A Quick Trip, A Quick Update

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There are days when I want to write my thoughts and there are days when I just want to type it because writing takes too long.


This day last week, windstorms struck the LA area and it ignited wildfires in various canyons, one of them being under 10 miles from us. Too many people lost their homes, they had minutes to evacuate and it took under 24 hours for their lives to change in an instant. We might not have been affected by the wildfires, but the windstorm took down two trees in the property we live in and we lost power for 36 hours. We also had a trip planned on the weekend right after these catastrophe and out of abundance of caution, I called my dog's hotel if they're open--they were not. I am beyond blessed to have a friend who was available to care for my dog and would take him to family to continue the care. The morning of our flight, my husband asked the pet hotel again and they said they're beginning to accept pets again on that day.


We flew to Seattle, Washington midday and arrived at our airbnb which was walking distance from the Seattle Center. We grabbed dinner from the Armory Food Hall and went up the Space Needle after. The views that night were phenomenal. It wasn't hazy, the air was humid and our little family had a grand time. We walked back to our accommodations and had a restful evening.


Day 2 was spent at the Museum of Flight. We've been there many times but our son had been too little to remember and absorb the experience. We spent a whopping five hours there. We headed back to our home base and walked to the Discovery Center. We were all tired so we grabbed dinner at the Thai place closeby and zonked out. 


We had very vague plans for Day 3 because we meant for it to be spent with my aunt and uncle. We made a plan the night before though after hearing they wanted to go American grocery shopping--to visit this place called Future of Flight. The reviews were great, the intro sounded good and the price wasn't bad so we purchased tickets and went on the tour. It was the Boeing factory--WE WENT INSIDE THE BOEING FACTORY with our airplane and jets obsessed kid! He absolutely loved it. He called it the best day of his life! My husband and I can only be so thankful that we are able to take him to places like this one. After the Boeing excitement, we drove to the Premium Outlets 15 minutes away to meet with our aunt and uncle. It was so good to see them! We headed to my cousin's house in Lake Stevens and my oh my, my son has met his "coolest aunt." She made him two 3D printed Boeing planes! It was really cool! He stayed up until 1am to watch Midway with his uncle. He felt so sad about leaving the next day but we promised him we'll be back and that's a promise we truly intend to keep because we love the PNW!



Plot Twist

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We just got home from a trip from Cancun and here I am, looking through the spam comments that have been occupying my comment section on here. During the process, I revisited my last post and saw that I mentioned #vanlife. We actually did purchase a van. We found one right under our budget, spent thousands on it then on September 7th, 2020, it got stolen, and an attempt to get the catalytic converter was made. The van was found by a cop randomly running plates on parked cars. That day, I received a call, my husband left work early to "bail" the van out of the impound and get the insurance process going. The attempt to steal the catalytic converter rendered the van to be a total loss because those things take months to be delivered because of a shortage.

We did however camped more after. We bought a bigger tent, an extra mattress for Ron and Chippy and also got Chippy all the gear he may need. Adler loves it, and misses it. I do too, except for the part where we have to walk far to pee.

In other news, I just launched Maarte by Jan, a little sticker shop on Etsy. With launch, I mean just today--as in I just published my new listings. I hope this work out because I truly enjoy designing stickers.

What's Next

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It’s been a good long time since I’ve had anything in-depth to share on here. Fox’s death hit us pretty hard but also opened some windows to teach our little family life lessons, specifically tell your loved ones you love them while they’re here. With going from two dogs to one and having an active toddler who loves getting out of the house (thanks, quarantine), road trips have become one of our go-to family activities. Ever since the restrictions were lifted a little bit, we’ve been to Joshua Tree and Sequoia and Kings Canyon. I did not want to mention it but okay I will, we explored in our masks, hiked in our masks and climbed boulders in our masks when people were around us.


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Thank You, Fox

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"It'll be over soon, you won't be in pain anymore." Taken at 9:17am on 10/30/19, 18 minutes before he took his last breath.
It's not fair.

It's what I have been saying for the past few days. It's not fair that our dog died. It's not fair that we had to put him down. It's not fair that he suffered from all of his symptoms. It's not fair that we could not enjoy his yogurt, burgers, french fries and all the human food we got for him even if he loved them when he was well. It's not fair that Fox is so loved and he had to leave so soon. It is not fair that we know he loves us but we had to decide it's time for him to stop loving us. It's not fair.

I am feeling anger today. Anger in everything, in every situation. It's a surprise to me that I lasted the entire day without blowing up.

We adopted Fox on May 26, 2013 at 11 in the morning and he took his last breath on October 30th, 2019. We only had 6 years, 5 months, 3 days, 22 hours, 35 minutes with him. We want more but life isn't just fair.

I wrote the letter below to Fox while putting Adler to sleep on October 9th, 2019.

Thank You, Fox

I didn’t know who or what I was looking for when we were looking for a dog to adopt. I just wanted to save one life. The lady at the adoption event handed you to daddy and you yelped, that’s when she said that you’re not comfortable being carried. Daddy handed you to me, you did not yelp, you relaxed in my arms. I wanted you then and there but we decided to sleep on it except I couldn’t sleep because I WANTED YOU. I already fell in love with you.

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Ruff Life

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On August 29th, we found out our “eldest” as we refer to him has carcinoma. Our dog has carcinoma. Our 12-pound ball of fluff has carcinoma. He had three biopsy samples taken from his bladder, prostate and trigone area and all three came back positive with carcinoma consistent with Urothelial Carcinoma. There were bullet train fast thoughts that ran to my head at that moment.


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Memorial Day Weekend Wins

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Getting to spend three whole days with Adler is already the highlight of my year. We did not plan a lot of things for Memorial Day weekend, we knew we just wanted to keep active and do things together and not eat out. We definitely did not eat out which is a huge win for us since we love eating. Adler however had so many wins this long weekend. I like waiting when he's ready to do things and I'm glad we do that because it gives Adler what kids love having the most--control.
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Lolo's Boy

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