La Vida is Belle

Running through life at my own pace

I set out to run a half marathon before I turned 40. Yes, I paid money to run 13.1 miles. Some might say it's torture, but yes, it was a challenge because I'd never run that far of a distance. The last time I ran a race was 6.2 miles, I was under 30 years old and quite a few pounds lighter. I'm not currently in the best shape because I've had a hard time losing weight since my pregnancy, but I've always felt that running is like my therapy - both physically and mentally. What better motivation to get in shape than signing up for a half marathon?

I had been wanting to come to Yosemite for many years and I was hoping it would be with our parents so they could also experience this for the first time. Fortunately, it all worked out and we were able to plan this trip for Emma’s first birthday week in October 2022 along with my parents and in-laws. We rented a large van through Turo so we could all fit comfortably in one vehicle and my husband and I took turns driving six-plus hours overnight so we could take advantage of a full first day enjoying the resort we stayed at. For reference, we left San Diego on Wednesday night and arrived at Bass Lake/Yosemite on Thursday around 9 a.m.

Here are the links to my latest blog posts and videos...

So, I have not written much on this blog for a few years but I thought I should start at it again since A LOT has happened since my last post!

Not only have a couple of years gone by of wedding anniversary celebrations and more traveling, but we also had a BABY! Yes, a beautiful baby girl named Emma and she is already ONE YEAR OLD. So I wanted this latest post to honor her and basically share how we decided to celebrate her first year of life with us.

In June 2016, I felt very loved and special, as if I was in a dream that took me back to Paris with all my family to celebrate my Bridal Shower! The venue was perfect - it was the Bistro restaurant inside the Grand Hotel Tijuana, which has a beautiful mural of Place de la Concorde in Paris. 

As soon as we got out of the car and started walking towards the shore of the Salton Sea, it hit us. That smell. 

Salvation Mountain is literally a mountain of color in the middle of the desert in Southern California - Imperial County to be exact. It is a mountain full of colorful paint and religious phrases that inspire positivity and love in the middle of a desolate land, also known as Slab City in Niland, CA.

This is Day 5 of our Bora Bora honeymoon, our very last day in French Polynesia. We decided to take it easy and just relax and enjoy our hotel, the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa.

This is Day 4 of our Bora Bora honeymoon, and we took an island tour of Bora Bora on a 4X4 truck, which took us up hills and to other local spots.

This is Day 3 of our Bora Bora honeymoon, and we decided to enjoy the free paddle board rental the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa offers.

We lost our best friend, Snoopy, due to canine cancer.

He was a 15-year-old Jack Russell Terrier.

Yes, he was a senior dog but he did not act like it until the last month of his life.

A year ago today, July 16, we celebrated the most important day for us both: our wedding! Yes, today is our FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY! Time flies when you are having fun, no doubt about it!

We cannot believe it has been a year already and it has been a wonderful experience to be married to my best friend, even though we had been together for over 14 years! (High school sweethearts).

We love discovering new and unique places around our beautiful hometown, San Diego. Since I love swings, I have been wanting to go to the La Jolla Secret Swings since I read about it on There San Diego’s article. So, last week, Edgard and I set out to look for these “secret swings” based on the directions I found on Google. However, these directions took us to some other swings not far from where we wanted to go. The problem was that those swings were no longer there.