It has been a month since my last blog and when I started this blog my intentions was to update it once per week. It has been a very busy time for me, but in a great way! Here at 3DMJ we have been excited about the progress we have made with the site. I wanted to take this time in this blog to reflect back on the 13 months since starting the site.

January 2009
I decided to come out of retirement and comeback to the contest stage. The initial idea was to document my journey with a video from start to finish. The idea was given to me by my wife's uncle, Miles Nelson, back when we were visiting him in Santa Fe, Nm back in December of 2008. Little did I know making a video is a lot of work and after about 3 days of filming my wife and I decided to start a website instead. The site was to be mainly for my family and friends to track my progress as I made my way with my journey to the contest stage. I needed a name for it and I firmly believe in the 3D's of natural bodybuilding - dedication, desire and discipline and back in 2004, I reserved the domain name 3DMUSCLE.COM, I had a vision back then of starting an online magazine, but I just did not have the resources or the connections and I did not want to use this name for my personal journey. So, after thinking about it for a while I realized it is a journey to get to the stage, hence www.3DMUSCLEJOURNEY.com.

May 2009
I started "The Natural Movement" to try and promote everyday athletes as well as inspire others to train drug free. Today we have 51 athletes on the site.

June 2009
On June 20, 2009 I had my 38th birthday and I also became a pro natural bodybuilder. This was an exciting day for me and my family. I remember writing my first contest report after the show and lets just say it was like competing for the very first time.

July 2009
I competed in the INBF Capital City Naturals and I was the lightweight winner. I was very fortunate to have all my family and friends in attendance as it was probably the best show for that reason! I also was fortunate to get to know Eric Helms, Brad Loomis(whom I met back in 2006), and Alberto Nunez.

August 2009
I went to Washington and attained my WNBF pro card with the push from Head Judge Wade Brown. I had no intention of going to Washington and I am glad he talked me into going for a few reasons. First, obviously I won my pro card. Second, I got to really know fellow coaches Eric Helms and Alberto Nunez. I also gained a friendship with INBF Washington Heavyweight Winner Luke Ehlis. Third, if I never went to Washington, I do not believe TEAM 3DMJ would exist today because I really got to know Eric and Alberto backstage. Thanks Wade Brown!

September 2009
I decided to start the featured athletes section on the site. My first athletes were none other than Eric Helms and Brad Loomis. All of a sudden I was doing photos, video, and interviewing. I have no experience, so it was very challenging to try and give these athletes the quality recognition they deserve. To this day I am still learning as I go! I remember before Eric and Brad's photo shoot I was at Eric's house and Eric and Alberto approached me with the idea to start contest prep coaching on the site and at first I was hesitant with the idea, but it did not take me long to open up to the idea.

October 2009
On October 31st TEAM 3DMJ was officially launched! We had a meeting to discuss plans of a contest for 2 athletes to receive a sponsorship by 3DMJ.

November 2009
TEAM 3DMJ launches the sponsorship contest and it was a huge success as over 30 applicants applied.

December 2009
The sponsorship contest came to a close and the winners were announced on New Years Day!

January 2010
Jason Bosak and Richard Knapp were selected as TEAM 3DMJ's first ever sponsored athletes to receive free online contest prep coaching. In the mean time the site was continuing to grow with more athletes and articles.

February 2010
This is the month where things really are taking off! I received information that the site is featured in Ironman Magazine. My wife called me after work to tell me and I told her I did not know anything about it. I went to 4 stores to try and find it and I finally found it at the 4th store. I picked up the magazine and turned to page 160 and there it was! I have won many bodybuilding shows in my career, but the feeling I had when I saw that was definitely my proudest. Thank you Eric Broser for writing that article!! I feel like our TEAM has really done something special for the sport of natural bodybuilding and the other athletes. Since that article in Ironman the site has made so much progress and everyone at TEAM 3DMJ are working extremely hard to give back to our sport. We want to see the site keep growing and we are adding more athletes, guest authors, fitness camps, future seminars, and much more.

As I reflect back it all started out with a personal journey to a contest stage. Now, it has grown into my dream of a real online magazine and I could not have done it without the collaboration of my fellow Teammates Eric Helms, Alberto Nunez, Brad Loomis and the many followers we now have. It truly has been an equal effort to make the site come alive! I also want to thank our co-editor, Eric's wife Barb for making sure our articles and features are of high quality. And finally, a very special thank you to my wife, Jhanna, for inspiring me and helping my dream come true. She has really supported me through all the good and bad times. Without her push, I do not think the site would be where it is today. I love you with all my heart!!

Moving towards the future, 3DMJ plans on making an impact in natural bodybuilding, so stay tuned. Until my next blog, keep training hard and naturally!!