The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I had a busy day before 9am this morning.

The Good: I just got a I-Touch from work, as an appreciation gift. Now I just need the step-kids to tell me what it is and how it works!

The Bad: I was in a 4-car traffic accident on the freeway this morning. The car behind me was hit so hard that it caught air before hitting me. I hit a $70k BMW.

The Ugly: I think I have whip-lash and my car is en-route to the shop- but at least I'll have my I-touch to keep me company should I need to stay home.

Goodbye Downey...

Koi Pond Bridge


The decision was made about a month ago. No one knew it would happen so fast. My grandma's house went up for sale, 2 weeks later sold. Brian and I went up to the house today to pick out some things to bring home - so many memories, so many fun times came rushing back. Goodbye Downey.... it's been great..

Unexpected Conversation

our new house

So I called up our landlord to give her 30 days notice since we are hoping to closing escrow in 2 weeks.

It went something like this...

Me: I just wanted to let you know that we finally found a house and plan to move out in a month. We've loved living here, but are exciting to move into our own home.

Her: Don't feel bad. I've been meaning to call you. We're letting the house go and you'd probably have to move out in 3 months anyways because it will be foreclosed.

Fingers crossed escrow goes through so we're not homeless.

Tea Time at Bullocks Wilshire

One of the things I love so much about both of my parents is they love LA and know so much about its history and of its secrets only locals seem to know. To kick off my mom's birthday week, the two of us met up in downtown LA to go on a tour and have tea at the historic Bullocks Wilshire. I didn't know much about Bullocks Wilshire before today, but I knew my mom was VERY EXCITED that she managed to get ahold of these rare tickets. Seriously, it was amazing! The art deco was incredible and I la-la-loved hearing what it was like at it's height. It was built in 1929 to be the most luxurious department store in the world. Marble walls, neat artwork, beautiful chandeliers - it was quite impressive. The 5th floor had a women's lounge, which was like a club where women would hang out, play games, and eat. A club in a fancy-schmancy department store - how neat! We got a special and very rare treat by getting to tour the owner's apartment on the fifth floor. Who knew there were apartments in stores. It was like I stepped into a European Cathedral/Castle, with gorgeous views of LA. The other ladies in our tour were all 75 years and older and had their own stories to share about shopping at this magnificent place. I will always be a LA girl. It made me a little sad as I drove through the streets of LA seeing how much it has deteriorated over the years.

The "Cost" of a Dog

I was really hoping to post some pictures of some of our latest adventures - mainly taking the jet boat out for Suki's first trip. However, Suki is a chewer. If caught in the act, items of her affection generally are saved. But, I keep discovering the hidden cost of a puppy - destroyed personal belongings unable to escape her death grip. The latest casualty, the cord for the camera to be able to download pictures. So I sit and wait, while the replacement cord spends some time with the UPS crew and hope Suki's jaws of death leave my stuff alone.

We love the fair

For Brian's birthday, we took him to the LA Fair. It was a full day of feasting on smoked turkey legs, fried foods, and cookies.

Dressing up for the family photo.

Going home with their new pets.

The Birthday Boy.

Fight On for Ol' SC!!!

Yesterday, the DuRocher clan was inititated into a long standing Brown tradition - a day at USC. We visited my sorority house, the libraries, the book store, and topped off the day with the football game. Other than the disappointing defeat, we had a great time. I was pulling my hair out, shouting at the top of my lungs, but there was nothing I could do to help when the game.





Go USC!!!! - The Warriors in the stand.

Sometimes the Action Finds You

Over the Labor Day weekend, we went up to Big Bear planning on getting outside being active in nature. We packed our fishing poles, hiking shoes, and kayacks. The trip became a lot more than we bargained for. We were met with the greater forces of nature. On our hike, we were interupted with a downpour of hail. "The Little One" and I bolted back to the car while the boys took it easy and strolled on back, apparently not bothered by getting pounded by the ice. Just a few hours later, we were greeted with a knock on the cabin door by a kind neighbor warning us that we might need to evacuate due to the fire we could see from our porch. The fire stayed far enough away so we didn't have to cut our weekend short. The next day we attempted kayacking. We found it strange that the local police were patroling the area on the lake close to the dam, not allowing any boat near it. Several minutes later, helicopter after helicopter started arriving to try to put out the fire. It was pretty exciting! We stayed and watched until we got rained out. A great weekend of action!

Trucking along.

Hiking by the lake.

The Coo Foo started running, then decided to hang with his dad instead.

Fire!!! Fire!!!

Chillin' at the cabin

Doing it their own way.

the heros!

Self portrait

It's About Time

It's about time! That's what my husband loves to say. But he is the most patient man alive. Just imagine living with a not so patient wife who always seems to be in need of help and 3 kids to take care of and get out the door for any activity. The man is truly amazing. After months of thinking about capturing my wonderful life on camera and sharing it with my favorite people - here is my family's blog.

You will have to forgive me if the entries are infrequent - but our family motto "out living life" explains it all. I really wanted a picture of the 5 of us together, but I didn't have one on my work computer so this one of Brian and me ziplining will have to do for now. It captures the mood of our life and hopefully our blog perfectly. We look a little tore up at the end of the day, but the smiles on our faces always show we had fun (as the rednecks would say) "gettin' it done"