Aguacate

Pillow

2012-12-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

When it's really cold in the house, sometimes you just need a a pillow with built-in warming capabilities.

Rio as a puppy

2012-12-14T11:39:00.000-08:00

I found some old video clips of Rio as a puppy. He was just the sweetest thing. Still is.

The last sunset of my 20's

2012-11-11T19:25:00.000-08:00

The last sunset of my 20's was beautiful; what comes next will be more so.

The Ocean's Edge

2012-10-20T08:59:00.001-07:00

Evaristo at the edge of the ocean.

The Chair Project

2012-10-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about our new house is the back yard and patio area. The space is perfect for our family. The animals have areas where they can lounge under plants and Evaristo and I have a lovely brick patio that we use for BBQs on the weekends, as an area to do crafts and build things, and as a space to sit at night with a beverage and relax under the stars. After we settled into the house, Evaristo and I moved two large chairs that we originally had inside the house to the patio to make a seating area. Over time, the chairs got pretty beat up and gross looking. Last weekend, I decided to reupholster the chairs with a thick layer of furniture plastic that I picked up to allow the chairs to the survive the rainy season, which is just around the corner, and with some fabric that I had on hand. I covered the chairs in the plastic first and then covered the plastic with the fabric. I only used scissors and a staple gun for the project and it only took a few hours. I love the finished result.

Bougainvillea

2012-08-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Momo approves of the new bougainvillea that I planted in front of the house.

Original and Version 2.0

2012-08-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

My favorite photo of us

2012-08-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken towards the end of the summer in 2004, on the day that Evaristo and I started going out. Evaristo had invited me to spend the last day of the lifeguarding season with him and his fellow lifeguards. Evaristo told me that they had planned a fun last day on the beach, a BBQ after the day was over and a swim across the mouth of the estuary with all the other lifeguards to celebrate of the close of the season, as was their tradition. The crossing is where the majority of drownings take place during the year due to the intensity of the currents. When the sun finally started to get low in the sky, we all set off splashing and swimming across the estuary mouth. I was so surprised at how hard it was to swim against the currents and when we finally made it back to the beach and a fellow lifeguard and good friend of ours saw me catching my breath coming out of the ocean, he told Evaristo, "Jesus Evaristo, what kind of date is this? Take her to a movie or something for crying out loud!" I suppose I'm not that kind of girl.

Swimming in the bay

2012-08-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

Evaristo and my lab group watching for dolphins:

Dolphins spotted:

1-08-12

2012-08-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

On the evening of the 31st of July, Evaristo and I went out for dinner at Covelli's, where we sat outside surrounded by palm trees with twinkly lights and ate wood-fired pizzas and listened to two older gentlemen, one on bass and one on guitar, play songs by Eric Clapton and Led Zepplin. After we finished our meal and the band had packed up their gear, Evaristo and I went for a walk on the beach sometime close to midnight. The moon was full and bright and the clouds were heavy and dark. The tide was the lowest that we had ever seen and had left a flat, wet beach 60 meters wide for us to walk on. We walked past people camping on the beach, past people laughing around campfires, past flocks of shorebirds eating in the dark between the waves, and past the lights of the city. We walked until we were the only people on the beach and then we sat down to look at the moon and listen to the tiny waves that were breaking far away from the dry sand where we sat. It was well past midnight and in the first hours of the first of August, our fifth year anniversary, Evaristo reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter. He asked me to read it out loud. I read it slowly. At the end of the letter, a very special question was written by Evaristo's own hand. I answered yes, with all my heart, and he gave me a ring. On the inside of the ring, a date was inscribed, 1-08-12, one that I will never forget for as long as I live.

Salty Hugs

2012-07-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

My sweet boy, Rio, and I at Campo Kennedy.

Come and Find Me

2012-06-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

The Baja peninsula is so incredibly beautiful. It's a unique environment where desert meets ocean. The joining of the two produces some incredible views, both on land and below the sea. South of Ensenada, the peninsula also happens to be sparsely inhabited which means that there are beaches, hiking trails and dive spots few people visit.

During the time that I have lived in Baja, I have gotten to know many of these lonely places that are local to me; thankfully, there is much yet left to explore. Recently, I was shown a new place that instantly became my new favorite spot to visit near Ensenada. Evaristo, Rio and I, along with a friend of ours, went to this spot last weekend.

It was a decent hike down to the beach and Rio performed like a pro. I was very impressed with how well Rio handled himself on the cliffs. Once on the beach, we went snorkeling to explore the little bay and the kelp bed. Rio stayed on the beach to nap in a tide pool.

While we were there we left something for the next group of explorers to find. Rio knows where it is and he says: "Come and find it".

N 31° 44.035 W 116° 43.622

What a View

2012-06-23T18:33:00.001-07:00

I took this picture from my new favorite spot around Ensenada. The view is absolutely gorgeous and so representative of the Baja Penisula—a brilliantly colorful desert next to a cold and rich ocean.

Grey dog at the Beach

2012-06-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

Rio at Playa Hermosa not watching the sunset.

King of the Castle

2012-06-18T12:44:00.001-07:00

Oh, how I love this dog.

Dolphins in the Bay

2012-06-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

This morning, I went on my first field trip of the doctorate to install some equipment in the Bay of Todos Santos with Evaristo. The ocean was calm and peaceful, while the skies were cloudy and cold. All the shades of grey made for an especially beautiful day. In between two sampling sites, we got lucky and ran into some dolphins.

It was incredible to see so many dolphins together at one time and it was such a refreshing change from crunching data that I think I should go back into the field more often.

On the steps

2012-06-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

I took this picture of Evaristo a while ago. It's one of my favorites.

Happy Thoughts

2012-06-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Some days are more difficult than others. Today was a difficult one. But look, Rio! So all is well.

My Grey Boys

2012-06-10T13:59:00.002-07:00

At a local park just hanging out.

"The world below the brine" by Walt Whitman

2011-11-17T11:46:00.001-08:00

Enough time has passed now from when I finished my thesis that I can once again look at tide pools and remember why I love the ocean.

The world below the brine,

Forests at the bottom of the sea, the branches and leaves,

Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds, the thick

tangle openings, and pink turf,

Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white, and gold, the

play of light through the water,

Dumb swimmers there among the rocks, coral, gluten, grass, rushes,

and the aliment of the swimmers,

Sluggish existences grazing there suspended, or slowly crawling

close to the bottom,

The sperm-whale at the surface blowing air and spray, or disporting

with his flukes,

The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, the hairy

sea-leopard, and the sting-ray,

Passions there, wars, pursuits, tribes, sight in those ocean-depths,

breathing that thick-breathing air, as so many do,

The change thence to the sight here, and to the subtle air breathed

by beings like us who walk this sphere,

The change onward from ours to that of beings who walk other spheres.

Photo by me. My favorite one I've ever taken underwater.

Time Flies

2011-10-31T17:12:00.001-07:00

As the end of the year approaches, I am struck once again by how quickly time passes. Thank goodness for photographs.

Lab Buddy

2011-09-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

When I take Rio places with me, it's always because I think he will enjoy it—like the beach, the park, on walks along the boulevard. And enjoy it he does. However, I often wonder if this has left Rio with the impression that every time I leave the house that I am off to one of these wonderful places. I have long suspected he thinks so. Today I brought him with me to work. I needed a buddy (times have been stressful) and he was happy to oblige me. I thought to myself that it would be interesting for Rio to know what a typical day for me is like, although I doubt he thinks in those terms. All day we went from one thing to the other: I worked, he didn't sleep, I worked some more, he continued to miss naps. The day culminated in taking him to my basketball game where my friends also brought their dogs. I could see that Rio was very tired. He insisted on sitting on people's laps to watch the game. He was rather clingy and he didn't run around very much. After the game, it was back to the lab to continue working on all of my many projects. In the lab, I gave Rio my sweatshirt; he looked a bit cold. And he's been sound asleep ever since. I suspect that tomorrow he may want to stay home with his cats.

Under the Bridge

2011-09-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

Evaristo under the bridge on First Street. 8:30pm.

Waiting for Evaristo at School

2011-08-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

The Four

2011-08-29T15:11:00.000-07:00

Each unique and each much loved.