Tag Archives: dog

LA Staycation (or Hanging Out With Family and Friends)

Posted on April 25, 2017 | 2 comments

Normally, I try to keep myself pretty busy. Between work, workouts, acting, and having a social life my calendar can get full. And when I have downtime, sometimes I stress out that I should be doing more and I don’t feel like I’m really enjoying some free time. I don’t get to take vacations that often because I don’t have the money to do it and I don’t have paid time off. So I’m pretty much in a routine in my life in LA.

I’ve been joking for a while that my vacation this year was going to be the time in the hospital after surgery. I knew that while I was in the hospital I would have no responsibilities and wouldn’t have to worry about what I should be doing. And then when surgery got cancelled, I started to look at my schedule again to try to get things back to normal. I’m not taking that much time off of work because I want to save the banked hours for future things. But I did take a few days off since my parents are here in LA for the week (they couldn’t cancel their trip when my surgery was cancelled so they decided to have a low-key trip here).

Most of the time that my parents have been here, we’ve been doing a lot of lazy stuff. And honestly, all that lazy stuff has been perfect with me. I’m not working most of the days they are here (I did work on Saturday since my shift was done at 11am) so we have the entire day free. And we did try to make some plans with family and friends so my parents could take advantage of their time in LA. They usually aren’t here for more than a day or two so this was a rare trip for them as well.

On Thursday (what would have been surgery day), we drove out to the valley to see my dad’s friend. He and my dad have been friends since they were kids and my dad tries to see him when he’s in LA but he doesn’t always have time. My dad’s friend is very into gardening and succulent plants and has been getting ready to various garden clubs to come over to his house for a plant tour. So we got to see the rehearsal for the tour and check out all the amazing plants that he has in his yard. His garden is almost nicer than some of the huge ones around LA so it’s pretty incredible.

My dad’s friend also has a dog that Tucker loves. I don’t think their dog, Sunshine, loves Tucker as much as Tucker loves her. But that seems to be the case with a lot of dogs. Tucker just wants everyone to love him at all times and doesn’t understand why other dogs or people aren’t the same. But the dogs get along enough so we took them out for a walk and to a park so they could run around a bit. And when they both got tired, they were relaxing near each other nicely and seemed to be getting along more than they were at the beginning of the visit.

On Friday, we had lunch with some of my mom’s cousins. I hadn’t seen these cousins since I went to Passover a few years ago so it was great to get to see them again. We went to a restaurant near the rental house my parents were staying in, and while the food was ok the service was pretty awful. Servers were bringing food over to our table before we even ordered and nobody could remember what drinks went to which table. I think we were offered drinks every few minutes and they were never ours (it also took them like 15 minutes to get my mom an iced tea). I’m glad that we had a nice visit with family and that the bad service at lunch didn’t bring us down.

Most of the rest of the time on Friday was spent with taking the dog to a few different dog parks. He loves going to dog parks and there are some really nice ones in LA. We have been really liking the ones in Playa Vista because they aren’t just dirt like the one near my house. There’s one dog park that is bark and the other is fake grass. Both were really nice and had some fun dogs for Tucker to play with. I don’t get to hang out with Tucker that often, so just watching him at a dog park is a nice treat for me.

I’ll write more about what we did on the second half of their time here in another post, but I’m glad the time that I was expecting to be in the hospital were spent doing much more fun things. We didn’t have anything planned at first but we were lucky that we were able to get some plans organized pretty quickly so we could do some nice things while my parents are here. I know that they probably won’t do a long LA trip again soon unless there is a specific reason (like if I do have surgery eventually), so I’m taking advantage of having them here for a while without anything that we have to do.

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Default ThumbnailWelcome Tucker! (or Filling The Dog Shaped Hole In My Family) Default ThumbnailCelebrating Not Having Surgery (or Getting To Have Some Family Time) Default ThumbnailQuick Family Visit (or My Extra Long Lunch From Work) Default ThumbnailFamily Weekend (or Hanging Out With The Dog) Default ThumbnailFriends and Family Workouts (or Getting Pushed To Do Better) Default ThumbnailSan Diego Day (or Hanging Out With Family On My Day Off)

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A Tahoe Weekend (or Let It Snow!)

Posted on October 5, 2016 | Comments Off on A Tahoe Weekend (or Let It Snow!)

It had been a while since I was up to Lake Tahoe, so when my parents invited me to come up for a weekend in the fall I was really excited! The fall in Tahoe can be really nice and there is usually some really gorgeous foliage around the mountains to check out.

I was already pretty excited about the trip when my dad gave me a heads up a few days before I left to say that there was actually snow in the forecast! I hadn’t seen snow in several years so even the possibility of it was making me so happy. I tried to pack warm clothes and after work on Saturday I flew to Tahoe to meet up with my parents (and dog).

When we were driving from the Reno airport to Truckee, the fall foliage was already impressing me. The trees were so full of color that my mom pulled over the car so I could get a picture of the Aspen trees on the side of the road.

tahoe-trees

That first day in Tahoe we didn’t do too much. After I flew in, we drove to Truckee, we got some food, and got to my parents’ place; it was getting a bit late. I was pretty tired from getting up early that morning to work and even though I didn’t have a panic attack on the plane it still exhausted me to focus on staying calm. So I spent some time hanging out with my parents and I went to bed pretty early to get ready for the full day we had the next day.

The next morning I woke up to a beautiful view outside.

tahoe-morning

I was able to convince my dad to join me for some yoga in the morning, and then we all headed off to the unofficial dog park that Tucker loves in Truckee. The dog park is really a road behind the Truckee airport, but since it is gated and no cars can be on there, people let their dogs off leash to play. In the winter it can be a long walk, but when there isn’t snow you can park farther up the road.

Once we parked and started walking, Tucker was in heaven. He was enjoying all of the smells all around and he didn’t care too much that there were no other dogs for him to play with. Of course, as soon as we got back to the car, about 7 dogs and their owners showed up. We let Tucker play with the other dogs for a few minutes before we headed off to our next adventure for the day.

We drove for about 45 minutes to get to Spooner Lake. I’ve done this hike/walk before in the past. It’s a pretty flat road (although there are some uphill bits) and it’s about 2.5 miles around. Usually in the fall the trees are all super bright and yellow, but this time it wasn’t that way. But it was still a really nice day out.

spooner-lake

The walk around the lake took a while since Tucker had to be on leash and we had to keep stopping whenever he wanted to smell something exciting that he found. But it was fine that it was a slow walk since it gave us time to enjoy the view. I was also finding myself really out-of-breath quite a bit since I’m not used to the elevation that we were at. I always hate how I feel super out of shape when I’m in Tahoe since I can’t catch my breath as quickly as I can in LA, but I tried to not think about that too much.

After getting around the lake, we headed back toward my parents’ place to get some lunch at their favorite local Italian restaurant (they’ve been going there for almost 10 years but this was my first time there!). While we were eating, we noticed that the weather had changed from being nice and sunny to cloudy and overcast. And as we were finishing up it started to snow! After lunch we drove around and seeing the snow made me so happy!

snowing

In the snow, we weren’t going to do a ton of outside stuff so we headed back home and relaxed together. Tucker was pretty calm since he went to the dog park and had the walk around the lake. He wanted to hang out with us while we watched tv and decided to be a bit of a rule-breaker. He knows he can’t sit on the couch, but he can scoot back to the couch and he is so tall that his butt rests on it. I noticed him doing that and he gave me a dirty look when I asked Tucker if he was sitting on the couch.

tucker-on-couch

My last day in Tahoe started with seeing the snow that fell overnight!

backyard-snow

Originally, my dad had a couple of projects that he wanted me to help him with at their place. But because of the schedule and other things that happened our projects weren’t possible. But I was inspired by the snow and I told my dad that we should turn an old tree stake in their backyard into a snow stake so they can measure all the snow that falls this season! So my dad and I went outside in the cold with some electrical tape and a marker and we made a pretty impressive custom snow stake.

snow-stake

I helped my parents with a few other small projects and then we went out for a late lunch before they drove me back to the Reno airport so I could fly back home.

It was a quick trip (I was only there for 2 days) and we didn’t do a ton of stuff, but it was still a perfect weekend adventure and I’m so excited for when I get to go to Tahoe again!

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Default ThumbnailA Plane Ride And A Mini Road Trip (or My Adventure To Get To Lake Tahoe) Default ThumbnailAttempting Snow And Sand In One Day (or A One Day Road Trip) Default ThumbnailHello Tahoe! (or The Start Of My Weekend Getaway!) Default ThumbnailMaking The Most Of My Last Day In Tahoe (or Tucker Is A Lake Dog!) Default ThumbnailLong Lake And The Best Caesar Salad In The World (or The First Day Of Adventure In Tahoe) Default ThumbnailSaying Goodbye To Tahoe (or Going Rafting Before Flying)

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A Day In San Diego (or Celebrating An Anniversary And A Birthday)

Posted on August 11, 2016 | Comments Off on A Day In San Diego (or Celebrating An Anniversary And A Birthday)

Even though I was out pretty late this past Saturday night, I got up early on Sunday morning so I could head out for the day. My parents were down in San Diego visiting my grandma and this past Sunday was their 34th anniversary! So since they were so close to me, I drove down so I could spend the day with them (and with my grandma and aunt).

Growing up, it was pretty cool that my parents’ anniversary was only 2 days before my birthday because we could celebrate them together or back to back. But I don’t think I’ve seen my parents on their anniversary since I moved to LA so this was a pretty special treat! Plus, as I joked to them, we all saved money on stamps not having to mail cards to each other.

My drive down was pretty uneventful (thankfully) and I got there just around lunch time. My parents had found an apartment to rent for the weekend so we had a nice place to hang out for the day. It was pretty close to where my grandma lives so my aunt was going to pick her up and bring her over to be with us. But before they got there, I got some time with my parents and the dog.

I know I just saw my parents 2 weeks ago, but it was really nice getting to see them. And I hadn’t seen Tucker since April and he seems to have gotten bigger since then! My grandma and aunt were supposed to arrive about 30 minutes after I got there, so my parents and I went for a walk in the neighborhood where they were staying so I could stretch my legs and the dog could get some energy out.

Tucker

It was a nice day for a walk and I loved being right next to the ocean. And of course Tucker loved getting to check out all the other dogs that were out on their lunchtime walk.

Right after we got back to where my parents were staying, my grandma and aunt showed up. We all hung out outside enjoying some food (I brought leftovers from the night before) and catching up with each other. I hadn’t seen my grandma or aunt for a while, so it was good to get to see them again (I won’t see either again until Thanksgiving but that’s not too long from now).

We all gave my parents their anniversary cards and they opened them and shared them with everyone. My parents do homemade cards for each other and we got to see what cards they made this year. And then I opened my birthday cards (I only opened the ones from my parents, grandma, and aunt since I didn’t bring the others with me) and shared them with everyone as well.

After opening cards (and thanking my grandma for my birthday check that will help me fix some more stuff on my car), we just spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying time as a family together. I’ve really come to appreciate the quiet time I get to spend with my family since so many times when we are together it is for an event and things are a bit crazy and hectic. Just being with each other is a nice change.

My mom cooked dinner that night (it’s easy and usually better than going out) and we had a pretty early dinner since my parents knew I didn’t want to drive back too late. My dad, aunt, and I discussed how we might have even more family joining us this year for our Thanksgiving morning workout at Orangetheory and we are pretty excited about that. It should be a fun workout (as always) and I’m so happy that we started this new tradition with the family.

After dinner we spent a little bit more time together and then it was time for my aunt to drive my grandma back home. After they left, I stuck around a bit longer because my parents were giving me their leftovers from what they had cooked that weekend in San Diego (I’ve been eating their leftovers all week!). They also had some stuff for me to take back home (mainly donations to take to My Friends Place) so they helped me pack up my car.

I should be seeing my parents again in October (I’m hoping to make it to Tahoe since it’s been a while since I’ve been out there) so it’s not going to be too long before I get to hang out with them again. And as I said, Thanksgiving is coming quickly and I know I’ll be with them for a few days then as well.

Overall, I’m so happy that my parents just happened to be in San Diego on their anniversary so I got to spend the day with them. It was a nice way to spend the day and since I’m used to driving to San Diego just for the day, it wasn’t bad to drive down and back within a few hours. And even though it wasn’t my birthday, it still felt like I got to celebrate my birthday with them which is something that hasn’t happened since I turned 18. Hopefully we can celebrate their anniversary and my birthday together before another 15 years pass.

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Dog DNA Test (or Tucker Is A Real Mix!)

Posted on May 27, 2016 | 4 comments

A little while ago, I had won a dog DNA test from a contest online. I mentioned to my parents I had won it, but I forgot about it for a while. But finally, a package arrived at my dog with the Wisdom Panel test! I shipped it off to my parents so they could test Tucker!

I had been saying for years that I wanted to do a DNA test on our dogs. The dog my family had while I was growing up, Rascal, was a purebred Carin Terrier (we got the papers saying that when we adopted her) so she was never a mystery to us. But when we got Dante, we only knew about his mom (she was a German Shepherd/Border Collie mix). We never knew what his dad was but since he looked pretty much like a German Shepherd and Border Collie, we just said that was what he was. I wanted to get him DNA tested, but it wasn’t cheap to do and my parents didn’t want to waste the money.

When we got Tucker, the only information the foster mom knew about him (and his brother Chaucer) was that the mom was a Shepherd mix. Since the dogs were rescued from a dog hoarder, there was no way to find out what dog was the dad. And we don’t know if anyone knew more about his mom either.

Again, I started to bug my parents to get him DNA tested. They didn’t want to because they didn’t want to find out something scary about his breed mix and they thought it was still an expensive thing to do. Every so often, I’d say we should do the dog DNA testing and every time my parents would say they don’t need to do it.

So when I won the test, I was so happy! Finally we could find out what breeds Tucker is a mix of! According to my parents, it was a pretty easy test to do. They just had to swab his cheek and then put it into a container and ship it to Wisdom Panel. The results are supposed to come back within 3 weeks, but we got ours back much soon!

DNA Results

While Wisdom Panel tests for about 200 breeds, sometimes they can’t figure out exactly what breeds are in a mix. That’s why you see the “Mixed Breed” on one side. But I love that we got a breakdown for his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents!

We are assuming that the side with all the breeds figured out is his mom’s side since that is the side with the Shepherd on it. We had all assumed for a while that Tucker was a Shepherd/Lab mix, but we didn’t know what else he could be. We had been making random guesses for a while, but none of us were right!

Now looking at the DNA test, I never would have guessed Rottweiler or Boxer but it totally makes sense looking at him. He’s got the Rottweiler head and a Boxer smile. Not sure what dog breed has the giant teeth he has, but I think his big teeth are a charming part of his smile.

Tucker Smile

I don’t know where the Akita part of him is, but I totally can see how Chaucer was part Akita with how he was just a huge bundle of fluff! And none of the breeds in his mix are dogs with long legs, but in his mix breeds that couldn’t be determined there are some dogs with long legs (like Poodles and Weimaraner). And Tucker’s got some of the longest legs of any dog I’ve ever seen and he can get into the weirdest positions with them.

Long Legs Tucker

No matter what breeds the dog DNA test was going to come back with, that can’t change the total lovable goofball that Tucker is. No background on him can change his personality, but it is really fun to know what breeds his mix is. Also, my parents can finally give better answers when they get stopped on walks or hikes and people want to know what type of dog he is (that happens all the time).

While the DNA test was a lot of fun, I’m glad I won it so we could test Tucker. And after I won the test, I looked it up to see how much it would have cost to buy it. It turns out it’s not too expensive! On Amazon, you can get it for about $70. So if you’ve got a mixed breed dog that you’d like to find out their heritage, I highly recommend getting the test and seeing what the results are!

BTW, I was not paid by Wisdom Panel for this review. I randomly won the test and was so happy about what we found out that I wanted to share it with you all. My review is all of my opinion and I was not influenced in any way to write my review.

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Default ThumbnailWelcome Tucker! (or Filling The Dog Shaped Hole In My Family) Default ThumbnailMaking The Most Of My Last Day In Tahoe (or Tucker Is A Lake Dog!) Default ThumbnailMeeting Tucker! (or Having An Awesome Valentine’s Day Without A Valentine) Default ThumbnailThe Exciting News (or Meet Chaucer!) Default ThumbnailFamily Weekend (or Hanging Out With The Dog) Default ThumbnailAnother Test Of Being Grateful (or Again I’m Glad I Rent)

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Family Weekend (or Hanging Out With The Dog)

Posted on April 14, 2016 | 3 comments

While Rayshell and Paul’s wedding was the main event of my weekend in Santa Barbara, I was there for a couple of days with my family as well. When I knew the date for the wedding, I had asked my parents if they would be in Santa Barbara at the same time. When I asked they didn’t have plans to be there then, but they looked into it and it worked out well for them to be there the same weekend. Not only did that give me time with my parents, it saved me the expense of getting a hotel since I could stay with them at the house they rented (thanks Mom and Dad!).

I got up there on Saturday afternoon after my race. When I arrived my parents were out with my brother and sister-in-law doing some wine tasting. I could have arrived up there earlier and might have been able to join them, but I was happier not rushing from the race to get ready. Taking my time was nice and even though I was alone at the rental house for a couple of hours before anyone else got back, I enjoyed that time reading and napping a little since I got up at 4am that day.

Once everyone got back, the dog was in heaven that so many people were there. He finally calmed down and settled in for one of his weirdly positioned naps.

Sleeping Tucker

While Tucker was resting, the rest of us visited. I had brought some stuff for everyone with me. My brother and sister-in-law got some stuff from a swag bag that I didn’t need (and I knew they would like), I had my mom’s birthday present since her birthday was last week, and I brought my parents’ anniversary gift since I didn’t know when else I could give it to them (I’ll see them at a family thing back east this summer, but I didn’t want to have to fly with the gift).

My brother and sister-in-law left a little bit after they arrived and I enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner with my parents. My friend Sarah came over and stayed with us that night (otherwise Sarah would have driven to and from Santa Barbara from LA twice in 2 days) and we all had a fun chat since Sarah’s last name is also Levin and I’m sure that somehow we are related. But since the wedding was the next day and I was exhausted, I was glad we all went to bed on the earlier side.

The next day, we dropped Sarah off at Rayshell’s parents’ home where the bridal party was getting ready (Sarah was a bridesmaid) and then my parents, the dog, and I headed out to Tucker’s Grove Park. I had heard of this park a while ago and thought it would be fun for the dog to go to a park with the same name as him. We started at the dog park, but some of the dogs were bugging Tucker a bit. So we headed out to do a walk/hike where everything was so nice and green because of the rain southern CA has been getting lately.

Tucker's Grove Park

It was pretty warm out and I didn’t want to get my hair too gross since I wasn’t going to wash it again before the wedding, so we turned around after a little bit and headed back to the dog park again to let Tucker get as much energy out as possible. It was all different dogs compared to when we were there before, but this time we met a dog that looked like he could have been related to Tucker!

Dog Twins

After the double dog park visit and the walk, I got some lunch with my parents before heading back to the rental house to get ready for the wedding.

I didn’t get back too late on Sunday night, so I was able to get up at a decent time on Monday. We relaxed around the house for a bit before taking the dog out to another dog park and for a nice walk. While the wedding was in Santa Barbara, the town we stayed in was called Summerland (it was just south of Santa Barbara). The town was really cute, but the freeway was really close and almost all the houses overlooked it. But at least they tried to hide the freeway with nice flowers.

Flowers

After our walk, my brother and sister-in-law came over and we went to lunch together to an Italian restaurant that they had been wanting to check out. After our lunch visit, I headed back to LA while everyone else went walking with the dog.

While the main point of my trip was to go to the wedding, it was nice to get to have family time too. It’s not too often that my immediate family is all together (and I’m not sure when that will happen again), so it was nice that we could coordinate schedules like that and all be in Santa Barbara together. I don’t know if I’ll see the dog before Thanksgiving (I might see him over the summer) and while I’ll see my parents in July I don’t know when I’ll see my brother and sister-in-law again (even though they live close to me, our schedules don’t always match). So I’m glad to get to fit in family time when I was already taking time away from home to make sure that I don’t go too long without seeing my family.

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Default ThumbnailMore Family Time (or Seeing All My Immediate Family Last Week) Default ThumbnailA Little More Time In Santa Barbara (or Hanging Out With My Sister-In-Law) Default ThumbnailGirls Weekend (or Hanging Out With My Mom And Aunt) Default ThumbnailLA Staycation (or Hanging Out With Family and Friends) Default ThumbnailWelcome Tucker! (or Filling The Dog Shaped Hole In My Family) Default ThumbnailSanta Barbara Weekend (or Family and Friends Time)

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Girls Weekend (or Hanging Out With My Mom And Aunt)

Posted on February 24, 2016 | 2 comments

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, I think you know that I’m pretty close to my mom and to my Aunt Cindy. I love getting to hang out with them and we had a really great girls weekend 3 years ago when they came to LA to hang out with me for a few days. And this past weekend we got to have another amazing weekend hangout!

After dealing with a bunch of flight delays for my trip with my mom and sister-in-law last year, I got some credit to use on Southwest for a future trip. I thought maybe I’d use it for a trip to Tahoe or something else, but I realized that the one year mark of getting that credit was coming up and I was going to lose the credit. So my mom and I decided that we would go to Sacramento (I flew she drove) where my Aunt Cindy lives to hang out with her! I haven’t really spent a ton of time in the Sacramento area except when I’m there for Thanksgiving. But then I’m usually hanging out at my aunt and uncle’s house and not really exploring the area too much. So I was super excited for this trip!

I flew out after work on Saturday. This was my first time flying while taking Vyvanse and I was so nervous that I would have a horrible panic attack on the plane. But I’m happy to share that just like at the dentist, I did surprisingly well on the plane! I even got to enjoy the view a bit. It was awesome seeing snow out the window since we’ve been dealing with such a horrible drought the past few years.

Snow From The Sky

Once I landed, my mom picked me up and we went to check into our hotel. All we did there was drop off our bags and then we headed straight to my aunt and uncle’s house. It was so awesome to be there again, it had been several years since we had Thanksgiving there. My uncle was spending time with a friend of his while my mom and I were there, so we all went out to dinner to work on planning out our next day. Dinner was fun (we went out for Chinese food), but I was excited for our full day the next day.

On Sunday, my aunt came over to our hotel and we were off on our adventure. Our first stop was the Folsom Zoo. My aunt is a volunteer there so she led us on an amazing tour!

Folsom Zoo

I know some people don’t love zoos and I’ve had some thoughts about them after seeing the movie “Blackfish”. But the Folsom Zoo is actually an animal sanctuary. The animals there were illegal pets, animals that were hurt and couldn’t go back into the wild, or donated after someone could no longer care for them. They don’t buy or sell animals and they don’t have a breeding program to increase their animal population. So I had no concerns with seeing the animals there.

We saw a ton of different animals at the zoo including monkeys, bears, tigers, wolves, horses, pigs, snakes, birds, and chickens.

Monkeys Bear Chicken

The animal we saw the most were peacocks. They were all over the zoo and since they technically aren’t zoo animals, they run free all over the property.

Peacock

The zoo is pretty small, so we were there for about an hour before heading out to our next adventure: the Folsom Prison Museum.

This might seem like a weird adventure to go on (especially since it’s located right next to the prison), but it was a really good little museum. The man working there was a guard at the prison and he had a lot of interesting stories to share. We got to see a video about how the prison was built and the architectural history behind it. The museum also had some artifacts from the early days of the prison and a section dedicated to Johnny Cash.

We had a minor moment of panic when we were inside the museum and heard a siren go off, but it was a signal that it was noon and not anything scary. As we left we saw people heading into the prison for visiting hours, but it was cool to see it after learning so much about its construction.

Folsom Prison

Our next stop was downtown Folsom. We got a quick lunch at a pizza place and then walked a few blocks to the old Folsom Powerhouse. The Powerhouse is a state historic park and there was a very nice museum that we walked through first that explained the history of the powerhouse and the history of having electrical power in the state.

After the museum we headed down a short path to see the old powerhouse.

Folsom Powerhouse

There was a really knowledgeable guide inside the powerhouse who told us all about how it worked, showed us some historic pictures, and even showed us a beaver that was living under the powerhouse that you could see through a grate in the floor. We were also able to walk down to the lower powerhouse (it’s not always open). While walking around, we were so grateful that we lucked out on the weather and it was a gorgeous day!

Gorgeous Day

Our next stop was supposed to be the Folsom Museum, but they were closing early that day and we only had a few minutes to walk quickly through everything before they closed.

Since we weren’t spending time at the Folsom Museum, we decided to do some walking around and checking out the stores. My mom found something really cool to get my grandma for Mother’s Day and I found something that I’m going to give Rayshell for her wedding (I can’t post it on here yet because I know she reads my blog!). There was also a store that had some really cool decorative things made out of old silverware. I really liked them, but they were a bit pricy. I have no idea if I could do it myself, but I think if I found some awesome cheap silverware I might try it.

Crafty

After all that walking around and exploring, we headed back to the hotel to rest a little bit and then headed out for a quick casual dinner to end our girls weekend. It was a super full day and I had a great time, but I wish that I had a bit more time to spend with my aunt. But overall, it was an awesome Sacramento adventure.

On Monday, my mom and I were originally going to try to go to the Walt Disney Museum (my brother and sister-in-law gave me tickets for Hanukkah), but timing things out with rush hours and my flight home (which was out of San Jose) wasn’t going to work out. So we just drove straight to Saratoga so I could hang out with my dog and my dad.

We didn’t do anything too fancy when I was hanging out in Saratoga. I hadn’t been home in 2 years (since the first time I met Tucker), so there were a bunch of cool new things my parents wanted to show me in the house. We also took Tucker to the dog park (his favorite place!) and for a couple of walks. He’s gotten bigger since I saw him at Thanksgiving and he’s calmed down a bit too!

Tucker

Before I knew it, it was time to go to the airport to fly back home. I had another relatively calm flight and was home in time to get a good night sleep to get ready for the week.

I really had the best weekend with my mom and aunt. We’ve joked that in 3 years we’ll have to figure out another adventure to do together, but I really hope that we are able to do something together as a group sooner than that. We do such fun adventures/trips together and I can’t wait to see what we plan on doing next!

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Default ThumbnailA Friend Weekend (or Getting Up Early and Not Doing Much) Default ThumbnailA Weekend With My Mom (or An Adventure In Palm Springs) Default ThumbnailSan Diego Day (or Hanging Out With Family On My Day Off) Default ThumbnailFamily Weekend (or Hanging Out With The Dog) Default ThumbnailSpa Time (or A Relaxing Day With My Mom And Sister-In-Law) Default ThumbnailA Tahoe Weekend (or Let It Snow!)

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A Couple Of Days In San Diego (or Trying To Focus On The Good And Not The Sad)

Posted on April 9, 2015 | 2 comments

I just spent the past few days in San Diego with my family. My parents, aunt, and uncle got down there on Thursday. But they wanted to have a few days with my grandma on their own first. So I came down on Sunday (my brother flew down that day too). And I was there through Tuesday.

I wanted to bring some food down with me for the family, but my mom was cooking a ton. So I mentioned a few things that I could make that would be good for any meal, and my mom thought that my blueberry banana bread would be perfect (plus, my grandpa loved it).

Blueberry Banana Bread

I’ve made that recipe so many times but this had to be my best batch ever.

Obviously it was a very sad time for my family. We had to do some of the not so fun tasks you have to do when someone passes away. I tried to help out as much as I could, but most of it was being done by my mom and uncle (my aunt who is their sibling wasn’t able to get back to San Diego until Tuesday).

We spent some time remembering some of the funny stories about my grandpa. But we didn’t do a ton of that because it always seemed to make someone sad.

My brother got my grandma to play him in several games of backgammon.

Ross and Grandma Backgammon

My grandma kicks butt at backgammon. Ever since I was little my grandpa would say that grandma must be a witch because she can get double sixes every time that she needs them.

My brother played as tough as he could. But my grandma won 6 games and Ross only won 3.

We also tried to enjoy spending time with the dog. Since my parents had to get down to San Diego quickly, they couldn’t arrange for a dog sitter. So Tucker spent a lot of time with us being his usual goofy self. I think he especially loved having my brother and I in the same hotel room as my parents (it was a two bedroom hotel room). And he loved my bedding.

Sleeping Tucker

We also heard some amazing stories from other residents and some employees of the building that my grandparents live in. Everyone had such nice things to say about my grandpa. Everyone seemed so shocked about him passing away because even just the day before he was his usual feisty self.

In the mailroom of the building they live in, they posted a wonderful photo of my grandpa. Nobody in my family had ever seen that photo before, so I asked the concierge of their building where the photo came from. It turns out that they took it when my grandparents moved in a few years ago. They asked if we wanted the photo and I said yes. And my uncle scanned it in so we could all have it.

Grandpa (from Vi)

I wish that I could have stayed down there longer, but my aunts, uncle, and parents will be there for the rest of the week. And my parents will probably be down again in another week or two. I’ll probably go down there again then.

For now, it’s time for me to get back to my normal life. That’s what my grandpa would want me to do. He probably would have hated that I wrote the post on Tuesday about him. He didn’t like having a fuss made for him.

So it’s back to my day job, my workouts, and hopefully some auditions.

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Default ThumbnailGoodbye Grandpa (or Remembering A Full Life) Default ThumbnailSan Diego Day Trip (or The Backgammon Witch) Default ThumbnailThe Roadrunner (or More Memories In My House) Default ThumbnailAnother San Diego Day Trip (or 3 Generations and A Dog) Default ThumbnailSan Diego Day (or Some More Family Time) Default ThumbnailSan Diego Beach Lunch (or Having Some Of My Grandparents’ Things In My House)

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Making The Most Of My Last Day In Tahoe (or Tucker Is A Lake Dog!)

Posted on June 26, 2014 | 1 comment

On my last day in Tahoe, I didn’t have to leave for the airport until after dinnertime, so I had a full day to have fun. So for the day, we decided to head to Donner Lake to enjoy some time on the water.

We went to the exact same beach that I went to last summer. But besides bringing the raft with us again, we also brought our 2 kayaks to the lake!

We decided that my mom and Kate would each take a kayak out and my dad, Tucker, and I would go in the raft. Tucker had been in the raft one other time the week before and he did ok then. But this time, he wouldn’t be with both my mom and dad so we were a little unsure of how he would do.

We got my mom and Kate in the kayaks and into the water first. Tucker watched from the shore and yelped a little that my mom was paddling away. He didn’t want to get into the water so he stayed on the very edge of the shore. Then I got into the raft and my dad picked Tucker up and placed him in with me. Then my dad got in and he took over the paddles (he’s way better at it than I am).

The kayaks are pretty easy to maneuver, so my mom and Kate were off and going around the lake. My dad refers to the raft as a bathtub so we paddled away from the shore and pretty much just floated out there.

But I have to say that Tucker seemed to really love it!

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And yes, he’s wearing Dante’s old life vest.

Tucker spent his time in the raft people and dog watching and then just leaning back on either my dad or I and enjoying the sunshine. But his favorite thing to do was to lick the water off of the paddles.

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You can tell from that photo how giant his ears are! And you can tell that he’s a bit of a redhead too!

When my dad and I got back to shore, there were a few other families with their dogs near where we set up our stuff. The dogs were jumping in the water and swimming and Tucker was mesmerized by that. We thought that maybe if he watched other dogs swim, he would try it too.

The owner of the other dog wanted to help us get Tucker to swim, so she kept throwing toys into the lake for him to get. But again, he refused to swim. He got very close, but when he realized that he couldn’t put his foot onto the ground, he backed up. But even without swimming, Tucker had so much fun.

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My mom and Kate kayaked back to the shore then and my mom wanted to see if Tucker could kayak with her. So my dad got into the lake with Tucker and got him on the back of the kayak. My mom paddled in the shallow area incase Tucker fell off, but it turns out he has amazing balance and managed to stay on!

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We spent a good few hours at the lake, and eventually it was time to head back to the condo. Kate and I wanted to watch the World Cup game and my mom was going to make a nice early dinner.

Around 6pm, Kate got into her car to make the drive back to the Bay Area and my mom, dad, Tucker, and I got into the car to do a little walking around before I had to get to the Reno airport.

It was a gorgeous evening at Lake Tahoe and I was sad that my vacation was coming to an end.

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At about 7pm, we got back into the car for the drive to Reno. Airport security only took me 5 minutes from the time I was dropped off, so I spent a lot of time looking at all the tempting ways I could spend my money in the Reno airport.

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I managed to keep all my money in my wallet and just read my book while waiting for my delayed flight home.

I’m so glad that I was able to do this trip to Tahoe this summer. Even though I got to go last summer as well, I haven’t been able to go up as often as I’d like. I talked to my parents about me going up this winter since it’s been a few years since I’ve been up in the snow. Hopefully we can make that happen.

I’ll see my parents again in about 2 months when they come to LA. We are all going to a show at the Hollywood Bowl together. And I’ll see Tucker again at Thanksgiving. There’s a small chance I might be visiting my sister-in-law at the end of the summer when my brother is working out of the country, so I might get to see everyone then as well.

But for now, I’m just grateful that I got to spend a nice long weekend with my family (and chosen family as is the case with Kate).

 

 

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Default ThumbnailA Plane Ride And A Mini Road Trip (or My Adventure To Get To Lake Tahoe) Default ThumbnailLong Lake And The Best Caesar Salad In The World (or The First Day Of Adventure In Tahoe) Default ThumbnailSaying Goodbye To Tahoe (or Going Rafting Before Flying) Default ThumbnailA Tahoe Weekend (or Let It Snow!) Default ThumbnailHello Tahoe! (or The Start Of My Weekend Getaway!) Default ThumbnailWelcome Tucker! (or Filling The Dog Shaped Hole In My Family)

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Weekend Catchup (or Getting In My Dog Fix)

Posted on May 28, 2014 | Comments Off on Weekend Catchup (or Getting In My Dog Fix)

First of all, a quick update on the job situation. That one shift I was scheduled for next week was cancelled as they were overstaffed. When I asked if there was another shift I could work, they said that since I was unavailable one day next week and that was the only day they could fit me in, there were no more shifts available to me. When the shows start back up again in September there will be evening and weekend shifts for me, but I need something to get me through the summer.

Ok, moving on from that unpleasantness.

This past weekend I got to do some dog sitting. My only dog sitting client right now is my friend Erin (who does my hair). But that’s nice because her dog Auto is an easy dog to watch.

As soon as I got to Erin’s house Auto was so excited to see me! He had spent the day by himself (don’t worry, he has access to go outside to go to the bathroom, he was just lonely) and he was so happy to have a buddy in his house. He’s got some problem with his leg, so he is limping right now. But that didn’t stop him from trying to tackle me to the ground so he could attack me with love (keep in mind that this is a dog that probably weighs about 15 pounds).

Since I was going to spend the night there dog sitting, I made myself comfortable on the couch. Erin has Amazon Prime and Netflix so I settled in for a night of watching movies with Auto. And he got comfortable right away.

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When I took that picture, he was both snoring and farting on me at the same time. Clearly, he loves me.

One of the best things about dog sitting is just being able to hang out with an awesome dog. I haven’t seen Tucker in a few months (although I will get to see him in a few weeks!) so I really miss being around a dog. And as long as I live in my current place, I can’t have a dog of my own. So dog sitting helps me get in my dog fix.

It was an easy weekend job. Although Auto feels like when I’m there he always has to be touching a part of my body (not through my clothing). So while I slept on the couch, he was by my feet touching my toes with his front paws.

But I don’t mind that. When I starting dog sitting him he used to sleep on my stomach and try to use it as a trampoline. A dog holding onto my feet isn’t bad at all.

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Happy Birthday Mommy! (or The Past Year In Review)

Posted on April 4, 2014 | Comments Off on Happy Birthday Mommy! (or The Past Year In Review)

Today is my mom’s birthday. I know I’ve written a birthday post to her in the past, but I think that since this past year has been quite a year, she deserves a new birthday post to celebrate everything from the past year.

Since my mom’s last birthday she was diagnosed with breast cancer and kicked ass while completing all her treatments. While my mom was going through her treatments, I got to see her a few times.

The first time I saw my mom was after her surgery but before she started chemo. This was on my trip to Tahoe. And during that trip, not only did we hike a lot, my mom took me off-road driving and drove so aggressively that I had a seatbelt bruise for days afterwards!

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I also got to see my mom when we all went to Maui for my brother’s wedding. That was a great week filled with lots of adventures.

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After the wedding was when my mom started her chemo treatments, and I have to say that she was able to still be her usual ass kicking self through all of it. I’m still amazed that she still played tennis (and usually won) ever week. She even scheduled chemo around her tennis matches.

Usually, my parents are in Tahoe a lot during the winter (so my dad can fulfill his dream of being a ski bum), but because of the treatment schedule, they didn’t get to go too often. That’s ok since Tahoe had a horrible winter as far as snowfall goes.

Somehow, the universe must have known that my mom was done with all her treatments because there was a good snowfall the other day. So my mom, dad, and Tucker are all up in Tahoe this week celebrating my mom’s birthday.

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While thinking back at this past year, I think my family has become much more grateful for the little things. I don’t think we were ever ungrateful people, but we make more of an effort to be grateful now.

I’m so grateful for my mom (and dad) for so many reasons. While they don’t completely understand my desire to act, they support it as much as they can. I’m grateful that my parents are willing to pay for me to fly home so I can see them (and Tucker). I know some friends who don’t have that opportunity so they don’t get to see their family very often. I’m also really grateful that my mom is almost as much of a Disneyland nerd as I am, and we are going to try to get my dad to enjoy Disneyland as well when the 3 of us go to celebrate my mom’s birthday/the end of her treatments later this month.

I know that my mom is going to have an awesome birthday today. I’m sure she, my dad, and Tucker are going to go on some sort of adventure in Tahoe. I’ll just have to wait to celebrate with her in a few weeks.

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