Missing You

I just realized today that I miss a lot of people.  And I mean a lot.  If you are reading this there is a good chance that I miss you.  I feel like every time we see anyone it has been too long since the last time we saw them... is that normal?  I guess that is not one of the perks of moving away from the place you are from.  Josh and I feel like we are in such a dilemma because we love living in southern cali but we pretty much have no hope of ever having family down here :/  I will be recruiting people from here on out, you have been warned.

My Loves

November 4th was the day I got to reunite with my favorites.  Our lives are all so different now, we are in such different life phases, and yet it's still the same.  We have the kind of friendship that you kind of just know will always work and will always be there.  That's why even though we always wait too long, longer than any of us like, it doesn't matter.  I love catching up with these girls and I love who they both are.

I. Love. Us.

Halloween Weekend and Soccer Soccer Soccer

On Halloween weekend Josh and I met some friends in Belmont Shore to watch the LA Galaxy play and more importantly to eat some food :)  We also lucked out because a dog costume parade just happened to be going on and who hasn't always wanted to see that?

LA GALAXY has had a really good year apparently and it's a big deal because the finals are set to be in LA which doesn't happen very often... at least I think that's what Josh said.  So he has been going to all the games and I even went to one that I kinda liked... weird, I know. And they just won the western conference finals so that means just one more match to go against the east coast and they could win the MLS cup.  Do I sound like I know what I'm talking about? Cause I almost feel like I do.

Bolsa Chica Wetlands

Last weekend Josh and I took Zino for a walk at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach.  We had really been wanting to go there and found out there are walking paths that dogs are allowed on.  We parked by these really awesome new homes that overlook the ocean and this made me very jealous.  The walk was so pretty and even got most of Zino's energy out which is quite a task.

Towards the end of our walk the sun was going down and we were veering off the beaten path a little to try and get back to the car faster.  That's when Josh noticed a coyote.  It was totally stalking Zino and it was very creepy.  This was one well fed coyote too, it was probably the size of a lab...even more creepy.  I ended up carrying Zino and Josh ended up chasing after the coyote despite my frantic cries of how it was going to attack him! We made it out alive though and here's proof:

Zino Loses His Manhood

On Friday, October 21st, I took Zino back to the Downey Shelter to get neutered.  We had had this appointment since we bought him two months ago and it seemed so far away.  His manhood was ruining pictures of him and it was not cute.  We were ready for this, although I did feel bad leaving Zino at that Shelter again :(

This is him after I brought him home.  He was a little out of it for a couple days.

We don't know why but surgery made him snugly... he couldn't get enough snuggles, which is ok with us!

Zino had to wear the cone collar while we slept and worked to make sure he didn't lick his stitches.  He didn't mind it much actually, but it made me laugh every time he had it on.  For your viewing pleasure:

The worst part about his surgery was that he wasn't supposed to exercise for 7-10 days and Zino has A LOT of energy.  I felt bad for him but also for us because we found out that the walks are as much for us as they are for him.  We go on lots of long walks with him throughout the week and it had become a nice bonding time for us where we kind of relax, talk, unwind and get a little exercise in.  We really missed it.  At the one week mark, yesterday, we started the walks again.  We feel better already and so does Zino :)

King's Game

Josh got a couple tickets from AAA to a Kings Game on October 18th.  We went to the game with Allen and Mercedes (Allen works with Josh).  Hockey is one of the few sports I like to watch... but only live.  This game was especially fun because AAA paid for the tickets and the parking :)  We got to sit up in the VIP box and enjoy the Kings clobbering the Blues.  Check out the score, 5-0... that made it fun too.

Megan & Ryan Return

On October 14, Megan and Ryan came back down to Southern Cali after moving to Atascadero a few months back.  They came down for a wedding Megan was working in San Clemente and stayed with us all weekend.  We have definitely missed our game nights and movie nights with these two. 

We pretty much had only one day together so we spent it well.  We went to the Crab Pot, which I heard was amazing, and I'm not gonna lie, it really wasn't amazing.  It was borderline gross even.  Sorry guys, my bad idea :/  But it was a cool experience and we got to wear some cool bibs.

We also went to the farmers market and bought some hats and some cheese and olives which we later stuffed ourselves with.  That was some good cheese.  Then we watched a movie which turned into a nap for me, whoops.  It was gone too soon, but we snuck in some good memories.  We miss you already, come back soon!

Quick Visit with Meagan and James

Meagan and James came down to celebrate their anniversary at their favorite place, Disney Land!  They cam over to Long Beach on October 9th, just in time to pick Josh up from his flight returning from Utah... have I mentioned we have been crazy busy? 

I absolutely love when Meagan, James, Josh, and I get to spend time together.  We have had a few times together over the years and while they are always too short they are packed with laughs and good times.  I only wish they lived closer because we sure do love them and there is nothing like a sister :) 

Meagan and Zino bonding

Delicious Elephant Bar, which is not a steakhouse by the way ;)

Can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving!

Kelsie Date

Friday, October 7th, my long lost Kelsie came over for brunch.  She got to meet my Zino, who loved her... as you can see, he jumped right on her lap

We went to Schooner or Later, right on the water in Long Beach, one of my favorites

It was so good to catch up with one of my oldest friends, I sure did miss her.  We were so sad that Lauren, the other part of our threesome, had to work like a grown up.  I am too excited to meet up with the complete group in less than one week!

Grill Friends Reunion

On October 6th I got to meet up with my "Grill Friends", otherwise known as the girls I went to dental hygiene school with :)  It was sooo nice to get together again.  I was used to seeing these girls every single day for two years... we were beyond close, and now everyone is off doing their own thing.  We knew this would happen but it's still kinda sad.

We fell right back into how things used to be and talked and talked for the next few hours over some Olive Garden and Starbucks, just like old times.  We are going to try to meet up more regularly and I sure hope we do cuz I miss these girls!

Jackie, Melissa, Me, Joni, & Jenn

Las Vegas

Jamie had never been to Las Vegas before so it was my job to show him around a little.  AAA put us up in the Palazzo which turned out to be amazing.  The room was super nice and we had an awesome view of the pool and the strip. 

I took Jamie to walk the strip the first night.  We got to see the main sites and my personal favorite, the Bellagio fountains.  We also stopped by Serendipity to get a frozen hot chocolate, which I've always wanted to try.  I got the original, aka the Fro Ho, and Jamie tried the white hot chocolate, aka Vanilla Chilla.  These became our nicknames from here on out ;)

The next day we went to the Sugar Factory which is kind of amazing.  There is still a whole lot of stuff I want to try from this place.

We also stopped by the Coca Cola store and tried their cokes from around the world.  There are about 16 to try, 4 of which are pure disgustingness, a couple were really good, and the rest fall somewhere in between. 

Then we went to the M&M store where I made Jamie watch a free 10 minute M&M 3D movie, haha.  But it was a cool place to sit for free and take a break from the heat outside :)

That night we went to see Mystere, a Cirque Du Soleil show, at Treasure Island.  It was a pretty cool show. It was funny, awe evoking, and creepy... very well rounded :)

We even had time to go to Fremont Street to watch the light show in the sky and eat a shrimp cocktail.

It turned out to be a nice trip.  I'm glad that I got some one on one time with Jamie... that almost never happens.  He has grown into such a great guy.  He is more mature than I ever realized and had such a big heart.  I am lucky to have him as a brother.  Love you Jame!

Josh's Utah Time

Josh, Jamie, and I drove down to Vegas late Friday night, stopping in Primm to sleep.  On Saturday, October 1, we were due to check into the Palazzo for a trip Josh won through his work.  Before we left Primm Josh got a call that his mom had had a stroke and was being taken to the emergency room.  It scared us all to death.  We knew right away that Josh would never be able to enjoy a weekend in Vegas while his mom was having serious health problems 6 hours away.  Josh's brother, Brandon, was nice enough to meet us in St. George and take Josh back to Utah to be with their mom. 

Loretta had a lot going on before the stroke.  Her father passed away about a week earlier and she had knee surgery about 5 days prior.  Needless to say, her body was under a lot of stress.  She happened to be in a rehabilitation center for her knee when the stroke occurred so she was extremely close to the hospital. 

We are so so thankful that Loretta is doing much much better now, but it really was a scary time.  Strokes are never something to be taken lightly.  Josh got to spend the week in Utah with his mom and attend his grandfather's funeral the following weekend on October 8th.  It was so nice for Josh to have had the means to stay the week and support his mom.  He was so cute about taking her blood pressure and monitoring all the readings.  He even read through the instruction manual and learned all about systolic and diastolic blood pressure and what means what.  I even overheard him on the phone with his dad when he got back explaining how to take the blood pressure right :)  Josh got some quality family time in which is sometimes hard to come by.  And he feels even closer to his mom than ever, which I love.

The Rents Visit

September 29th, my parents brought Jamie down to Long Beach so that he could go with Josh and I to Las Vegas for the weekend. Mom and Dad were kind enough to watch their grandpuppy for the weekend.  Although we only had about a day and a half together, we fit in some quality time. 

We saw a movie, Money Ball, and it was really good actually. 

We ate at Cafe Rio of course.

We got frozen yogurts.

We got to go to the temple.

We ate at the amazing Sanchos Tacos in Huntington Beach.

We took Zino to the dog beach.

And we even fit a little snuggle time in :)

Zino's Grandma made him the most amazing blanket... I have to admit, I thought it was a little too good for a dog.... sometimes I try to use it and when I get in the fetal position it almost works :)

Dog Sitting

Since Josh and I like to use the blog as basically a journal with photos to keep track of our lives, I will now attempt to chronicle what has gone on in this past busy month in my next few posts.

Saturday, Septmeber 17, was the first day of our dog sitting fiasco.  Word to the wise: don't ever think that you can take on two dogs in a tiny one bedroom apartment.  Maybe to some people that is common sense, but Josh and I thought it would be a cake walk.  We had been doing so good with Zino!  Josh has a friend from work who, like us, is married and lives in southern California with no family down here.  They also have a dog and love to travel.  They usually put their dog in an expensive kennel but Josh and I had a great idea, we would offer to watch their dog and then we could watch eachothers' dogs whenever we traveled. 

Everything went well over the weekend, aside from a couple accidents, and we were quite pleased with ourselves. Then came Monday when we had to go to work.  Josh goes home for lunch to find we have a complaint on the door and apparently the dogs were having a hay day barking together non-stop!  Oh-boy.  Josh tried separating them but when he got home that night we had ANOTHER complaint! We were stressing!  You can even get fined for dog barking :/

Thankfully Josh's friend, Shannon, happened to be home on maternity leave and had a nice backyard where she watched the other dog for us the next couple days.That saved us from getting evicted! Oh and did I add that Josh got a speeding ticket while taking the other dog to Shannon's one morning? Ya, it was hell.  And we still had the dog til the upcoming Sunday, so we had to constantly be home since they had proved they couldn't be alone together, grrrr. Moral of the story? We will not be able to be dog-sitting buddies until we have a house and a yard.  We really need to get on that one.

Here are a couple pics from the nicer moments:

Breakfast

Today I had a day off work and decided to eat something different for breakfast than my usual oatmeal with peanut butter that I have been having for three months straight!  I love oatmeal because it keeps me full and guarantees that I eat at least one healthy meal in the day ;)  So today I used my love of oatmeal and turned it into an Oatmeal/Blueberry/Banana Shake and I was quite pleased with it.  This is what I did...


Take 1/2 cup oatmeal and put it in a microwave safe bowl, then pour milk over the oatmeal till the oatmeal is almost covered... I'd say about 3/4 cup.  Then microwave for 1 1/2 minutes to soften the oats. 

Dump the oatmeal mixture in the blender

Add Blueberries and bananas (or any fruit you like)

Add about 1/2 an ice tray and blend

Add milk to thin if needed... I did


This made my tummy happy, but I would only recommend it to oatmeal lovers.  If you're looking for a new idea, give it a shot!

Weekend Fun

Last weekend we took our puppy boy to the vet for his booster shots.  He handled it like a champ :)  We have been struggling with a name because we got so used to just calling him "puppy" during his first few nameless days.  We tried Oliver for a bit after having my sister and one of Josh's co-workers say h looked like an Oliver, but it didn't stick. Now we are trying Calzino, Zino for short.  It was a name Josh originally liked.  It means sock in Italian which works because he has three brown legs and one white leg that looks like a sock :)

We also went to downtown Long Beach for a Latin Festival and parade.

And we did lots of hanging out at home and going on plenty of walks.  We also found out that the puppy dog doesn't like it much when we give attention to anyone other than him... so we had some fun messing with him ;)

It was a very mild weekend and I loved that after the last month and a half of action packed days.