Finding Our Way Through 2025

A few weeks ago I found myself admitting to a friend that I was really missing writing this blog. "Why don't you start blogging again?" she asked and that question has been popping up daily ever since. 

I haven't blogged regularly since before my kids were born, well over six years ago. And while it is way too overwhelming for me to cover all that ground in a post, what felt more manageable and meaningful to me, was to put together one of my old annual recap posts and to at least capture what I've been up to most recently, for the past year of my life. 

And 2025 was... a doozy. 

Super Bloomin'

Every year, we try to make it out to the Anza-Borrego desert at least once for a camping trip, usually at our favorite campground, Agua Caliente. But in all the years that we've headed out there, I've never once witnessed a Super Bloom.

In fact, I'd never even heard the term "Super Bloom" until last year, back when Death Valley exploded in a sea of color. This is because San Diego has been in a drought since I moved here almost 7 years ago. Now, after the wettest winter in years, we're finally out of the drought and we have our own desert wildflowers to prove it.

Thousands and thousands of them.

Tent Camping in Big Sur

Big Sur is a pretty special place. 

When we first went to Big Sur for a wedding in 2012, I was in awe the entire time. Dramatic cliff sides, giant redwoods, turquoise waters, dappled light, and purple sand. Every vista was breathtaking, every moment was special. And ever since then I've been wanting to go back. 

Not willing to let another year go by, I added a tent camping trip to my 30 Before 30 list, hoping that would help me make a trip back to Big Sur a priority. And it did. A few months after I made that list I suggested to Ryan that we celebrate our four year dating anniversary up there with the dogs and a couple of weeks ago we bought a tent, packed the car, and headed out on the 8 hour drive from San Diego to Big Sur. 

Motivation Monday: Hiking Big Sur

No less than two days after I proudly declared that I was going to start logging legit running miles each week...

I took a vacation.

Last Wednesday, Ryan and I drove up the coast for five days of camping in beautiful Big Sur to celebrate four years together. And while I had the best intentions of going on some trail runs while I was there, there is a motto in Big Sur that I had no choice but to respect: "Do nothing."

But seriously, yeah I did pretty close to nothing the whole time I was there. Nothing active that is.

Not that I didn't want to! There were plenty of cool, challenging hikes that we really wanted to take, but unfortunately, Big Sur trails are pretty much closed off to dog-faced wonders. Two of which we happened to have with us.

We did find one hike that was dog-friendly, so we threw the dogs in the car and drove up to the trailhead inside the parking lot at the Big Sur Ranger Station. The trail, Pine Ridge Trail, is a 10 mile hike full of redwoods and waterfalls that ends at Sykes Natural Hot Springs.

10. Freaking. Miles. And we hiked every last inch of it.

Dog Days of Summer

I'm kind of obsessed with my dogs.

It's a real problem. At work, I daydream about cuddling with their fluffy little faces and when I'm at home, I can't stop bugging them. They are the most hilarious, adorable little nuggets in the world and that makes it hard to ever leave them.

Unfortunately, during the summer, we have to. A lot.

Between weddings and vacations and concerts and weekend getaways, we find ourselves scrambling constantly to try and find friends to dogsit them or making boarding reservations. And because they're rescue dogs, I always feel guilty bringing them to the boarders. So last night, we decided to do a trial run of something different.

Spoiled Pupsters

Every once in a while this blog gives me the opportunity to spoil my two favoritest fur faces on the planet, our rescue dogs Brewer and Banjo. This weekend was one of those times: they received a box full of toys, treats and full-size grooming products from local San Diego-based startup PetBox. 

A year ago, I tried Birchbox and even did a huge research project for my MBA on the market for curated subscription services, which at the time was led by Birchbox. Without fail, I ended up not liking or being able to use most of my Birchbox samplers each month, even though they claimed it was customized to my stated preferences. Complete bummer.

But what sets a subscription service like PetBox apart is that the customer picks exactly what goes in the box each month from a selection of products identified for their pet's (dog or cat) age and size. PetBox can curate the box and surprise you if you'd like, but their main goal is to source the best and healthiest products out there for you to choose from. 

It was about .004 seconds after taking the tissue paper off that they immediately dove in and began destroying their new platypus toy in tandem. The box was filled with a bunch of great products that we can't wait to try and it was super fun to get something in the mail for them for once! 

Happy Adoption Day, Brewer!

Exactly one year and two days ago, a shy, gentle little stray pup found his way into our home forever. But our story together starts about a month before that, in February of 2012. After getting picked up by animal control in San Bernadino, this stray had four days to get adopted or face euthanasia. Luckily for him, he had a cute face that won over the hearts of a dozen animal rescue workers who pooled their resources together to pull him out of the high-kill Devore shelter and transport him all the way down to a foster home in San Diego. He was a little over 20lbs underweight when he arrived and his foster parents slowly started nursing him back to health through mange and fleas and a few wounds from his life as a stray.

After several weeks in their care, they posted his photo and story on Craigslist. At that point, I was obsessively searching for a dog. Having lost my furry best friend of 11 years, Coal, to cancer that past January, two months proved too much time for me to be without a pup. But finding the right dog was a PROCESS. And there were a few missteps. I fostered an 11-week-old puppy for a night, thinking that I wanted to raise my next dog from puppyhood. Many sleepless hours later, I knew that a puppy wasn't the quite the right fit. I met a few adult dogs off Craigslist and PetFinder, but I didn't really connect with any of them. That's when I saw Brewer, who back then was named Charlie. The moment I saw his picture, I knew.

Brewer's foster mom (who happened to leave 5 blocks away!) left him with us for a few hours for a trial run later that night. Ryan and I took him on a walk around the neighborhood and we were surprised by how well he did on the leash. He was calm and sweet and reserved, but friendly. When his foster mom came to pick him up, she was shocked to hear that he hadn't whined or freaked out when she left - we were the first people he'd been alone with that he'd seemed to like. I told her I wanted to adopt him and me and Ryan headed to PetSmart to pick up his things.



The night before Brewer came home for good is a great memory. We stayed home drinking Bud Light Limes and brainstorming up a name for him. 'Ranger' and 'Sawyer' were both on the list, but we weren't sold. By Saturday, the day I was going to pick Brewer up and bring him home, we still didn't have a name. Ryan went to work and we texted suggestions back and forth all morning. The name 'Brewer' came to me out of nowhere and just as I was texting it to Ryan, a text message from him appeared on my screen: "What about Brewer?" I couldn't have been more shocked or more convinced that we had named him.

Brewer's first month at home wasn't exactly smooth sailing. His health still wasn't great: he was 15lbs underweight and had giardia. When he finally let me touch his stomach, I discovered that the shelter had left his stitches in after he was neutered and the skin around them was infected and scarred. He also had terrible, terrible separation anxiety. One day I came home on my lunch break to find that he had eaten the doorframe and clawed his way through the stucco wall next to the front door. I was still living with one of my best friends at the time and he owned the house. I called Ryan shaking when I found Brewer amidst the debris and he rushed right over from work because I was too scared to go upstairs and see if there was damage elsewhere. Luckily, there wasn't. It wasn't the best start. But I had faith.



Now I can't believe it's been over a year since we've had Brewer in our lives! He's healthy and happy and really bonding with his new little brother, Banjo. He is endlessly gentle with other dogs and people, especially kids. In the year since he came home, he's gotten all the way up to a healthy 50lbs, gotten a yard of his very own, traveled with us to Big Sur, and been the main attraction at every dog-friendly bar we go to. I still get choked up every time I think about what his life must have been like before we got him and how grateful I am for the people who work to rescue dogs like him every day. I can't wait to get home and give him a (belated) adoption day hug. :)

Do you have rescue dogs? I'd love to know your rescue story!