Our baby Formosan Mountain Dog (aka Taiwan Dog)

When we adopted Wrigley, we didn't really understand the type of dog we were adopting.  He was adorable and the kids fell in love with him.  That was reason enough to take him home.  Since he's been with us, he has been a true joy bringing so many laughs and smiles to our home.  I, for one, had no idea how attached I would get to this little guy, but it certainly didn't take long.  Sure, he chews up anything and everything and occasionally he digs a couple of holes in the backyard that Mark quickly has to re-sod.  But honestly, we couldn't have asked for a better dog.

Rocket Dog Rescue is the organization we rescued him from.  When they told us he had been rescued from Taiwan and had just come to the United States, I didn't really believe what I was hearing.  Rescued from TAIWAN?  Don't we have enough dogs here in the United States to rescue?  It wasn't until we started doing research at home that we learned about the Animal Rescue Team Taiwan.  When you read about what they are doing to save these poor puppies lives, you just have to think WOW.  And we got to be a part of it (and get an awesome dog at that!)

I've always wondered what he looked like as a puppy or what his life was like in Taiwan.  Did he live on the streets?  Was he starving?  Was he abused?

Well, we got word today from his rescuer and foster parent.  This was the email she sent to us and the pictures she attached.  I was brought to tears. We are so blessed we found you Wrigley!

"Dear Mark

    I am really thrilled with tears of joy to receive your letter and photos. After these months, we are very happy to know that he is being taken very good care of. Thank you so much for giving him a sweet and loving home. This is also what we are looking forward to. My efforts finally pay off, and I really appreciate you for giving so much praise to Formosan dogs. I pray God to bless you and your whole family. Taiwan is a small island. Here due to the lack of people’s awareness about animal protection, dogs are often abandoned or abused. We often see poor stray dogs in streets and so many in shelters. Actually, Fromosan dogs are very loyal, protective for their owners and homes. It’s a pity that many people here don’t cherish them. We don’t have animal cops here, and I am sorry and sad about the situation in Taiwan, so I made up my mind to help those poor dogs here, and I have been working on it for several years.

 I would like to share with you more pictures about Bubble Gum when he was a little puppy, so you can keep them as a memory.
They are all from shelter,I rescue them and left the shelter , because they are about to face euthanasia, we only have 12 days,I saw them so sad, they are so cute pups, if there is no any adopted, they will die, we rescue, health and foster care, do many medicial checks, and find to airline flights,pay flights cost,
4/3 they are from Taiwan fly to SFO,rocketdog resure help Taiwan dogs and let them participate....Bubble Gum with brother and sister are all in the same day to get adoption...when I knew this good news,I was so surprised and grateful..."

Yenchi chen
 

The first 3 photos are from when he was in the shelter very close to being euthanized.  The rest we assume are from when he was in the care of Yenchi.

And this is our little guy now.  He's put on a whopping 10 pounds in the last month and his brown spots on his eyes have faded.  He absolutely LOVES other dogs.  When we go to the dog park he immediately greets and plays with the other dogs.  He's still very timid with new people (especially people that come to the house) and he'll bark at them but he's getting much better at going up to people while we are out.  And his tail is always wagging way up high -- a true sign of his happiness.  Love this sweet pup!

 

Spring Break 2014

This post should be backdated to April when we took a trip to Charlotte and Durham, North Carolina for Spring Break.  Our 10th Fuqua Business School reunion was April 25-27th and since we missed our 5 year, Mark and I really wanted to attend this one.  Since it overlapped with Spring Break, it was a great excuse to make a vacation out of the week (since we had to skip Mexico due to the reunion -- BOO!)

So, we headed to Charlotte, NC first and stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge for a few days.  The kids love, love, LOVED it.  Really, what's not to love?  Indoor water park, miniature golf, bowling, arcades and so much more!  It's a hotel built for kids and they just ate it up.  3 days was enough though -- I was ready to move on after that!

Then we headed back to Durham for our 10 year reunion.  Grandma and Grandpa were AWESOME and came up to help with the kids so we could enjoy some "adult time" and catch up with some very great, old friends.  Thank you so much MOM and DAD!!

As part of their "paw pass", they got to build their own stuffed animal!

They must have done this obstacle course a hundred times.  Maddie liked to "hop" through it.

Maddie's first pedicure!

Saturday was family fun day at the reunion with barbecue lunch, face painting, bouncy houses,  kids activities and the Duke Blue Devil!

One of our good friends, Kevin, has a little girl named Juliana.  This baby girl was SO sweet, always reaching for new people to hold her.  And of course Jacob and Maddie could NOT resist.  It's so fun to see your friends from 10 years ago now married with kids!

What a fun reunion.  Already can't wait until the 15!

My first half marathon - complete!

Well, I DID IT! On June 1, 2014, I completed my first half marathon. And I have to say, it was AH-MAZING! I never imagined it would be that fun/rewarding, but it was honestly awesome. The weather was perfect -- about 60 and overcast and NO WIND. Which meant you never got too hot because the sun wasn't shining and you weren't running against any crazy winds! The course was very flat which also helped tremendously. I took a selfie of our outfits the night before we ran (of course I had to test it out!) Those socks were incredibly comfortable.



And when we picked up our race packets, they had a fitness boutique with lots of booths and people selling all things running-related. They also had this big table set up where people could make motivational signs for their runners. Jacob, made this one for me. :)







Of course we had to get a few pre-race pics. I ran it with Jaemie and I couldn't imagine doing it with ANYone else!

 I ended up running with my phone in my hand because I didn't want to check it at the gear station (then I wouldn't be able to take any pre/post race pics!) So, I think this was around mile 8 or so. I wanted to get a better picture of the course but this was about all I could muster.



At mile 10, I started getting extremely fatigued and aching everywhere (including my knee which bothered me a lot toward the end of my training). I brought along one of those gel shots and took it along with some water which started to help right around mile 11. Those last few miles were KILLER. You just want to be DONE so badly! I literally was chanting to myself "Just one foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other". You kind of have to just zone out and keep a rhythm in your head and think about everything BUT the fact that you have x many miles to go. The finish line was not placed well. Mile 12 seemed to go on forever because you never actually saw the finish line. All of a sudden, you turned a corner and there it was! In races I've run in the past, you could see the finish line at least 1/2 mile before you hit it so it kind of gave you the little kick in the butt you needed to get there (and I'd usually try and sprint to it once I saw it). But in this race, you never could see it from the path so it was a little discouraging that I didn't have that moment to really sprint to the end. But I will say, when I turned that corner and looked at the clock and it said UNDER TWO HOURS, I sprinted my little tail off and just couldn't believe I was making it in under TWO! This is us after the race -- with tiara, feather boa, medal, champagne and all!



I never truly expected that I would come in under 2 hours. In most of my training runs, my best average pace was 9 1/2 minute miles. If I had maintained that pace in this race, I would have run it in 2 hours, 7 minutes. Knowing that, I just imagined I would come in somewhere around there. So this was a huge, wonderful surprise!  And of course, Jaemie came in a couple of minutes ahead of me AND she stopped for a restroom break along the way.  That's my rock star friend!


You know what I learned most during all of it?  I tend to get caught up in how much I weigh (since the birth of 2 babies) and how my body has changed (not so much for the better in the last 8 years).  But at the end of the day, you know what? THIS body birthed TWO beautiful, healthy babies and just ran THIRTEEN miles. So many people in this world don't have to privilege to do either of these things and I feel lucky -- blessed -- that my body has allowed me to do them. I should celebrate THIS body -- no matter what size. And be SO PROUD of what it can accomplish!  Will I ever run another half marathon? I'm not sure. The training is brutal. But knowing that my body can do it is a wonderful revelation that I will be proud of for a long, long while.  Big thanks to Jaemie for being my running and motivational partner!  I love you friend!

Maddie's newest trick!

Probably about 6 months or so ago, Maddie was asking us to take her training wheels off so that she could learn how to ride her bike without them.  So, we took the training wheels off of the old Lightning McQueen bike we have and made a go of it.  Not so successful.  We tried for a couple of days and we were all so frustrated by it that we realized she just wasn't ready.

This morning, Maddie said she wanted to ride bikes after her soccer class.  I said "Sure, but maybe we should try it without training wheels again and see what happens!"  In a matter of minutes, it clicked and she was on her way!  I couldn't be more proud!

Jacob was just shy of his 5th birthday when he learned how to ride a bike here so she is right on track!  So excited for all of the bike riding in our future!

Playing catch up

It's been a LONG time since I've posted so I'm going to play a big game of catch up (starting in February).

Maddie was taking swimming lessons again at the Y.  She's moved up to the "eel" class and really loves it.  If we could be consistent about signing up every month, I'm sure she would be a pro by now!  But we always have conflicting events/vacations, etc.

Rachel's little girl, Iris, turned 4 in February and they had a super fun birthday party at the Disney on Ice show in San Jose.  Such a fun idea!

And then THIS happened on March 12th.  I was not prepared at all for it!  Jacob and Maddie were wrestling on the couch when all of a sudden, they both come running upstairs screaming "Mommy LOOK!  This is HUGE!"  It sure was.  He has since lost both top teeth and has that silly toothless grin.  Adorable nonetheless.

Jacob started baseball in February and is now in the Farm league. The big difference is that the kids hit off of a machine pitch instead of a tee. He had a hard time hitting off the machine in the beginning, but as you can see, he's a slugger now!



On Saint Patrick's Day, we had Owen and Nathan over for a sleepover and went to IHM's St Patty's Day dinner.  We had no idea the stage would be taken over by kids who love to dance.  The DJ played songs they would love, including this infamous "What does the fox say" featured here.  They could have done this for HOURS.



IHM had its annual auction in April to raise money for the parish and school.  We got a table with super fun friends and I (in my wine induced state) bid a LOT of money for Jacob to be principal for the day.  Since Mark still looks like he likes me here, I think this picture was taken BEFORE I decided to bid.  Ha.

The day after the auction, I think Mark and I were both a little delirious (after the excitement and alcohol consumption from the night before) and THIS happened.

Meet Wrigley.  Our adorable new puppy.  He's a rescue dog from Taiwan.  Formally called a Formosan Mountain Dog (or informally called Taiwan dog), he came over from Taiwan a few days before we met him.  He was terrified and didn't eat or pee for the first 24 hours he was with us.  Man, it was more stressful than a newborn!  But now, a month later, it's like he's been with us all along.  He's smart, playful, sweet and overall a GREAT dog!  Now if we could just get him to stop chewing and digging...

Jacob did end up serving his duty and was Principal for the day on  April 14, 2014.  I was a little concerned that he may not enjoy it (or think it was boring) but the school did a great job in preparing for this day and he had SO much fun that when I picked him up that day, he was in tears.  "I don't want this day to END MOMMY!"  Ugh, it broke my heart.  And made every penny worth it. ;)

Here he is with Principal Grosey.

Giving the announcements on the PA system during school

Attending a "Staff meeting" with the other "teachers for the day"

A special meeting with Father Howell.

For Spring Break we all traveled to North Carolina for some FUN at Great Wolf Lodge and our 10 year Fuqua Reunion (post coming soon -- promise!)

I'll close with this.  She's got passion.  She's got heart.  She may not be winning The Voice any time soon, but man, she is FEELING IT. And good God how we LOVE her.