Because sometimes you just need to sit on a hippo.

Right?

Thanks to the town of Hutto, TX, we now have gained some perspective atop Hippopotamus amphibius.

I don't know about you, but if I saw this every morning on my way to work, I'd start my day with a smile.

This was only one of the highlights of our recent trip to Texas...we also got to visit Arash's family & friends, checked out some local cuisine, and took a ride on a pontoon boat out on the lake in Austin. Why are CA and TX so far apart?!

Ginger

Ginger - you'll be missed.
















You were a great dog; but we know you thought yourself more human than canine...We're so glad you found our family all those years ago, and we'll never forget you!

Autumn is all around us...

...and since I have gotten the urge to bake pies probably about once an hour for the past few weeks, we decided it was time to do something about that.

We took a quick trip to Julian (in the East County area of San Diego), and enjoyed the scenery along the way. Every time we drive somewhere like this - the countryside, somewhat removed from the city and even the suburbs, it makes me ask myself, "Could I live out here?" Now, probably some of the inspiration for the question is because one can hardly help but notice how much cheaper the real estate is out here and also just how beautiful it is; but also because it makes me question the need and the desire to live "in the middle of everything". Every time we think about where we'd like to "settle down", we ask ourselves how anybody can possibly go about answering that question.


Do we choose to live near family? Well, if you're like most Americans these days, that's no easy task. My family is scattered around the world in such a way that it would be impossible to live near more than a few individuals in any one place.

Do we choose to live where there are people with shared interests? Do we settle down where there are lots of things going on that we know we enjoy (concerts, farmers' markets, theatre, museums, cultural events, etc)? Should we pick a place that has good schools & hospitals, fair real estate prices, or low taxes? Do we look for a place that makes us say "Wow, that's beautiful!" everyday? What about our friends?

I know that we are an increasingly globalized species; we humans fly about the world almost on a whim these days, and it seems that only in a few small towns do families stay close by with one another for any length of time... and it makes me wonder so, so many things.

Well, our trip to Julian came and went, and I'm no closer to answering any of those questions for myself. But we did come home with a bag of assorted apples and I got to satisfy my pie-making urge (at least for a while!). Interestingly, the orchard was all but picked clean of apples by the time we got there; proof that our society is so starved for a connection with nature that we flock en masse to the orchard, willing to pay $10 for the experience of picking our own fruit, even when we are told by a rather grumpy ranch owner that she could not guarantee we'd find any apples out there.Also, we had to sign a form promising not to throw any apples or hit the apple trees with sticks. Fine.

We ended up settling for the experience of picking one or two apples from the trees, and then filling our bag with apples that had already been harvested earlier. They were, indeed, delicious.

Adventures in Cooking

Home made gnocchi isn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Hooray! I now have a new addition to my repertoire.

I even made some extra to freeze for later, which is handy because even though it wasn't a whole lot of work, it did make a whole lot of mess, which isn't fun. Also, the 'dough' that the gnocchi is made of is one of the coolest textures I think I've come across in my life- feels like incredibly smooth play-dough, and I couldn't resist making a few sculptures out of it before I cut it up into bits (wish I'd remembered to take a pic of the sculpture)!

Anniversary Cake

I know some people think it's a sweet tradition to save a bit of their wedding cake to be frozen and eaten on their first anniversary. I think that's kinda gross, personally. So we didn't.

We thought it would be much tastier if we simply ordered another cake from the same bakery on our anniversary - we thought we'd rather reminisce with fresh cake. So we ordered a cake from the bakery- the kind we had at our wedding but never even got to eat (we were busy).

Much to our surprise, we saw when we picked it up that it was decorated not at all like a wedding cake, but with tons of beautiful, fresh fruit. It didn't look anything like our wedding cake, but was still gorgeous.

Except. . . that it sort of looked like the decorator fell asleep mid-embellishing. It reads "Happy Anniver. ..sojmelasoiejrlkjaskskl." Awww, that's sweet.

Anyway, the other unfortunate part is that the adorably polka-dotted exterior of the cake was inedible. Totally and completely disgusting. I took a bite, and seriously wondered whether or not I'd just eaten a piece of floral foam. Maybe it wasn't meant to be eaten, but if that's the case, I'd have appreciated a heads-up from the decorator. It wasn't fondant, it was a stiff, spongy, barely cake-like substance which tasted faintly like paint. Yum.

Not to knock this bakery too much - they did great work for our wedding, and we love this place as a neighborhood coffee shop. . . but needless to say, next year, we make our own anniversary cake.

For the dogs

We have recently acquired a new [temporary] member of the family. . . meet Phoebe!

She is a 1 year old Boxer/Pit Bull mix who somehow found herself wandering the streets and ended up at the County Animal Shelter in San Diego. This sweet girl wasn't faring so well at the shelter- as we've come to learn, she has a bit of a sensitive stomach- and with the stress of life at a shelter, she had simply started losing weight.

So, with one more look at this sweet face, we had to help. She's been living with us for about 2 weeks now, and is a complete sweetheart. You couldn't ask for a more loving, goofy dog - she's fantastic.

We are looking for a good home for Phoebe - she would prefer a fenced yard, maybe another med-large dog to play with, and lots and lots of cuddling time with her family. If you know of anybody in the San Diego area looking for a sweet dog like her, please send 'em my way! You can also see a video of her here:

http://focas-sandiego.org/adopt/phoebe.htm

She is now gaining weight steadily, has been spayed, and is learning new tricks every day. She's ready for a permanent home!

China!

My brother Nate and his wife Sam are headed to China! They will be there teaching English for two whole years (miss you guys already)! I know they are about to embark on a wild, wonderful adventure, and for anybody interested in keeping in touch with them or reading about their adventures, check 'em out here:

http://nateandsam.wordpress.com/

They truly are an amazing (and adorable) couple, and I know great things are in store for them. What better way is there to celebrate their 3 month "anniversary" than by flying to their new home in China...you guys are pretty cool.

1st Anniversary - almost here!

I can hardly believe it, but we have almost been married a whole year now! It doesn't quite seem possible; but then again when I look back at everything that has happened in the past year, I am surprised that it all could have taken place within just one little year.

Here's a bit of what happened:
-we moved into the house on Finch Street
-Arash started and finished his first year of law school at USD
-we've traveled to Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Kansas
-my brother and his fiancee got married
-I've been in training to become a doula & recently attended my first birth
-Arash turned 27, I turned 26, and we both felt for the first time not being part of the "young crowd" at a wedding recently

I'm sure there were other momentous events that I'm forgetting, but that's a smattering of 'em. And hey, there are actually several weeks left 'til the official 1 Year Anniversary (it's on July 12th - you can congratulate us then!), so maybe we'll have lots more to report by the actual date.

Speaking of "dates", we still haven't figured out how we want to celebrate and commemorate the occasion. . . First things first: I'm off to order some cake from the bakery that made our wedding cakes. Mmmm.