Visiting the Disneyland Hotel

Posted on by
1

Walking into the Disneyland Resort is always exciting.

It has been a long time (18 months) since we last went to Disneyland so when Disneyland offered their Southern Californian discount rates we were quick to take the bait. Basically the deal is for $99 you can get two one-day tickets or for $139 you can three one-day tickets. For an extra $30 dollars per ticket you can upgrade to a park hopper (these allow the ticket holder go to both parks on the same day), but I have never seen the value in park hopper tickets so we stuck to three one-day park tickets.

AJ and Denise were very excited to visit.

For our first time back we wanted to go big. To do this we got a little help from our mortgage company. It is no secret we are going into foreclosure. To prepare for this and the inevitable moving costs we plan to incur we have been saving all of our missed payments. Well, after 6 months we can say we now have enough (at least we think we do) to move someday into an apartment and pay for three days at Disneyland.

For as much as we had a budget for Disneyland we want to stretch it out as much as possible. To do this a little bit of pre-planning goes a long way. First we decided to stay overnight in the Disneyland area. We thought about staying at the Disneyland Hotel, but the cheapest room we could find was $220 a night (which didn’t include resort or parking costs). We instead made a low-ball bid of $35 dollars on Priceline and ended up staying at the Quality Inn Suites (only one block away from the Disneyland park). At a total of $50 per night it included parking for two days and a free breakfast.

Downtown Disney has lots of lights.

After getting checked in to our hotel we headed off to see the newly refurbished Disneyland Hotel and Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney is basically Disney’s response to Universal’s very popular City Walk. If you still don’t know what I am talking about think very overly themed mall. I don’t normally enjoy walking through malls, my thoughts on most of them is that they are crowded and overly priced. Downtown Disney lives up to the stereotype in that it is crowded and all the stores are expensive, but with the plus is they have lots of street performers which livens up the experience. They are all trying to sell you their latest CDs, but you are under no obligation to buy anything. The one thing we did happen to buy while we were there was a replacement ipod cord. Kind of random, but my old one was getting kind of worn and I had forgotten it at home.

A very high tech way to get a replacement ipod charging cord.

The vending machine it came out of was kind of fun. It was one of those robot electronic vending machines. Best Buy was sponsoring it and you could buy anything from a ipod cord to a laptop computer. After walking through Downtown Disney we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel.

Not as big as the original Disneyland Hotel sign but very themed none-the-less.

The Disneyland Hotel is of course almost as classic as Disneyland itself. A funny fact about the hotel is that when it first opened it was not opened by the Disney Company. It was owned by a man called Jack Wrather. It was meant to be a quick motor inn hotel that people could use to visit Disneyland. It was such a good deal that by 1989 the only way the Disney Corporation could get out of the contract was by buying out the Jack Wrather’s entire company (which wasn’t small).

 

 

Each tower shows off their theme in the tower signs.

The Disneyland Hotel has undergone many changes over the years and this latest refurbishment is a sort of a nod to all that history. Each tower (Fantasy, Adventure, and Frontier) has a themed lobby. In the center of the three towers is a huge pool themed in a retro monorail look. Also in the center is a Tiki Room inspired bar called Trader Sam’s and a restaurant called Tangeroa Terrace.

 

 

Trader Sam's is heavily themed.

Inside the Fantasy tower you can buy a very expensive breakfast with Goofy or an expensive steak at a place called Steakhouse 55.

Little did I (John) know how prophetic this pose would be.

We ended up not going with either of these options. Instead we went to McDonald’s across the street, just content to watch the monorail go by. Although before we left we did buy our tickets so we wouldn’t have to waste time waiting in the ticket booth lines the next morning (TIP: you can also buy and print your tickets online these days).


Celebrating the Chinese New Year 2012

Posted on by
2

At the festival they had all sorts of booths set up.

We are not Chinese, but that didn’t stop us from celebrating the Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year this year was on Monday, January 23rd this year. Not being able to get that day off we decided that Saturday would be our Chinese New Year, which turned out good because that is when Riverside happened to be celebrating too.

I like the colorful costumes from India.

In Riverside they have a very solid Chinese community but it isn’t large enough by itself to justify a festival. So in Riverside they call it the Lunar Festival and include all Asian communities. The activities start out with a ton of firecrackers and then a parade. After the parade they have the festival which included various demonstrations, handicrafts, and booths of all types.

We had a lot of food at the Lotus Garden

Looking at all those booths we were really tired and hungry so we went out to eat. Bet you can’t guess what we ate? Pizza!! No, we had Chinese Food (or what some would say is American Chinese food). We went to a restaurant called the Lotus Garden. It is a really nice place and for $15 a person we got a ton of food! There was soo much food that we had it again on Sunday. My (John’s) favorite was the chicken and rice soup. When it comes to the table they add puffed up rice and it makes a big fizzing sound.

Kaiser Southern California Half Marathon, Irvine, California

Posted on by
2

You can tell by this picture I was very nervous.

Race Day Weight: 282 lbs.(127.9 kls)
Miles: 13.1 (20.92 kms)
Clock Time: 2:58:33
Chip Time: 2:55:20
Overall Place: 3299/3960
Age Place (males 35-39): 132/135

 

More than five years ago I did my first race; it was the Agoura Hills 5K (3.1 miles) race. I didn’t know anything about racing back then. I weighed 305, saw some cheesy sports movie and all the sudden I thought I was Ryan Hall or something. After about 41 minutes (of all downhill running) I found out I wasn’t. I barely made it over that finish line, but yet, I did!

Fast forward to 2007 and I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon. I don’t even remember the last 3 miles of that race. All I really remember is waking up in a medic’s tent yelling at a doctor telling him there is no way he was going to put an IV in my arm until someone handed me a finisher’s medal.  I didn’t remember the last three miles, but I knew that I had crossed the finish line. I couldn’t walk for a week after that race. My feet were shredded, I didn’t know if I would ever try another race again, but, I did.

I doubt anyone remembers, but back in 2010 I did a series of blogs that I called “Fat Man Running.” It is just as well that no one remembers them because I totally failed; I only ran three weeks and then I stopped. Mostly, it was too embarrassing having to report continual weight gain. Then, on a random Monday (9/20/11), I started walking again. It was slow, but for some strange reason, I kept it up. I don’t know why this time was different. I didn’t blog about it. I didn’t plan anything. I just walked. It wasn’t until 4 weeks of walking that I decided that I should do something more, and that was when the idea of the half marathon hit me. (Denise’s note: actually that’s when he came to his wife and said that he needed a race in about January, and I came up with the Irvine Half.  Why yes, I am taking credit.)

At first I was scared.  Although I finished the only half marathon I entered, it wasn’t a very pleasant idea to know that I could potentially faint again, or that I might shred my feet and hobble myself again. What if I couldn’t find the time to train and didn’t even want to show up to the race (thus wasting the $60 entrance fee)? What if I got out on the track and they told me that I was too big and then I wasted $60 dollars plus the gas to get to Irvine?? The questions just got bigger and bigger. The rational me screamed “what the heck are you thinking?!!” But there I was, 4 days a week training for a half marathon.

We carbo loaded right before the race on ramen.

They say races are mind over matter, but I think this was a case of matter over mind. I think my body wanted to do this race, because my head certainly didn’t. I can’t explain it very well, other than it is like all the cells in my body (except for my brain) have gotten a group consciousness and they are now demanding better working conditions.

 

I wore this medal all day.

Thankfully for me, this half marathon was much better than the last half marathon. Not only did I finish it, but I smashed my PB (Personal Best) by more than 20 mins. I was very tired after the race, but I do remember all of it, and I didn’t even come close to fainting.  I don’t have many pictures of the race, but lest you think I wasn’t out there you can check out the Official Photos (looking at them I think they make for great black mail).

I think this is going to turn out to be an interesting road. My body isn’t ready to be quiet yet. In fact, a couple of days after finishing this race, I signed up for another half marathon race in June. There is also a distinct possibility for something bigger in Oct. I would tell you what that was, but there are currently two different options and I will not know for sure which option I will take until February. It should be a very interesting year, where it ends up is anyone’s guess.

Tips For Running: The Power Song List

Posted on by
3

As the half marathon is now less than a week away I am focusing on getting ready for race day. I have been tapering down my distances, made a motel reservation, and most important I am honing in my power song list.
For me music is essential for running. I am slow but I know I would be even slower if I did not have music playing in the background. I have experimented on this in the past and hands down I do better with music.
I plan on finishing the race in 3 hours and 20 mins. or better. The reason for this is because 3 hrs. and 20 mins. is what I did on my last run and I want to beat it. It would seem an easy task to pick songs for this but it is not as easy as I thought it would be. First of all 3+ hrs worth of songs is a lot of music. Second, you need to pick songs that are upbeat, but not songs that are so fast they will tire you out.  In all the list ended up being 47 songs. In reverse order of how they are playing here are my 47 power songs:

47. Clocks – Coldplay
46. Man In The Mirror – Michael Jackson
45. Good Vibrations  – Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch
44. Party Rock Anthem – LMFAO
43. We Built This City – Starship
42. Real American – WWE Anthology
41. Vacation – The Go-Go’s
40. Conquest  – Bill Conti
39. Scenes From An Italian Restaurant – Billy Joel
38. Samba E Gol – Vincenzo Bellini
37. Reach – Gloria Esefan
36. I Want Candy – Bow Wow Wow
35. Rendez-Vous ’98 – Jean-Michel Jarre and Apollo 440
34. I Gotta Feeling – The Black Eyed Peas
33. I Can’t Get Next To You – The Temptations
32. I’m Gonna Be – The Proclaimers
31. I’m Free – Kenny Loggins
30. Hot Legs – M.A.T.C.H.
29. Fighter – Christina Aguilera
28. Holiday Road – Lindsey Buckingham
27. Hearts On Fire – John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band
26. Groove Is In The Heart – Deee-Lite
25. Give It All Up – The Corrs
24. Riders In The Sky – The Outlaws
23. Get’cha Head In The Game – Troy
22. Footloose – Kenny Loggins
21. Firework – Katy Perry
20. Ride Like The Wind – Christopher Cross
19. East Bound And Down – Jerry Reed
18. The Final Game – Jerry Goldsmith
17. Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor
16. Everybody Wants to Rule the World – Tears for Fears
15. Draggin’ The Line – Tommy James
14. Don’t Stop Believin’ – Glee Cast
13. Dare You to Move – Switchfoot
12. You Get What You Give – New Radicals
11. Dancing In The City – The Party
10. Cruisin’ Route 66 – Brian Hughes
9. Tryouts – Jerry Goldsmith
8. Beautiful Day – U2
7. 1901 – Phoenix
6. War/Fanfare from Rocky – Vince DiCola
5. Walking on Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
4. Training Montage – Vince DiCola
3. Top Of The World – Chumbawamba
2. Bugler’s Dream / Olympic Fanfare – John Williams
1. Right Now – Van Halen

I think the list is a very interesting mix. Some songs are classics and some are new. Most of them have vocals but some are just instrumental. It is not surprising to me that the Rocky movie soundtracks make many appearances on my list. Out of all of these songs Firework by Katy Perry is what I call my “Power Song.” You will notice I put that song in the middle. This is my go to song. My hope is that when I am halfway through and I am starting to feel the burn it will pick me up. It is a great song (although I don’t recommend watching the video).

So that is my power song list. Do you have a power song list? Or is there a song you have that when you hear that song it makes you go a little bit faster? If so I would love to know. I am always tinkering with my list and so suggestions is always welcome.

The Nature Of Luxury

Posted on by
2

So, around here we talk about money, a lot. We’re always trying to make sure that our resources are focused like a laser on our family priorities, and nothing that isn’t. Around here tithing is first and savings/debt repayment are second.
The rest of the money goes for buying “things”, groceries, electricity, haircuts, and so on. As we discuss where we cut so we can add in other places, I’m always thinking about what’s “normal consumption,” why it’s “normal” and if there is any way to cut it. I know what the Pedroza family luxuries are: electronics and vacations. At least that’s what I think our only two luxuries are. We are planning on renting a two bedroom apartment. For some families as small as ours that would be a luxury, AJ could sleep in our room or we could put his bed in the family room, and not have that space. It would save us, possibly $100 a month on rent to get a one bedroom and not two. We’re also not looking in the very worst neighborhoods. We drive one car now, to go down to none would require a very long commute on public transport, not to mention imposing on our friends for rides to and from church activities. It could be done though. It will be easier in Riverside, where the transportation to and from work by way of public transportation would not nearly be so onerous. However, we’re not even considering it. I suppose some people would think that tithing is a luxury, but that’s non-negotiable. If it’s a luxury, so be it.
So, in my head there are 3 categories: luxuries, standards, and scrimps. I think that our electronics and vacations are our luxuries. Our one car, and our grocery budget are probably our biggest scrimps. I’m the first to admit that scrimping on groceries can be a short term plus, long term negative. We’re trying (John and Denise, each of a little differently) to make sure that it’s a short term plus AND a long term plus. Everything else, I think, for better or worse, is pretty standard. I’m sure John will be on me to turn all of our non-luxuries into scrimps sooner or later.
Whenever I see a list of people’s self-assessment of their own luxuries, vacations often make the list, sometimes electronics. How about it, do you have the same luxuries as us? Or different ones? Anyone think that they don’t have any luxuries? How about your scrimps? As discussed above, all these things are relative. In my experience, people mostly assess their luxuries and their scrimps in relation to their neighbors. (One reason why choosing a neighborhood has a bigger effect on your finances than just the amount you spend on your rent/mortgage!)

(This Post by Denise)

How to lose $50 bucks in 6 Months

Posted on by
Reply

The stocks markets for 2012 closed out today. Overall the markets were ok I guess. We are not as bad as 2007, but the DOW is still not back to it’s previous high of 13k.  Unfortunately, my stock picks were not that great. Needless to say I will not be quiting my day job. So much for my half baked plan of traveling the world on my great and mighty stock picks …

Somehow I don't think Wall Street will be calling me this year for my advise.

 

A Bakersfield Christmas

Posted on by
1

This Christmas weekend has been rather busy. For Christmas this year we went to Denise’s parent’s house in Bakersfield, California.
To start the activities on Christmas Eve morning I took a 10 mile jog along the Kern river. It was kind of interesting because it was the first time I have actually ever seen the Kern river with water. Sounds weird I know, but it is really rare to ever see water there. It was a fun run, but it was a little chilly as evidenced by the fact that I slipped and hit my head in a frozen puddle. Can we say OUCH?!!

Had we waited one minute more we wouldn't have had any chicken tamales, SHUDDER THE THOUGHT!!

After I rolled myself off of the street we went to Vallarta Market. After driving around the parking lot for about 15 mins and meeting the entire hispanic population of Bakersfield we were able to secure 12 tamales, Mexican sweet rolls, and champurrado. For those not familiar with champurrado it is a Mexican hot chocolate drink made with cornmeal, chocolate, sugar and heavy doses of cinnamon (nice and brothy).

Denise says the lights are "prettyful".

The day soon however to night and we traveled out in the middle of nowhere (really, if we weren’t following Denise’s parents I am not sure we would’ve made it) to a place called the CAlifornia Living history Museum. Commonly known as CALM in Bakersfield, this museum normally is a kind of local species zoo, but during the whole month of December it becomes dazzling light display of dizzying proportions.

"Grandma please don't let go, this horsy is bumpy"

You may think I am exaggerating, but all you need to do is ride the merry-go-round and you too will be dizzy (this was the first time in a long time that AJ insisted someone stand by him on a merry-go-round).

AJ tore into his presents with glee.

With visions of dancing lights in our heads we made our way back to Denise’s parents house and all settle in for the night. As morning came it was time for the traditional opening of the presents. AJ of course made out with a bandit (we no longer need anymore train tracks, EVER).

Tom hones in his gingerbread making techniques.

After church Tom, Erica, Harper, and Jonah showed up. It was a toddlerpalooza as we ate turkey, pies, and built a gingerbread house.

Denise helped out with cooking dinner.

In summary it was a great Christmas. Family, Food, Lights, and Church. What else can you ask for??

The Bakersfield Tree

Well, I guess there is more. What’s that? You say you don’t want anymore?? Too bad, this is my blog 🙂 I give you for your review some miscellaneous pictures we took in December that didn’t quite make their own blog post.

For the first time in our marriage we setup a Christmas tree. We didn't have an angel or star for the top so we improvised.

Denise decorated this Disney inspired table for the Ward Adult Christmas Party.

This year we went to the Mission Inn Lights in Riverside, CA. It is pretty much the same every year but who can avoid shiny lights??

This is the view from the top of Twin Peaks, I am looking down on Lake Gregory in Crestline. This was my longest training run yet at 12.4 miles.

Knott’s Berry Farm 2011

Posted on by
1

We had a fun time at Knott's

Public perks a far and few between these days but I am lucky that Knott’s Berry Farm still has chosen to do it’s annual salute to law enforcement every year. It has almost become a psuedo tradition every year that we go to Knott’s Berry Farm for during the Christmas season.
This year my mom was able to come with us. We had lots of fun.
Denise’s highlight was the “It’s Christmas Snoopy” show, which is an ice skating show they have in the Charles Schultz theatre. It is kind of cheesy, but it is their best show. I (John) enjoyed the Christmas Crafts Village and the Native American dancer (although I wish there were more than just one dancer). AJ enjoyed Camp Snoopy with all the little kid rides. I think my mom’s favorite part was the pretzel she bought, but at $4 a pretzel it was a bit of sticker shock. Anyhow, it was a good time. If you get the chance you should check it out. During the week you can go to just the craft’s village for free. Also for a $20 or more toy donation (you have to buy the toy at Knott’s) for Toys for Tots you can get a free admission ticket. Parking is $14 dollars.

AJ’s Bday 2011

Posted on by
1

The cake was chocolate with white icing it looked tasty but I didn't get a bite.

I am a little late on this blog post but better late than never… AJ had his birthday earlier this month. It was a small birthday party, but it was a fun party. Some good friends of ours let us have AJ’s party at their house. Cake, Ice Cream, and a bunch of screaming little kids. What more could you want!

Train Town, Sonoma, California

Posted on by
Reply

I think when planning vacations and outings either kids get the whole vacation dedicated to them or they get none of it dedicated to them. When planing a trip it is really important to make sure you have a little bit for everyone. The key to this is getting input from everyone. Even if one of you is only 3 yrs. old. When we recently visited Sonoma County I wanted to make sure AJ had a little bit of input into the vacation. Luckily there was just the spot for him, Train Town.
Train Town in Sonoma California is just the place if you are a three year old or like trains. In AJ’s case it fit the bill on two accounts. Luckily it isn’t too expensive either. A train ride is $4.75, which sounds like a lot, but it lasts 20 mins., plus you get a little stop at their little petting zoo.
This stop in our trip was mostly for AJ but I think everyone had a good time.