We have sad news about Bella’s health

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Transcript

00:00These last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind from packing up everything we own and moving

00:067,200 kilometers to Mexico to begin building our home from scratch

00:11We spent the first couple of weeks learning how to gather materials

00:15Talking with engineers, architects, and we found a local building team to teach us the Mexican way

00:21We slowly started learning masonry techniques that make up building with bricks, mortar, and cement

00:27We hand-poured the footer, built the reinforcements, and started building up with blocks for the walls

00:32And just as we felt the momentum of the build taking shape, the unexpected happened

00:45Hey, Pac! Hola!

00:47Welcome back. Looks like we got some soda tubes

00:51We bought this vacant lot and over the last few weeks

00:53We've been hard at work clearing the land with machetes

00:57Expanding the road and learning some masonry skills to build a concrete wall by hand

01:01Now it's time to dive into securing the other side of our property

01:08We've been hard at work securing all the materials. We have 15 sono tubes

01:12We have the proper wood for the project and over two tons of cement. Let's get started

01:2030?

01:24A

01:26Few weeks ago, we dug all 29 post holes for this fence and we learned a lot about our land

01:31We thought, hey, this is the desert. We can dig some holes with a shovel. We're building this fence manually

01:38Ain't no power tools around here

01:39We did try to get an auger, but little did we know this ground is more than sand. It's hard as a rock

01:46A

01:50Lot like the caliche in the southwestern United States

01:54This is as deep as a shovel could go

01:56So we rented a 3.5 ton excavator and that even struggled to get past two feet. We were scraping rock

02:03There's the rock!

02:05Okay, let's get these sono tubes in the ground

02:16First one's in. String level is tied from corner to corner and we have 29 more

02:46We're

02:49Cutting our sono tubes for the fence post footings and we want to make sure to leave them taller than the ground level

02:54This extra height allows for future landscaping and will ensure everything looks well graded. Future Jaz and Krista will be happy we did so

03:17Oh

03:22Wow, look at that Jaz actually touching a level. Seven tubes in the ground

03:26This is going way better than expected

03:28Very happy with how it's turning out and very happy that we took the time to track down the right materials

03:34So that way this living wall fence will last a lifetime and the only thing we'll have to replace

03:40will be the wood every X amount of years, but

03:44That's a given

03:46Our first week in Mexico was a whirlwind as we are newbies around here

03:50We had to figure out the logistics to it all like finding a cistern

03:53Sourcing wood, gravel, sand, a concrete mixer, sono tubes, and how to rent an excavator

03:58It's been a crash course in materials, suppliers, and figuring out a whole new way of building

04:05Last one on the first side

04:08Looks so good

04:10You know what's wild is that at this point you'd look around and you're like in the thick of it and you'd think it's just

04:16a write-off

04:17But I'm at the point now in

04:19Our builds that I can look around and be like, whoa. Yeah, we can see

04:25The progress. Also, I can just see the end goal. At the end. Yeah, like I never remember

04:31Like I just could never like picture anything

04:34Yeah, picture how it was gonna be or how you're gonna get there

04:36Now I can picture but standing here in the very very corner. I'm looking this way. I'm looking that way. It's like wow

04:42I like this corner. It looks sick. We've been living off-grid almost

04:47Entirely since 2019 we have a lot to say when it comes to adequate power

04:52Off-grid systems and portable power stations anchor has just released the most compact

04:57Travel off-grid friendly power station and it's something to talk about

05:02Look how little this is it fits in my hands

05:06It's seven inches tall five inches wide and five inches deep

05:11It has a very small footprint for a lot of power

05:13It has a handle for carrying it

05:16But more than that you can even put on a shoulder strap so you can carry it like a bag. It's six pounds

05:24It's so light. I'm going back in my memories of

05:27Hauling an over 20 pound power bank to camp to charge all of our devices not no more

05:32This is so great for camping and any outdoor adventures

05:35It also has a pop-up expandable light here that has three settings of brightness

05:41Love that feature it can power a projector for up to 3.5 hours. It can charge your iPhone at 19 times

05:47It can keep your cooler on for 5.5 hours. It's like if a power station was a superhero

05:54All right, here's the facts it has a 300 watt output it has a

05:58288 watt hour battery

06:007 ports on the front for multiple device charging at once an LCD screen to tell you everything you need to know if you'd like

06:06To get one for yourself. This is the anchor Solix a c300 click on the link in the description and check out their products

06:23I

06:35Five shuffler, you're sweating. I know

06:39You don't want to touch me. She's tired. Oh, you're so I know

06:43Yes, I'm gonna have to put in some hours in tomorrow with the shovel on the back row. Good job

06:48I can't believe you got all that done today. We got half of the 29 sonotubes in the ground

06:54It's super exciting because now when I look down, I'm just like that's a fence. Yeah

07:01And I'm very happy with our design as well, yeah, yeah Philly mom came by and he she's so great

07:07He's even like let's even let's make this even stronger and last even longer

07:11So yeah, we don't like we couldn't we had the option of just putting you know, a piece of wood in the dirt

07:16It's the desert after all but no he said it rots. It doesn't last as long. Yeah

07:22So as well as not even that I'm just saying like with the brackets like you can't just go by Simpson tie here

07:27Like I checked Home Depot, but he obviously knows a guy that makes them. Yeah, homemade brackets

07:34So this is gonna be built to last and I'm pumped. Yeah

07:38I'm pumped

07:40Hungry. Mm-hmm tacos. All right. Hasta manana. Hasta manana

07:47This

07:50Morning everything changed we woke up and Bella couldn't walk or stand and when she did eventually stand she collapsed in this moment

07:58We thought we might be saying goodbye to Bella as she went in and out of consciousness

08:02She was cold her gums were pale and her eyes were closed

08:06This was confusing as this was Bella the night before wrestling with Izzy

08:17After rushing to the hospital we got some results back a week later

08:20she showed hip dysplasia arthritis and potential IV DD and the most concerning a mass on her thyroid as

08:2995% of these are cancerous and dogs

08:31However, this still didn't explain her symptoms fully and why she collapsed our gut told us there was more going on

08:38We were just left wondering what it could be feeling helpless

08:42The last 30 days we continued to monitor and test Bella for everything we could we stayed by her side

08:48Keeping her company during her bedrest

08:51We tried to keep her calm and quiet while we figured out what was going on and to be present just in case she had another

08:58episode

09:11Oh

09:17We had vets coming to the house to continue to monitor Bella all her blood work came back healthy

09:23This made us even more confused, but on a positive the vet said she's like a teenager in there

09:28I think it's fair to say that life looks a lot different right now

09:32And really it may never look the same again as we enter their senior years

09:36The building of our home was put on pause as we took a step back to spend time with Bella

09:41Comfort her and to try and find some answers

09:44The week seemed to merge into each other every day looking almost the same

09:48But we soaked up every moment with Bella. We laid in the sunshine and felt the desert breeze whenever we could

09:54This is the start of Bella's senior years and although they may not be easy moving forward

09:59There's nothing truly more special than the love we share and we'll continue to share with her in her older years

10:05During these weeks. We couldn't help but reminisce on our memories of almost 12 years together

10:11The adventures we conquered the trails we walked and the moments we enjoyed together

10:35The days blurred and the mornings quickly turned into nights

10:38But also we always made sure to show Izzy lots of love too. Walking Izzy is definitely one of the best parts of my day

10:45but also the hardest part as it's the only time I'm away from Bella and

10:51I

10:53Don't want to be so my mind obviously wanders constantly when I'm away

10:59But I know it's also good for myself

11:02to continue on daily walks

11:05But it's really important for Izzy and since we've become more knowledgeable about just senior dogs and

11:14Arthritis IVDD and so many other health illnesses

11:19That just come along with getting old

11:21I've really taken to dog physio. That's why I'm smiling

11:26So I'm picturing Bella and I being able to do physio together

11:29It makes me so happy to do it with Izzy and see her legs get even stronger

11:34That's part of our

11:36walks that we do is

11:39Before

11:40Before we go for a walk. We warm up with little stretching and massages

11:45And then when we're on our walk, we do some physio

11:48And it's just been I already can see an improvement

11:52It's definitely hard just to still be away because your mind is wandering

11:57But also wishing that we could all do this as a family how we used to

12:02Want to show everyone your new move

12:04So your new spin, but now you know twirl. Oh almost

12:08twirl

12:10Amazing. Yeah, that's so good. Look at that stretch in the spine

12:14We made sure Izzy got out for her long walks and I started physio with her to keep her strong

12:18Turns out abandoned tires can be good exercise equipment. What do you think supervisor?

12:24These walks often led us to the land to check on the progress being made by the local Masons. It's very pretty

12:31Izzy misses the job site. Bella was so happy when Izzy and I came home

12:35But we could tell she knew she missed a walk. It was kind of hard to keep this wild gal chill

12:40Although Bella wasn't feeling well her personality never changed

12:43We kept her busy with brain games lick mats, which tired her out for her afternoon naps

12:48And thankfully she never lost her appetite. We laid low and slept a lot

12:52We watched a lot of TV and even watched some of our old adventures from the cabin and Bella saw her squirrels and friends from back

13:00This one's glued to the TV and while this one

13:06And that's because it's travel time for Bella her favorite activity

13:13While we battled boredom and tried to have as much fun as we could while waiting for answers

13:17We often became overwhelmed at times wondering what's next for Bella and us as a family

13:22but we tried to remember that every day with her is precious and special and

13:26The most important thing we could do for now is to enjoy this present moment with her

13:31Thank you all for loving Bella and for her well wishes on the last video

13:35We're grateful for the support and patience as we navigate this time

13:38We're doing everything we can to get Bella the best help. We will keep you updated as we progress

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