Teresa and Andrew wish you all a Healthy and Happy Holiday Season
Here's what have been up to in 2013:
The highlight of this last year was TWO NEW DOGS! Max and Millie are five year old, cocker spaniel mix, litter mates that were looking for a home when their owners began traveling full time. Although they will never replace Simon, they have brought lots of love (and lots of fur) into our home. They've had lots of fun chasing deer along our fence line, going on adventures with their humans including snowshoeing, fun runs and hiking.
In January, we took a trip to Florida to visit with Teresa's family and other friends in the Boca Raton area.
We celebrated Andrew's 40th birthday in March with a party in Salida with family and friends.
In June we took a trip to Chicago for Andrew's Uncle Ted's wedding, and we stumbled in to the Chicago Blues Festival in Millennium Park, and also enjoyed the Museum of Science and Industry.
We took a trip to Santa Fe in July with friends Donna and Gautam, enjoyed the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Spanish Market, and Andrew did a little mountain biking.
In September, Teresa got a new full suspension mountain bike more suitable to Colorado country, and we took a biking trip to Grand Junction and Fruita with friends Doug and Trish. On the rainy day, we took a drive through the beautiful Colorado National Monument.
We enjoyed a Thanksgiving trip to Atlanta, where we got to eat too much, spend time with Andrew's family, including parents Jack and Ellen, brother Todd and his wife Meghan, and nephew Jordan David. (We also are expecting a new nephew to show up around tax day. Congrats to Todd and Meghan!) We also had time to visit with a few friends and clients. We enjoyed a night in downtown Denver on our way back home.
We are also planning another Florida trip in January to visit Teresa's side of the family for a reunion.
In other random news… on the home front, we completed a few of our home improvement projects, new windows, doors, insulation and stucco!
This year's fires and floods in Colorado had us very nervous for a time, but we survived another year. Our hearts go out to all those who weren't so lucky. Our good friends in Lyons were among those. Their house survived unscathed, but they were displaced for many weeks because all services in their town were destroyed. The little town of Lyons is still recovering. We enjoyed a trip to Lyons after Christmas, enjoying time with our Lyons friends and hopefully doing our part for the Lyons economy. In the spirit of the season, we suggest donating to http://www.lyonscf.org/ to help their town recover.
Work wise, things are really going well, especially for Teresa. We are very thankful that her Tanda CAD freelance drawing and design services is picking up in a big way; she's working with a couple of contractors, as well as with individuals on several residences.
In the meantime, her artistic endeavor called HiFi Follies, creating art from old vinyl records, has been picking up interest. HiFi Follies is in Four Winds Gallery, WanderLust Road Gallery and Eye Candy in Salida and she's had several art shows in the area with success.
Teresa has been busy with a women's entrepreneurial group called Women, Wit and Wisdom. Networking with this group of self-employed, business owners helped grow her business.
She has also been volunteering at Stone Soup Café, a by-donation soup kitchen for all. She's helped in the kitchen and made gallons of soup. We are both helping out at the Community Christmas Dinner held at the Methodist Church in Salida.
All this has kept her pretty busy!
Andrew continues to work with InfoTank working for various customers over Atlanta and Salida.
Andrew continues to enjoy singing tenor with the local men's chorus, You've Got Male, as well as the Freedom Choir. He's also started a Barbershop Quartet called "The High Country Harmoneers" and have had a few holiday performances. All the hard work has paid off and the guys sound GREAT!
We both continue to enjoy the outdoor opportunities offered here in Salida, including hiking, biking, biergartens, snowshoeing, running, and skiing (actually, Teresa's knees have said "no" to running and skiing, but yes to Curves, yoga, dog walks and she's still up for a biergarten!) Andrew hiked up to the top of Mt. Shavano, Mt. Sherman and Hope Pass with friends.
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 and Andrew
What a long strange trip it's been...