Getting Back To Normal and First Anniversary Approaching

Most residents have been allowed back in their homes in San Diego. The air quality is not very good, it's getting better now, but we have been told not to spend much time outside for a few days. We also have been conserving power to prevent blackouts. Mike is also out today with his co-workers helping move elderly back to the hospital he works for that was evacuated.

Mike spent most of the day back home cleaning up our balconies that were covered in ash. The cats all went back to their favorite spots and have been sleeping a lot.

We want to thank Matt for letting us stay at his house while we were evacuated. If it wasn't for him, we would have probably been staying at Qualcomm.

On a lighter note, our first anniversary is coming up and we are going on a cruise down to Mexico. Our stops include Cabo San Lucas, where we are going to dive; Matzatlan, where we are going to explore on our own; and Puerta Vallarta, where we are going rappelling and zip lining. This will be a first time cruise for both of us. We'll post some pictures when we get back.

We are cruisin to Mexico for our Anniversary!

Heartbreaking Video

A local reporter, Larry Himmel, reported his house as it was burning down. It is so sad that so many people lost their homes.

The fire did actually come within 10 miles north of our home. During our time being evacuated, we actually were talking about whether we'd stay and buy again or move out of state. Thank goodness it didn't come down to that. However, it is a little hard to be happy knowing others weren't so fortunate.

We are back home!

Just wanted to let everyone know we are back home and safe and sound! Thanks for all well wishes.

Still Evacuated

We've been receiving lots of messages from friends and family and we appreciate all your concerns and thoughts. I just wanted to update you on the situation with us.

We are still not allowed to go home tonight. Del Mar residents were allowed to go home, but only west of the 5. We are on the east side of the 5 and are not able to get back home quite yet. (I made a green dot and pointed an arrow at about where we live, click on map for larger view).



The officials seem to think things are looking up as far as the wind dying down and the humidity levels rising. Therefore, we are hoping to be able to move back home tomorrow.

I'll update when we get back home.

We Had To Evacuate

I would have never thought those pictures we took yesterday would have lead to such an enormous fire that would cause us to evacuate. Anyway, we went to sleep last night (Sun night) and the fire was still an hour away from us and woke up to it being a lot closer than we'd expected. Within a half hour of waking up, we were being evacuated from our home. I had to work and Mission Valley was in no danger, so we packed up the cats and a few belongings and headed there. I worked all day as Mike hung out at a coffee shop across the parking lot watching live streaming video online. The cats were with me in our private bathroom in the pharmacy and let me tell you, they weren't happy.

After closing the pharmacy, we decided to head to one of Mike's friend's place, in Vista, north of the fire that is threatening our area. We are staying the night here. Hopefully, we'll be able to go home tomorrow and won't have to evacuate anymore. I don't think the cats can take another transport...ha ha!

For more info on the fires out here, visit http://www.cbs8.com/. They have pretty good maps of the areas burning and under evacuation. Our condo is located in the lower left corner of the mandatory evacuation zone right above the 56 and east of the 5 for the Witch Creek Fire.

Santa Ana Winds = Fires!

Here are some views around our condo today as the Santa Ana Winds are causing several fires across the state. The fire is an hour away, but the winds are pretty strong today, bringing smoke to our area with ashes falling in the sky. Pretty crazy!

Kansas Visit

Mike and Brant drinking schooners at Louise's Downtown

I realized how beautiful Kansas can be while I was there visiting last week. I spent some of my early years growing up there and also spent my college years there. I would always say that I never wanted to live in Kansas after college, because I hated summers there. It gets so hot and muggy! But, while I was there last week, I noticed that you could see hundreds of miles all around you and see different weather patterns building up or moving across the state. I saw some great sunsets, farmland, cows, and I even got to ride a horse. I'm not saying I'm ready to move back to Kansas at all, I just realized how cool Kansas can be.


Mike's name on the wall at Jock's Nitch, where he used to work in college

I got to spend some time with my mom and sister and friends from Pharmacy School. I went to the Kstate-Colorado game with an old roommate that I hadn't seen in several years. Mike got to spend some time with his friends from KU also. We also walked around KU campus on a Sunday afternoon and realized that we had both been going to classes in buildings across from one another. The Pharmacy School and Business School are right across from each other on campus.


Mike standing in the KU Campanile

Fishing and Football

Since I'm on vacation for 12 days, I have a couple of minutes to update the blog.

We went sea fishing and to a Chiefs game (at the Chargers Stadium) last weekend. Saturday we went on a 1/2 day fishing adventure and had a lot of fun. I caught the first fish of the day, even though Mike will say he doesn't remember who caught the first. And I caught the most, 2 to his 1. They were just Mackrels, but it was a lot of fun reeling them in to the boat.


We are fishing off the back of the boat

Bait tanks and everyone's bags for catches, ours was empty :(

Sunday, we went to watch the Chargers-Chiefs game. As usual, Mike and I were cheering for opposite teams. There were a lot of fights and people getting kicked out around us, the Chargers fans are kinda mean. I can't imagine how it is when the Raiders are there, because I hear it gets pretty bad. I think I'll watch the game on TV next year. The Chiefs won though, yay for me.




This weekend we are off to Kansas for a wedding and I'll be staying all week while Mike comes back home for work. He'll meet back up with me in Kansas the following weekend for KU's Althletic Club's Alumni weekend.

P.S. It's my sister's 16th birthday today! Happy Birthday Brittney!