zach n kali

After years of talking about it, Zach and I finally got to go to Zion National Park last weekend! Anyone who has ever been camping before knows how much planning is involved, and for those of us with a chronic pain disorder, this includes planning as to how you are going to pace yourself and keep your pain levels from increasing. Unfortunately, this did not make my to-do list. We had a fabulous time eating, camping, and hiking with our good friends. But 12 hours in a car, sleeping on the ground, and hours and hours of hiking takes a toll on your body, and for me this resulted in several days of excruciating pain. The hard part is that sometimes the effects aren't immediate and while you think you're fine, you may be in a world of hurt later. After the first day home of sucking it up and letting my pride and can-do attitude stand in the way of asking for help, my wonderful family came around me and gave me a day of rest. Just as important as the actual day of rest, how...

Zach and I were given the wonderful opportunity to go away together for a few days this weekend. My wonderful in-laws watched Baby M, and Zach and I packed ourselves up in a miraculous 30 minutes and headed off to sunny San Diego. We spent the day at Sea World, staring in pity at the poor parents who had to deal with stroller parking and sit through the Elmo show. We enjoyed Cirque de la Mare and the Blue Horizons show and stared at Beluga whales and turtles. After checking into our hotel we headed for an awesome dinner at Bandu, a Persian restaurant in the Gaslamp district. My meal could have fed a family of four! The portions were huge and the food was awesome! We enjoyed chicken and ground beef kebabs with rice and grilled tomatoes. There was not a splotch of pureed squash to be found! Around nine o' clock we headed back to our car, watching the city wake up around us; clubs were filling, restaurants were in full swing. The night was young and the town was ours for the...

A few months ago, Zach and I took a spontaneous trip to Vegas. I mean, we just grabbed our bags and went, arriving at about 1am. It was incredible. We had the most fun and we loved that there was no planning, no schedule, and no responsibilities. Fast forward to the present... traveling is, well... different. It's all about planning and scheduling, and responsibility. Last weekend we joined Zach's family in Cayucos for a beach vacation. There was nothing get-up-and-go about it. There were lists and text messages and grocery trips and online searches about traveling with an infant. And there was definitely a lot that we forgot. Fortunately none of it concerned the baby, but neither or us remembered to grab our own jackets or socks. We have decided that between the two of us, we have about three braincells left, so we must choose how to use them wisely. On our way to Vegas we stopped for In-N-Out. On this trip we stopped to change a diaper and feed Baby M. Not n...