Our First 5K: The Seattle Mustache Dache

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.

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Sean and Caitlin Engagement Photos

I had the privilege of shooting some engagement photos for my friends Sean and Caitlin for their wedding save the dates. Here are some of my faves from our Tacoma waterfront shoot.

New Zealand in Photos: Part 2

Ah ha! I knew I'd find the remaining New Zealand photos (See Part 1)! Here are the last remaining shots, mostly from the Parnell suburb of Auckland and Cornwall Park/One Tree Hill. Obviously, Sergio took many of these.

First, this was the winery directly underneath our lodging.

I believe this was in the Ponsonby suburb.

Here I am in Parnell.

Enjoying coffee and free WiFi (hard to find!) in Parnell.

This is Sergio's happy place: Renkon.

These next photos are in Cornwall Park, which is something like a hilly Central Park.

Did I mention it got stormy?

On our last day, we figured out logistics for the flight home and I had a chance to catch up with Amanda over Skype. As much as I loved New Zealand, I was looking forward to getting home and seeing my wife!

Gianna's Post-Bath Crazy Run

Whenever we give Gianna a bath, she gets a little sad during the process. She must be thinking, "Guys, I worked hard to get this odor right and now I have to start all over!"

When we take her out of the tub, we unleash a little monster. Border collies don't like to be still, and she must save up so much energy in those 10 minutes of standing that she's ready to burst when she sees a straightaway. Unfortunately, that straightaway is the distance between our kitchen and front door. It's her own little post-bath autobahn.

We don't wonder why our fir hardwoods have so many scratches.

Ode to Nespresso CitiZ

Finally, after three and a half years of being a roommate, my brother Sergio has made a significant contribution to the household. That contribution, the new peace in my life, is the Nespresso CitiZ with Milk machine.

Nespresso is like the Apple of the coffee world. The CitiZ with Milk is like a shiny, new Macbook Pro. The machine has an incredible design and delivers a superb product. You should see the creama on the espresso shot. Oh, the crema! The milk frother can make for a cappuccino or latte in about 30 seconds.

Nespresso came into our lives by fate. When Sergio and I were in New Zealand in February, we stayed at guest house on a winery that had the CitiZ with Milk. It took no time for us to grab an espresso capsule out of the cabinet and witness the magic. We ran through all of the available capsules halfway through our stay -- probably averaging three to four espresso drinks each per day -- and had to find the owners with tails between our legs to ask for more capsules to get us through the remaining days. It was as if we got into the cookie jar before dinner.

Now that we have our a Nespresso machine at home, we can indulge! See the glory in these photos.

Look at that crema!

Look at that foam!

Making an almond milk latte.

The best part of waking up is Nespresso in my cup.