Doogie Daycare

Since J and her family are all in Orlando, FL to support their girls, I've been put in charge to take care of Yamamama's dog, Scooter. Growing up my dad didn't want my family to have a dog because he didn't want to have to take care of one, so this is pretty much the first time I've ever had to take care of a dog by myself - dog poop, showers, feeding, you name it!

Fortunately for me, Scooter isn't a bad dog and it's been pretty easy taking care of him, despite throwing up three times yesterday. You're my boy, Scooch! Time to go for a walk.

- E

Leaving on a Jet Plane

J left this morning for her trip to Orlando, FL to watch her Lancer Dancer girls compete at the 2014 UDA Nationals Dance Competition. I'm super pumped and excited because they've all been working so hard - J and her sisters included - and now they'll finally get to show the world how great they are. 

Here are some pictures of J packing her clothes for the trip. As you can probably tell by her facial expression, she doesn't really like to pack.

- E

Do You Believe in Magic?

Cutting my work week short to head off to Orlando! Going to be support all the teams that we choreographed for this year! Super excited to see how they do... But even more excited for these magic bands!

Apparently these are our room keys! They are so cool! Mine has my name on the inside and it's Blue! I guess when you sign up, you can pick the color! 

Wishing I could take E with me, but we'll get to go on our own trip soon! Gotta go pack now! 

-J

1.28.14

Just finished a good workout tonight - hence the Blender Bottle - and now I'm missing my other/better half. I know I don't say this enough but I have to thank her for staying by my side and being the best GF ever, even if she doesn't massage my back anymore.

I promise to love the sh*t out of you and give you the world, J!

- E

1.27.14

Being unemployed sucks but one of the good things about not having a job is I get to go out, relax, reflect, and do things I really want to do, like take pictures.

Today, I went to a spot my friends and I would go to during our high school days. It probably has one of the most breathtaking views in SoCal, at least in my opinion. I didn't stay too long because it started to get cold real fast but I did happen to snap a few nice shots.

I noticed I take a lot of pictures at the beach but that's because 1) I live in SoCal and we have the best beaches and 2) Who would NOT love taking pictures at a beach and enjoying the relaxing sound of waves hitting the shore?

- E

Starbound

Just finished my first competition weekend with my dancers! It's been a lot of craziness, fun and totally exhausting!

So proud of my kids though! They've worked so hard this season and I'm excited to see where the rest of this journey takes us! One competition down, four more to go! 

-J

PS. I have the best assistant ever! 

Fun in the Sun

Had a chance to hang out with my niece today. I can't believe how big she is now. It feels like she was born yesterday! 

I love this picture of her playing in the sand and my heart melts whenever I see her smile like that.

- E

Crystal Cove

Had a nice little morning with J. We ended up going to Crystal Cove and found a nice spot to take some pictures. Love this shot of us.

- E

Don't Wake Me Up

E tried so very hard to wake me up early this morning, he even carried me into the living room and cooked me breakfast! Eventually I got myself dressed, but then realized we needed to take the seats out of my car before work. After all that was done, we no longer had enough time to go out and take pictures like he wanted. So we're back in bed *cue evil laugh* and E is quietly snoring beside me. 

In few minutes I'll be heading to work. But I'll enjoy the moment for a while longer. 

-J

Do You Want to *BLEEP* a Snowman...?!

After another long day at work, this little one does not have the energy to play. Haha. I made the drive up to see her and hopefully we wake up early to take some pictures tomorrow (crossing my fingers). Have a good night everyone!

PS. In case you're wondering, the title of this post is a reference to the Disney movie, Frozen.

- E

PSS. In case you're wondering, the title of this post is also inspired from this Unnecessary Censorship. Makes me giggle every time! - J

13 Months

It's hard to believe its been 13 months since I asked J to be my girlfriend but it's even harder to imagine my life without her. Here's to many more months, years, and moments together. Can't wait to see where our love takes us.

- E

Workin' Day N Night

Today was a very long day! With competition just around the corner, we took advantage of the schools having today off and did an all day dress rehearsal for all of our competition routines. I got into work at 845 this morning and just left.

Gotta give a HUGE shoutout to my mama! Who designed and made a bunch of our costumes! She drove up this morning, went home and took a nap and then came back to help me out again tonight! Amazing and dedicated mama right there! So blessed!

So we're treating ourselves out to some BJ's! Gonna grub out now! 

-J

Sunday Funday

Today was a pretty freakin' awesome day. J and I woke up earlier than normal and got our day started. First, we went to Del Mar and hung out with my baby niece and sister. 

Baby coming through!

Wee! So much fun!

I'm pooped

Next, we met up with our friends and went on a little double date. We ended up eating at Anthony's Fish Grotto and taking a relaxing, but cold towards the end, cruise along the San Diego Harbor.

Coronado Bridge

All in all, it was a great day and nice way to end our weekend. Time to get ready for a new week!

- E

Together Again

E playing GTA as I just slug it out after a long day of work and rehearsals! I love just being able to do absolutely nothing together.

-J

Dat Mexican Food Doe

If you've never had Mexican food from San Diego, you're definitely missing out. I recently read an article that said some spot in San Francisco had the best burritos in the country. They obviously have never hit up any spots down here. I swear, we have THE BEST Mexican food - aside from Mexico, of course.

Hope these pics don't make your mouth water too much.

- E

What's Winter?

While everyone in the country is freezing their asses off, Southern California is still basking in the sun. Can't complain. West Coast = Best Coast.

- E

WCW

My Woman Crush Wednesday today, next Wednesday, and every Wednesday after that. 

- E

Tiger, Tiger Woods Ya'll

I took some time today to hang out with one of my buddies, Marc, and put my golf clubs to use.

I used to play when I was younger but golf is a game that takes a great amount of patience and at such a young age, I had very little and would get upset every time I made a mistake or hit a bad ball. I had a ton of potential and no joke, people would call me a "young Tiger Woods" but I eventually stopped playing. 

Now that I'm older and have more patience, golf is more of a social thing for me. I love spending my Sundays with my parents on the golf course and will even skip watching the Chargers play to golf with them. For those of you that know me well enough, you know that I don't skip watching my Chargers play for just anything. 

Hope you all had a great day! I know I did.

You already know I have to throw The Hundreds in somewhere.

- E

Man Crush Monday

Love this handsome man! After spending almost a whole week with him basically living with me... E has gone back to SD. I came home to my bed made and my condo slightly cleaner! He's so good to me! Gotta love him!

Xx -J

Sweet Success

Didn't get home from practice till about 2am. Then had practice at 11am at Segstrom Theater. We had a pretty decent tech rehearsal, and still needed to go over some things. But after we all got ready, we warmed up and had to rush onto stage. It was a great performance, full of energy and love! I'm so blessed to be able to dance next to such amazing souls! I'm seriously exhausted from this past week, but I wouldn't trade those 9 minutes for anything. 

Big shout out to my mom, Lani and E for being my biggest fans! 

Good night! Xx -J

Vibe XIX

 

Performing at Vibe XIX tomorrow! Finishing up an 8+ hour practice for our 8.5 minute long set! It's been a crazy long week full of work and practices with very little sleep, but I know tomorrow all of that won't even matter. I've been a part of the Kaba Modern family since 2007 and even with all the ups and downs I wouldn't trade a second! I love getting up on stage with my family, it's just an amazing and truly unique experience. 

Often Imitated, Never Duplicated... Kaba Modern 

Xx - J

Mahalo

Can't wait to go back to Hawaii in April. This time J and I are going for her Grandpa's 1 year death anniversary. Looking forward to going back to Hawaii not only to bask in the sun but to give my respects to Grandpa Suzuki. Mahalo.

- E

Walk in the Park

J and I went for a little walk around a small park near her house. A little while ago, I gave her my old T1i so she could start taking some pictures of her own.

My little photographer :)

After we were done, I uploaded all the pictures and started to process some of them. I always knew post-production could be time consuming but today was the first time I caught myself taking an extremely long time on one picture. Being the perfectionist that I am, it was hard to not get every picture exactly the way I wanted it but I would spend more than half-an-hour on certain pictures.

Left - basic edits, Center - end result, Right - original picture

I'm pretty happy with how the picture turned out and I'm real excited to see my photography/post-processing skills develop!

 

- E

LOL

I love Thursdays, because they're basically my Friday! I don't have any more classes to teach tomorrow, and it's a much more relaxed evening for me! Only costume shopping and answering TONS of emails at work now! Today was even better since E came to visit me at work, which he NEVER does because he claims he'll just be bored the whole time. But I always enjoy his company, I'm always in a better mood when he's around… plus, all my kids tend to work harder in class to impress him. It's just a win-win! 

And now we're back at the condo, chillaxin'… and playing League of Legends. The funny thing is that my sister's boyfriend has gotten most of us into this video game. It's so addicting! When I'm not overly stressed or staying up all night at practice, we'll play LoL as soon as everyone is home from work/school. It's hilarious! We all scream and curse at each other for stealing kills or dying too many times in a row. On the outside looking in, it's super strange, but I love the quality time we get to spend together. 

Now that I've taken a short break… back to playing I go! 

Goodnight!

Xx - J

Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County

I drove by Laguna Beach today and decided to make a pitstop and take some pictures. I was definitely not dressed for the beach and that could very well be the reason why people were looking at me funny like I was some creeper trying to take picture pictures of women. Instead, I did what any normal person would do and took pictures of myself (sarcasm).

If you can't tell already, I love The Hundreds and I'm wearing one of my favorite sweaters from them.

There were a few surfers out there and I took some time to snap a few pics of them.

When I was done taking pictures and packing my camera gear up, I remembered the Laguna Beach show my friends and I used to watch back in high school. It's kinda scary to think that show aired nearly a DECADE ago. TEN years guys, TEN years. Anywho, hope you all had a great day. It was nice to get out and have a relaxing day at the beach.

- E

Better when we're together

E came up to the OC tonight! And after a really long and stressful day at work, it totally made my day! He even told me that he was still in SD (that liar lol) and I was very surprised to see his car parked outside. So thankful to have someone like him. He can always make me smile, even when I'm at my grumpiest. Xx -J