Best Of

September 16, 2023

I ran the Pike’s Peak Half Marathon - 13.1 miles long up the side of a mountain, 7,800 feet of elevation gain.

August 26, 2023

Demolition begins. My new girlfriend, Evelyn, and I start on my biggest home renovation yet, ripping out cabinets, walls, and appliances.

August 8, 2023

I closed on my 4th house, 1st in Colorado.

July 20, 2023

Tessa makes a new best friend with the neighbor dog, Anchor.

June 25, 2023

I hiked Gray's and Torrey’s Peak, my 2nd and 3rd 14er.

May 21, 2023

I ran my second marathon, the Colfax Marathon, in Denver, CO.

May 13, 2023

I got some merch for my cleaning company. I have 2 part time cleaners doing regular work for me and the business has recently turned profitable (I cleaned the dirty mirror right after this pic).

April 30, 2023

I said goodbye to one of the best animals I knew, my cat Richard that I've had for the past 8 years (not particularly a ‘Best Of’ moment, but he was a ‘Best Of’ type of cat).

April 11, 2023

I got to meet runner and author Christopher McDougall at my local run club.

January 4, 2023

My company completes it's first cleaning. My cleaner received a 5 star review from the customer for this clean.

November 18, 2022

Quilotoa - an old volcano that collapsed and has since filled with rainwater.

November 16, 2022

I took a trip to Ecuador for a week and went on a 3-day hike to Quilotoa. I was able to see a lot of the countryside and met other friendly hikers that stayed in the same hostels.

November 12, 2022

I went to Keystone and went skiing for the first time.

October 15, 2022

I did the Manitou Incline for the first time.

October 9, 2022

I ran my first marathon, Boulderthon in Boulder, CO.

September 2022 I start Blue Flamingo Cleaning, a residential cleaning service based in Lakewood, CO. I look for cleaners to work as independent contractors and give them work booked through an online scheduling software. I struggle for a couple months trying to hiring my first cleaner though.

September 5, 2022

I hiked my first 14er and had a beer on top of Bierstadt.

July 21, 2022

I moved to Denver. The lake a couple blocks from my apartment has great sunset views.

June 5, 2022

I ran another half marathon in Ventura, CA. This time, I finally got my goal of finishing in under 2 hours.

May 28, 2022

I drove down to Ensenada, Mexico for the weekend. I got to explore, eat good food, visit wineries, and go to the beach.

April 19, 2022

My mom and sister flew out to Colorado with me to look at apartments. You can't beat the food or weather in LA, but mostly everything else was a reason for me to move. Colorado was a little more affordable and sill offered a lot to do outdoors.

April 17, 2022

Got to meet my best friend’s new baby, Ellie.

March 22, 2022

I sponsor another child through Unbound. His name is Jacobo. He is a 6 year old boy living in the same town as Yami.

March 6, 2022

Got to run with David Goggins. I participated and finished the David Goggins challenge that weekend - run 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 miles.

February 21, 2022

Went to Harry Potter World in Universal Studios. Got to try butter beer and bought a wand.

February 6, 2022

I ran my first trail run race - a half marathon up and down the hills in Griffith Park in LA.

December 4, 2021

I reunite with the man I originally stayed with when I first visited LA. His English improved a lot while I only made a few small steps in my Spanish. He calls me his hermano.

I hung out with him a few more times and even got to eat dinner and dance with his family.

October 24, 2021

I hiked Strawberry Peak in the Angeles National Forest. This was my first time hiking high enough to see above the clouds.

September 18, 2021

I discovered a sea cave outside of Malibu, CA. It's well hidden from the beach and is only accessible during low tide.

August 14, 2021

I went hiking at Mandeville Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. It's one of two off leash dog trails in LA and was only a 20 minute drive from my apartment.

This easily became one of my favorite hiking spots and I went there about 25 times in the one year I lived in LA.

July 22, 2021

I sponsor a young child through the organization Unbound, who I am now a huge advocate for. The child's name is Yami, a 3 year old girl living in Southern Mexico.

July 17, 2021

I cram everything I can fit into my truck and drive from Indiana to California. I let both pets out asking the way to stretch their legs a little. Tessa (right) loves car rides while Richard (left) obviously does not.

June 18, 2021

I attend my best friend's wedding. Nothing but love here.

It was a little bittersweet that weekend as me and a few other people in the friend group were all moving away that summer.

June 11, 2021

I fly out to LA with my mom and sister to look at apartments to move into. I sign for a unit at this one and move out about a month later.

May 15, 2021

I complete my first half marathon race. It was a virtual race, so just running by myself around the neighborhood. A little defeated that I didn't get under 2 hours, but still a decent time.

January 2021

Back in Indiana, I start a software business called Blue Flamingo. It's an online invoicing service geared towards smaller businesses. I write the software myself and get a few of potential customers to test it.

I have a hard time selling it though; there wasn't anything that differentiated it from other similar existing software. I close it down after about 6 months.

November 24, 2020

White Sands National Park, where the sand is so white it looks like snow. One of my favorite places from the trip.

November 20, 2020

I went skydiving for the first time. Such an adrenaline rush.

November 18, 2020

I visited Slab City, a lawless town in Southern California where most of the structures are made from scrap metal and trash. The people here are looking for freedom outside of mainstream society (and they're often on the run from the law as well). I befriended a famous hobo living there and got a personal tour and history of the town. We're now friends on Facebook.

I befriended a famous hobo living there and got a personal tour and history of the town. We're now friends on Facebook.

November 12, 2020

Hiking in Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas. One of my favorite hiking places in the US.

It was hot that day and I ran out of water halfway through the hike. I was climbing up a hill, not even on a trail, and I found an unopened bottle of water. Felt like something straight out of a video game.

November 7, 2020

View of Los Angeles from Griffith Observatory. I loved it so much here, I decided to move there the next year.

I stayed in an Airbnb with a man and his wife from Columbia. Neither spoke English and I didn't speak any Spanish. We talked through Google translate and quickly became friends.

November 2, 2020

Spent a couple days at Yosemite. Probably my favorite park I've been to.

October 17, 2020

Found a random hot spring off of the side of the road in Idaho.

October 5, 2020

Drive 16 miles up, then hike and scramble rocks the last 3 miles to the top of Pikes Peak.

September 28, 2020

Tessa and I take off on a 2 and 1/2 month road trip across the western US. We visit the major cities, go to national parks, and sleep in Airbnb's or the car.

September 16, 2020

I adopted Tessa - so excited she could hardly sit still and as cute as a button.

August 15, 2020

I had purchased my third home. I lived there for about a year, updated it a little, and turned it into a college rental house. It makes a little bit of money every month.

July 10, 2020

I announced the winner for the second year of my scholarship. Only one student had applied, but it was well deserved. Unfortunately, the next year no one applied to the scholarship, and I have not done it again since then.

April 11, 2020

I run my longest run at the time - a little over a half marathon.

February 18, 2020

I study for a class for my Master’s of Computer Science while my cat Richard curls up on my lap. I attempted 3 semesters of a Master's degree from a top school, but ended up dropping every class I took. Extremely difficult material and just wasn't for me.

December 27, 2019

Was interviewed by a local TV station. Didn't see it, but probably wound up on a random Japanese TV channel afterwards.

December 16, 2019

Trying fresh caught raw oyster for the first time. Different then anything I've had before, but probably one of the best things I've eaten.

December 11, 2019

Feeding the deer of Nara, where they literally walk up to you and beg you for crackers.

December 7, 2019

I went to Japan with a group of friends for 2 weeks. We did a ton of stuff and had an absolute blast.

🕺

https://photos.app.goo.gl/smZK38jopU3Ayipe8

September 16, 2019

(Video too large to upload, so just follow the Google Drive link)

I become known in my friend group as the Dancing Queen guy after going estatic over it at a wedding. One of my favorite moments with Ally and just a favorite moment in general.

July 18, 2019

We all got professional photos done at work. This was just after I got promoted from a software engineer to a project manager. I couldn't have been happier climbing the corporate latter.

June 5, 2019

I announce the winner of my scholarship. A few people had applied for it, and it went to a very deserving student.

May 15, 2019

I had bought another house. Not nearly the fixer upper the first house was. I lived there a year, updated it a little, and sold it for a modest profit.

April 24, 2019

I withdrew $500 from the bank. I went to my old high school the same day to announce to the seniors that I had a $500 scholarship. It would be awarded to someone that created a programming project - a website, a game, etc.

October 2018

Replacing the whole roof on my first house by myself. I had bought an old house, lived there for a couple years, fixed it up, then sold it through seller financing. Probably my single best investment to date.

July 10, 2018

Running with a pair of shoes until they almost fall apart. I did the same thing with the new pair. This is when I first started to get into running.