Teresa and Andrew wish you all a Healthy 
and Happy Holiday Season
Here's what have been up to in 2010:

Many changes have happened in the past year, and we have much to be thankful for.  Firstly, we have survived and even thrived in one of the most difficult economic climates in our own little paradise here in Salida, Colorado.  As mentioned in our last holiday e-card, Andrew started Salida Tech, Inc. taking on the many aspects of running a business including accounting, irate customers, hiring and firing.  After running it for a year and eight months, he decided this past August to get back into software development.  The reasons were many, but suffice it to say it just wasn't working out.  (The company is still around and providing the best computer service in the valley.)  It was a fantastic experience, he left on good terms, and other than a few more grey hairs, he has no regrets going through the whole experience.  Luckily he was able to find a fantastic telecommute opportunity working for Infotank, Inc., a Georgia based company, working for a friend he's known for a long time.  So far, while he is still supporting some local customers through Infotank, he's also been creating mobile Android and iPhone applications, web applications, and enjoying the work. 

Teresa's Tanda CAD freelance drawing services has slowed with the economy, but she has started up a little artistic endeavor called HiFi Follies, creating art from old vinyl records.  She's had some success with it in an online store and even better success at our Farmer's Market and other shows. She also continues to work at Salida PakMail.

Early in 2010, our good friends Gautam Bhan and Donna Guest caught the Colorado bug and bought a house in Lyons Colorado, the Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We've visited them several times and have met many of their neighbors.  It's great to have our long-time friends move nearby.  Lyons, although smaller than Salida, but near Boulder, is home to some of the best Colorado music festivals, and this year we were able to attend Folks Fest and plan on attending next year as well.

In the spring, we joined friends on another hut trip.  Hut trips are like luxury winter camping trips.  Although you deal with snow, snowshoes, and zero-degree temperatures on the way in, you sleep in a wood-heated cabin in the middle of a stunning winter wilderness, with a furnished kitchen, pit toilets (with toilet paper!), solar lights, and sometimes, running water! This time, we hiked up to nearby Lost Wonder Hut, which sits on the flanks of distinct Mt. Aetna.  As if that weren't enough adventure, Andrew and his friend Mark Wiard decided to head out one Sunday to build and sleep in a snow cave near Monarch Pass.

We took a vacation in the spring and biked Glenwood Canyon, visited Durango and the breweries of Ska and Steamworks, rode a steam powered train, the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Rail, visited several pueblo ruins in Hovenweep National Monument and Canyon of the Ancients, Natural Bridges Park, and hiked in the Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon.  In June, Andrew summited Mount Ouray, not quite a Fourteener at 13,971 feet above sea level.

Andrew did this crazy run called the Warrior Dash.  It's about a three mile run with all kinds of obstacles.  This year at Copper Mountain, it included a steep run, water hazard/mud pit, a climb over vehicles and walls, crawling through tunnels and jumping over a flaming barriers.  All this for a silly Viking hat, t-shirt, and a beer.  Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Also in June, we were visited in Salida by Andrew's parents, Jack and Ellen Koransky and we all went rafting in Browns Canyon along the Arkansas River.  We went with a local rafting company and rafted down some beautiful canyon scenery.  Over the course of the summer, we also enjoyed all the fantastic weather, our local festivals, plenty of hikes, and some mountain bike rides on our ever improving trail system.

In the fall, we took a trip to Florida to visit with the Teresa's family, the Piercy clan in Orlando, as well as a side trip to visit Andrew's grandmother Rose Arbeiter in Boca Raton with a stop in Melbourne, Florida for a brief 24 hour R&R at a B&B before returning home.  A month later, we flew to Atlanta for Thanksgiving with the Koransky family where it became official: Teresa and Andrew will become Aunt and Uncle soon to Todd and Meghan Koransky's baby boy, expected at the end of May.  We will be taking another trip to Atlanta to meet "Clyde" as they now jokingly (Clyde Koransky?) call him.  Finally, Jack and Ellen have grandbabies to spoil!  Somewhere in the coming year, we hope to squeeze in a trip to Europe too.

That about does it for this year... we hope all of this finds you well, and...

May the Universe smile on all of you with Peace and Happiness!
Teresa, Andrew, and Simon

What a long strange trip it's been...
Facebook us here:  Teresa & Andrew .

You are listening to I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas written by John Rox and performed by Gayla Peevey.