A 2019 Recap

Labor Day in 2020

January 4, 2020

Somehow I stopped posting regularly for years, and yesterday I casually scrolled through phone photos because it’s been mad at me for weeks sending out tons of notifications telling me to declutter. Going through photos made me realize we actually had so much fun together in 2019, and every single moment is worth to be remembered. When I scroll through the pile of photo madness, they lit up those memories I didn’t know were there and sparked joyes in my heart. So here comes a long rambling recap of our 2019.

Sullivan Canyon Loop

To start out with a most unimpressive picture, I’ve been slacking at the very beginning on Jan 27 2019, we were at Sullivan Canyon Loop.

Don’t have the best photo but I treated TT with a strawberry cake on Valentine’s day. I gave up all my pretentious photography tricks when it comes to homemade food, past years I just want to offer TT food right after it’s done, I think TT doesn’t mind at all.

Mar 10th we had a delightful walk, just two of us at our favorite park.

Spring cloaked this area to the point that I can’t even recognize, so much foliage and blooms.

Santa Paula Canyon and Punch Bowls Trail

Moving on to May 5th, we went to Santa Paula Canyon and Punch Bowls Trail for a 7 miles hike. The trailhead is all the way back hidden behind Thomas Aquinas College campus, we had the Alltrails app on to help us find the way.

There was a crazy excited dog pack braked at us aggressively behind the fens, it was a bit scary even spooked TT.

Here we got lost and found rows of avocado trees and some beehives, maybe not a good idea to let TT get any closer to these.

In the river there were some students on the other end chilling in the water like beavers occupying there territories, I thought going to a school like this must be great to have a forest connected to the front of your dorm room, summer time will be a blast, I would race my roommate to the river to ensure I have the best spot.

TT fell into the river once or twice, there was one time he tried to jump onto a rock right next to me but slipped, he left an angel shape water print as you can see in the picture, that certainly gave me a good laugh even though I shouldn’t be, but I am sure TT was not hurt.

And we had pizza night as dinner that night, of course I made a mini one for TT.

Made sushi for human and also TT On June 2nd.

We went to San Diego on July 4th long weekend.

Penasquitos Canyon Trail

Penasquitos Canyon trail was not a very exciting trail to be on, I have to admit I almost couldn’t remember how it looks like. Maybe that explains why I only have two photos.

We arrived at an Airbnb place which was pretty much a shed with a twin bed inside in someone’s backyard. No complaints since booking a hotel in San Diego city with a dog costs a lot, and probably will not be as nice as this relaxing backyard with soothing breeze, we sat outside most of the time when we were around.

Lazy Dog Restaurant

We took TT to Lazy Dog Restaurant on night to dine with us, while we humans had beer sampler he got his Doggie menu steak on rice meal.

I didn’t bring my phone onto any of the beaches in this trip so I only have one picture of TT on the sand. We hopped through Ocean Beach Dog Beach, Coronado Beach & Dog Park, and some small walks in one day, Fiesta Island Dog Park was pretty much barren when we arrived so that was a skip.

We dropped TT at Sydnee’s Pet Grooming the last day because I couldn’t book any play day with any daycare center without meet and greet ahead. Grooming was perfect so we humans will have a few hours to walk around or swim after checking out from the Airbnb place, also having TT back in my car sparkling clean at the end of this vacation will be great. Now I think back, still convinced this is such a brilliant idea, imagine how dirty a happy dog could be after crazy beach hopping and hikes.

Also this is Actaeas’ first grooming experience, I was probably more worried than he was.

Oh did I mention I obtained plant obsessions in 2019? I bought Maranta cuttings and two rooted Calatheas around July. They are non toxic pet friendly plants.
I also discovered an amazing blog called Leaf and Paw, great photography with informative contents. If you are considering introducing plants into your pet’s life, I highly suggest you follow Anastasia, I love how she decorates her house too.

Leaf and paw

The first 2 gadgets I bought for helping my plants to stay happy were a moisture meter and a thermometer to monitor the moisture of the soil and the humidity in the air. They had been great and also very affordable.

● Dr.meter S10 Soil Moisture Sensor Meter

● ThermoPro Digital Hygrometer Indoor Thermometer

On Aug 16 we humans went on a dry ice adventure after receiving a frozen dog food package from Chewy.com, probably not the safest nor smartest thing to do but we all turned into a 3 years old that afternoon, don’t judge, and please don’t copy us!

September 8th was a Big Bear Lake trip at Castle Rock Tail. It’s essentially me making excuses to go back to Big Bear Lake by throwing in a hike I didn’t really care about. I was also surprised that after so many years fooling around this area we did miss out visiting this one pet friendly trail, how come?

Castle Rock Trail

This is a very rocky hike, we lost our way a few times and made this less than 3 miles hike become way longer than it should be.

Me and my brother had a conversation after I showed him this photo.

Brother : How come TT didn’t get scared when you did that?

Me : I believe after so many years of living together, he knows well enough his owner is weird and occasionally does unexplainable actions.

We took a turn to climb up to the Castle Rock Peak out of curiosity, I mean mainly Quentin’s idea, I was secretly uninterested until I saw the intriguing bouldering challenge.

From the top we can see part of the Big Bear Lake.

And no my eyes don’t grow on my forehead, I was pushing my sunglasses up obviously.

Coming up and down these rocks weren’t easy for dogs, we definitely gave him some help here and there, also kept him really safe at all times.

October first we went to a company event hosted by Wag Hotels for puppy play night while we parents were under a serious dog CPR training session with stunt dogs. I truly appreciate how my company puts efforts into something most of the people or even pet owners will think is unnecessary or redundant.

I had a friend laugh at me for joining this event but I dare anyone judge how I use my time without knowing how much TT means to me and what he has been through: critical accident, emergency, multiple surgeries and a year of rehab. Also I love animals, and once wanted to become a vet.
The environment at this Wag Hotel location wasn’t the best, but having a chance to not only refresh my memories about how to deal with emergencies but also putting this knowledge into actual practice was great.

On December 15th, we munched on a pine cone.

On December 8th we walked to the lake side of the usual park we often go, found most of the shrub there put on festive bright red berries, almost too vibrant to be real.

Dec 14 we brewed coffee and took silly pictures together, oh wait I guess I had a headache that morning, please ignore the painkiller and 5 bottles of wine in the background.

Rainforest Flora

After I went all in on this house plant/edible garden game in 2019, I learned that all nurseries are pet friendly, they are mostly outdoors obviously but even this beautiful indoor greenhouse allowed us to take TT in.

At last, on Christmas eve I offered TT a huge chunk of prime rib, sadly no photo was taken because I got a flu and was terribly ill for nearly two weeks until the end of 2019. (Edited a year later now on Dec 4th 2020: I believe that was Covid-19 :\)

Above roughly concludes most of the spotlights in 2019, there were certainly more hikes we did with no pictures, our goals for 2020? Stop being so lazy on updating my blog? Probability won’t happen.

Can’t find a good photo to wrap up this post, how about a sibling fight?

2019, Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter