Those who know me well know I won’t discuss politics, religion, or controversial subjects unless it comes up naturally or people who I am close to ask me. Regardless of what yours or my stance is on the war in Iraq, I’m sure you would agree that our military deserves much recognition and support.  For those who have fallen, I have wondered what kind of tribute has been given.  Those families have suffered the most from the war and our heroes should be remembered.

I just finished viewing one of the most amazing tributes I’ve seen given to a fallen hero for his family.  I was in tears at the end of the slideshow and want to share it with you.  This fallen hero’s tribute was wonderfully captured and artistically designed by a fellow photographer (who I am a huge fan of), Matt Nicolosi.  Please click the link below . .

:: thank you Dustin Jackson ::

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As anyone who knows me, I am a very adventurous eater.  I love experiencing different cultures by tasting the wide pallette of flavors and spices out there!  (although I’m not a fan of extremely hot chile spices, I love wasabi mustard hot, and love spicy in the terms of flavorful spicy . . . ).  I’ve decided to write about more of my food adventures as they come up, since San Diego is filled with many different amazing eateries!  If you have any suggestions on great places to try out anywhere in San Diego county, please by all means leave a comment here or email me!! I would love to try them all eventually

I got off the phone after an hour and half chat with my girlfriend today (does that length of time still constitute a chat?).  She reminded me of this past weekend when we all went out for happy hour.  We had been talking about going to tapas for a long time prior, and she finally introduced me to one of her favorite stomping grounds, Costa Brava in Pacific Beach.  If you aren’t familiar with tapas, they are small plates of Spanish food that you eat as you enjoy the company of friends.  Basically they are appetizer sized portions where you can try many different bites of flavor instead of ordering an entire meal of one type of food.  The selection there was a mix of authentic Spanish tapas and of course your Americanized trendy versions.  I tried one authentic plate – tortilla espanola – a spanish potato omelet with onion and egg.  It was on the bland side, but still had a lot of flavor.  It was a nice addition to the other foods we tried.  The patatas a la brava – spicy potatos – weren’t as spicy as I thought they would be, but they were so flavorful. This is my friend’s favorite dish there (and now my husband’s too).  They also had a special which was a skewered filet mignon – oh that was pure heaven!  We had over 10 dishes that we shared and a pitcher of sangria.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday night!!  I only wish I had brought my camera along.  Next time, next time . ..   

This was the view from the end of our street on Sunday . . . got to love a gorgeous sunset!!

There is a game going around the internet world of photographers called "Tag"  If you are tagged, then you tell 8 things about yourself that not many people know about.  My friend, Rebekah, from Tenessee, tagged me so here is my contribution!

Eight things you probably didn’t know about me:

1.      I graduated as a bioengineer with a pre-medical degree.  I left the biotech field in March 2006 after 15 years of manufacturing, supervising, designing processes, analyzing processes, and managing processes to create therapeutics for specific medical conditions. 

2.      I played the piano from age 5 up until my first year of college.  I still own a piano and practice once in a while.  I would love to teach and/or get back to even half my talent that I left off with some day!

3.      My husband and I met through the internet!

4.      We have two 3 y/o dogs.  One Black Lab mix, and a German Shepard mix.  They are our babies – for now!

5.      We’ve run two marathons (Honolulu and LA) We would love to start running again now that we are almost settled in our new house in San Diego.  Probably stick to ½ marathons and less though!

6.      I am not a man . .  . nor is my name Mario J  I get a lot of mail or emails that start off as Mr. Marlo Yoshimoto or Mario Yoshimoto.

7.      I am half Japanese and half Filipina – my mother came directly from the Philippines

8.      My husband and I are SCUBA certified.   I have dove the Great Barrier Reef, Kauai, Maui, Belize

. . . prefer the warm water dives!  Would love to dive again.

There you go, 8 things about Marlo you may or may not have known!  Now I have to find 4 photographers to tag!

Ana Brandt

Skye Hardwick

Leah Simmers

Shannon Holden