Potty Training 101...

I have been eyeing this potty for Van, not sure he is ready yet. But how could I pass up this deal at the recycled baby store for $12. So today we peeked in, and he looked back at me with question marks in his eyes.

What is this for mommy?????

On a separate note today I went jogging "in hell", and I had a coffee in my cup holder on the stroller, not a water? Hmmmm mistake number one! I was so parched for water by the time we were jogging back to the house, that I was drinking my own saliva. I know it's gross. But I had to survive, guys.

Just spending my dayz looking for a place to plant our roots.

Ready, GO.

Well we have arrived officially. It was hard to say goodbye but we did it and by the time all of our things were out of the house it truly didn't seem much like home anymore. It was hard to say goodbye to all of the people who we will miss so much. Friends who we will continue to miss and love forever. This is quite a journey. Tonight I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the dogs. they flew today and happend to be on a plane that got stranded in Texas for three hours, Zeke doesn't fly well either. I know he will be scarred from this trip and it will take a little while for him to get back to normal. I plan on taking them somewhere to run and play tomorrow. Van is adjusting well, tonight he danced with a waitress from Thailand who fed him every last bite of his sweet potato and the band sang twinkle twinkle little star and the itsy bitsy spider to him while he sat in his high chair on the dance floor. He is happy and that makes me feel content.

Green Salad. yum

We had a little going away dinner last night with the OC friends. It was fun, and kind of sad at the same time. My friend Lori made this yummy salad and I thought I would share the recipie.

1/2 cup (or more) sliced almonds & 3 Tbs sugar (cook
on stove until sugar coats almonds and then cool on
wax paper)

1/2 head green leaf lettuce
1/2 romaine lettuce
1/2 red leaf lettuce
2 whole green onions chopped
1 11oz. can of mandarin oranges, drained

*you can use more or less on the lettuce, depending on
how much people you're serving.

dressing:
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup of oil (i used canola, taste better than olive
oil)
1 tbs. parsley (can use fresh, i used dried)
2 tbs. sugar
2 tbs. vinegar (i've used rice wine or red wine, both
work)
a good dash of tabasco

*i usually double the dressing recipe, just so i have
enough.

serves 4 people

Don't try this at home

Today was full, and packed literally with things to do. We are weary and tired. I must say i will never again in my life pack up an entire house to move thousands of miles away by ourselves, with a small child running around in circles. Tonight when we got home from our little going away party. I heard Conner say to Van let's go upstairs and get ready for bed, so I thought awesome time for me to separate the recycling. I heard Conner coming down the stairs a few minutes later with a huge box (my clothes) and I said "hey where is Van". Conner said I thought he was with you. "uh NO, you took him upstairs to get him ready for bed, Hello!" Our front door was open so I immediately ran outside, and found him standing by our Pod (storage container) talking nonsense and pointing in the sky, as if it were some alien ship that just landed in our parking spot and is now sucking up all of our belongings and turning mom and dad into zombies.

I freaked out, but everything was alright. Last time, we will let this little guy out of our sight. It is soooooo difficult to pack boxes and be efficient with a little one running circles around me. It's tiring enough just taking care of him! So anyways. The pod is cool and all that but having people to help is so much cooler.

Living...

My mom sent me this today I am not sure where it is from but it lightened my load.

Living....
To touch the cup with eager lips and taste, not drain it:
To woo and tempt and court a bliss—and not attain it;
To fondle and caress a joy, yet hold it lightly, Lest it
become a necessity and cling too tightly:
To watch the sunset in the West without regretting:
To smother care in happiness and Grief in laughter,
To hold the present close —not questioning hereafter:
To have enough to share—to know the joy of giving:
To thrill with all the sweets of life --- Is Living.

Trouble in paradise...

This week has been trying, losing my cousin, packing up my house to move, Van getting a new tooth, and since toddlers are such creatures of routine this whole packing the house thing is overwhelming to him. He has been crying a lot this past week. I pick him up and try to console him, when we leave the house is when he returns to normalcy. Thank God that I have had Conner's little sis here Kat to help me pack and play with Van she has been a God send. I did need help, and I am so glad I asked or I would be doing this alone while Conner works. Anyways I gotta keep it short. I have been really sad about the death of my cousin, so I am not so inspired to write much this week. I will get back on the train shortly.


Oh I do want to say one thing,
hey you people who drive SUVs, throw perfectly recyclable bottles and cans in the trash, clean their bathrooms with — gasp — bleach and think nothing of sometimes blasting the air conditioner or taking wickedly wasteful long, hot showers. (okay I do the shower thing every once in a while).

You think you know the type: the ones who think global warming is a hoax and scarf up natural resources like candy.

Start teaching your kids that this planet is not here for us to destroy, it is here to start preserving for them. Not sure if you have noticed or not but the entire US of A is switching over to greener, more sustainable ways of life. You should too, start somewhere, you have no excuse except that your lazy.

Reasons to start reducing, reusing, and recycling:

1. conserves natural resources; consider that if we didn't recycle newspaper we would have to cut more trees to produce new newspapers,
2. conserves landfill space; landfills would fill up proportionately to the amount of materials we don't recycle - if we didn't recycle anything, most landfills would be full 10-30% faster than had we all recycled,
3. saves us money; yes, actually it does - a new landfill costs millions of dollars to develop and build - money that could better be spent on schools, roads, and public safety, and
4. it makes cents - yes - more people are employed with recycling businesses and many people sell recyclable materials.

peace brothers & sisters.

God Speed Uncle Jeff

Today I received a phone call from my sister, any time someone starts out a conversation with are you driving. You kind of brace yourself for the worst. She said,

"It's Jeff....

he's gone..."

A neighbor found him. I am his only related family member in the area, it was comforting to know he was close. He does have a family who has been so amazing to him and they have taken him in as their own over the years, and he was like a grandpa/dad to them they will miss him so much as well. I just found out last week he had to have a surgery to remove his gall bladder and to clear a passage to his liver. But I guess after that he had reached his limit and decided this was the best way to go. I am hit so hard by this, as I am ready to depart from here. I went through my emails and realized I did try to get him closer to his family... I knew things weren't easy for him financially. and his health was deteriorating due to a loss of hope and stress.

Here is an email I sent him a few months ago trying to get him to make a change. I did try...

Hi Jeffrey!

How are you doing?
we are back from our travels and wanted to see how things are with you.
Before we left you didn't seem that great, are things moving in a better direction with business?

We looked at some rentals while we were home. It is so much cheaper to live there it is crazy.

If you want to move with us, just say the word. We are trying to move by April. I think we are actually going to do it.
Lets meet at the dog park this weekend, maybe on Saturday morning?

If that doesn't work out maybe we can do an early dinner at our house one night next week...

Here is a pic of my mom when we surprised her for Xmas.

talk soon,

Love. D

I will miss him, I met him often at the dog park to talk and walk with our dogs. He was always interested in hearing about our life and Van. Here are a couple photos of Jeff and Van that I took recently. I will miss you Jeff. I wish you decided to move with us. I hope you are in a better place where there is no more pain in your heart.

Life is a funny thing, it is what you make of it, isn't it?

HOTTTTT....

Thissss...... makes me laugh.

Pick me a winner...

Today was one of those days, I cracked open a beer the minute the clock hit 5pm. I needed it. Van hid my phone today, acted like a mini tornado, missed his nap and then we had to take off for the pediatrician for some shots. So he was not a happy camper, did I mention that he is getting a tooth too!

One thing that is kind of funny is that Van has found his nostrils. I am not sure he knows what he is doing but man does his finger get up there..... talk about digging to china. I am just one of those people who doesn't want my child walking around with his finger in his nose. Well nobody is. really. So I have been having some discussions with him about it and he just yells out random peoples names after we have our talks. hmmm We are spending a lot of time lately learning body parts so maybe that explains the exploration up into nostrilville. I did overreact a bit the first time I saw him doing it. I was exercising with my class the other day while discussing with them that this was happening and they were all chuckling, I peered over the stroller, and yep you guessed it. Digging to china.... So they all said not to overreact and just let him do it? Because he will think it's funny to get my attention and keep doing it. So I ask you this do I just go on with my day and go out in public with my son who likes to stick his fingers entirely too far up his nostrils to the point that it looks painful and ignore it? Or do I say something to him and let him know that is unacceptable and inappropriate?

It's getting HOT IN HERE...

In preparing ourselves for the hottest state on the planet. Conner and I have started going to Bikram Yoga. The first class I went to, I thought maybe I had just died and gone to Hell. Conner's first class was about the same, he felt as if he were going to vomit, and when the teacher saw him looking rather pale and nauseous he gave him some magical coconut juice that brought him back to life. Today it actually felt great, I breathed life and energy into every muscle in my entire body... I came right home and indulged in chocolate chip cookies and did not drink enough water. At the moment I am feeling kinda weird and woozy , I keep picturing that guy who placed his mat way to close to mine, with the pierced nipples. His sweat dripped on me at one point he was so close to me... enough about me, here is some important info you should know about Hot Yoga.

The recommended temperature is minimum 105F degrees and about 40% humidity.
( did I mention that we are preparing to move to the hottest state on the planet?)

The room is kept at this temperature or more for the following:

• Keeping the body from overheating (contrary to popular misconception)
• Protecting the muscles to allow for deeper stretching
• Detoxing the body (open pores to let toxins out)
• Thinning the blood to clear the circulatory system
• Increasing heart rate for better cardiovascular workout
• Improving strength by putting muscle tissue in optimal state for reorganization
• Reorganize the lipids (fat) in the muscular structure

Bikram’s Yoga:

• Teaches you to breathe fully and correctly
• Helps reduce symptoms of chronic illnesses and injuries
• Helps promote better sleep – you may even need less sleep
• Promotes a deep sense of well-being and a peaceful mind
• Helps in weight-loss and toning
• Improves posture and body awareness
• Improves flexibility of your spine in its range of motion in all directions, allowing improvement in the functioning of your central nervous system. Better nervous system communication means a better functioning body and mind
• Improves the healing and regenerative powers of your body
• Maintains (and regains) youthful appearance and skin tone
• Works all systems of the body: cardiovascular, nervous, lymphatic, endocrine, immune, digestive, reproductive, muscular and skeletal
• Helps to reduce stress
• Helps improve heart and lung capacity
• Lubricates the joints
• Helps to eliminate back pain by strengthening the spine;
• Builds mental strength by holding your mind in a focused, meditative state.
• Gives the body a cardiovascular workout without negative impacting forces.

Okay so I can tell you I am on the search to find balance and this is most definitely
helping me release stress that I have about moving and put my mind at ease!

RIP Foxxy....

We did a little photoshoot in the fox (Conner's Beach car) last weekend, the whole family was in the car for some shots! Van loved this car as if it were his own, everyday when Conner would get home he would run to the door and ask to open it, he would climb in and pretend he was driving, until we peeled his little fingers from the wheel. His two obsessions - the fox and the milk cartons....




Yesterday Conner called and said "the fox is dead a lady hit me." It turns out she had taken a bunch of pills and didn't even know where she was. She pulled over into his lane as he was crossing a major intersection on PCH in Carlsbad he was going about 40 mph so he is very lucky considering the fox was a tuna can. We bought the Fox "beater" just so Conner could have a car for a couple months until we move. Car accidents don't sit well with me at all. We are pretty sure the Fox is totaled. It's pretty amazing that both of the cars needed to be towed away, but they both walked away unscathed. Whew close call good thing he got that seat belt ticket last week so he was wearing his seat belt! Foxxy we will miss you, you did look like a piece of oragami all balled up on the street when we saw you last, but we know you were strong on the inside. I laughed at you when i first saw you but you grew on all of us! RIP.

it's the little things.....

Is it bad that I get excited about washing my hair these days? yesterday I had a day... It wasn't bad or good really, just weird. I felt weird, things were hard to do, and the day seemed to get away from me. Reality was knocking at my door, and I didn't want to see his face.

So at 8pm the ups man knocks on my door and leaves a yummy package to help me out at the end of my weird day! I ordered this shampoo my girlfriend Lori had in her shower and the best part was that I got a FREE bottle of conditioner too! Who gives things away free these days, I mean gas costs 5 dollars a gallon....


Well I figured I would share kind of a funny little not so funny story with you about Van. I mean after all this blog is called vanerwin.com for a reason.

I will start by saying I am not perfect...

Today we were running a little late for swim class so I decided when we pulled up I would put Van's swim trunks on in the parking lot. I stripped him down next to the car, and threw his 1st swim diaper on then his trunks on over that. I did it fast and something seemed awkward but I couldn't seem to figure it out. So I let him stand there waiting as I gathered our things for class. He started to walk away and as i looked back he was lying on the pavement, and looking very awkward at that. I scooped him up and started walking towards the pool when I noticed I had put two legs into one hole of his swim trunks and the reason he fell was because A. I was hurrying and B. because he couldn't walk, he was a merman. That explains the awkwardness. I got him in the pool and he was all smiles again, with parking lot dirt on his forehead and cheek! Another mom said, "he is so freaking cute, I think I like him because he flirts with me". Yep that's my son flirting and charming the ladies -hmmm wonder who he got that from? I have no idea....

Full Circle

I ran into a man last week who I met 8 years ago when I arrived here from the east coast. He is a salty single, guy and looks as if the beach has lived within him for years. Sandy grey hair, tall and kind of lanky. The type of guy you remember when you see him again 8 years later. He had some great words of advice for me when I had arrived. I was a beach girl at heart, but wanted so badly to work in the surf industry so I traveled across the country alone to find a place to call home. I signed a lease and was out here within a few months with a cast on my foot (I fell off of a curb walking down a hill to the beach, we don't have hills back home, ha) and almost all of my belongings. The only things I had to leave at home were my animals. They arrived a month or so later and I had never been so happy to see them because honestly I was a bit lonely.

I was waiting tables in a bar and applying to work in the surf industry every other free moment I had. The salty guy whose name is Randy told me he knew a few people who worked at quiksilver, and to go for it, that I was the perfect type of person for that company whatever that meant..

I met a woman in the bar as well who took a liking to me for some reason and I to her. She wanted to hear my story and I told her that I had journeyed across the country, to find my dream job and a surfer boy to marry and have a family with. That was it pure and simple. She told me she was praying for me and that "he" (the surfer boy, was looking for me right now as we spoke). I met him a couple weeks later. Funny how life has it's way of speaking to you through other people. People you might never see again, or maybe 8 years later to thank them and show them what you have now, and how they may have helped you a little to arrive there. It was at that moment when I ran into salty Randy that I realized my time was up here. I didn't need to keep wondering if this was the right decision any more. I came here to do two things and I can now cross the country again with my son and my surfer boy and look back on all that I did while I was here and smile.

I traveled to far off distant lands in search of perfect beaches to have photo shoots. I had the chance to work with some of the greatest minds in action sports, I learned from the best art directors in the business, I got to fall in love with my beautiful surfer boy, I got to design books with HarperCollins, and cell phones with Motorola. I got to attend swanky parties with the who's who in surfing and action sports. I have had my fill. I will always have a special place in my heart for Southern Califonia, this is truly where I found myself, I will hold onto that forever.