birthday shouts.

emi turns 2 today. to celebrate, i took her to the doggy bakery and picked up a few treats, along with a little birthday cake. we're waiting for z to come home before we light the candle and sing the official birthday song to her. yes, we are totally in love and we totally spoil her.

emi has taught me so much over the past year and a half. she's taught me what it means to love and to be loved unconditionally. she's taught me to be patient, not only with others, but with myself. she has shown me that animals have personalities and feelings, too, and for this reason, i should respect and show compassion for all living things. sometimes i envy how she can live so very much in the moment - not caring about the past or the future, but truly lives in the present... and this is something i am starting to slowly learn on my own.

having a pet isn't for everyone. it takes a lot of time, patience, and energy. it forces you to step outside of yourself for the sake of another well being. having a pet also requires you to take a look at yourself because sometimes, you'll realize certain things you never knew before and it could surprise you. i'd be lying if i said that emi hasn't done all those things for me and more..

i look forward to celebrating so many more of emi's birthdays. she is genuinely one of a kind and we couldn't have asked for a better addition to our little family. happy birthday, babes.. we are so happy you've come this far! xox.

in between.

this is who i've been spending most of my time with these days. emi is loving the fact that i'm not working. can't you tell by her smile?

oddly enough, i've been busier than ever. the world is so different during working hours and by different, i mean empty! most of my mornings are spent at the gym. i used to have to fit in my workouts either real early in the morning, or right after work. i still go to my 5:30am kickboxing class on mondays and fridays, but now i can fit in yoga, cycling, or even a swim at our pool. the rest of the day is usually spent taking emi on walks, or running errands and doing house chores. i've also been taking a lot of nice long baths lately, i almost forgot what it felt like to relax in a tub. i've come to believe that every woman deserves a hot bubble bath at least once a week. it's free and a real treat - try it!

i have to admit, being unemployed is probably the best thing that has happened to me in a long time and while my bank account cries everytime i swipe my debit card, something in me tells me that it's all going to be okay. today i took emi to the park and sat in the shade with her for a good while, listening to the quiet and thinking about life and what to make of it.

i know that this is a transitional period for me. it's a little God given downtime for me to take a step back and breathe. it's something i know i needed, but probably would have never done if not given the opportunity to do so. i am so very, very grateful for every minute of this time because i truly believe that time is the greatest gift that anyone can ever receive and i accept this gift with everything i have.

let's see where this road will lead.

xoxox.

the easter bunny.

i never really celebrated Easter. z and i went to church once a few years back but it felt like they took advantage of the day to recruit new members, instead of truly rejoicing in the meaning behind the day. the message was lost and i left feeling somewhat guilty and empty instead of spiritually nourished.

my receptionist told me about her family's Easter tradition that i thought was fun. they have Easter egg hunts in their backyards and the eggs are stuffed with anything from money scratchers to half dollar coins. she says the kids have a great time and the adults enjoy it, too, especially because there's usually an abundance of food and drink. when i told her we didn't do anything on Easter, she didn't understand. "you mean, you don't get together with your family and at least have dinner?" this all goes back to what i have always said about my family: they don't do holidays. but in their defense, i never knew of any families that really celebrated Easter the way our receptionist's family does.

i like to think of the traditions that i'd like to carry on when or if the time comes. i already know that thanksgiving and christmas will always be big in my house, but it's fun to think of what other holiday traditions can be instilled. i can't help but to think that i'd dress my daughter up in a ridiculously cute Easter dress, or my son in a handsome Easter suit, only to have it become dirty from a day full of egg hunting and chocolate bunny eating. i guess you can say that i try to practice my imagination on Emi. she says happy Easter by the way, from all of us.

xoxox

the walk, the birthday, and the exhaustion.

the first picture was taken during the hike last weekend. i forgot i had taken pictures! and unfortunately we didn't make the hiking trip yesterday, which was somewhat of a relief because we had such a long day on saturday. the walk for MS had us up at 6am and out the door by 7. it turned out to be a great event! z and i were both a little surprised to see how many people brought their dogs. as you can imagine, emi was overly excited and we had to restrain her from running all over the place while at the same time looking enviously at the other people with calm and obedient dogs. on the other hand, emi is really mild mannered when it comes to confrontations - she never barks and just looks on in confusion when being barked at so at least we had that going for us.

she met another bully friend (pictured above) named Diesel. he had the biggest crush on emi and kept wanting to be next to her. she also met a pig named Hamlet (also pictured above) - how unusual and funny is it to find a pig at a Walk? needless to say, he received a lot of attention with people constantly wanting to take pictures with or of him and because emi was close by, she also received lots of attention.

we walked about 2 miles around the UC Irvine campus, which was a bonus for me because i'll be transferring there next year. i was impressed with the architecture of the buildings and the size of the campus. it made me even more excited about transferring. it also made me think about the future and what it has in store for me. i always go into a daze when i think about what's to come, so to actually be on the campus that i'll be frequenting in a couple of years put me deep into thought. i won't go into detail because it's too complicated and too personal to put into words, but let's just say that i believe i was meant to do that walk on saturday morning and i'm glad i did.

when we finally made it home, we crashed. all 3 of us took a long nap and it was emi who woke up first, begging to be let out because of all the water she consumed. it's a good thing she pestered us because we could have slept well into the night and that couldn't happen because we had a surprise birthday dinner to attend. if you haven't already guessed it, the last picture is of the birthday boy who will be turning 28 tomorrow. dennis has been a long time friend of ours and it was our great pleasure to see the look of defeat on his face when he saw what his girlfriend had been planning. it was a great celebration that turned into a roast since everyone just made fun of him the whole night (and actually, they always do), but it just goes to show what a great sense of humor he has and what a great friend he is.

as is always the case, the weekend was way too short but i guess that just means i had a great one. hope you did too.

xxxxxo.

happy st patty's.

remember how we went to the park this past weekend? well, one thing we tried to do was get a picture of emi in her st patrick headband, surrounded by beautiful green grass. i figured it would be a great picture to post on her facebook (yes, she has a facebook.. why aren't you a fan yet?), but as you can see, she wasn't very cooperative. the only thing on her mind was fetch and it doesn't help that she hates taking pictures.

i managed to narrow it down to two pictures (which do not include the two above) and sent them out to my office mates so they could vote which one should be shared. the votes have been cast and if you want to see which one we went with, feel free to stop by her facebook to take a looksie.

otherwise, happy st patty's day - hope you all enjoy a green day.

xxx

springing forward.

our weekend started with a morning bike ride along the coast on saturday. i was a little worried on the way there because the weather was gloomy and gray, but by the time we arrived and pulled our bikes out of the car, the skies had cleared and though the sun started to peek its rays through the thin clouds that still lingered, there was a crisp ocean breeze that kept us cool. it felt amazing riding down PCH - the wind hitting my smiling face and the salty scent of the sea beside me replenished my soul.

i kept the energy up by doing some spring cleaning yesterday. i have to admit that i really hate cleaning, but i can't stand a dirty space. when i lived with my parents, my mom cleaned every single day and would scold me for not doing the same. when z and i first moved in together, we shared a bathroom that he took on the responsibility of cleaning. through him, i could hear my mom's scolding as he complained about my hair being everywhere and my messy bathroom manners. when we moved into our then-new apartment 3 years ago, we were both excited to have our own bathrooms - he was excited to not have to deal with all my "girl stuff" and i was excited to not have to hear him complaining all the time. thus, when it came time to finally clean my bathroom yesterday, there was no doubt that it had been neglected for several months (maybe even a year.... yes, I KNOW). i got down on my hands and knees and went to work. my bathroom was practically unrecognizable once i was done with her. i even feel cleaner being in there.

after the bathroom, i moved on to bedroom, and then our patio. would you believe we had 11 large trash bags of recyclables just sitting there, taking up almost the entire patio? that's right, 11. consequently we had dirt and water accumulating under the bags and not to mention a bunch of tree leaves and branches as we are a major target of the santa anas and are surrounded by big trees. since z was out washing his car, it was up to me to take all the bags down to the recycling bins. it took me 4 trips and the whole time i kept swearing that i would never let it get this bad again but we all know how that goes... heh.

once the patio was swept clean, we took emi out to play. i wish you could all be there when we finally reach the park because it's so funny. she can hardly contain herself from all the excitement. once we let her off the leash, she's gone. the way she runs from us would make you think that she was being freed from prison. we played fetch for about half an hour, which was more than enough for emi who couldn't even breathe normally after the first 15 minutes.

we finished the weekend with beers and a classic sunday barbeque. it was nice to use the patio again because even though neither of us said it, the mess out there made it an avoidable area (who wants to be surrounded by a bunch of garbage bags?). so, it was a great way to unwind from a productive weekend and prepare ourselves for the week ahead. to top it off, i'm on spring break this week! no school after work and the extra hour of daylight in the evening means more time outdoors to welcome Spring.

looking forward to it all.

xoxox

for smiles.

hoping this picture brings a smile to your faces this hump day.

last night z and i spent a good half hour just watching emi sleep comfortably by his side. she loves to cuddle and we love that she loves to cuddle, especially on cold nights. we commented on every aspect of her and asked ourselves how we ever got so lucky. every now and then she would turn and look at us as if to say she knew we were taking about her and that she, too, felt happy to be there. oh emi, you are joy in its purest form.

oxo.

this...

pretty much sums up our weekend.

how was yours?

x

irresistible.

thought i'd share some sunshine on an otherwise gloomy Friday. i have this picture saved as my desktop background and it brightens my work day instantly.

hope you all have wonderful things planned for the weekend, even if it involves just resting. xooxxo

emi's growing up

lately, we have been giving emi the benefit of the doubt by leaving her out for half the day. sometimes we'll leave her out in the morning and put her back in the crate during lunch, or keep her in the crate in the mornings and let her out at lunch. the last time we decided to do this - months back - we came home to a piece of my boot buckle in her mouth accompanied by an innocent expression that asked, "what'd i do?". i was so horrified and disappointed that i couldn't look at her for the rest of the day (hey, they were my favorite boots!). since then, i've been very apprehensive about leaving her unattended.

but we've been leaving her out for 2 weeks now and we are so impressed with how good she's been! everytime we've come home, she's either sleeping on the couch, by the door, or on her bed - it's such a relief and at the same time, i am so proud of her. she is maturing. she knows what we expect of her. and more importantly, she hasn't chewed up my shoes! (or anything else for that matter)

oh emi, you're growing to be such a trustworthy companion and we are ever so lucky to be your humans. :)

flower girl.

i am so madly in love with this photo. it was taken during our afternoon walk yesterday - i was initially having a one-on-one photo session with the flower but emi decided to come along and give it a good sniff. it was a kodak moment.

it looks like our girl is beginning to appreciate nature :)

emi and her bestfriends - the ball & manaia.

one of the great advantages of having emi around is being able to meet other wonderful bully owners and their families. a few months ago, we met Manaia's family and have become good friends ever since. Steve & Dayna (Manaia's humans) are the sweetest people and they have 4 beautiful children, two of which are pictured above. we try to meet at least once a month and decided that this past Sunday would be a good time for them to play.

it was the first time that the boys weren't there (steve was too tired from the graveyard shift and z was out of town) so Dayna and i just stood around and talked while her sons played with emi and manaia. having her boys around really made it a lot easier on us - it's funny how kids work that way. eventually, noah, the younger one, started posing with the dogs like, "hey tina, over here, take a picture of us." it was hilarious and beyond adorable. so that's what i did - snapped away photos of the boys and the bully girls. it was a fun Sunday morning.

alone time.

z is heading north bound tonight, leaving me and emi to fend for ourselves for the next few days. i will miss our weekend routine but i'm also looking forward to having some time to myself. i think every healthy relationship requires a little space here and there, don't you agree?

there are a few things i like to do when the man of the house is away. one of them is inviting my sisters to stay with me for the weekend since i don't get to see them as nearly as much as i'd like to. unfortunately, however, they are as busy as i am and are going to Catalina this weekend for a church retreat. brings back fond memories of my retreat days..

another thing i enjoy doing is experimenting with various recipes. z is a picky eater so i'm always conscious about what to make for dinner, i usually have to play it safe. but when he's gone, i bring out the secret ingredients hidden in the cupboards and play scientist in the kitchen. i plan on making cupcakes, shortcake cookies, a breakfast dish, and a seafood dish. i get hungry just thinking about the possibilities!

lastly, i like to have some one-on-one girl time with the wonderful ladies in my life. girls just have a certain connection with each other that boys can't seem to fathom (i think the same applies to guys too). it's a funny thing :)

this is not to say that i won't miss z because i will. and i'd go with him if i didn't have a dumb midterm on Monday - i sincerely miss his family.. but emi and i are gonna have a fun girls only weekend, i'm sure of it!

bully madness.

it was bulldog madness on Saturday at the Orange County English Bulldog Meetup. this was Emi's second time going and the turnout was great! there were over 15 bullies running amuck and i loved the variety of their appearances. Emi was the smallest of the bunch so it was easy to point her out to newcomers who asked which was ours - "the smallest one".

bullies aren't prone to the heat so a lot of them had to retire early. some, like Emi, hung in there like champs and played for as long as their little hearts desired. we finally had to call it quits when she started becoming restless. for some reason, she can't sit or lay on anything other than carpet or tile floors (or anything soft), no matter how tired she gets. we can usually tell she's had it when she starts walking around aimlessly and panting with her tongue to the ground. speaking of her tongue, i think she may have had the longest one there:

the good thing about these meetups is that Emi is pooped for the rest of the day and possibly the rest of the weekend. we love a lazy pup!

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[for more pictures, you can see them here]

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." - Russel Baker

feels like summer has finally made its way to so cal. isn't it strange how the weather works - raining one week and a heatwave the next? if there's anything emi hates more than the rain, it's the heat. we usually can't walk her for more than a few yards before she begins panting and stubbornly seeking shade.

this will be our first summer with her and i can already tell it's going to be a struggle (and honestly, i've been dreading it). since she's at home all day, it's important to keep the apartment cool. we've tried leaving the fan on her but this has proven unsuccessful - she is still very hot when we get home. so as much as we were trying to avoid it, we've been left with no other option but to kick the AC on for her throughout the day. i'm sure you know what that means for our electricity bill.

on the not-so-hot days, we try to leave the fan on her in the morning and then turn the AC on when one of us has emi duty during lunch. our 2nd floor apartment falls victim to the afternoon sun so the mornings aren't too bad. today, however, i felt the heat as soon as i took her out at 6am. not a good sign. decided to leave the AC on at 80 degrees.

we are definitely learning as we go. the good thing about emi is that she is patient with us while we figure out what it is to have a pet.. and even though the costs $$ of having her is higher than when it was with just the two of us, nothing compares to how she makes us feel at the end of the day. that alone is worth all the money in the world.

--

p.s. i changed my blogspot address - dearmisstina.blogspot.com =)

blooms.

something about raindrops makes my heart happy. i find them at their best when they're hanging out on a leaf or fighting for room on a flower petal. these pictures were taken during our afternoon walk yesterday around our complex. the management team does a great job at keeping up with the landscaping and really, it's one of my favorite things about where i live - all the beautiful vegetation! emi, on the other hand, wasn't too happy about me stopping here and there to take pictures of these colorful gifts. she kept looking back at me as if to say, "wouldja hurry up already?" she doesn't know how to appreciate nature yet.

july meets june gloom

it's summer but you would have never guessed it. due to the wet weather, emi and i haven't been able to do our morning walks. i must admit that i'm not too bothered by it, but emi has been disappointed - it's out for a quick potty break then back indoors - she no like. i don't mind the rain too much but i hope for emi's sake that it doesn't completely overstay its welcome.

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on an entirely unrelated note, i start summer school today. 2 nights a week for 4 hours a night. it's going to a whirlwind of a month. here i go..

"Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet."

dear Emi,

one thing i looked forward to most about having a week off was getting to spend more time with you. it was so good being home and playing with you as opposed to being behind this boring desk all day. i know we praised you for it already, but we were so proud of how good you were during our first family trip up to Paso Robles. you slept most of the car ride to and fro and ignored Dodge and Sadie when they barked you. you really knocked the socks off Irene and Keith with your tricks and intelligence - i love that you have this effect on people. you make them smile just by being you.

you turn 1 today. we couldn't have asked for a better dog. i appreciate your patience, loyalty, and unconditional love. i hope that we are doing just as good of a job as your humans as you are doing as our pet. i love you and happy birthday :)

-mama

p.s. below is a video from my receptionist's grand daughter singing happy birthday to Emi, i can't wait until these two meet in person!