May « 2010 « gabriela inez

Archive for May, 2010

i’m getting old.

Monday, May 31st, 2010

that’s right. jake keeps making fun of me and saying I’m “becoming an old lady.” lol… maybe he’s right? the reason is….

i started my first garden! lol… weird, huh? never thought i’d be into gardening but all of a sudden i wanted to start a mini garden… just to see if i can keep some flowers alive for more than a week. hehe. we went to lowe’s and picked out a balcony hanging basket, picked 2 colorful, low maintenance flowers, got some soil, and went home. i had alotta fun putting it all together. if they end up living, i might expand my mini garden…. right, jake? lol.. =P *wink wink.

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mini picnic.

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

i love our little familly. <3

we decided to walk to the park and have a little fun, alone time. there’s a park next to our complex that we visit every now and then. we wanted to play frisbee and just hang out with the doggies. this was bella’s first time playing with a frisbee. she actually loved it evern thought the frisbee was almost bigger than her. at the end we took a family picture. thank goodness for self timers. hhaha.

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surprise!

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

my family surprised me to go to six flags!! haahhah…

so yesterday my cousin, robin, and jake & i all met up at the spectrum to just hang out. we were supposed to go to the beach but earlier in the week i had to have a last minute doctors appointment which i couldn’t avoid. robin suggested that i meet her at the spectrum afterwards instead. we walked around, shopped a bit, and talked of course. =) she was getting ready for her trip to north carolina the next day to see her man. awww.

we hit up all kinds of stores and jake actually let’s me do a lil’ shopping as well. nothing big..just a few accessories from h&m and for love. he even bought some stuff. while robin and i were in the girly stores jake went to visit his favorite store: the apple store.

when we go there to meet him he is in awe of the iPad. he has been talking about it since it came out. at first he would deny that he wanted one but as time passed and as he played with the iPad at store more, i think he fell in love. he wouldn’t drop it. i would always tease him when he asked me if we should get one….but every time we asked if they had any available they were always sold out. so here he was at the store playing with the iPad and wishing he had one but he just can’t seem to get his hands on one. darn.

anyway, we have dinner at subway. robin tells me her flight got moved up and we should go to george’s (awesome breakfast burrito place!) for an early breakfast with the cousins. i’m down! then she says we can just hang out afterwards before her flight.

so today, jake and i wake up super early to pick robin up and meet at dino & celines’ place so we can go have breakfast. as we’re getting ready jake suggests that we should go to the beach after we finish hanging out with the cousins. i say ok and get ready for a day at the beach…swimsuit underneath, shorts, sandals, sunblock, and even a frisbee & dog toys.

we have breakfast, then jake says he needs to go to walmart to buy chocolate. by this time i’m already suspecting something like we’re all going to the beach for a fun filled day. we get to walmart and just before we go in everyone is huddle around me and staring at me like there was going to be an intervention. wtf? all of a sudden celine says she won tickets to go to six flags. i’m shocked and confused and surprised. earlier in the month i mentioned going to six flags for my bday but we never really talked about it again. i just figured we could do something else. so when they said we were going to six flags today i was really shocked. at the same time i was ecstatic cuz i have been wanting to go back for so long!! the reason we were at walmart was because jake didn’t pack my walking shoes, and because he wore jeans on a super hot day….especially when you’re going to a theme park. hahah… jake…. you’re funny.

so now i’m super excited and i just wanna go on every single ride twice and just feel like a kid again. happy. our first ride was X2. it was sooooo friggin fun!! it was actually a bit scary just cuz i’ve never been on it and i didn’t know what to expect. but i loved it!! if you havent been on it before imagine sitting down after being strapped up and then your legs get pulled under you and turns your body so that it looks like you’re in doggy style position. i’m sure the guys love this. heheheh. riding the rollercoaster like this is so different from just sitting down. so unexpected and so so fun!

the next ride was tatsu….also very fun.

the next ride was viper. i didn’t like this ride that much. only because the shoulder strap thing came up to my ears and was super hard so that every time we turned on the rollercoaster my head banged left and right and my earrings were stabbing me. so much that it caused me to bleed. it would’ve been a fun ride if i just wore different earrings. by this time dogz had joined us and this was his first ride. he came from the doctors because of a problem with his heart. i hope he is fine now.

the next ride was goliath. i’ve ridden this ride before and i wasn’t the least bit impressed. they made such a big deal over this ride that when i finally rode it the last time i was at six flags, it was a fail.. it wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t scary enough or fun enough overall. i decided to give it another chance and rode it. it actually wasn’t bad this time but it still isn’t my favorite. dogz and robin sat this on out. i think the steep drop was too much for them. =P

the last ride was batman. we waited about an hour and a half to two hours to get on this ride. we finally reached the end and as soon as we’re sitting down strapped up, something goes wrong. oh shit. robin starts freaking out that she wants to get off the ride. the mechanic wont let us off yet and it wasn’t until 5-10 minutes of waiting we had a choice to stay on or get off. we got off. there’s no point in risking our lives for a little fun. it reminded us of final destination 3. eek. even though i never heard of anything bad happening after we got off, i’m still glad we didn’t risk it. who knows?

so we just had a few hours to kill before leaving and we decided to play carnival games! dogz, jake, and dino played a basketball game. dogz was the only one to make a shot. he won a lakers basketball. afterwards, me, robin, celine, and dino played the horserace game where you throw balls into slots. robin won first place and won a monkey, i won second place and won a chicken little, celine was third and won doggy ears. poor dino. better luck next time? then the guys decide to play a ball throwing game where they break a glass plate. dogs won again!! he was on a streak! we were saying he should go play the lottery! dino had a funny first throw which i got on video! jake was pretty bad as well.. hehehe. =P overall it was a fun, fun day and i was super happy to spend it with my favorite people!! sadly, it was the end of the night and we had to drop robin off at the airport where she gets to go on vacation and we have to go back to reality. hahah… lucky.

thanks everybody for making my bday special and fun and wonderful! i love you all!

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bad timing.

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

everything is just all happening at once. my head is spinning and there are so many things going on it just sucks. =(

so last week, jake & i went to the doctor for a check up come to find there are some pretty important/serious things we need to deal with. my birthday is next week so i was pretty excited about that. then all of a sudden i get the mail yesterday and i finally get my court hearing date for an issue i had with the last salon i was with for not getting paid….and the hearing is the day before my birthday! so now i am stressed out about seeing the salon owners again because i hate that it came to this and the whole confrontation thing and being in court. as much as i am confident that i will win the case i am still extremely nervous.

then we have all these other doctor’s appointments that are coming up for the issues we found out about….along with follow ups and surgeries and medications and such.

then there’s work. i just got promoted and was gonna get my first actual training on the day before my birthday, then i got the mail for the court hearing and had to reschedule it. i feel so bad cuz in the last few weeks and up to the 2nd week of june i’ve asked for so many days off. it was jake’s birthday that i for sure needed to be off for, then his mom’s bday, the mother’s day, then robin’s birthday, then there was a newlywed couple in town and i needed to be there to see them and congratulate them, then there were the doctors appointments, then coming up it’s the follow up appointment, then the days off for the surgery appointment, then the court hearing date, then my birthday, then there’s tisay’s baby showers (2)….and that’s all….for now. soon i’ll have to make appointments for the dentist cuz it’s also been awhile since our last visit. but that’ll just have to wait. i do not want to get in trouble with work. after this blog i need to breathe and just chill out and take care of each one by one so i dont have an anxiety attack.

it was refreshing to speak to my mom on the phone and just hear her encouraging words. she reminded me that through tough times and all times “God has a plan” and each thing could be a miracle in disguise. sometimes when we get stressed out we only look at the bad but it made me open my eyes and clear my head a bit and remember that everything is the way it is on purpose. I just have to be patient. so yes, i am hoping when all this craziness is done with things will be mellow again. what kind of things are going on in your life right now?

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doctor visit.

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

jake & i finally went to the doctor for a physical checkup. it has been years for the both of us. we both had a few concerns that we also wanted to check up on.

my suspicions were right. a few months ago i was watching dr. phil one lazy day off and there was a girl talking about a condition called PCOS. as she described some of the symptoms, in my head i was saying “check, check, got that too, check..” as i researched it online it seemed very likely that i had PCOS. it is mainly known for infertility. since i’ve hit puberty i’ve always had an irregular menstrual cycle. at most i would get my period 3 times a year but as i got older it became once a year, sometimes twice. then there’s the weight gain, hormone imbalance (some of male hormones), risk for diabetes (*i just read from my test results that i have prediabetes…fcuk) and heart attacks (both are on my parents side), and more. fortunately enough, the doctor confirmed that i have a very mild case of PCOS. she wants to put me on some medication and also birth control pills – yasmin.

i’ve heard from the past and also did some research yesterday about yasmin and i am terrified! there are so many bad reviews on it and the side effects are haunting. on the up side, i have heard that it works for many others as well, mainly women with PCOS which is why i think she chose yasmin of all birth control pills. when i see her this friday for a follow up i will tell her my great concerns for using yasmin and ask her why she chose it. she is a professional so if she wants me to take it i will give it a trial period. as soon as i feel wrong about it i will ask to switch to another brand. does anybody have any actual experience with yasmin?

another suspicion i had that was confirmed is carpal tunnel syndrome. damn. i blame it on being a hairstylist. i am just surprised i got it so early. i would’ve thought that if it happened it’d be years from now. i figured i had CTS while i was still working at the salon i first started at. during a haircut my arm would get numb and i’d have to stop for a second and let blood rush back down my arm while i combed their hair with my other hand so that they wouldn’t notice. over time, it became a frequent thing. then i started to wake up 5-10 times a night because my whole arm would be numb. sometimes my hand & fingers would be so swollen i could barely close my hand. it’s pretty scary. so the doctor told me to wear a wrist brace to prevent my wrist from bending especially at night. since my visit last week i have slept so much better. however, when i wear the brace during the day it seems as if i notice my wrist hurting more than i did before i wore the brace? i dunno, maybe it’s just cuz of the brace and knowing why i am wearing it that i actually notice the pain. i just hope that it doesnt get so serious that i have to have surgery. eeek!

another issue that i was dealing with was ingrown toenails. again, nothing serious. it’s something i’ve had since i was little. probably when i first started getting pedicures. they must’ve cut my nails wrong that it started growing into my skin which does hurts like a b****. all these years i thought it was just something i had to deal with but i found out last year that it can be removed permanently. when i mentioned this to my doctor she recommended me to a podiatrist who can remove them. my appointment is in two weeks and i’m scared. i don’t know if i am going in for a consultation, to get it removed, and if i have to do surgery that day. i tried looking it up yesterday and all i saw was surgery but they were for extreme cases. you wouldn’t even know i had ingrown toenails unless i told you. i heard somewhere that you can get them “shaved down” permanently but i am not sure how that works. i’ll have to do more research on that later.

so, those were the main concerns of mine that were confirmed. i am glad i wrote down a list of all my concerns because it helped alleviate some of the stress i had, now that i can take medication to prevent it or actually get it fixed. i urge you to go see your doctor asap and make sure you write down any/every single concern. you never know it could help in their diagnosis or it could be something that could lead to something else. i think it’s better to know now than to wait until it’s too late. i pray all of you are healthy and stay healthy.

here are some sites to reference some of the things i was talking about in this post:

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Polycystic+ovary+disease

http://www.medications.com/se/yasmin/pcos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome

http://www.grace-essential-haircare.com/cms/Hisaki_Hand_Health/p2_articleid/193

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/ingrown_toenails/or_overview.aspx

Posted in health | 3 Comments »

2nd chance.

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

we decided to give bella a second chance while we left for an hour to go to church. i took all the candles away, put jake’s chair in the room so she couldn’t reach his desk, put another magazine where the books go to see if she can follow the rules. before i left i specifically pointed to the magazine at the credenza and told her “no” a bunch of times. all the potpourri and candles were taken off the top of the credenza and placed somewhere safe.

an hour later, we come back and we find little bella on top of the credenza. she sees us when she opens the door and hops onto the couch and lays there like it’s her bed. time for a time out. and yes, she did ravage the magazine. and again, fatty was found on the floor with little bald spots. this time she decided to have lunch on the couch. literally. she started to chew on the corner of the couch but fortunately i am guessing she got bored or got distracted with something else that she didn’t spend too much time on it. all we found was saliva but no punctures.

walnut on the other hand was not a good boy this time. it might’ve been that we hasn’t “pee’d out” when we walked him this morning cuz we were in a hurry, or whatever…but he did have a little pee spot waiting for us. he got a time out as well.

i’m actually tempted to give bella one more chance. i really hope she learned when we pointed to the couch and said “no” as soon as we came home and she was caught in the act. i really hope so. i am also gonna do more research for tips and pointers for other dog owners who have dogs that act out like bella.

wish us luck.

Posted in walnut & bella | 2 Comments »

baaad bella.

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

we thought it was about the right time to leave the dogs unattended, out of their cages, while we weren’t home. we decided to test it out today while we took our bikes to the beach. we made sure we put most things on tall, hard to reach surfaces so that the dogs wouldn’t get to them. we folded the chairs up so that they couldn’t jump onto them and get onto the dining table. we covered the couches with blankets to protect the couch in case they happened to jump on it (which they aren’t allowed onto in the first place). we put most valuables away and put toys near things we didn’t want them to touch so that in case they do get tempted, the toy will distract them.

since jake and i were at the garage for about 15 minutes setting up the bike rack onto my car, i decided to go back upstairs and check on the dogs before we left. i was surprised to see that everything looked just the way it should be and that they were quiet. that relieved me. i was really worried that bella would chew everything up and that walnut would mark his territory everywhere. seeing them by the front door where we left them calmed my nerves a bit.

we were gone about 4-5 hours and came back to a quiet apartment. we opened the door expecting to see good news and hoped that we could trust them so that they could roam around free…..and what a surprise we found.

our precious little bella ransacked the whole apartment! the 1000 piece puzzle i worked so hard on into the wee hours of the morning were spread across the dining room torn apart with chewed half pieces here and there. there is a credenza by our front door where i put my favorite books and before we left i gathered them all and put them away because i didn’t want to risk bella ruining them. in it’s place, i substituted a random magazine just to see if she would be tempted to touch it. that way i would know if i could leave the books in its place and trust her not to chew on them. THANK GOODNESS i did that because around the probably 836 pieces left of the puzzle were scraps of the magazine. son of a….!

not only that but little adorable bella decided she’d jump onto daddy’s tucked in chair and play with the mouse pad (she left scratch marks all over it)…not to mention the stolen pack of gum she found on the desk as well. it was a full pack but you wouldn’t have known that unless you saw all the empty wrappers on the floor — and gum stuck to the floor as well.

she even decided to jump onto the coffee table and take one of my candle out of the candle holder and chewed that up. i am so glad she didn’t get to the squishy squeeze ball there….it’s full of goo and that would’ve been an ugly mess.

after all that destroying, i suppose bella decided to relax on the big fluffy couch….what a diva. i could tell because i placed the blanket diagonally in a way where you can tell if the dogs went on the couch. while she was up on the couch she could jump and reach the credenza behind it. she decided to play with the potpourri and chew it all up! what is it with this dog and chewing up the flowery things i keep around the house? i was surprised she didn’t get to our wedding wish tree that i know she loves so much. i guess the potpourri wasn’t fun enough so she went back up on the couch and onto the credenza and decided to take something i needed to return. she chewed up the plastic cover of it but thank goodness she didn’t get to the actual item itself. i dont know if the store will take back a chewed corner of the plastic. =(

bella also decided to get up on the other couch and play with fatty. i guess fatty was hogging the couch so she kicked him off onto the floor. later on she decides to drag him by the door and play with him instead of her real toys which seemed to be in the same spot we left them.

surprisingly, walnut was a VERY good boy today. he passed the test. not a single drop of piss anywhere in the apartment. he was rewarded with treats.

the only reason why we know and accuse bella of all the evidence laying around the apartment is ONE – she has a long long history of chewing everything and anything in her way….and TWO – before we even got bella, walnut was a well trained dog and we happily left him home alone for hours and hours only to find him sleeping….each and every time we came home. the only thing he has been caught doing is napping on the couch but after finding him on the couch before we got bella, he quickly learned that the couch was a no no place to be.

bella had a chance today to prove everybody wrong that she could be trusted to be left out of her cage with no one home but she blew it. jake says that if the puzzle hadn’t been there and the magazine hadn’t been there, then bella would have nothing to chew on. it doesn’t make sense because it would mean that we would pretty much have to get rid of anything on the coffee table, all the books on the credenza, put all the chair away into the room….but realistically…..do we really have the time to clear everything everyday before work? might as well not have any furniture if everything always has to be put away.

we will give her one more chance tomorrow but if she disappoints us again we have no choice but to leave her in her cage…..and even in her cage she can barely be trusted since she has recently learned how to make a ruckus and slide her tray out even after we’ve locked it. i’ve got it on camera. i set up a video feed while i went to the store… it was terrible…the neighbors must hate us….especially our dogs. =/

so yah….hopefully bella will prove us wrong and she can learn to obey the rules. i really hope so because all i want is for the dogs to be happy and i am only looking out for their best interest. let’s pray she does well and learns right from wrong.

don’t get me wrong, i am not playing favorites with the dogs. i love them both and i wouldn’t want to give them up. bella is actually a very smart dog. she learns quickly and for the most part she obeys commands…sometimes. then there’s the chihuahua part of her, she can be a diva. but she’s got a really nasty habit of chewing.

from watching dog shows and reading on why dogs misbehave, it’s usually because they have so much energy bottled inside that they need to be walked for at least half an hour every day. and we do that…everyday… 2-4 times a day. so she is releasing her energy. i just hope it’s just a puppy phase she’s going through and it isn’t how she’ll be forever. if anyone has some tips we would love to hear it. we love her and all we want is for everyone to be happy, us and the dogs.

Posted in walnut & bella | 1 Comment »

jenga

Friday, May 14th, 2010

haven’t played jenga in years! we were bored and i was looking for a game to play…i totally forgot we had the uno jenga. of course, i won. hahahha… i would love to play this on game night with the cousins! hahah….drunk. lmao.

P5142276

Posted in fun, gNj.adventures | 2 Comments »

27…made in heaven.

Friday, May 14th, 2010

it was robin’s 27th bday on may 13th. the night was perfect. fun with the cousins, trip to tall mouse, great food at 369 restaurant, and to top it off yummy delight at yogurtland. happy 27th birthday robin… love ya cuhz!!

Posted in eats & sweets!, family | 2 Comments »

mother’s day

Monday, May 10th, 2010

the day before mother’s day (saturday) we spent the afternoon having lunch with jake’s family at cheesecake factory at fashion island. it was soo yummy. lana was so cute with her new squeaky shoes. i ordered my all time favorite dish – farfalle with roasted garlic chicken pasta. it was made perfectly and the taste just exploded in my mouth. yumm. honestly, it wasn’t healthy but hey, i rarely go to cheesecake factory and it’s my favorite dish, gimme a break. haha.

the next day (sunday), we visited my mom at la palma. in stealth mode, i quickly hid her presents around the house with little notes and clues for a game of scavenger hunt. it took her awhile to find the first clue but she quickly caught on with a little help from the spectators. =P we got her a nice watch and a very pretty necklace. afterwards, my parents, and jake & i went to have a really early dinner at sweetie thai.

unfortunately, the food was a disappointment. the first time i went there the food was unbelievably delicious. when we tasted the food that i so preciously remembered as tasting so good…it turned out very bland. i have no idea what happened. i am guessing it might be a different cook…but really…it tasted nothing like the first time. i guess i wont be craving it or visiting back anytime soon. but the company was great. it was nice to talk to my parents and see what was going on in their life these days. we do visit la palma quite often but we rarely actually get to sit down and talk to them. it was nice.

hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful day/wknd.