, you might as well do it well"

A bit of background!

Ok I have decided that now is the time to give you a bit of a background story about myself. I was born in a small town in Northern Territory, Australia called Katherine. In the year 2000 my family and I moved to the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin. I think it was so I could complete my senior schooling at a better school. That was going ok, not that I was a star student but my grades were ok. Then in the middle of year 12 my grandfather on my mums side passed away and it hit me pretty hard. Not that anyone knew that, they all thought that I was being strong. At the funeral I had two of my cousins crying on my shoulders but I did not shed a tear. I am one of those people who don't show their emotions that often especially grief, and at this time I was in Adelaide with my mum and younger brothers and I was expected to be the pillar of strength for everyone. As a result of this mid year event all my schooling went out the door and I finished the year with N/A on my certificate. Two days out of year 12 I was in full time work, and have never been out of work. Even though I have done many things like - sales rep, storeman, truck driver, hotel manager, sports development officer, sports administrator, cleaner, cinema manager, footwear manager at a sports store, aged care worker, garden maintenance and currently a support coordinator. See why I want a career in the police! From 2002 to 2004 my life revolved around rugby league and alcohol. Towards the end of 2004 I was approached by someone from one of the NRL clubs to say that they were goinig to watch me over the next year, but in October of 2004 my drinking took over and I had a car accident where I nearly killed myself. Not recommended people!
The next year was a bit of a struggle with doctor and dentist appointments plus pain it was a new threshhold on my pain barrier. I struggle of course until I met up with Danielle in late 2005 my now wife. Danielle changed everything for me, I now had someone around that believed that I could do what ever I wanted to (with a little work) and that was huge for me. After a few false starts I now know what I want and wont stop until I get there.
Now for my top three moments of my life.

1. My wedding day was beautiful and that was just from the glow off Danielle throw in a stunning sunset, great guests and a reception dinner to die for and I think it was perfect.

2. The birth of my first son Tennyson.

3. And of course the birth of my second son Naythan.

So that is me in a nutshell so it is time to look forward and achieve all of my future goals. by the way I loss some more weight I am now 94.6kg, as my son would say down, down, down,down,down.

Today is Sunday isn't it?

Yes Yes I did say that I will post on Sunday's but I am a bloke so Sunday can also mean later in the week. Anyway straight to it my weight as of Sunday was 95.5kg which is a loss of  .8kg. A loss is good but stil not happy with that. Lets set the bar at 1.5kg loss this week lets see how I go. I started Rugby Union sevens training with my brothers Zac and Josh, not sure if I will have a run but will see later on. I am what you call a Rugby League die hard I have almost all the history you can get in books and DVD's, so union??? Hmmmm I suppose it will get me fit.

My brothers Josh on the left and Zac on the Right with my son Tennyson after their Grand Final win this year.



Also on Monday a called the police to find out when their next recruitment was and the guy I was talking to said maybe May next year, then he added but there is a possibility it could be in October! I almost fell off my chair. At least if it is October I should be pretty fit with a full season of rugby under my belt (probably still league) anyway on that bombshell, I shall take my leave. I think this quote is fitting:

'Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings'

Just a thought!

Those who are quick to criticise our generation, forget who raised us.