Sadie Lady

I've had Sadie for twelve weeks now! Time flies!

She's still a lot of work, but we've settled into a routine and I don't feel so stressed all the time anymore. She hasn't had an accident in the house in a really long time. And she lets me sleep through the night! She starts her loud dinosaur yawns before 7am, but will usually quiet down a little more after that. She's getting much better at walking, and is a great little hiking buddy. And she's been an excellent dog out in public so far! That's what I wanted: a dog to take on walks and hikes that would also hang with me at wineries or on the Downtown Mall. So far so good!

We've been working on obedience training at home from the get-go, but are also starting a puppy obedience class in a couple of weeks. And she attends doggy daycare once a week for fun socializing (and to give me a little break).

Now for pictures!

Cruising the Downtown Mall

Chilling on the deck

Checking out Sugar Hollow Reservoir

Dipping our toes

Sitting pretty at King Family Vineyards

Quenching thirst on the go

Off leash at the tennis court!

Best buds

Checking out Secluded Farm by Monticello

Fourth of July hike at Walnut Creek

Ready to accept her award for Cutest Pup!

So much has happened.

Time for some long due updates!

After spending the past several months working hard to meet draft deadlines for my dissertation, that whole thing is finally over. It's strange. I wrote a lot. I edited a lot. I worked hard. I looked forward to being done so badly. And now I am. After my advisor okayed my third draft I sent it to my two other readers. Made a few more edits based on their comments. And on April 22 I sat here at my dining table and defended my dissertation via video conferencing. I was so nervous. Not because I didn't think I would pass, but because I wanted to do a good job and appear competent. Which I guess I did, because sure enough, they said I can be a doctor. It's a huge relief to be done, but also strange how it ended so nonchalantly. No driving to Fairfax to defend. No shaking hands. No ceremony. No party. I wasn't planning to attend the graduation ceremony, but I did want to have a party with friends and family to celebrate. It took ten school years to get my PhD. That's a long time.

Anyway, that brings us to Covid-19. I've been working from home, finally using my office upstairs! I also started using my living room more because in April I did yoga every day. It was a great way to get through the end of dissertation and defense preparation days. And I started to take long walks and discovered new parts of the neighborhood. All those walks made me sad I didn't have a dog to walk though.

And that brings us to my next big update. I got a dog! A puppy, to be exact. I've been obsessing over adopting a dog for a long while now but knew I needed to wait until I finished grad school. And sure enough, a mere three days after my defense, I brought home a 10-week-old puppy from the SPCA. I never had a puppy in mind before, but since I'm home all the time now a puppy was actually a possibility. And I guess after my dissertation I needed a new project? I must say, getting a puppy sure didn't give me a break!

Anyway, her name is Sadie, and over three weeks in I can say she's settling in great and doing well with training. My walks have been cut drastically short (and slow), but some day she'll be a great walking (and hopefully hiking) buddy. It'll be fun to watch her grow.

Meeting her at the shelter!

Our first "walk"

Still thankful for Thanksgiving

I am aware that many moons have passed without a post. (Let's blame my dissertation.) But I still want to remember my 2019 Thanksgiving, so here's a quick recap several months late, mostly in pictures.

I went to Santa Fe! We hiked Tent Rocks and did touristy stuff downtown. 

Lookin' at rocks.

Loretto Chapel

Hot chocolate!

 (Not pictured: visiting the cathedral and several art galleries, mariachi music with our dinner at Tomasita's, visiting a couple of museums on Museum Hill, and walking to the cross of the martyrs at sunset.)

We also visited my brother and sister-in-law in northern New Mexico on the ranch where they live and work. It was very pretty, but I was disappointed we didn't see any bison.

Green chile burritos and guacamole!

 

Old charcoal kilns.

It was very cold.

Mom made lots of great food for Thanksgiving and we had family over to visit. We did not, however, run the turkey trot 5k because it snowed!

 And we saw the "lighting of the Plaza" to help kick-start the Christmas season.

Brooklyn Wedding Weekend

This past weekend I went to New York for my dear friend Celia's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and a fun weekend in the big city!

First, let me backtrack and quickly cover her bachelorette party which was a month ago, and which I also attended in New York (I flew straight there from Anchorage!). It was 90s themed, and included a private trolley tour (sort of 1890s themed) of Brooklyn, a big taco dinner, and singing 1990s songs in a private karaoke room.

My 90s outfit

Her 90s outfit (and our private trolley)

A Polaroid from the after-karaoke party. I think I went to bed around 4am that night.

Okay, back to the wedding weekend. Friday there was a pre-wedding dinner at an Italian restaurant. There was so much good food! And I got to catch up with a friend from junior high who I probably hadn't seen since college.

I got to sign her ketubah!

Saturday morning I went for a run along the water in Long Island City. Then I joined Celia and some others in her bridal suite to get ready for the ceremony.

A beautiful day for five miles!

Celia and her dad (whom I adore)

The wedding itself was on the rooftop of a hotel in Brooklyn with views of the city. It was a little too cold to keep the roof open but even with it closed it was a pretty amazing venue. The ceremony was lovely, the cocktail hour had jalapeno margaritas, and the dinner was really good. Throw in ice cream sandwiches, a roving photo-booth-type thing, and the highly-entertaining cover band Vanilla Pop all the way from New Mexico, and it all added up to an awesome and fun wedding.

Sunday there was a wedding brunch, after which I visited the Brooklyn Museum, ate ramen, stopped by Times Square for kicks, and ended the night tasting a few beers at the Fifth Hammer Brewing Company.

The new Kehinde Wiley statue that will eventually move from Times Square to Richmond!

Monday my flight wasn't until later in the evening, so I had time for my first-ever visit to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Liberty Island has a new museum that was pretty neat, and though I spent nearly two hours on Ellis Island I wish I'd had more time to see all of the immigration museum. Alas, it was time to take a boat back to Brooklyn to enjoy a big polish dinner in Greenpoint before heading home.

I'm on a boat!

The Great Hall on Ellis Island, which used to be the Registry Room for processing new immigrants.

It was a great long weekend in New York and I'm so happy I got to share in Celia's big day!

Alaska!

This summer I went on a pretty epic vacation with my family to celebrate my parents' fortieth anniversary. We went to Alaska! And on a cruise! Very exciting.

My parents spent a few days in Vancouver before I joined them for two nights. On my full day there I introduced them to good ramen and we went for a long walk around Stanley Park. It was a gorgeous day.

Monday, August 26, we embarked on the Norwegian Jewel for our cruise to Alaska (after I went for a long run along the water). Once onboard we briefly checked out our staterooms (they had a balcony, I had a window) before heading up to enjoy the views from the open deck as we sailed out of Vancouver.

We're on a boat!

Tuesday we sailed all day. For a little while all three of us sat on their balcony to look for wildlife but all we saw were lots and lots of jellyfish.

Wednesday we awoke in Ketchikan. We went on an excursion to the George Inlet Lodge, from which we got on a much smaller boat for a little wildlife tour around the inlet. We saw bald eagles, the splash of seals (apparently), and pulled crabs up from a crab pot. Then we got to eat unlimited Dungeness crab legs. We ate a lot.

A bald eagle!

One of my favorite photos from the whole trip.

I threw her back.

 After our meal we were driven back to Ketchikan, where we had some time to walk around before we had to be back on the ship.

Iconic view of Creek Street

It was fun watching salmon jump at this salmon ladder.

Thursday we sailed into Juneau. We didn't get off the ship until 11, so I had time to run on the treadmill in the ship's gym. Treadmills aren't my favorite but at least there was a view of the water and indeed I saw a whale. In Juneau we walked to the Alaska State Museum, which we all really liked. Then we ate lunch by the water before heading up the Mount Roberts tram. Mom headed back early but Dad and I went for a short hike at the top.

I love all these snow goggles!

He asked me to take this photo!

Friday we awoke in Skagway and went on another excursion. First a mini bus drove us into the Yukon Territory of Canada (with several photo stops along the way), where we had a barbecue lunch and got to see sled dogs.

Husky puppy in Carcross!

Then the mini bus dropped us off at a train station and we rode the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad back down to Skagway. The narrow-gauged train takes the route of the gold rushers.

We're on a train!

When we got back into Skagway Mom headed back to the ship while Dad and I stopped into the Skagway Brewing Company.

Saturday we were on the ship all day, and we spent several hours cruising around Glacier Bay National Park. Park rangers boarded the ship and shared information and wildlife sightings over the intercom. That morning I awoke to the ranger mentioning a mountain goat sighting, so I grabbed my binoculars and kneeled on my bed checking out the passing mountain, and indeed I saw the goat! While we ate breakfast we saw little icebergs covered in seals. Then we headed outside to see (and hear!) the glaciers. And that afternoon Mom and I painted whale tales and glaciers.

Pretty good view for teeth brushing!

Sunday was also a day at sea. In the morning we cruised by Hubbard Glacier.

Pretty good view for morning coffee!

The rest of the day was just fast and relatively view-less cruising through the Gulf of Alaska, so we rested in the afternoon. (Dad was mostly recovered from his cold by that point but I had caught it, so I was grateful for the nap time that didn't require missing out on sight-seeing.) That night we had a fun teppanyaki dinner. There were several restaurants on the ship and we enjoyed many good meals throughout the cruise. Later in the evening Dad and I wandered the ship for one last time, though it was rocking pretty badly. Water was sloshing out of the swimming pools. It was fun to see, but I'm glad the rest of the trip had been pretty calm.

Monday we awoke in Seward and our cruise was over. The only thing that made it not too depressing was that we had more fun coming up! After breakfast onboard we finally disembarked, and shortly afterwards Ryan and Lauren picked us up in a rented SUV! It was only about 10am, so we all went to a coffee shop to visit and figure out what we wanted to do next.

We're all together! In Alaska!

We decided to check out Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. It was raining, but we still went for a walk. (Overall we had excellent weather on the trip and I didn't mind this rain because it gave me a chance to try out my new rain jacket.)

After our rainy walk we went back into Seward for lunch at the Seward Brewing Company. Then we made the 2+ hour drive to Anchorage and checked into our Airbnb. It was a really pretty drive. That night we had pizza for dinner at the Moose's Tooth.

Seen from the car on the drive.

Enjoying a beer while we wait for a table.

Tuesday we all visited the Anchorage Museum in the morning and saw a really interesting special exhibit on the ill-fated 1845 Franklin Expedition. After a break for lunch at the 49th State Brewing Company Dad and I went back to see the rest of the museum while the others, well, did not.

That night we just took it easy and had local ice cream for dinner.

Wednesday Ryan and Lauren and Dad headed out early in the morning to ride a sea plane into the bush and then ride a boat on a river to go salmon fishing. They had a great time, though apparently there were lots of mosquitoes. Here are three photos I did not take:

Their salmon haul!

While they were doing that Mom and I visited the Anchorage Botanical Garden. There were lots of signs warning visitors to be "bear aware" and the lady at the front desk said we would probably be okay without bear mace as long as we stuck together and made lots of noise. So it was a scary visit but we still had fun and did indeed talk (and sometimes sing) loudly and nonstop. It seemed to work, because we didn't see any bears. Thank goodness.

After the gardens we headed downtown for lunch and some souvenir shopping. I bought myself a pair of earrings to replace a pair I lost from my first (and only other) visit to Alaska ten years ago. Then we picked up the rest of the gang from the lake airport and headed home to rest a little before making a big salmon (and reindeer) dinner. The meal was great and was followed by a fun family game night.

The plane they flew in on.

Dinner with freshly-caught salmon!

Thursday we all drove an hour away from Anchorage to visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. On the way there we passed Beluga Point, and indeed we saw lots of belugas! We stopped and got out to look, and Dad and I walked across the railroad tracks to get a closer look. Shortly after getting back in the car we also saw mountain goats by the road.

The white spot in the water was a beluga!

The Conservation Center was really fun because we got to walk around in a beautiful location seeing lots of animals, including caribou, moose, muskox, and both brown and black bears.

Moose! Though a little disappointing the only moose most of us saw on the whole trip were these two, in a barn. (Ryan saw moose from their little plane the day before.)

Muskox!

A brown bear!

Reindeer! (Or caribou?)

Elk I think?

After our fun visit we stopped in Girdwood for lunch on our way back to Anchorage. I think we all napped, and then that evening we went out for a really nice dinner at Simon & Seaforts to celebrate Mom's birthday (which was the next day). We had halibut cheeks for an appetizer and I had more (crab-stuffed) halibut for my entree. It was delicious. When we got back to the house we topped off our night with some birthday blueberry crumble. Then we rolled ourselves to bed.

The next morning I flew out early. (I actually flew to New York for a bachelorette party.) The rest of them had lunch together before Ryan and Lauren flew out, and after some more shopping downtown my parents flew out that evening.

It was a really fun trip, filled with lots of good family time and beautiful scenery. Huge thanks go to my parents for this amazing family vacation! Love you!