A Windy Ride Through the Desert Today marked my first real ride in quite a while—and Arizona made sure I remembered what it’s like. Nearly 100 degrees and a steady wind out of the southeast made it feel more like a resistance training session than a ride. I could...

When we first moved into our home, it was the middle of July and blazing hot. In the corner of our tiny backyard stood a single fruit tree, its branches heavy with small, green fruit. We didn’t think twice. “It’s a lime tree,” we assumed. The fruit looked like...

I’ve settled into a good morning routine lately—lacing up my shoes, stepping outside, and taking a three-mile loop through the neighborhood. There’s something about walking the same route each day that feels grounding. Predictable, but not boring. Familiar, but still full of little surprises. Most mornings, Angie’s with me....

Since the day we moved in, I’ve had one lingering backyard dream: a sprinkler system. Not the hose-and-timer workaround I’ve patched together for four summers, but a real, buried, zoned, push-a-button-and-it-works sprinkler system. The kind that says, “This yard is going places.” But there was one problem: the only water...

On July 5, 2012, our lives changed forever when a little ball of fur came running into it — literally. Some friends found her wandering alone, likely scared from the fireworks the night before. We searched for her family, but no one came forward. So, we became her family....

Easter weekend in Lubbock was a sweet mix of family, memories, and a few new moments that made it all the more special. Braden and Sarah already had plans to be in town visiting her parents, so it worked out perfectly to see our son while we were visiting...

Every year, like clockwork, our uncle flies out to Scottsdale for his annual guys’ golf trip. And every year, we get the same invitation: “Let’s do breakfast or dinner while I’m in town!” It’s become a little tradition—Angie and I finding the right night to meet up and settling in for...

Finally on the Trail: A Long-Awaited Backpacking Trip with Braden For years, Braden and I have tossed around the idea of going backpacking together. Every time we’d talk about it, it felt like one of those “someday” ideas—always out there on the horizon, always subject to the tides of...

When I moved to Arizona, I thought I had left behind the dream of lush, green grass. Summer in the desert is a scorcher, and most lawns turn to crunchy patches of brown or are replaced entirely by gravel. But then I discovered winter grass. It felt like a...

Helping Kyndal and Kevin Transform Their Backyard This weekend, I had the chance to help Kyndal and Kevin with a backyard project that turned into something pretty special. Their backyard started as a bed of rocks—rough, uneven, and not exactly inviting. They had a vision, though: a green, welcoming...