Friday, April 9, 2010

Must Love Dogs....

You remember this movie, don't you? :)

Well, since I'm still job searching, I've decided that I should use my "free time" and put it to good use. Yes, this means, I will be voluteering at my local animal shelter. The Ventura County Animal Shelter located in Camarillo is in desperate need for volunteers. Some of my duties will include walking dogs, cleaning cages, bathing, and umm....cleaning up poop. Before you turn your nose up, let me tell you about the facility.

I made a visit to the facility yesterday and was pretty impressed. All of the staff seem very friendly and dedicated to helping these animals. The cages and pens were all very clean and the animals looked well cared for. I've worked at shelters in the past and let me tell you, not all facilities are clean and maintained. Some are just downright disgusting.

That said, the Camarillo shelter is top notch and I look forward to lending a hand to help animals in need. Kevin is just worried we'll end up with a house full of animals!

I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for me in terms of the job search.

Love from Cali,

Chrissy

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

California Living....

So we're here, in sunny California! I do realize that this means we do have to change the name of the blog, but alas, I haven't had any strokes of genius to come up with a name. Bad Chrissy. At any rate, life here in California is pretty nice. We are living in a fully furnished apartment in Oxnard, California right near the beach. We plan on staying here until our furniture and boxes arrive from Okinawa.

That said, we live about a 5 minute drive from Kevin's office at Port Hueneme, Naval Base Ventura County. I hope he doesn't get used to it, because I don't think we'll be in Oxnard forever.

I'm still looking for a job and have an interview with an independent production company scheduled for this Friday. In the meantime, I've celebrated becoming another year older, went to Las Vegas, bought a new car, and have become a bit more familiar with my neighborhood. Being so close to the beach, there are great places to go for a walk and run. I love it.

As I'm currently a woman of leisure, I've been able to spend more time cooking and experimenting with recipes. While I don't have my own backyard garden for herbs, I've been able to get some fresh produce and veggies. This area of California is full of farms growing everything from kale to strawberries.

Just last night, I made a pesto pasta salad. It was delish.

Grab some basil and make your own pesto and go to town.

In the meantime, if any of you have any suggestions for names for the blog, let me know.

Pesto Salad Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:

8 oz box of penne pasta

1 cup of homemade pesto or store bought.

1/3 cup of mayonnaise

1.5 cups of frozen sweet peas

1 cup of artichoke hearts, quartered

*Optional: 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Directions:

In a small bowl mix pesto sauce and mayonnaise together and set aside.

Prepare penne pasta according to package instructions to al dente. Drain pasta well and toss in a large bowl. Add frozen peas to pasta and toss with pesto dressing until everything is well mixed and coated.


Gently fold in artichoke hearts and allow the salad to cool in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese prior to serving. Enjoy!

~Chrissy

Sunday, February 14, 2010

From Okinawa to California....


Photo courtesy of Igougo.com

For all you readers out there,

I'm happy to report that Kevin and I have arrived in Southern California safe and sound. After spending a few days on base in temporary lodging on Camp Foster, we flew out of Okinawa and landed in sunny Los Angeles. From there, Kevin and I arrived in Oxnard, California, about a hour north of LA. Oxnard is located on the coast of southern California and this is where we will make our new home. Kevin will be working for the Navy over at the navy base in Port Hueneme.

It is very beautiful here, and we certainly are liking the weather. So far, it's been sunny and warm, and no humidity.

That said, we still have lots to do to get settled, so it may be a while before I post again. It has also come to my attention that the name of this blog may need to change....hmmmm....what shall we call the new blog?

I'm open to suggestions...so just let me know.

Until then,

Chrissy

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Temple Raiders At Angkor Wat



Well, things have been a bit hectic for us as of late, so I really do apologize for the delay in posting this. We have received our 'orders' and will be leaving Okinawa for Port Hueneme, California in just a few more weeks. So...we have a million and one things to do before we go....

Now that I've cleared the air...let's get back to Cambodia. Kevin and I arrived in Siem Reap, pretty late the first night, so we grabbed dinner (click here to see post titled Siem Reap) and hit the hay. The following morning, we got up to meet our personal tour guide and driver at 8am.

If you plan to visit the temples, make sure you plan accordingly. There are well over 100 temples at Angkor, so most tourists usually buy 2-3 day passes. These passes are great since they are also your entrance to use the facilities. As most of the temples are in the Cambodian jungle, toilet facilities are pretty scarce. What little facilities that do exist, allow foreigners to enter for free with a pass, but locals have to pay.

Kevin and I were glad to have a driver AND tour guide since there was a lot of ground to cover. Although we had done our share of reading up on the temples before we got there, we were both amazed by the sheer size of it all. On our first day, we went to visit some of the more major, popular temples like Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom, Bayon, and Ankgor Wat, to name a few.



Ta Prohm, in particular, is fascinating since most of the temple has been taken over by the jungle.





Walking around the temples, we both felt a bit like Indiana Jones.



Our tour guide informed us that we were actually visiting at an ideal time, as the weather was pleasant. Not at all like the summer when the mosquitoes and sweltering heat can make temple raiding uncomfortable. That said, although we agreed with our tour guide about picking the best time; I strongly advise you bring insect repellant, water, and wear comfortable shoes. Although we had a driver to take us to the sites, we did do a lot of walking.

The temples at Angkor Wat are really fascinating, while it is not one of the 7 Wonders of the World, it is in fact a UNESCO World Heritage site with thousands of visitors a year. Many of the temples were built (by hand no less) in the early 12th century. Unfortunately, today, many of the temples have fallen into disrepair. During the Khmer Rouge regime, many of the original blueprints and sacred texts were destroyed. As a result, the temple stones that have fallen off of the temples now litter the ground and must be put into place much like a jigsaw puzzle. International goverments like the goverment of France and Japan are just a few that have taken on the mammoth task to rebuild.



No problem; should only take about 1000 years....



After a hour or so at Ankgor Thom, we made our way over to Bayon, the temple best known for its multiple faces.



In addition to the many faces, our tour guide introduced us to "aspara"--a celestial dancer. Aspara is a typical decorative carving found on temple stones and walls at Ankgor.







Our tour guide also showed us other decorative carvings, like these bas reliefs.





We even saw monkeys frolicking.



Our final temple of the day was Angkor Wat. Built for king Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city, the temple complex was a significant religious centre.



Today, the temple is visited by thousands of tourists each year and is a national symbol of Cambodia.








Stay tuned for Day 2 of 2!*

~Chrissy

*Warning: Individuals who get bored easily (you know who you are!), should probably skip the next post. Day 2 of 2 consists of more temples.... If that doesn't interest you, this should....our last leg of our trip coming up: Vietnam!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

So this is Christmas....


Greetings and Merry Christmas All!

Hope everyone had a very happy holiday.

I leave you with a photo of the Millers on Christmas day....

Love, Chrissy

Monday, December 21, 2009

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland


Greetings Loyal Blog Readers,

Kevin and I are back Stateside visiting the inlaws (the Millers) in PA and we have snow! Lots and lots of it! Guess after 2 and half years, I've sorta missed it. Unfortunately, jet lag is causing some problems for us (awake at 4am, sleepy by 2pm), but hopefully it will pass soon.

In the meantime, just wanted to wish you all a very happy holiday.


Merry Christmas!

Love, Chrissy

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Siem Reap, Cambodia....

After a few days in Bangkok, Thailand, Kev and I headed on to our 2nd leg of our trip, Cambodia! We flew into Siem Reap, which has now become a major tourist hub due to its close proximity to the temples of Angkor Wat.



We were fortunate to have arranged travel from Siem Reap airport to our cute little boutique hotel (the hotel only has about 30 rooms). We stayed at the Auberge Mont Royal d'Angkor. Owned by a Cambodian man who emigrated to Montreal during the 1970's to escape the Khmer Rouge, most of the hotel guests were French or French-Canadian.





Our hotel room was clean and air-conditioned, and the hotel had a pool as well as a spa. Kevin and I received about 3 or 4 massages while we were here. After walking on your feet for several hours (believe me, the streets of Siem Reap as well as the pathways at the temples are pretty dusty), your feet really deserve a little pampering. The prices are very cheap compared to spa treatments back in the U.S, so both Kev and I felt obligated to tip about 20-30 percent.

On our first day in Siem Reap, we arrived pretty late, so we settled into our hotel room and then ventured out into the city streets to find dinner. Recommended by some friends of ours, we had a lovely dinner at the Viroth Restaurant. Part of the Viroth Hotel, this restaurant offered an outdoor dining terrace with excellent dishes ranging from fresh salads to several different kinds of khmer and amok curry.





With our bellies full, we returned to our hotel to get a good night's sleep. We were due to hit the temples at Angkor Wat the next day. Day 1 of 2.

Knowing we would have to meet our tour guide at 8am in the morning, we said good night.

Stay tuned for our adventures temple hunting!

~Chrissy
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