Pack Pack Pack

We are in packing mode :) Very excited! Yesterday we started packing all of hubbys video games and all our dvds. Luckily we don't have all that much. Our room is loaded with boxes and its driving me nuts! Only one more week though. We are somewhat lucky since most of our stuff is packed already in a storage unit. We arent in any rush to get everything in boxes only because its like a 15 minute drive to the condo.

I am so excited to be able to decorate and do what I want. Plus I will be posting a lot more! With all the decor projects :) Especially since its the best time of the year with Thanksgiving coming up and Christmas. Plus we have a fireplace which will be awesome! (Even though it doesn't get to cold here in Cali)

Dexter- My little man...

As some of you may know, our little man Dexter has been diagnosed with diabetes. I haven't written about it only because its been so crazy with getting ready for the move and his health. Seems everything is hitting at once. I am so glad I have support from my husband. I don't have kids. So these animals have become my children. And to see him sick makes me so sad. I wanted to write this post not only as a way to get out some feelings but also maybe help anyone who is going through having to take care of a diabetic cat and the frustration and struggles that come along with it.

It all started when we noticed that my little man was losing weight. And for anyone who knows or has seen Dexter knows that ever since we had him neutered he gained a lot of weight. It was really sudden, the weight loss. And we also noticed that he was drinking a lot of water. A LOT! I told myself we needed to take him to see a doctor. Especially when we noticed his sides were all sunken in.

We didn't have a vet so I decided to ask around at work. One of my co-workers has 6 cats and I figured she would know a good doctor. She recommended a good doctor and we made an appointment. We we had the first appointment they wanted a full blood panel to really see what was going on. They suspected diabetes, liver failure, or Cancer. They also wanted to check his bladder to make sure that he didn't have any k tones which I guess is common in diabetic cats. That would mean that he would be in shock which is life threatening. 

So after the blood panel they said his blood glucose level was 380. Which is way high. He was diabetic. This meant the we would be giving him 2 insulin shots a day. Feeding him their specialty food.. which we have learned that through research we dont have to do that its just a way for them to make more money. There are plenty of foods out there that are good for diabetic cats.

Since then we have upped the dosage 3 times. From 1 and a half units up to 4 now. We seem to be having the same results every time and its getting frustrating. We kinda feel like we are getting ripped off. They want us to come in every week and have his glucose checked. Yet the results are the same every time. I just don't know what to think. We are thinking about getting a glucose checker for the home and check it here. Save the 30 bucks every time we go. So all in all we are still struggling to find the right dosage of insulin for him and he is still drinking a lot of water. I will keep you posted. And trust me I could do a whole other post about the people at the front desk and how they don't know what they are doing. That will be at another time. lol Just frustrating.

Stayin in Cali!

Well I haven't posted in a while. Its been so insane crazy! As some of you know we have decided to stay here in San Diego, Ca instead of moving to Washington. We just didn't feel right leaving our families again. Especially with his fathers condition. SO we are staying here in Cali!

The crazy thing is, like a week after we decided to stay, the apartments we had been waiting for for like a year had a 1 bedroom available! Is that not weird!? I am a true believer that things happen for a reason and this was one of them. I am so excited. That same day I went out and got the funds and put a hold on the apartment. :)

Below is the community:

Apartment!!!

               So we just put a hold on an apartment!!! As you read earlier and saw... its the picture in the previous post of that kitchen. Here are some of the other pictures of the apartment :) Movie theater looks awesome. And the gym of course! The only thing we will probably need is to find some way to store our kayak. There is no way we are getting rid of it since its like kayak heaven up there! The only difference between our apartment and the one shown is that ours has vinyl wood flooring throughout the entire apartment except the bedroom which is perfect for our fur babies :)

Been a while...

               So its been awhile since I have posted. Things have been a little crazy. Hubby's company offered him a position up in Vancouver, Washington. I know! Never a dull moment here. And we took it! They are going to help pay for the move. So we are off on a new adventure! We have been doing a lot of research on apartments and the area and where his work will be. His work is in a place called fishers landing. And of course I went on Google maps and did a street view of the area. In Vancouver you can see Mt. Hood which is gorgeous!

                  So I am pretty excited! Hubby is having some reservations about it. Mainly because we would be leaving our whole family and back into renting again. I am so excited. Not only to have my own space and get everything out of storage, but it seems amazing up there. Like the outdoor mecca! Kayaking, hiking, biking! Yay! And I find it funny since we have done this so many times, California, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and now Washington, that he should be used to the process. But I guess some things have changed since then. With his dad being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and dementia it worries him. Not only about his dad but leaving his mom with no one to help her. I definitely understand that. He is not at the bad stages yet though. He was just diagnosed last like 2 years ago and it on medication to help slow the process which seems to be better.

                Our move date is October 20th. And his start date for work at the new facility is Oct 27th. Gives us a week to get everything together and get settled before he goes back to work. As for me working I am kinda hoping that I will find something at HP since its right across the street from his work. What are the odds. :) Or maybe I will try something different. Who knows.

               We pretty much think we have found our apartment. Its a 1.3 miles from his work. Unlike now where he spend 1.5 to 2 hours just to get to work. When it should take him like 20 minutes. (to many damn people) So that will be nice. The apartment is a bit small. Its like 635 sq ft. but we want to go tiny right? So here is a chance to see how we do in that amount of space. We will be selling some stuff to be able to fit into it. They also have a 1 bedroom with an upstairs loft for 1200 a month. They have been newly renovated. See below:

               Come with stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors for the bottom units. Washer and dryer included. And two assigned carports so you are never fight to find a spot. Also comes with a fireplace which I am so excited about! Rent for the bottom unit is about a 1000 a month. This same unit in San Diego would probably go for around 1600. So that's a big savings. They also have no state income tax in the state of Washington. So his checks will be a little more. Also right down the street from his work and our apartments..... a whole foods!! Yay! They also have natural grocers out there, which we loved when we were in Texas.

               Well I will keep you guys posted on how it all goes and keep you updated. We are supposed to start going through our storage unit this weekend but we will see how that goes. We were supposed to do it last weekend but hubby got sick. And now this week his back is hurting since he had to repair my tire. Always something with men I swear! lol

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Joe will be missed :(

               Today we went to the memorial for a co-worker of mine that was taken to soon. Joe Stafford. I worked with him for about 3 years and my mom worked with him also. It was sudden. My brain still thinks he is here. I remember the morning of saying hi to him in the break room like every other morning. Joe had a love for Disney so we had that in common and he would always say "escapeee" from the movie finding nemo every time he saw me. Joe would do anything for anyone. Not a bad bone in his body. 

                The memorial was beautiful. You could tell how many people he touched cause there was line to get into the church. As his family got up and talked about his life and what a dad/husband he was, it made me realize how precious life is. He was taken way to early and yet lived such a full life! You will be missed so much. We love you and miss you already Joe.

Crazy Labor Day Holiday!

               Boy did we have a crazy labor day weekend! I felt like I got no rest over the holiday but I guess part of it is my own fault. Well you all know we had our trip to Harrahs. The Friday we got back we met up with the in laws and had lunch. Saturday we took the day and went up to Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego. :) I never knew how beautiful it was there. All my life (well most of my life) living here and I had never been. So we got to see the Point Loma Lighthouse and all the military history there, like the barracks and canons.

                The we headed down to the tide pools. Which weren't tide pools since the tide was in and we had just had the tropical storms with crazy waves and swells. But the beach was beautiful!

                Also the cool thing about driving there, you pass the Rosecrans Cemetery. It was so beautiful. To see the thousands of people that fought for this country was breathtaking. Reminds us to live every day to the fullest.

                  Then Sunday we ran all of our normal get ready for the week errands. That usually takes up a full day. Then we hit up the farm and got our local produce and whatever we cant get there then we have to go get at sprouts.

                 Monday we went to Disneyland with the In laws and my mom. We all have passes that are about to expire so we wanted to get the most of them since we wont be renewing due the rise in everything when it comes to Disneyland. The price has raised twice since we got our passes and even the parking went up. Sorry... my little rant! We miss you Walt!!! So we went in and the first thing we did when we got there was go to Blue Bayou. Usually we make reservations way in advance, but this trip was a spur of the moment kind of deal. They actually had an opening!! About an hour and half we waited but we were SO hungry we hit up the bar b q place in adventure land until it was time to eat. We got seated right by the water!!! I have eaten there twice before and haven't gotten the water and this time we did! It was also my in-laws anniversary. So it all worked out swimmingly. :) And the food is always amazing! After we went on a couple little rides. I had never been on storybook land. So we went on that. Haunted mansion was closed for the Halloween preparations. So I didn't get to go on that. :( Then we headed over to California Adventure. Went on Soarin and my Mom and Matt went on Tower of Terror. I wasn't in the mood for that ride. Esp after eating a heavy meal. Walked around and then headed home. We didn't get home till around 1130 and by the time I got to bed it was around 12. Then waking up at 4:45am was not fun. But well worth it!

Awesome time on our anniversary!!

              
                 SO we just got back from a two night stay at Harrahs Southern California Resort in Valley Center. We have been to Vegas like 4 times the past year and decided we were kinda over that whole scene and the long drive. This is only 30 minutes away if that and we had more fun here then we have at Vegas! The crowd is better. Older crowd. Calmer. 

Checking in

                 We got there around 4 and checked in. Check in was at 4 so it was perfect timing. The line wasn't very long and as soon as we got into the building it felt like we were at some nice resort far away from home. Very clean. Very quiet. After checking in we went up to our room which was in their Dive Tower. Which has been redone :) We overlooked the pool. She asked if we wanted a pool view and we jumped on it. We actually thought that the dive tower automatically came with a pool view.

The view from our room:

The Buffet

               The first night we ate at the buffet. Now on a side note I will say that our lifestyle of eating fruits and veggies went out the window during this trip. Only because we ended up having two things to celebrate which I will get into the other one later. ;) Anyways back to the buffet! It was quite pricey. 25$ a person. But once we got in we saw why! It had everything you could ever want in a buffet. Better then the Vegas ones. Usually I am disappointed with the buffets a lot of the time only because they make it look big then when you actually get down to it its just split in half and its the same on either side. This wasn't! It had everything you could ever ask for. Even a full salad bar and fruit bar. Crab legs up the wazoo! Sushi and shrimp too. Each section was divided by the type of food. Mexican, Italian, Asian, etc. So here come some of the food pictures. I didnt take a picture of my main dish only because I felt so bad that I was eating Prime Rib.... Yes they had prime rib there too.

Also the room had a shower and separate tub and the tub was huge!! The first night we grabbed a bottle of wine and had a glass while chillin in the nice hot bath!

Casino

              So now comes the Casino. While I am not a big gambler, my hubby loves to gamble. That first night we pretty much lost everything trying to find the right machine. Hubby loves wheel of fortune. And of course they only had one machine and there was always someone on it. We finally got on it but it was 1.25 a spin so it took our money like it was nothing. The next morning however we were able to find the right machine. The guy next to us put 20 bucks in and won 300 bucks. And at 30 cents a spin and it played all lines we were good to go for a long time on 20 bucks since it would actually give back. So all in all we liked the casino.

The pool

                Ok so here comes my favorite part!!! The poool!!! After the renovation at the hotel people have been raving about the pool. So if you know anything about me, as long as there is a pool I am happy :) There is actually 3 different pools. All 21+. The lazy river is awesome! Only down fall is since they keep the kids in this section it can be not so lazy. But since we went during the week there was hardly any and the ones that were there we very respectful. The tubes are provided. They have 2 waterfalls, 2 rapids, 1 cave, and some fountains in the lazy river. And the water in all the pools was so refreshing. Not warm but not cold. The two pools we stayed at were the one with the swim up bar (of course!) and the one behind it that had a waterfall which was actually a hot tub but the water was just a tiny bit on the warm side so it felt more like pool. To the right of us there was another adult pool and we didn't even go over to cause we got there at like 1pm and there was no one there so we were able to get a little couch thing right by the bar pool. Now if you know me well enough you know I am not a huge drinker and on occasion I will have a glass of wine or a cocktail. But here I had about 3 different drinks which for me, was a lot. I had a Mai Tai of course! A margarita on the rocks, and a creation they made up they called gods blood. Which was sierra mist, blood orange mixer, and a shot of some alcohol which I don't remember. The bartenders were awesome. They got a great tip from me. Bobby was awesome! Shout out to you! Ok pictures of the pool! 

So I wanted to thank the awesome people from Vista for lending my hubby a cigar cause he totally forgot about his Cubans from the Bahamas. They were super nice!

                 Everyone we met was super nice and welcoming. Even the staff was super nice. And like I said the bartenders were awesome! And of course gave us all the free waters we wanted :) 

                 All this relaxing and drinking was making us hungry. All we had that morning was my chai latte and his coffee and a little danish from Starbucks. (of course they had a Starbucks there) Attached to the pool was a little Mexican restaurant called Ritas Cantina that we got some tacos from and hubby had a burrito. Very good! You can also order from the bar which we found out after going into Rita's but its right there, so no biggy.

Room Service

                 That night we were so tired from all the relaxing we did. lol jk. But we did stay all day at the pool. So I think the sun took it out of us. We had planned on eating at Fiore. The nice steakhouse there but by the time we got up to the room we were spent. So...room service it was! And it was good!!! I was surprised at the portions. I ordered a quesadilla...I know...horrible... the cheese... ick. Then hubby ordered steak and eggs. A side order of fries (bare with me) and a chocolate fudge cake! (I know we were sooo bad!!) The cake was ridiculous in size!! So we ate everything but the cake. We were so full that we couldn't even touch it. So we brought it home. The next morning we just checked out on the tv in our room after playing some more slots at the casino.

The Cafe

                 Our final morning we ate breakfast at The Cafe. Just small little restaurant they have there that was decently priced. We were able to eat for 24 bucks. :) Nothing too great to talk about. It was kinda like a Ihop.


                  Well thats pretty much our vacation in a nutshell. Highly recommend this resort to everyone in the Southern California area for a quick getaway. It was nice meeting all the locals. People from Vista, Oceanside, and even some from Redondo beach.

Thanks for reading!!!