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We decided to show John how much we love him on Father’s Day with a big messy hug.

We just finished our first ever Couples Retreat here in San Diego. Take a look at the photos below…click to enlarge…look for a caption on the lower left.

We got back earlier this week from a nice long trip to Georgia. I’ll dig through my photos later and find some good ones to share. In the meantime, check out this photo of my brother-in-law Matt. My buddy Jeff snapped this photo after Matt dominated a surf competition in San Diego.

Matt, the King of San Diego

While other eighth graders are squandering their last summer before high school with mindless video games, Matt is in the ocean surfing like there’s no tomorrow. Matt’s the man!

My wife is an impulsive photographer. She will carry Norah into the other room while she’s looking for her flip flops. Fifteen minutes later, I get curious and explore the house to see what happened to my two ladies. In the corner of the living room, I’ll find Norah laying on a black blanket by the windows. Candyce will have the camera on a tripod. She snaps photos with one hand while shaking a baby toy with her other hand. I’ll ask Candyce, “Didn’t you come in here to find your flip flops? I’m confused about what is happening here.”

Candyce continues to snap photos and shake the toy and then slowly explains, “She just looked so cute I couldn’t help myself.”

Whenever Norah had on a particularly “precious” outfit, Candyce would carry her outside and trample through our front yard to our neighbor’s yard. Then she would lower Norah onto his flawless thatch of green and start snapping photos. Why? My patchy brownish yard was a raw and savage terrain that was not fit for an infant.

This hurt my self esteem.

That was two months ago. How things have changed! Take a look at the photo below that I snapped over the weekend. The black Jeep in the distance is the driveway belongs to my neighbor, the young doctor who has unknowingly hosted photo shoots with Norah. Sure, you can see a minor shift of texture between the two yards, near the white planter box. But make no mistake, that big ocean of green that covers most of the photo is my own yard.

Greenalicious

I cannot take credit for nursing my yard back to health. I can only take credit for hiring Marcel & Associates to do the job for me. After nearly eight years of home ownership, I recognized that life has changed and I did not have the time to take care of my yard.

Now my yard is ready for a photo shoot with Norah. If any of my friends and family want to take some photos on a flawless yard, just give me a call and we’ll arrange a time.

Yesterday we ran in the Pat Tilman Run in downtown Tempe. Candyce and I trained for a couple months to build up our endurance to finish the 4.2 miles with strength. I knew all along that we could do it, but Candyce had never run in a race that long and had her doubts whether she could run the whole way. Her fear was enough to make our training intense and consistent.

We are the champions.

The run was beautiful. It was exciting to cross the Tempe Town Lake and run through the south end of Papago Park.  I was proud to push Norah in her running stroller because I love my little girl and I want her to experience this kind of thing. (Note to self: start the race with the 7-minute miler because the 10-minute milers are really just walkers who are delusional.)

The stands at Sun Devil stadium were packed with cheering friends and fans. We crossed the finish line with great sense of accomplishment. We ran and we ran hard.

To celebrate, we met friends and family who also ran at La Grande Orange for a festive brunch. There were dozens of other runners there, all sporting their race number pinned to their chest. The place was glowing with pride. This is why I’ve become a huge advocate for these road races–because it builds pride in yourself and in your community. Plus, exercise makes you look hotter and live longer. What could be wrong with that?

I will avoid chastising people who do not exercise, because I understand that it’s difficult to keep exercise as a top priority in your life. It’s rare to find an adult who has exercised consistently throughout their adulthood, that is, unless that someone is a professional athlete. There are just too many big life experiences that demand your attention. My post-college years were active for sure–working in the yard, on the house, traveling–but I wasn’t getting my heart thumping.

Lucky for me, life changes. Candyce and I have been married for two years, and we’ve run several times a week through most of those 24 months. It’s a huge part of our lifestyle together.  We enjoy the weather, nature, and looking at the beautiful homes in our neighborhood. We talk to each other and share about our day. It’s wonderful. For the past seven months, I’ve had the added bonus of buckling baby Norah in the running stroller and pushing her down the streets of my neighborhood. She loves adventures outside of the house, and that makes me and Candyce happy.

Norah bundled up in her stroller on a cool evening, taken in January of this year.

Today we’re not running. We’re relaxing and letting our bodies rest after yesterday’s race. We’re feeling good. …I know that hot summer months are coming and they aren’t the best condition for running. This makes me sad if I think too much about it. Candyce and I have talked about how it will be more difficult to exercise as our family grows in the years to come.  I imagine that our life together may get more complicated as our years unfold. Who knows if we will be able to continue to exercise as consistently as we do today? I certainly don’t. But what I do know is that Candyce and I will always remember these first two years together as being blissfully active. And we’ll always be pressed to recreate this feeling for the rest of our life together.