Los Angeles and Back!

You know how some things sound better in theory than in real life? Driving from Bend to Los Angeles is sort of like that. Since it'd been awhile (8 months!) since we'd made the drive, we'd forgotten how loooong the drive is. Even split into two days, it was still a good 7-8 hours of sitting in the car each day. On the bright side, it gave us time to work on our relationship and communication skills, especially when we finally hit Los Angeles traffic!

oh, traffic. I did not miss you.

It was all worth it when we arrived back at the Barker Block, our former home. Our friend Steve was out of town and generously lent us his loft, which has an amazing city view.

the LA city skyline.

the LA skyline during a sunset!

Of course the first thing I wanted to do was get some Mexican food....we've been missing it. We headed over to Northgate market in Boyle Heights, and picked up tamales, guacamole, and ceviche. With two kinds of chips. I gorged myself. And did not feel guilty in the slightest!

3 kinds of tamales - chiles, pork, and chicken. YUM.

Then our friend, Sheila made us kabobs and homemade hummus, with lemon cake for dessert. She does stuff fancy. I love her presentation, with her gorgeous silverware, serving plates, and cloth napkins. 

the beautiful spread Sheila made for us!

We also got to eat lots of Japanese food with my cousin and our favorite travel friends, Josh and Bernice, in Little Tokyo, but I ate all that food so quickly I forgot to take pictures! What can I say, there is no place like Los Angeles for deliciousness. Bend can't compare in the gastronomy department.

Bend also doesn't have our friends or family, which we miss dearly! We are trying to convince them to visit and/or move up to Oregon...it took me years and years to make good friends in LA, and it'd just be easier to import your friends to your new hometown, you know?

Funny thing about this picture - two of the people "drinking" don't actually drink!

We had to leave town after only 3 days, but we managed to squeeze in a couple burgers at In-and-Out. 

My half eaten cheeseburger and Mike's animal style fries.

And when we finally arrived back in Oregon, a rainbow was there to greet us. Sure, it dumped 8 inches of snow the very next day, but we're still happy to be back home. We're getting used to shoveling the driveway; it's great cardio. 

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2015, and may your year be full of adventure! 

Happy Holidays from Mike and Kristy!

Apparently blogger had some technical difficulties and erased my entire Happy Holidays post! Major bummer.  

Quick synopsis: We went to the local Bend holiday parade, shopped around town, then headed up to Los Angeles via Monterey Bay, with a nice little stop at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 

Morty, our vanagon, all festive!

The Bend holiday parade with llamas, the unicycle club, marching band, and Smoky the Bear.

awesome Christmas lights in Monterey

Slightly creepy holiday decor, also in Monterey

A very active octopus - he was awesome!

An alien looking Nautilus

Jellies!

More jellies. We love them - so gorgeous.

Moon jellies

Mike and I at Monterey Bay. Happy Holidays!

R.I.P., S.J.P

It's been awhile since I've written, because we've had a rough couple weeks. Our sweet little bunny, S.J.P. (Sarah Jessica Parker), who was a part of our family for over 5 years, passed away last week. 

We had taken her in for a routine tooth filing (bunnies' teeth never stop growing, so as they get older, sometimes they get misaligned and then grow all wonky), and the Dr. didn't put her under enough anesthesia, so she woke up in the middle of the procedure, and bit her tongue. Bunnies are super sensitive and delicate - the tongue bite was too much for her - blood everywhere, she couldn't eat and had to be force fed, and to avoid too many gruesome details, I'll just say she seized and passed two days later.

We had a healthy bunny, and two days later we have a huge empty space in our home and in our lives. Needless to say, we're completely devastated. At this point, we try to keep busy every day and focus on things that need to get done. Any quiet moment - usually in the car for me - I just break down. 

It's a reminder that you just never know how much time you have left - on this planet, with your loved ones, or with your pets. So get out there, do your thing, and tell the people and animals you love, how much they mean to you. We miss you, S.J.P.!