2023

What a year, already. I got married late in life after more than eleven years together in the bay area. But, this is a year of change and growth as well. Getting older, slowing down, and working on new goals, is making the future change in great ways. 

European Vacation

We had an amazing 2 weeks of vacation in London and Berlin. It has been a long time since I had the chance to travel out of the country, and this was such a treat. It was not our honeymoon, but it was. He made this trip happen as a gift to himself because he graduated from school in 2019. As you can imagine, it took a while to finally happen.

London

We went on this trip without a huge agenda, and checked stuff out on the fly. Thankfully, most places only took cards for payment and we used a card without overseas fees so it saved us a lot of money.

Outside Parliament

Kensington Palace

Tower of London

Berlin

hung out We found Alex and hung out a couple days!!!!!

Charlottenburg Palace

The palace was built at the end of the 17th century and was greatly expanded during the 18th century. It includes much lavish internal decoration in Baroque and Rococo styles. A large formal garden surrounded by woodland was added behind the palace, including a belvedere, a mausoleum, a theatre and a pavilion. During the Second World War, the palace was badly damaged but has since been reconstructed. The palace with its gardens is a major tourist attraction. – Wikipedia

The Wall

Las Vegas

We went to Las Vegas after we came back from Berlin and London to shop for a house. We actually went with the first one we looked at because good friends of ours live right around the corner. It’s a good house. And we are excited about it. I wrote a bit about it here.

The above images are from Zillow and what it look like when we bought the place. I have been working on it since we moved in. Yes, in the fucking heat!!! I moved a couple tons of rock by hand from the backyard to the front and more.

Working the Front Yard

The Back Yard

This is still a work in progress as of 8/2023. I ran into a wall with the weather, cost and resources. There is a plan and plans can change. The idea behind a 5 elements garden can only get better over time. Summer basically says “no, honey!” So, it is on pause until Fall.

Meet Archer

We have a new addition to the house. This is Archer, who we got from the Pet Foundation in Las Vegas. He holds a shocking resemblance to Tom Dog, but is a very different personality. He is still a love-bug. It’s been a few weeks, and still getting to know each other.