Tom's Tales

2010-05-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

2008-10-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend was the Marine Corps Marathon. Here are some photos of the race that totally rocked me. Ill write more when I get some more time but wanted to get the photos up.

The Ultimate Sports Weekend

2008-09-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend, Labor Day weekend, I had the best sports weekend planned. Two of my favorites, Utah football and US Open tennis. I planned this months ago and it was able to work out perfectly. I hopped on a flight to Michigan Friday after work, met up with Jason and Adam in Detroit and got ourselves ready for the big game. We stayed in the rinky dink Fairfield Inn but for 35 bones a night, I wasn't complaining. Jason's wife Molly printed us out an awesome red U for our rental car. You can see us putting it on our car. We thought for sure it wouldn't last through the night but it did. We woke up and cruised over to the game. We got there hours before and walked around and checked out all the tailgaters. Michigan knows how to do it when it comes to fan support and making a day out of a football game. We kicked it at Sportsradio booth that gave us free food as we mingled with all the Michigan folk. We entered the gates 90 minutes prior and the Big House was quite a site. I was impressed with their fans....they get there early and wear tellow and blue. Take note Utah fans. The game was...well you all know how it was. AWESOME. It was super hot but quite the experience. After the game, we slowly made our way back to the car. One of the highlights of the day was running into these drunk Michigan fans. You can see the photo below. Only Jason and Adam can truly understand how funny these two were. The photo below really depicts these two characters to a "T". We got back and Adam really wanted to go to White Castle. No offense, but my slider was the sickest thing I have ever thrown down my throat. I made them take me to get some real food. So we went to Carrabba's as I got some real food. Well, as real as Carrabba's can be. We ran into another funny Michigan fan, Holy Toledo, who enjoyed talking to us about the food. All in all it was an awesome day. I then woke up the next morning at 5:30 as Adam took me to the airport to catch my flight to New York. I sat next to Ute fan going to NY as well. We split a cab into town and by ten in the morning I was kicking at the Marriott Marquis in our room overlooking Times Square. Jenny and Tyler showed up shortly and we were off to the Open. Hopped on the 7 Subway and we were there shortly after noon. We watched over 12 hours of tennis as we stayed passed one in the morning watching Djokovic beat Cilic. The best part about it was that as we got in to Ashe Stadium, I found some tickets on the ground by the garbage. Upon further review, these were 210 dollar tickets. So I snaked them, convinced the other guys we could get in and fifteen minutes later we were sitting on like the tenth row just eating it up. We were all dead tired but could not pass up such great tennis. We finally left and got back about two in the morning. After a quick trip to Rays for some pizza we crashed. Monday we woke up and my contact at the USTA hooked us up with night tickets that night. So we took it easy that day, just walking around then made it out for the evening session. The matches were a little dull but still fun to be there. Then on Tuesday, Jenny and went for a run in Central Park which was totally awesome. We then made it for day three. This was awesome as we were able to see Federer play in a five setter that was one for the books. It looked as though he was going to lose but hung on to win. After that we watched Roddick just annilate Gonzo. By then it was time for us to catch our midnight bus back to DC. We packed up our things, caught the bus and pulled into DC about 3:50 in the morning. All in all, it was an awesome trip and I couldn't have designed it any better!

Elton John

2008-07-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we ventured up to fine, classy establishment called Atlantic City for an Elton John concert. I first found out about this months ago and was able to secure some tickets off Ebay. Jenny was the only who expressed interest so we only got two. It ended up being her birffffday present so the two of us cruised up there Saturday morning to fight the 95 traffic.

It took forever with all the traffic but finally made it to Ocean City NJ to chill on the beach for the afternoon. After some floating lessons and some New Yorker on the beach we left and made our way up to AC. We checked into the Fairfield Inn, thank you Marriott, got ready and jammed over to the beach.

We kicked it on the Boardwalk for a while and then went in. Elton came out and rocked it for a solid two and half hours, no intermission. He played all his hits which included a 20 minute version of Rocketman. Words can't describe the concert. It was money. The guy next to us guarenteed that we weren't even born when he first heard Elton. He was indeed right. So we brought down the median age at this concert by a good thirteen years but who cares. It was some good stuff. After ending with Your Song, we were out and on our way to hit the tables of AC.
I played 21 for no more than five minutes and made out with thirty extra big ones. Yeah, I'll take that and run. I know I'm a high roller.

Another cool thing about AC was that it is where all the names of the Monopoly game were originated. We couldn't help but snake a photo of some cool street names.

All in all, it was a fun weekend as I was finally able to check off Elton from my list. Next month, Neil Diamond!

Birfffffday

2008-07-18T20:33:00.001-07:00

I know what everyone is thinking...how is this guy 28 years old? I look barely 20 in this photo!

We were at the theater close to an hour before and we were only able to get the back row. We did get a lot of comments about our shirts though!
This was right before we got drenched in the sudden downpour while golfing.

Here are some photos from the big day yesterday. It was a lot of fun which included donuts for breakfast in bed, getting dumped on during golf, Cheesecake Factory and of course a midnight showing of Batman.

Lab Rats

2008-07-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

So earlier tonight Jenny treated me to a night at the lab. She has told me for months how she performs surgeries on rats as part of her PhD studies. I told her that I wanted to see this first hand to see what it is that she does all day. So I met her outside the Basic Science building at G-town and she took me to her lair. We went downstairs to pick up our rat that she ordered weeks ago. He was buck white and too innocent to be taken to the grave later that night. So Jenny injected him with some some anesthetics to put him down. There he lay flat on the tray as I picked up the scissors and tweezers...and the gouger! See below.

I then made the cut on his underside and cut him open, making the incision about two and a half inches. It was at this point that I got light-headed and not thinking straight. I then blacked out and hit my head on the granite table. I was quickly recessitated and back in action to perform the surgery. Okay maybe not...I didnt even step back. Then I made a tranversal cut and peeled back the skin to see his inards. I then cut through the tissue to see all his organs. I about choked on my own throw up but swallowed it quickly. All this time, he is still alive, just sedated by the sweet juices. I was promised he was not feeling any of this...hmm. He started to twitch as I made some cuts. It reminded me of the time I killed a rat while in the Phili's but this was a little different. Jenny then proceeded to explain to me all the organs and what not. Later she removed the heart and placed it on the tray as it literally continued to beat, unattached, for a good five minutes. She then removed the brain and showed me that, including how the brain works. After a bit, we dropped him in a bag to be disposed of and we were out!

All in all, it was quite fascinating learning about all the organs and performing surgery on a little rodent. Maybe, there will be a second time!

Out West

2008-06-30T19:47:00.001-07:00

So a few weeks ago, I went home to Utah for a week to spend some time with the fam and see some friends.

Here are some photos from the weekend that included lots of hiking, beating all my buddies in golf, tons of donuts, tennis, Hangtime, goldfish throwing, storytime, Nielsen's concretes and just plain kickin it. The sure highlight was seeing four grizzly bears while waking up at five in the morning to see some grizzlies. It was money int he cash bank. Dad, you taught me well after all those years of waking up and going to the EconoMart in West for Hostess donuts and chocolate mile on our way into the park to look for grizzlies.

Sorry for the lack of text in this post but I had to rid my blog of the Duck Beach. (That's for you Amanda!)

DUCK BEACH

2008-05-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

DUCK BEACH 08!

So this last weekend was the annual Duck Beach extravaganza. This was my second time going down to check out the scene. The first time I went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, I thought it was money. I drove down strictly for the reason so I could take my truck on the 4 wheel drive beaches...otherwise known as the Dunes. Let me just tell you that it was money...I'm talking 401k style. The weekend had a lot of good highlights but mainly just being a beach bum for four days. The weather was great and the beaches were even better. Here are a few of the photos from the weekend. For some better accounts check out my peeps Rachel and Destiny for their take on the weekend.

Beach football...count it!There was some serious Rock Band had

Baked potato line

Party at our house that broken up by the cops at 11:30

Colton getting stuck outside and trying to get him out
Cruisin up on the Dunes and seeing the wild horses

Chillin on the Dunes!

Marathon Saturday

2008-05-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

So this last Saturday, my friend and I Michelle woke up at the crack...literally before the crack of dawn to go downtown to shoot some sunrise shots. This all sounded like a good idea but when you stay up to watch the Jazz beat the Rockets when the game starts at 10:45 and ends after 1:00, the 4:50 alarm comes a little quick. I zipped downtown and got there about 5:30...yeah I was tired. We took some shots up by Iwo Jima and then went down to the Lincoln. After that we zipped over to Union Station to finish up our shooting. Union Station was a little tricky but still fun. Anyway, Michelle thought it was funny that I was having a hard time closing one eye while focusing the camera. I'm still working on closing one eye but for the time being, I had to do what I had to to get it done. I'd do it again if I had to. This is all an effort to get me closer to buying my own Canon 40d which I hope will be shortly because when I go out, I want to be able to use my own weapon andn become more and more familiar with it! All in all, it was way fun and can't wait to go out again! Oh, and by the way, I shot with a Nikon...I'm not a fan.

After shooting, I had intentions to play golf but it didn't work out but I was still able to squeeze in two different tennis matches sandwiched with an epic ping pong battle that lasted over an hour. Then topped off with a Chipotle burritto...yeah life was good!

Camping...second weekend in a row!

2008-04-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

This last Friday I went camping...yes second week in a row and it was some good stuff! Largely in part of the food that we had. I swear everything tastes better when it is cooked in the fire...you could even cook some weavels in a fire and it would taste good. We only hiked in a mile from the car but with all our gear it worked out a'ight. We got there with an hour to go before sundown. We pitched our tent and gathered some wood to start the fire. Cassie made these tinfoil dinners that were absolutely money. After that, we made rolls that we roasted on sticks, banana boats and peach cobbler. Yeah, we ate like kings. We then crashed into my 1.5 capacity Spooner Sooner tent and went to bed. We arose to the sound of a symphony of birds at seven. We started another fire and cooked our breakfasts. These things were so tasty...better than the dinner. They had taters, sausage and eggs with cheese on top. I can say without hyperbole that this was the best I have ever had. We then packed up our things and headed home. Being down in the commonwealth, I had to stop off at Wegmanns to get four, count em, four boxes of donut holes. The camping was some good stuff and I'm halfway thinking about going for the turkey...three weekends in a row!

After getting home, it was such a nice day out that I had to get out. I met up with Destiny and we went for a bike ride down Rock Creek. We did the whole trail...about 25 miles. We ended up in Georgetown from Rockville and stopped off at Trader Joes and got some Ben and Jerry's ice cream as we pounded the whole thing as we sat in a park. I didn't even feel guilty one bit for eating that huge thing. Biking back I was feeling it a bit but I'd do it again if I had the chance!

2008-04-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to this presentation/screening/roundtable at the REI store here in Rockville. I bought these tickets expecting to see more of a movie but it turned out to be more of a presentation. But this thing was money. This guy, Chris Warner, is known throughout the world as one of the better high altitude climbers. He talked about his experience climbing K2 last summer where NBC filmographers filmed he and his crew going up the mountain. They were up there with many people from all over the world. Many summitted as it was the highest number of people that summitted in one year, all did it in one day. He talked about bad weather, death, lack of food, greed, deceit, heroics, personal accomplish, style and so much more made this an incredible story to hear. It reminded me of climbing Kili in 2006 and how I want to get back on a mountain...hopefully Elbrus!

This ain't no petting zoo!

2008-04-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend, I went camping out on Assateague Island. Yeah, I too thought that this was a cuss word until I moved out here. This is a skinny island off the coast of Maryland where you can camp on the beach. Yes, camp on the bizzeach. I booked a spot last month and have been looking forward to it ever since. Everyone in my original group bailed on me but that didn't slow me down. I went out with some other peeps that alreay going to be in Ocean City and staying in a hotel. I was able to pull a few and get them to camp on the beach. Another cool thing about this little gem is that there are wild horses that roam the island freely. Okay, so maybe they're called stallions. I actually tamed one, road it bareback along the soft sands of the beach, as I rode shirtless. Okay, so maybe that's a stretch but these horses were everywhere. Being a National Park, I felt like I was back in Yellowstone looking for grizzly bears as I did for so many summers growing up. This place was off the food chain. I've already got my next tripped planned out there where you can rent canoes and canoe back into this canoe-only campground further down the island. After cruising the island, we went back to Ocean City and I went for a long run along the boardwalk and checked out all the trash in Ocean City...and I'm not talking about litter. After the Thrasher's Fries, we were off and back to DC.

Kickin it Family Style

2008-04-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend, my dad and Rebecca came out to spend a weekend together, DC style. My dad hadn't been here in close to two years so it was good to see him and so he could get a sense of what DC is like for me. We spent quite a bit of time downtown as you can see here as we caught the tail end of the cherry blossoms.

The next day, my dad rented a bike and the two of us hit up the Capital Crescent Trail as we biked from Bethesda to G-town and over through Rosslyn. It was some sweet nectar as I always love getting on a bike.

My dad then ran into Hilary and convinced to get in a photo with her and her pant-suits.

Doing the standard cherry blossom pose along the Tidal Basin. This was like the best tree as the blossoms were slowly floating away.

Taking a quick snooze as Rebecca gets her shop on at Anthropology in G-town. Not the funnest thing to do....I'm not gonna lie.

One of the bonuses when two visitors come out to visit me is that we all get to cram into my truck. With my dad and my sister, it makes for a tight fit. The best way to rig it is to have my dad drive and needless to say it was not fun tooling around DC in that small of space but hey, we're family right?

We hit up 2 Amys for some kind pizza of course, donut and a hole...I already ate the hole!

Here we are kicking in in Chinatown after our money dinner at Indeblue. We all had some kind grub but when my dad ordered the pan-seared tuna, we were a little surprised. When the food came, he looked at it and wondered why it wasnt cooked all the way through. The server was nice and offered to cook it all the way through. Needless to say, it was still money in the cash bank.

Here we are kickin outside talking to Colton getting the skinny.

Here Rebecca is doing what she does best...being a tool as she asked for photos every other minute. But I guess I am used to it after these years.

When all the dust settled, it was a great weekend and was glad we could all kick it. Ever if I had to wake up at 4:30 this morning to take Rebecca to Dulles and my dad to BWI and squeeze in a full days work. You know I'm going to sleep like a Siberian minx. Click on Rebecca's link to get another perspective on the weekend:

http://www.ruby30.blogspot.com/

A Long Long Saturday

2008-03-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

The alarm goes off at five in the morning yesterday as I struggle to wake up and turn it off.

Yesterday, I was all about soaking in all what living in a fun city has to offer. I must admit that living in the DC area has its perks. I love the area and love all the exciting things there are to do around here. So yesterday was a day in which I was able check out the city and participiate in some of its activities. It started off bright and early to the tune of 5:00 in the marnin'. I got up this early because I signed up to run the National Half Marathon. I did this last year, and this race is somewhat special because it really was the first race that I ran in my short running career exactly one year ago. So I ran it with two of my buddies, Lyle and Gerald whom I met while working at my last job. The weather called for sunrise temps in the high 20's so I packed my thermals but did not use them. It was a clear morning but definitely brisk. The atmosphere was electric as runners prepared for the race to start. I felt like I could have trained a little better for this race but I had a goal in mind of 1:50. Just walking around prior to the race I was reminded why I love running so much. We were all set and crossed the starting line. All three of us disbanded within a quarter mile of the start. The first few miles were pretty packed with people as I felt like a was bobbin' and weavin' across the asphalt. Again, I was reminded why I love running as I chose not to listen to my ipod as I could hear the pounding of the soles hit the asphalt on a cool brisk morning. The first few miles were of this course were great. Running along quaint neighborhoods by the Capitol, passing the Library of Congress and Supreme Court, the US Capitol, the Washington Monument and along the mall for a mile or so. Then through some great parts of downtown as we plowed through Dupont Circle and on to Adams Morgan. Again, I was reminded of why I love running. About mile nine, I saw this row of port o johns with a line about ten deep. I saw this lady frantically running around these as if she were trying to break down the door to let herself in. After getting frustrated, she went around behind the port o john and in clear view of me and Im sure dozens of other runners, dropped "trou" and did her thing. Was I reminded about how much I love running....maybe not then but it was one for the books! About mile 10, I started to stagger and I knew that I was on pace to tie my record so I wanted to step it up. The last few miles were tough as I honestly thought I was going to throw up as I kept pushing it. As I got nearer and nearer, I knew that it was going to be close. I realized that I was not going to get my goal, but the possibility of beating my old PR was still possible. As I made the last turn, I was dying but had to continue strong. I crossed the finish line with a time of 1:54...one minute better than my last half but still short of my goal. I was hammered! All sweaty and temps in the 40's I was freezing but still just happy to be done. How did I ever run twice this far???

After hanging out afterwards for a bit, I left and headed downtown to fight the crowds at the annual Smithsonian Kite Festival. I had never been to see this but being on the Cultural Events Committee for church, yeah that was Cultural Events...it's a step above the Activities Committe. We organized it. There were so many people down along the mall and the whole sky was filled with kites, as shown below.

I even took a stab at flying a kite. I'd seen the Kite Runner, so I think I could handle it. I think I got the form down but it soon got tangled with another kite, not that there weren't hundreds of kites to get tangled with but whatever.

After trying to fly a kite, we walked over to check out the Cherry Blossoms, being in peak bloom. This was a mob scene! There were so many people cruisin the Basin checking them out. My one buddy, shown below, has lived here his whole life, and this was his first time seeing the blossoms in effect. (Sorry Paul) He was giddier than a schoolboy!

All this time, I was just dying to get home and rest, or shower or something. After that, I met up with my friend who rigged her 7 thousand dollar camera again for the weekend to shoot the cherry blossoms. So we cruised the Mall searching for some good photo ops. I logged another five miles just walking up and down the Mall snapping photos. We then made it to the Tidal Basin as we snapped some good shots at sunset. I unfortunately don't have any photos from that yet but, I definitely got some good ones. That camera is voice activated and it even duals as dry cleaner. It's kind of a big deal. We then wrapped it up about nine and again, I was wasted! My legs couldn't go on. We then grabbed a bite to eat at Lebanese Taverna which was less than disappointing due to bad service, a hair in my food, and a non-caring manager. I finally got home and hit the hay! All in all, it was a good day and made me feel lucky to live in such a cool city!

Feeling like a Big Dawg

2008-03-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

So one of my friends works for the National Archives as a digital archiver. I am starting to enjoy photography more and more over the years and want to keep working on it. She digs photograhpy too so some of us went downtown the other day and did some "shooting." She was able to rig her work camera for the weekend. This is no ordinary camera. This thing maxs out at 7 Gs on Ebay. This was kind of a big deal. In many ways, this was my first day at the circus as I tried to capture some tiny morsels of photography. It was a great day but definitely on the windy side. Here are some of the shots and let me just say, all I had to do was say "shoot" and this camera could make anyone look good! The crazy looking ones were taken at the new Air Force Memorial.

Happy Birthday Jack!!! Three big ones!

2008-03-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

Jack turns three big ones today and here is a special shout-out to my main Jack! You look fine Jack!

Saturdays

2008-03-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

You gotta just love Saturdays! This morning I woke up and laid in bed for thirty minutes or so and just loved that it was Saturday. Finally got out of bed a little before eleven. The weather outside was just kind as could be. So I decided to go for a run to get ready for this half marathon that I signed up for in two weeks. Really haven't trained well for it but I needed to get out today so I decided to head out and ended up cranking out nine miles and some change. It was just the perfect day for a run....high fifties and a slight breeze. I stopped off at the Giant at the halfway point to get a drink from their drinking fountain and turned around and headed home. It felt good and I always love the feeling after a long run. Now it was after one o clock and still had not had breakfast. No big deal. So I cranked up the griddle for some french toast. Just stacked the toast six deep and drenched it in syrup.

She was good...real good. Breakfast at 1:3o is normal right? Then I wanted to go biking but the mountain bike park was still closed for the winter and had to settle for something else. Golf perhaps? Yeah, that works. Just the perfect day for being outside. Hope there are plenty more Saturdays like this one.

Banff Mountain Film Festival

2008-03-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

So last night I decided to go up to Baltimore to check out the Banff Moutain Film Festival that was making its way through the area. I knew very little about this but it sounded cool. Going into it, I thought I was going to leave pumped up and ready to move back West where they have "real" mountains. We left early because it was a little disappointing and I had to wake up bright and early for tennis the next day. But the real action came on our way home. I was with Blake and Paul and Paul was at the helm. We didn't know exactly where we were going because we were looking for 95 south to DC. we were heading south on some side streets and we felt we were getting closer. We made a wrong and turn and next thing we knew, we were the only car around. Paul, trying to figure it out, went screaming through this red light! Realizing this halfway through, he slammed on the brakes and starting reversing as if to reverse all the way through to "make it right" I told him, the damage was done and to keep moving. We then come around the corner and we see this blue light flashing on top this pole as if a crime had just happened and not to come close. What do we do..get closer and next thing we know, we are stopped at a red light and I kid you not, there were about six or so foos just chillin and staring us down. Paul locks the cars as we try to wonder what is going on. We are trying so hard not to laugh but was rather easy because I think we were all a little spooked! Then, this guy in a orange puffy coat was looking at us and moving closer towards us. Then two people crossed the street right in front of us not five feet in front of us. They were all eyeing us! The light was still red and we had no where to go! There are few things I know in this life but I know that these guys were sniffing the pixy stix if you know what I mean. The only thing that was going through this guys mind was "357" or 8" blade? So the light turns green but the two guys are right in front of us and won't move. So Paul weasels his way around them and just leaves a patch right there on the crosswalk and we were out of there! Needless to say, we finally found the freeway and made it home safely. We did however catch the name of the street...Dolphin Street! Word of the wise...don't hit up Dolphin St this side of Baltimore!

Our neighbor

2008-02-25T16:41:00.000-08:00

So, I am sure that not many of you know what this is but I swear that if I were to open our neighbors door, this is what I would find. In the trade, I think they call it a "meth lab." I am fully convinced that something fishy is going on across the way because the last few months have been downright strange. More and more people go in and out of that place at all hours of the night. Late nights, hearing people go up and down the stairs and pound on the door, I can't tell you how many times my roommate and I have peeked through the peephole to see the action. All we've seen so far is a case of beer in one hand and perhaps some kind herb in the other. I'm just waiting for the day when the place goes up in fumes or down to chopping block to put an end to this. Needless to say the owner is cool guy who tells us openly about his drug addicitons and how he's trying to quit but just can't do it. For the mean time, it's good entertainment waiting to see what happens next!

Jogging....or maybe it's yogging with a soft j

2008-02-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

So I try to hit up a run every Saturday during the winter to stay somewhat in shape because it's the only time when I can run when it's light outisde because I ain't no fan of running in the dark. So I generally do the same 4.8 mile loop and for the last two months I have been shooting to get my time under 38:00. The closed I have come was 38:04 which was about a month ago. Yesterday I went out not planning on doing the same loop because I haven't been running in two weeks. But as I checked my time, I decided to do the full loop. I couldn't believe my time, especially after pounding those donuts last week in NYC. As I came down the home stretch, I looked at my watch and I realized that I was going to make my goal. As I returned home I looked at my watch and to my surprise it read 37:20! I couldn't believe it after not running for two weeks. This is why I am addicted to running! For you runners out there, you smokin' what I'm rollin? (D Money)

Vantage Point

2008-02-22T21:51:00.000-08:00

So earlier this night a couple of friends and I went to go see this show. This actually looked like a show that I wouldn't mind seeing on opening night. I was kinda looking forward to it. Well, let me just say that that was ten bones that I won't ever get back...and I really want them back. It was very disappointing. It had a Groundhog Day feel to it but not funny at all. Dennis Quaid turned Terminator could not be stopped, even when it seemed there was no way for him to keep going on, he kept going on. There were times when the whole theater was laughing at this movie. Last time I checked this wasnt supposed to be a comedy. I'm just one cog in the wheel but myadvice is to wait for the DVD!

New York City!

2008-02-20T19:23:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK CITY

This president's weekend was the annual trek up to NYC for Toy Fair and to kick it with friends and family. The theme of the weekend was good eats! We went to some great restaurants that I can't wait to go back to. Another highlight was going to see Conan OBrien! That basically changed my life but outside of that it was no big deal. He pointed me out in his warmup act before the show but once the cameras hit, I was no where to be found. I was able to take my camera with me and get some cool shots of the city which I always enjoy. All in all, it was a good time.

Just a little bit full after some tasty Carribbean food!

A little fun with the camera

Perhaps the best doughnuts I have ever had!

Yes, that is a real ninja!

El Pastis for brunch

Kickin it at Ninja!

Again, the best doughnut those lips have ever touched!

NYC!!!

Just after eating some French food

Shots in Soho

Ben and Jerrys with my cousin from Seattle

The Doughnut Plant!!!!

Gobblers Knob!

2008-02-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it's true. I made the trek up to Punxatawny PA to see Phil himself and I was not disappointed at all! We made the four hour trip up there from DC and got there at about one in the morning and crashed at the local LDS branch which was packed with people. Don't worry, the Branch President was down with it....or so I heard. We went to bed at two, got up at five and braved the freezing temps and walked over to the Knob to see all the yahoos get riled up over a groundhog...yes a groundhog. The Inner Circle arrived and Phil was close. They cranked the music up and it was party time. Being totally clouded over, I thought there was no way Phil was going to see his shadow but as they read his prediction, he indeed saw his shadow which lead me to believe that the whole thing is rigged. It was still a good time nonetheless! We then hopped in the car and cruised home. We stopped by a roadside diner in the middle of Home PA which was classic as seen in the photo. All in all it was a great trip and well worth a glance at Phil!

CHI-TOWN!

2007-11-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

So this last weekend I met up with my two sisters Emily and Rebecca in Chicago. This was a tradition started last year in DC and this year we thought we would work the Chi-town angle and it was some kind stuff. We were able to take advantage of Rebecca's work hotel, even if that meant that I had to sleep on the 18th floor concrete slab! I met up with Rebecca on Thursday night and Emily cruised in the next afternoon straight from C-ville.

NERD ALERT!! (Matching sweatshirts)

One of the highlights was all the kind food we ate over the weekend. We had some good pasta from Rosebuds and then on Saturday night we went to this newer restaurant in town that was off the food chain! We took it as a good sign the we could only get a reservation at 10:00 at night. Little tough for Emily because that's what time she goes to bed but for Rebecca and I, the single folk, night's just get underway!

Another highlight was going on an architectural boat tour along the Chicago River. This was something I have been wanting to do for quite some time and finally was able to do it. Another extreme highlight was my divine deseret at my introduction to Grand Lux Cafe. This thing was the bomb.com! It was two slices of rich fudge cake filled with chocolate chips with two scoops of ice cream and top ped with chocolate sauce. It basically changed my life and gave Linda a run for her money! On Friday night we all went to a karaoke bar to tear it up. This was a lot of fun as you can see on the video as I tried to bring the house down...Sweet Caroline style.

Yeah, I know I''m tone deaf but it's all about having fun! Emily's first time was nothing but butta as she duet'ed with Rebecca to Madonna. Don't believe me, just watch the video!

The only downside was taggin along with them while they got their shop on all weekend long along the Mag. Mile working the Anthro and Diesel angle. At these times I would just go take photos of the great architecture of Chicago.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and we already got plans for '08...bean town style!

New York state of mind - Marathon style!!!

2007-11-06T17:31:00.000-08:00

4:24!!!!!

These numbers will stick with me for quite some time. Many moons ago Rebecca talked me into signing up for the NYC marathon. Yes, it was in a moment of weakness and I don't know what I was thinking. But after following to the training schedule, almost to a "T" it was time to ready to ROCK and ROLL! I hopped on the Greyhound bus and cruised up to the Big Apple on Friday night. I got into town and checked into my hotel. The rents were already there but were staying at different locales. Rebecca got in late that night and thought it would be fun to talk my ear off at three in the morning. Finally she got the net and I was able to fall asleep. We woke up Saturday morning and cruised over to the Javitts Center to meet up with my mom and Marc and my dad. We got our bibs and it became official... we were really going to do this. So a few hunny later (on lame photos, videos and apparel) we were out of there before I could drop more money. We then met up with Emily who flew in last minute for the festivities. So there we were, the whole crew chillin in the Big Apple. We went to Carmine's to carb up for the big race. After that, we transferred hotels. This will be a recurring theme to take advantage of the employee rate that is offered now that I am gainfully employed by Marriott. So after that, we chilled a bit and then went to dinner at a fun Thai place out of Times Square. After mapping out the points where the family was going to be, then changing it two times over, we were ready to say goodbye, knowing that the next time we see them would be while running in the greatest marathon in the world. So we got to our hotel and got everything ready. We all finally crashed about 11:30. We set our clocks accordingly for the time change and we were off. In the morning we started to prepare by pounding some fruit, bread and a lot of water. We hopped on the subway down to the Staten Island Ferry and to the start. Things were getting tight! After hearing the starting gun, we waited 35 minutes for us to cross the starting line and we were off! It was a great day for running. At the four mile mark we saw my mom and Marc which gave us a huge boost. Then at mile 8 we saw Emily and my dad as they took this photo: Then at mile 12 we saw my mom and Marc again. We were supposed to see Emily and my dad at mile 15 but a Subway sandwich got in the way of that and so we missed them as we crossed the 59th Street bridge. We ended up not seeing our family until the finish line which was a BUST. We cruised up First Avenue with all the tall buildings lined up the roads and thousands of others. It was truly a sight to see. After a quick dip in the Bronx we were headed towards the finish line in Central Park. I broke away from Rebecca as the crowd picked up their intensity. I had to dig down deep but spuratic chants of "T-Love" kept me going to the finish line. (I taped "T-Love" with athletic tape on my shirt right before the starting line and it was the best thing I ever did!) I finally approached the mile to go mark and the crowd was louder and louder. They really made me feel like a world=class athlete, which I most certainly am not but it was such a great feeling coming up that stretch of Central Park and seeing the finish line. As I crossed the line, I couldn't help but think of the 2500 bones which I helped raise, all the aches and pains, doctor's visits, losing the seven pounds that I don't have to lose, the nipple bleeding, the early morning runs, the 100 dollar new shoes and everything else....IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT! Check out my results here by punching in my name:

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/results/index.php

I was happy with my time but now I have something to shoot for the next one! It is up there with some of the happier moments in my life and was truly an incredible experience. It was so great to have my whole family there to share it with me. This has gone on for too long so I will wrap it up. For a better recap, check Rebecca's blog at:

http://www.ruby30.blogspot.com/

Halloween!!!

2007-11-06T17:15:00.000-08:00

Princess Jasmine!

Old Man Rivers still lives!!

I have heard a lot about spending Halloween night down in Georgetown along M street and I figured this was the night to put it to the test. Let me just say that I was not disappointed! The scene had a feel that was similar to Times Square on New's Year Eve and a somewhat Mardi Gras (although I have never been to Mardi Gras). I met up with some friends and after pounding some grub we hung out on the street and just "people watched". It was the coolest thing I had seen in a while. I could not believe some of the costumes that people put on. It felt like I was on the set of a horror film in Hollywood. Some of these were not able to be captured on film but I did my best so take a gander at some of these costumes!

Big Pimpin!!

Is it Really Worth it???

2007-10-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

The other day while I was training for the marathon and cashing 15 miles on a training run, I noticed some red substance on my shirt about a mile before finishing. I thought to myself, what could it be? Well, sure enough it was my right nipple bleeding from the long run. It was not all that painful and I did not notice it for some time. Later that same day I was holding my shirt away from my chest to keep the pain down. It made me wonder, "Is this really worth it???"

Paris

2007-09-18T17:06:00.000-07:00

Rebecca doesn't know how to take a decent photo!!!

Who needs the Kwik E Mart???

2007-07-15T13:07:00.000-07:00

In anticipation with "The Simpson's the Movie" coming out later this month, 7Eleven partnered with the movie to turn 12 7Elevens across the country into Kwik E Marts. Once hearing about this, I quickly found out that there had to be one in the DC area. Sure enough there was! One day after work, I cruised up there to scope it out. I can say without hyperbole that this was a hundred times cooler that I had thought! Take a look at some of the photos. I felt like I was living in Springfield!

Enjoying a Squishee with Homer

Running into Marge outside

Rollin with Ralph

"Chillin" with the old man in the freezer.

My other shirt is clean

Chief Wiggum doing what he does best.

All in all, it was a total blast as the place was totally packed with people taking photos. Trust me, I was not the only one! I bought my own box of Krusty O'a, Buzz Cola and much more. Too bad there was no Duff! Thank you, come again!

4th of July!!!!

2007-07-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the 4th of July weekend where Rebecca came out and we spent the weekend together.

Chowing down a Chipotle burrito at the pool! She was good...even the leftovers on my cheek

I owned Rebecca while out running...she better kick it into gear for the maraffffffon if she's going to beat me. And yes Homer was not happy about her running time.

Biking along the Potomac

Again, I owned Rebecca as she complained, whined, moaned, griped and complained the whole way as our goal of 40 miles was accomplished by me but she could only account for 16.

On our hike above the Potomac and Shenendoah rivers!

Weekend trip in Utah

2007-07-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from my trip back home to Utah the other weekend. It was a last-minute arrangement but I was glad I was able to go. I spent a lot of time with Penny which is always really good. It was also fun because Emily was back for a friends wedding so we were all able to spend time with each other. Some of the highlights included eating at The Paris, sibling sleepover at Rebecca's, shopping, swimming, Utah Arts festival, listening to a complete tool talk about Greek mythology and how it relates to Mormon mythology at Penny's class down south. Good times as always!

NYC Marathon

2007-06-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

On November 4, 2007, Rebecca and I will be running the New York City Marathon! We applied with 98,000 others in May and anxiously awaited the lottery results, which were posted on June 12. Rebecca was accepted but I wasn't, so Rebecca worked the system to sign me up to run through Meals on Wheels. The catch? I have to raise $2,500 big ones between now and race day. Click here to check out my personal website to learn more:

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=230680&lis=0&kntae230680=DA1D6728DC1A47859A20F1958D14C24B

I was first inspired to run a marathon when Emily and I flew out to support Rebecca during the Salt Lake City Marathon last summer. I ran 5 spontaneous miles with her with no troubles. Earlier this spring, I ran a half marathon and survived. So I felt that another 21.2 miles would be a "piece of cake." We'll see. Above are some photos from my previous races but that was just a 10k and a half marathon so we shall see what happens! Just remember:

LIFE IS A GARDEN....DIG IT!!!!

Lawyers Have Heart 10k

2007-06-10T19:23:00.000-07:00

So this last Saturday, I decided to run another race and see how much I have improved since my first race. My running career started last December, when at the spur of the moment, decided to run a 10k with no training. My goal was just to finish without stopping. Well I did my at a time of 1:00,04 I felt there was a lot of work still left to be done. So this being my second 10k, I was curious to find out my time. The race was located down in Georgetown and it was a great morning for a race, albeit on the hot side. There were thousands of runners as we started the race. Click here to see the map:

http://www.runlhh.org/_assets/pdf/LHHRaceMap%202007%20Final.pdf

The first part was not all that bad but as I made the halfway point and headed back towards the finish line, the sun started to heat up. This made the race brutally difficult as I was trying to keep my pace up. The stretch from mile five to six was not fun at all as we were out in the open with the sun beating down and being magnified by all the surrounding concrete. It was a difficult stretch and at times, I felt as though I needed to stop. But I told myself to keep going. I did pass the finish line with a time of 54:14 so I was able to improve by about six minutes. I was shooting for 52:00 but with the heat and the water stops, I was not able to make it but I do feel good about it. Check out the results:

http://www.runwashington.com/results/searchable.html

So after that, I was checking out the report on the race and was looking at the photos. To my surprise, I made the website write up! Check it out and look at the second photo towards the left at the guy in the yellow shirt and red shorts! Not all that impressive but it's a start!

http://www.runwashington.com/news/jun07lawyersrpt.html

Livin' it up with Penny...DC style

2007-05-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well, after many months, I finally got my ultimate wish as Penny came out over Memorial Day weekend to spend the weekend together. This was something that I was looking forward to ever since she came home from Oakland and perhaps longer. We definitely packed it in with the limited time that we had and all the fun stuff that there is to do out here. It was filled with fun events, good meals, lot of humidity and heat, linda's fudge cake, picnics, canoes and a whole bunch of other stuff. We had some good times being that we were on our own and were able to spend the most amount of time with each other.

Joe's Ride and Stride

2007-05-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

I signed up for another bike ride in Olney, Maryland. It was another 30 mile ride and it took a little over 2 hours so I am getting faster but still not all that fast. It was a great morning for a bike ride but a little chilly, hence the beenie!

Bike to Work Day

2007-05-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

BIKE TO WORK DAY

As part of National Bike Week, I decided to join the fun and ride my bike to work. I mapped out a course and set out on my ride a little after 6:30. I anticipated it taking about two and a half hours and somewhere in the range of 25-30 miles. I woke up numerous time before my alarm due to my excitement and the time finally rolled around. I got my stuff my ready and headed on out. It was a little on the cold side so I sported the long pants and long shirt motif. I avoided the rain which was a bonus. I was surprised that I did not see more people along the way. When all the dust settled, it was a little more than 29 miles into work and about 2:45 in time. It was a lot of fun even though I was at a snails pace!

Celebrating at Freedom Plaza with the rest of the bikers!!! It actually happened to be right outside my building.

Much needed pit stop in Bethesda where I filled up on a banana, juice and a bagel!!

Tour de Carroll

2007-05-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I decided to do a bike ride up in Carroll County which is up near Pennsylvania. I signed up for the 30 miler but due to a detour, I ended up almost in Amish country and turned back around. It ended up being a six mile detour so when all the dust settled, it was 36 miles and change. It was a great day for a bike ride and some great scenery. There were a fair amount of hills which made it tough at times. I maxx'd out at 30 mph at one point and averaged about 12 miles for the whole ride. It certainly did not seem like we were just an hour outside of DC. Most of the photos were taken while I was riding so bear with me. Hopefully there will be more bike rides in the future!

Easter and Zooobieland

2007-04-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

I was able to go home over the Easter weekend to spend some time with Penny and see some of the fam as well. With Rebec, high-tailing it to Scottsdale for some sun and shopping, I was able to stay at her house which was a total hook-up. It was nice as it seemed as though I had my own place. I got in Thursday night and Penny picked me up at the airport and we went to PF Chang's. We were able to spend some quality time over the course of the six days that I was there. We did such things as shopping, picnic lunch up Millcreek Canyon, Easter with the fam, trip down to zoobieland and much more. It was a lot of fun. Here are some photos.

Cherry Blossoms

2007-04-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

So living in DC, you get to see some pretty cool things. Every spring the cherry blossoms come out and if you can brave all the tourists, you can see some pretty cool stuff. The other day after work I cruised down there to take some photos. I went there last year and it seemed as though they were more pink last year but they were still pretty cool. So take a gander at these!

Viva Las Vegas!!!

2007-03-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

So with the pressuring of Rebecca and since we are both currently unmarried we decided to do a weekend in Vegas that was off the hook! Although I live on the East Coast, I was able to find a cheap flight for the weekend that would put me out in Vegas Friday night with plenty of time to spare in time for the main event - Rod Stewart in all his glory and skin-tight tapered jeans! He was playing at the MGM on Saturday night. We walked the strip Friday night and then Saturday morning we prepared for our half-marathon the following weekend by cashing in a hard ten miles and change in the hot heat of Vegas as my dad followed us in the comfort in his blue Chrylser minivan. We finished our run and were ready to hit the pool. We transferred hotels from the hole which was our hotel room or otherwise known as the Tropicana to the Monte Carlo mainly due to their nice pool area. After soaking up some sun at the pool and Rebecca getting hit on three different times by some toolbags, we got ready for the Scottish Dream himself. We pounded some grub at Smith and Woolensky's and walked down to the MGM. Although we were both on the younger side of the scales in the crowd, is still sweet to see the man, the myth and the legend. Rod came out rockin singing to "Tonight I'm yours" and he never dissapointed us from there. He sang all the classics as he was twirled the mic-stand and serenaded some of the blue hairs that were in effect. All in all, the concert was off the meat chain, and it was a concert to remember! Sunday was pretty low key and pretty soon I was on the red eye back to DC and straight into work. When it was all said in down, Vegas treated us right and it was some good times!

Half Marathon in DC with Rebecca

2007-03-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

So since I have decided to get into running a bit, I thought I would test my skills in a half marathon to see how I would do. With the support of my sister and my fellow travelling partner, we hit up the 2nd annual National Marathon in Washington DC. I signed up in early January which would give me close to three months of training. January was pretty good but I kind of took the month of February off. I also ran into some knee problems with my old shoes so I had to get some new ones. I didn't think that would make a difference but it certainly did. I was back on the mic and ready to rock. After building up my long runs and cashing in 10.5 miles in Vegas last week, it was officially go-time! Rebecca flew in on Friday afternoon and we carb'd up at Maggiano's last night to get fully prepared. She was not the most prepared but gave it a go anyway. We finally got to bed a little before midnight after Rebecca pounded half a bag of Cadbury chocolate eggs. I slept on the couch and was awaken at 4:15 to Colton's alarm clock. After that not going off, I went into my room and slept on the floor but failed to fall asleep until our alarm went off at 5:00. We got all ready and hit the road. It was a misty rain and a little chilly. We got lost on our way there and literally parked the car five minutes before the sound of the gun. We passed the Capitol, Washington Monument and other such buildings. When it was all said in done, we finished the race without stopping. Click here for the results and a course map!

http://www.nationalmarathon.com/Results/2007.asp

We came home and feasted at Cheesecake Factory as I had a slice of Linda's Fudge Cake and we came home and crashed. All in all it was a fun race and was to check that off the list of things to do. Who knows, this may lead to a full marathon!

First out of the shoot

2007-03-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

Well this is a shot to see if this thing really works so here it is. Representing here in DC so let me know what you think. Holla back!