A Sad Day

We knew this day was coming.  We actually thought that it would come quite a bit sooner, but Miss Bean Dip managed to pull through a lot longer than any of us expected.  Evan's dog Bailey, the "puppy" he's had since before we started dating 12 years ago, passed away last week.  His parents didn't have the heart to tell him over the phone (understandably), so they had her write us one last letter before she had to go:

Dear Sweetheart and Katie, 
I have gone home. I am so happy. Chop and Effa kept me around for so long because they said they couldn't tell when I was ready. Duh. Have a clue. I couldn't see, hear, chew, walk, pee or poop when I was supposed to. And I was so dog-damned tired. I got to stop for a Puppy Cone at DQ on the way out.  Remember that HUGE car you had that I got to do that in? So funny. I can now jump SO HIGH like I used to do. There are WINGS ON MY BACK again!!! I loved you and I KNOW you loved me. 
Bailey


It's been a tearful evening, but we know Bailey is in such a magical place now.  She's so happy - she's running and jumping again, playing with her puppy cousins that moved on before her.  So, here's to you Bean Dip.  We'll be toasting you and your effervescent joy for years to come.

Moving Forward

I have never been one to have regrets in life.  I refuse.  It's just a waste of time.  But I am the first to admit a poor decision.  I'm happy (well, maybe not happy, but willing) to admit when I'm wrong.  And certainly righting that wrong becomes a priority.

I took a bit of a risk back in April, taking a job I knew nothing about with a company I knew nothing about, in hopes that it would bring my family new opportunities.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a good decision.  And now I am back searching the job market - one of the few things in life that I truly despise (probably because I've done so much of it in the last four years).

Life is funny ... just when I think we've got it all figured out, something gets thrown at us that just shakes up our world.  I thought this job was going to be the answer to all of our problems.  And for a short time, it was.  But ultimately, it became the new source of the same problems.

I know that we will be fine, I know that we will come out on top.  We always do.  But my biggest fear is that this is going to take everything out of our control.  We've known since we moved to LA that this isn't "home".  We've known that this is just a place to stay for a while.  But I've always wanted the decision to move to be ours - not a result of something getting in our way.  The fear that something as simple as a job search could end this adventure is rather overwhelming.

That all said ... we will move forward, one way or another.  We will find our place.  And it will be grand!

There really is some good left in the world ...

My mom sent me an amazing article and I thought that I would share it.  I love when I am reminded of just how much good there is.  So seldom do we get to read about happy things happening in our world.  Enjoy.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011740342_electronboy30m.html

HELP!

I've been a follower of a lot of my friends' blogs for quite a while now.  I love hearing about their lives, seeing what's new with their kids, and just catching up via this amazing stuff we call technology.  To be quite honest, I'm a bit of a blog stalker ... but that's not what I need help with ...

I cannot figure out how to make my blog look more interesting!!!  And it's rather frustrating!  I pride myself in being somewhat technologically intelligent.  I know my way around a computer - whether it be a Mac or a PC.  I know my Excel formulas.  I can navigate the World Wide Web like no one else.  For some reason, this has me stumped!!!

So, you blogging friends out there ... HELP!  How do I put in pictures?  How do I set up links within a post (Liz)?  I'm so lost on this one!

New Adventures

It's a sad day.  I'm leaving my post with the kids.  I've spent the past two and (almost) a half years working with Karate Kids, and it's been a blast.  Frustrating at times.  Painful at times.  But always fun.  And I have built some amazing relationships - with the people I work with, as well as the 100+ families I get to see on almost a daily basis.  It's going to be really hard to walk away from all of those familiar faces.

But, so begins the next chapter of my life.  Just as unfamiliar and frightening as Karate Kids was in January of 2008, but I have just as much hope and confidence in this as I did in Karate Kids back then.  I am so excited to begin this new part of our adventure in LaLaLand - it's only going to get better from here.

I believe that these new adventures are going to breathe new life into us.  So, here goes this giant, awesome leap.  WHEEEEEEEE!!!!

Evening of a Lifetime

Last night we experienced one of the greatest moments of our lives, both separately and together. As many of you know, we are HUGE Beatles fans. We both have always loved them, even before we started dating, having grown up in homes that played the Fab Four often. We even named our dog after a GREAT Beatles song: "Eleanor Rigby".

Yesterday, our good friend Brian called Evan up to let him know that Sir Paul McCartney would be playing at the Hollywood Bowl last night, and that it appeared we could get tickets seriously discounted, since it was day-of. We decided to go for it and headed down to the Bowl to see one of the greatest musicians of all time.

Being huge fans of the Beatles, we've followed Paul's solo career, but only enough to know some of his later music. Therefore, while extremely excited to see his show, we really didn't know what to expect. Preparing ourselves to know only some of the music, we settled into our bench seats, looking forward to a fun show.

He started out with a few songs that we knew, but not the words. Evan sipped on his beer while I wrapped my rather thin sweater tighter around me (I don't know why I have such a hard time remembering that it gets COLD at night here) ... and then it began ...

What started out as ten minutes of a few songs to sit back and enjoy, became a three-hour-magical-mystery-tour, a virtual Beatles tribute, performed by the only remaining man that could truly do it justice (sorry Ringo, but it's true). For your reading (and hopefully listening pleasure), I've found a copy of the setlist from last night. Please close your eyes (after reading, of course) and picture 67-year-old Paul McCartney running around a stage for three hours, performing these songs like it was his first time. And if you cry ... it's okay. We did. And if you get chills ... we did too.

So, all I have to say at this point is "Thank You"! Thank you to Brian, who thought of us while searching yesterday. Thank you to our parents for teaching us about this incredible band. And THANK YOU to Sir Paul, for putting on such an incredible show. We will NEVER forget last night.

SETLIST

Venus And Mars
Rock Show
Jet
All My Loving
Got To Get You Into My Life
Highway
Let Me Roll It/ Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix cover)
The Long and Winding Road
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
(I Want to) Come Home
My Love
I'm Looking Through You
Every Night
Two Of Us
Blackbird
Here Today
Dance Tonight
Mrs Vandebilt
Eleanor Rigby
Something
Letting Go
Sing the Changes
Band on the Run
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Back in the U.S.S.R.
I've Got a Feeling
Paperback Writer
A Day in the Life / Give Peace A Chance
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

Encore:
Day Tripper
Lady Madonna
Get Back

Encore 2:
Yesterday
Helter Skelter
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
The End

...sigh...

Oh no ... here I go ...

I don't really know why I'm entering the blogging world ... do I really have much to talk about? I guess only time will tell.

I did want to put a blog from my myspace account (that I just went on for the first time in a year, purely to pull info off and shut it down) up here to preserve it. I find it a bit funny to read, though certainly interesting to see where I am 4 years later. So, here it is, along with comments from me after reading it today:

"Things To Do Before I Die (a work in progress)
1. Live happy, healthy, and in love. (daily occurrence)
2. Swim with dolphins.
3. Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef.
4. Visit Italy and France with Evan (halfway there ... France in 2007)
5. Go to a Liverpool match.
6. Learn to speak French fluently, and use it.
7. Watch the launch of a space shuttle in person.
8. Send a message in a bottle.
9. Find a job I LOVE.
10. Become a mom, and be good at it, and love it. (done and done)
11. Drink mojitos on the beach in a bikini on Christmas. (does a lemon-drop by a pool in a bikini on Thanksgiving count?)
12. See the Grand Canyon from above and below.
13. Get a tattoo. (two at once, done)
14. Buy my own house and make it my own.
15. Have a crazy weekend in Vegas.
16. Run a marathon.
17. Do a triathalon relay with my mom.
18. Visit a nude beach and participate.
19. Visit an active volcano.
20. Go on an African Safari.
21. Help bring running water to a village that needs it.
22. Swim with sharks
23. Learn to paint.
24. Spend a week at Burning Man.
25. Visit a prison.
26. Go to Graceland.
27. Attend a fashion show in New York.
28. Learn to ballroom dance. (done)
29. Visit a former concentration camp.
30. Celebrate the Day of the Dead in Mexico.
31. Spend a weekend at a world class spa, pampering myself.
32. Rent my own private island and share it with my family and friends.
33. Sleep in a haunted castle.
34. Attend the Kentucky Derby.
35. Throw the first pitch at a baseball game (major or minor league)
36. Attend space camp.
37. Get my Master's Degree.
38. Take a Hot Yoga class. (done)
39. Own a purple Toyota pick-up truck.
40. Attend a taping of Ellen. (done, and it was amazing)
41. Attend a taping of Oprah. (unless I manage to make it to Chicago this year, I think this one is shot)
42. Eat a Chicago style pizza in Chicago. (done)
43. Learn to fly a plane.
44. Own a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.
45. See a game at Yankee Stadium.
46. Attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
47. Attend the Oscars.
48. Be an extra in a movie or tv show.
49. Be debt free by 30 (since we're just 18 months away from this one, I think I'm going to have to up it to 35)
50. Learn to play the piano
51. Own a grand piano and be able to play it (see above)
52. Build a tree house
53. Learn to bartend.
54. Perform a solo dance on stage for a crowd.
55. Work at Disneyland as a character for a day.
56. Drive an 18-wheeler around a block.
57. Drive the Autobahn.
58. Eat escargot. (done - and actually quite good)
59. Meet a President.
60. Meet Rosie O'Donnell.
61. Own an African Gray Parrot
62. Meet Sarah McLauchlan
63. Sit front row at a Sarah concert
64. Sit front row at a Ladysmith Black Mambazo concert
65. Bathe in a waterfall.
66. Visit every state in the U.S. (12 down, 38 to go)
67. Buy an LCD tv for Evan (done - that one is kind of boring)
68. Go shopping with no worries about the money I'm spending.
69. Go for a ride in a hot air balloon.
70. Go on a cruise with Evan and both sets of parents.
71. Go parasailing.
72. Touch the Sphinx.
73. Go to Martha's Vineyard.
74. Own a Husky.
75. Own a Leonberger and name him Leon Berger.
76. Go to cooking school.
77. Own an Apple laptop with all the "bells and whistles" (done - sort of)
78. Own my own coffee shop.
79. Be a forensic sociologist.
80. Attend a taping of Saturday Night Live.
81. Have an arts and crafts room in my house.
82. Learn to golf.
83. Play Pebble Beach with Evan.
84. Ride a motorcycle.
85. Learn to surf
86. Visit Thailand.
87. Learn the last dance in "Dirty Dancing" and perform it.
88. Learn to strip
89. Have my own herb and vegetable garden. (done)
90. Meet Tiger Woods. (not sure how much I care about this one anymore - except maybe to tell him what I think of him ...)
91. Read all of my books on my bookshelves.
92. Walk on the Great Wall of China
93. Ride on a gondola in Venice.
94. See a sunrise over New York City and a sunset over Malibu in the same day.
95. Live to see my great-grandchildren.
96. Ride on an elephant.
97. Hold and play with a chimpanzee.
98. Be on the cover of a magazine.
99. Travel Ireland.
100. Whitewater raft on the Colorado River.
101. Own 'Berger's Burgers'."


This really is a rather extensive list ... what on earth was I thinking when I wrote it. But I guess it's good to have goals, right? Even if I only get to another 10 of these, I will feel beyond accomplished!
Well, alright. Here's to a new world. A world where, in my mind, people care about what I have to write about, even in my most boring moments.