Puppy lovin and it feels so good

My O.F. (other family) got a puppy last weekend.  It was a semi-spontaneous decision and they are now enjoying (suffering?) the joys of a 7-8wk old puppy.  They have been thrust back into life with a newborn and its treating them a little harshly so please send them your good thoughts and loves and prayers.  Hopefully they can give little Chief a very good and happy life.  

The Chief was rescued by a fire department, and they are his namesake.  He was found duct taped inside a box.  That story alone broke my heart.  How can people be so cruel to these beautiful fur babies?

I can't imagine having a puppy right now.  Peeing and pooping everywhere and waking up every 4 hours...

 But oh, THAT FACE!

I love you O.F.  I'm here to puppysit whenever you can't take it anymore!

MuAH!

Christmas Part II or So this is what its like to have a big family.

You guys.

Do you know about big families?  Because I always thought my extended family was pretty big.  Granted we only saw them once a summer so it wasn't like I had that much exposure to the big family-osity, but I still thought I had one (a big family that is).  But what I thought I knew about big families, what I thought I had learned about chaos and loudness and crazy family time...I was wrong.

I had NO idea about big families.

I got my first good taste of the big familiness at 2nd christmas with SP's family.  (and yes I know its almost february and I'm writing about christmas but die hard christmas lovers get to hang on to the season for as long as they want, so suck on that!)

You guys there were so many presents.  Like so many.  The kids were just covered in mountains of paper and it was like a frenzy.  SP has 8 (count em on your 2 hands) nieces and nephews ranging in age from 8months of cute chubbiness to 10 (I think) years of adorableness.  And they are all firey and full of energy and have their own unique fabulous personalities.  I was in love.  And my ovaries were just screaming.  I'm pretty sure everybody could hear it.

It was stressful though.  I won't lie.  Going to anybody else's family event is always stressful though I think.  And Christmas (even if it is part 2) holds extra weight.

But all in all it was a delicious food/present/kid/dog frenzy.

Oh yeah did I mention we brought dodo with us?  Nothing like mixing the neurotic dog with 18 people and another dog.  oh mannnnnnnn.  She did really well though (I was a proud mama of my furbaby)  She played with the kids and didn't growl the entire time and didn't even bite anybody!  Talk about success ;)

And now a picture dump:

 Borrowed BABY!

Take my picture.  Take a picture of just my kitty.  The kitty and the unicorn want a picture together!

Somebody got her very own bike, and it was far and away the best reaction of the night.  It involved screaming and jumping!

And it was my birthday too :)

In Favor of NOW

This moment

It's everything.

I forget a lot to stop planning.  I'm a planner by nature and it has definitely been a blessing.  It has allowed me to be successful in school and work and many other arenas of my life.  It is also one of my greatest demons.  Because in my zest for planning I am sometimes paralyzed.  I am afraid I'm missing the now far too often.  I'm forgetting to soak it all in.  All of it.  Even the moments that aren't so glamorous.  Even the sometimes tedious work hours or cleaning hours or or or.  I need to remember that even those moments, they have something to offer me.  Something that will improve me or strengthen me or uplift me.  I am more settled and more happy and more fulfilled then I probably ever have been right now in my life and I don't want to miss even a milli-second of it. 

So my new resolve is to live in the moment.  And to love it.  To love every little bit of it.  To stop worrying about the future and how it’s all going to play out.  To stop planning every tiny minute.  To stop strategizing every little thing.  And to just absorb it all.  And be thankful.  And to learn from it and strengthen and be fulfilled.  My new resolve is to not compare and to not plan everything and to not worry.  And to just gently hold and love each moment for exactly what it is.  Roll those moments around in my life and let the sweetness wash over me. 

Because this IS my life.  And it is oh so wonderful. 

And really.  What's better than this?

 

The glam life!

Working from home.

It's the best.

It looks like this.

Oh I'm so glamorous!

I have so many ideas twirling around in my head these days but I haven't had any time to put them down for all of you to scrutinize.  They will come though, I know, all in good time.

Tonight, after a fabulous day of mindless paperwork in my pj's, SP and I have some burgers and a giant to-do list calling our names!  So much romance in this household...it can not even be contained!

Most importantly - thank you for your good wishes and prayers and juju.  That shared good energy for my Uncle REALLY has made all of the difference.  After some emergency surgery he has stabilized.  Is breathing on his own (even though he now has pneumonia) is alert and awake and can even talk a little bit.  He is still very sick and there is very far to go.  But this is such a good turn for the better!  So thank you.  Because it means something to me!

Hippies and Prayers

I'm not on a liquid diet, I swear...

 Ok you guys. 

Where have mason jars been all my life?!  This is definitely one thing them hippies got right! (amongst many other things, I love hippies!)

Like really.

I know there are people out there right now who are like, whatever, I'm super cool and I already knew about the wonders of mason jars and where have you been Sarah?  But apparently this is a really amazingly great trend I missed out on somehow.  They are A-to the mazing.  They don't leak.  Like i put gross juice in them and they DON'T LEAK!!!  You can put hot stuff in them, you can freeze them, you can use them as cups.  They are like tupperware but BETTAH.  And you know what?!  They don't even have any BPA leaching into your food!

If they made them in ginormo size I would get rid of all my tupperware right now and only use mason jars.  I would also move into a tree house.

Anyway...

Life is (mostly) good.  SP and I did a 3 day juice fast.  Which really turned into a 2 and 2/3rds day juice fast because on the 3rd night SP told me she needed to eat food or she "might knife someone"  And since I was the only someone around I opted for the eating of food instead.  So we went out for chinese.  Oh yes you read that right.  We went out for chinese.  Because there is no better way to end a healthy eating couple of days then with some MSG.  and let me tell you a couple of things:

1. we couldn't even finish the 3 APPETIZERS we ordered
2. my stomach sounded like it was trying to eat metal
3. we both had a huge headache immediately afterwards

So i'm pretty convinced.  And am planning to stick with the juice for breakfasts.  And 80% veggies for the rest of meals hopefully.  It's not a huge change from how we were eating before but I am hoping to pull out more and more of the processed foods and go with the more organic, locally grown, fresh foods like the BIG hippie that apparently I really am.

I hate to tell you also.  I went without caffeine for 4 days during "the juicing" and I'm not sure I can live without it.  I mean obviously I could (I did.) but I really enjoy coffee and the ritual in the morning.  So I think I might have to bring that back.  The other habit that I'm hoping to keep is the absurd amount of water I've been drinking lately.  Like no joke I'm pretty sure on the first day I peed every 30mins.  It was kind of ridiculous.  But I know that my body is so much happier when I'm glugging down the agua. 

The only sad downside to the juicing (and the week of sickness before that).  My endurance level is way down.  I'm pretty sure there is no way in hell I can run a 10k the first week in Feb without dying so that goal might have to be postponed.  I've been doing some light jogging and walking but I've been le tired.  So maybe I'll still do it if I get a huge burst of energy and start running like a beast in the next few weeks.  Mostly I'm focusing on doing something instead of nothing (or nothing + cookies - which is the worst worst).

And thus ends my tirade in favor of mason jars and juicing.  

Christmas Part II and Birthday run-down to come soonsies.  Here's a sneaky peaky:

I did not steal this baby!  Just borrowed :)

 *****************************************************************************************

A tiny little request:
Please, if you would, pray for my Uncle Sam, who had a stroke this past weekend and then received some poor medical care.  Things are very critical and I am very worried.  I know that any spare prayers, good thoughts or good juju you could spare would make all the difference.

Besos
Sarah

A-dios 2011!

Happy New Year!

It really has been a glorious year.  Many downs yes, but many many ups as well.

2011 in a nutshell:

Jan

I start a new job.  It takes up my entire life. 

Feb

The world is introduced to the Trenta cup.   The jury is definitely still out on that one. (love it, hate it, love to hate it…I dunno)

We move.  AGAIN.  Please God of all things housey lets not move again in 2012.

March

I survive my first application period at my new job.  And learn how to be the best at paperwork.  Paperwork WINNER.  And my insane desire to snatch babies starts to grow like a MOTHER Effer. 

April

I pretty much start to freak out ALL the time.  My new job is taking over my life and I don’t know what I’m doing.  I also stop sleeping.

May

Baby fever grows with leaps and bounds.  Everybody and their brother are having babies.  I love/hate it.  Kori starts (continues?) to destroy everything in our house.  We wonder how in the hell she is still alive.  I also become obsessed with the word palooza.

June

I start to really really really freak out about work.  I also talk about love and marriage.  And make popsicles.

July

I cry every day.  I also get an ulcer.  I do love the kids I work with though, even through I know they will eventually cause me to throw up blood.

August

I SURVIVE.  We go to the beach to celebrate.  I also sleep for approximately 1 week.

September

We go on vacation to visit the parentals in San Diego.  It is so fun going to Disneyland, the beach and also getting the stomach flu….yeah.  All of a sudden it’s fall!  And I realize I like Fall!  What the what?!  I get bangs.  Mistake?  Mmmm.  I realize once again how freakin’ lucky I am that I found SP.

October

I start doing the budget at work.  It ruins my life again.   I learn a lot though.  I still hate Halloween.  SP indulges me and does not make me dress up this year :)  We also find a stray dog.  Which is fun for 2 seconds and HORRIBLE for 2.5 days.  So much laughing happens.

November

I recognize once again the joys of Diet Coke and Popcorn.  Despite wanting to be healthy and such, I still love me some liquid chemicals!  I interview for the job I already had.  I get it.  Yay?  UC Davis BLOWS THE EFF UP.  Let’s just say, one should be careful with their pepper spray.  I give my 2 cents about the whole situation.  SP, Dodo the dog and I make the epic trek to San Diego for Thanksgiving.  It’s fricken awesome.  It’s like a tropical wonderland in November.  We eat our body weight in sweets.   

December

I discover I have technological skillz.  Haha.  Just kidding.  SP allows me to turn our apartment into Santa’s workshop.  It’s pretty much the bomb.  I miss my blog’s first birthday.  And resolve to treat him/her better in this next year.  We go on 99 Christmas light expeditions.  Peeps have gone Christmas C to the RAZY this year.  My family descends upon our tiny apartment like locusts to a wheat field. 

All in all it’s been a fabulous year.  I can’t even believe that it’s coming to an end already.  Cliché yes, but I think time really does speed up as you age.  Whyyyy.  We had a fabulous time on NYE.  Hopefully I’ll have pictures and memories for you soon.  There are some big things coming up for 2012 - weddings!, and trips!, and crazy life oh my! 

I hope 2011 leaves you feeling sweet and that your hopes and dreams are bursting for 2012.  Much love from little family to you and yours!