Christmas 2012 in Photos
in Personal
Personal
The Roast of Scott
Scott's 30th birthday is later this month, and Courtney and I threw a roast party to celebrate. She, Caitlin, Aubrey and I dished out on Scott to the entertainment of a packed room of friends and family.
If you think about it, people aren't celebrated all that often -- occasionally birthdays, definitely funerals -- and I'm glad Scott felt the love for the big 3-0. Happy birthday, Scott!
(Photos by Amanda.)
Tree Hunting at the Cox Christmas Tree Farm
in Personal
We've got a fake Christmas tree taking up storage space in the garage, and it's staying there this December as we went out to a tree farm in Pierce County to cut down a fresh tree this year.
Tree hunting is easy. Finding a u-cut location isn't. I had my mind set on a location I had driven past many times off Eatonville Cutoff Rd. on my way to Rainier but couldn't remember the name. Googling led me to the Puget Sound Christmas Tree Association (there's an association for everything, right?), which led me to Cox Christmas Tree Farm -- the place I had in mind! The website isn't much, but the operations and selection on-site is awesome.
Amanda took to the camera and I took to the saw.
For all you Snatch fans...
Paolo vs. Fraser.
The price range... most trees were between $40 and $50.
Found one!
Weapon of choice.
Time to slay the beast.
Paolo beats Fraser!
Tree butt.
You think I'd carry that tree the whole way back? Ha! That's what we pay for!
Wrapped and ready for the Jeep.
We ended the tree farm adventure with complimentary cider to warm us up for the drive home.
Photos: A Weekend in Los Angeles
in Personal
My cousin Kevin got married a couple weeks ago in his hometown of Los Angeles, and all of my Mom's side of the family flew south to attend. Amanda and I had a little time outside of wedding festivities to sightsee.
We crashed at Stay on Main, which was a hostel-like setup with private rooms and shared bathrooms. It wasn't luxurious but it was cost-effective for staying downtown.
We didn't waste time exploring.
We ate a couple times at the Nickel Diner.
Mmm...Bacon maple donut...
Amanda loved the Flower District.
Amanda scored some new shoes for the wedding.
After the wedding, the extended family went out in Santa Monica.
This is what the Pacific Ocean looks like.
This is Amanda framing herself between strangers.
This is Old Lady-attire in SoCal.
Our First 5K: The Seattle Mustache Dache
in Personal
On Saturday, Amanda and I ran our first 5K -- The Mustache Dache -- with Courtney, Jorge and some REI friends.
This wasn't the kind of 5k to take seriously, but we made an effort to run the entire 5k and finished in just over 31 minutes with 10:05 mile splits. Flannel wasn't an ideal performance fabric to run in, so I think I could easily shave (pun!) a couple minutes off my time in more comfortable clothing and perhaps without the fur on my upper lip.
Here are some photos by an event photographer of our home stretch. Amanda and I raced out the finish.
