Goodbye 2008

New Years Eve

I've heard it so many times in the past few days, "I can't believe this year is over." It's true, it's over and it went fast.

How to sum up 2008…

The year started with a snow storm, putting snow on all the mountains around us for a little while. We had pipes freeze, and burst, and layers of ice an inch thick on water troughs. I learned how to solder pipe. We saw rain, lots of rain, and WIND. We dug lots of ditches to handle the water. I watched Natalie pitch her way into one state tournament and one western divisional, placing second in both. We had one horse escaped death with an amazing surgery to remove a 7 pound entrolith from his gut. We learned that Scottsdale has a really nice hospital when Bob had to have his belly shaved too, to have a hernia surgery. We survived another summer, the heat and the monsoons. We traveled to Prescott, Payson, Flagstaff and Sedona, and learned that Arizona is more than just a desert. We went to the Arabian show and saw what I call "Barbie Doll Horses" (what a trip). The family welcomed a new baby girl when Bobs niece had a baby in April, and we said goodbye to a cousin, aunt and an uncle. We watched as another family member battled breast cancer and won. We celebrated my mother-in-laws 80^th birthday. We're surviving this economy, saw a "half-white guy" (as I prefer to say) get elected to President and we watched more Saturday Night Live than I've watched in a long time. We rode many miles and explored a lot of area around us on horseback. We still love to get up every morning at the crack of dawn to feed and clean stalls. We watched meteor showers from the view deck and counted up to 22 shooting stars in one hour. We've seen amazing sunrises and sunsets. Patrick moved back to California after living with us for 8 months, trying something new. Bobby is applying to Business Schools to pursue an MBA degree. We are still awed and amazed when we come "over the hill", HOME. We've met lots of new people and made many new friends. We've rescued dogs and mini horses when they've escaped their homes. I've gotten involved in volunteer work and have begun taking real steps pursuing my dream of becoming a writer. Bob is making a name for himself in the Arizona car business, just as he did in California. We celebrated our second round of holidays here, and we all agree, it seems like we have always lived here.

Yes, it's been quite a year.

2009 has big shoes to fill. We're pretty sure those shoes will get filled, and then some.

Happy New Year Everyone.

It’s The Holidays!

It is almost Christmas! I can't believe how fast the time goes. This will be our second Christmas here in Arizona.

It's interesting how quickly changes happen in our lives and how we adapt to them. We've been here for just about 18 months, and yet, we feel like we've always been here. This is home.

It's been quite a year, not just for us, but for everyone I'm sure. The economy has affected all of us, and we're no different. And even though things are tight all around, we're still so thankful to be living in such a beautiful place.

And, like everyone else, we're looking forward to next year, and are hopeful that things are going to get better. The new facility that the Chapman group has been working on is almost ready and the plan is for Bob and the gang to move over there by February. Almost a year late, but better late than never. We believe that this will bring about positive changes!

Natalie is doing well in school, I can't believe she's in the 7^th grade, AND she's now 13. She likes her school and the friends she's made. You know Natalie; she's able to fit in with just about any crowd.

She's also adjusted to her new softball team, The Desert Wolves. It's a great group of girls, and all are very talented. She's still pitching and doing great job of it, although this year she has to work at it to get some time in on the mound. Her team this year has 4 pitchers, a big difference from last year's team where Natalie was the only pitcher.

They finished out their season this weekend, finishing in a tie for 3^rd in a local ASA tournament. They've come in 2^nd, tied for 3^rd a few times and placed 4^th and 5^th in a couple other tournaments. No first places yet, but there's still the rest of the year since the "season" goes until July!

And I've been working on so much, it's hard to give a "where it all began" starting point on it. I've been working for a graphic designer out here since about May, and because of what I've been learning from her, it's inspired me to chase some dreams of my own.

My biggest goal is to write. It's something I've wanted to do for a very long time; something I felt that moving to Arizona would bring about a lot of inspiration to really make it happen. I've done quite a bit of research, and have found a couple of places where I've submitted articles about all sorts of stuff, from restaurant reviews to editorials. I've had some success in it, and have landed a few freelance jobs out of it.

I'm also developing a virtual assistant service, writing blogs, newsletters and E-Marketing pieces for other businesses. I've contracted with a Realtor and have been handling her E-Marketing and lead generating software helping her build her business. And even though the Housing market is crazy right now, what I'm doing for her is working and she's gaining clients and closing escrows! I also have my own blog, so if you get a chance, check it out.

And of course, we're really getting into the "Green" movement. I've been using my reusable shopping bags for just about a year now, so I'm in the habit as are Bob and Natalie. And we've been careful to unplug just about everything we can and use power strips. The difference it makes is pretty amazing. Our electricity bill – for actual power usage and not "fees" – was $27.00 this past month. The bummer is the fees that go along with our power bills; $50 a month. Still, that's more than half of what it was a year ago. So please – unplug!

We also had to replace our well pump this past week. Living on a shared well has had its challenges. We're lucky in that when things do happen, we are able to split the bill with 3 other families. Unfortunate in that we have to have everyone's opinion and approval to do anything, even necessary repairs and maintenance.

Lenny is recovering nicely and Bob is looking forward to getting back in the saddle soon. Bob too is healed from his hernia surgery and both are anxious to get back to their regular rides.

Ok, I think I've covered everything now. We wish you all a happy holiday season and look forward to hearing from all of you!

 

 

 

 

Days and Weekends

Another Saturday spent at the park. And tomorrow, another Sunday. I just hope that this weekend proves to be a successful one and the Wolves win!

Today was a tough day. Our first game ended in a tie, 0-0. Natalie is struggling with her batting, but every now and again, a bright spot will happen and she'll get a nice hit and be on base. We've seen her go through this for awhile now, and she believes that she's done with it. It is time to be the "big hitter" that everyone tells her she is.

She pitched the second game, and did ok. Walking 3 batters is not her usual style, and she probably threw more "balls" than she's thrown in awhile. Although, the umpires' strike zone seemed to be the size of a quarter, even her coach couldn't believe the calls that were being made. We were pretty sure that the home plate umpire was related to someone on the other team. Crazy stuff!

But you know, a day at the park in this beautiful weather is never wasted. Bright, sunny and endless blue skies. Just doesn't get any better than this.

I keep taking pictures of the girls warming up, but since I am usually keeping score, it's a little difficult to get the camera out during the game. I'll get the ones I have posted to the site, soon, I promise.

I forgot to write about our Thanksgiving trip to Flagstaff. We went for a day trip and took the dogs, who are getting better at riding in the car. Because we had them with us, we weren't able to check out to many places, but those we did were pretty cool.

It's only about 2 ½ hours from here, and on the road there the signs to Sedona said 15 miles. So we took a detour on the way home and stopped by.

Sedona has changed so much, mainly in size. The road is being torn up, so the traffic going into town was pretty bad. Some things we recognized from our trip there on our Honeymoon, and we stopped in at the hotel we stayed at, Los Abrigados. We even went into the little shopping square there, T'Laquepaque (don't even ask me how to pronounce that!), and got a picture of Natalie by this sign that we had seen during our honeymoon. If Natalie had been born a boy, we would have named him Esteban, all because of that sign. I'll put that picture up later too.

We were surprised at how close Sedona is from home, and plan to take a trip back – Just Bob & I this time!

OK, better get back to the things I've got to get done. And then prepare for tomorrow and another day at the park!