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!
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