Holiday greetings to all
of our family, friends - new and old, acquaintances and anybody
else who may be reading this letter:
Wow, as usual, it's been an action-packed year for us. 2007
has been a year of transitions, as we've relocated and
re-adjusted to life not only back in the States but here in New
Mexico, as well (which frequently feels, culturally, more like
Mexico than the US!). For those of you who can't quite keep up with
us (and I don't blame you - I can barely keep track of us!),
here's the rundown of our goings on this past year.
Back in January of this year, we returned to our home in
Mexico - San Miguel de Allende to be exact - after spending the
holidays with family in Michigan. We had left our home and lives
in San Francisco just over 2 years earlier and funds were
beginning to run low, so we decided it was time to think about
relocating back to the States and try to build the bank accounts
back up. We put our San Miguel condo on the market, but weren't
very hopeful. Even though we had done quite a bit of work on the
place, including creating a beautiful new kitchen, the real
estate market in Mexico was suffering from a trickle-down effect
from the slowdown 'up north' and local realtors prepared us for
our home to be on the market for 6-9 months.
"What better time for a final Mexican vacation," we said! We
had been wanting to visit the Yucatan Peninsula since we arrived
in Mexico and now was the time. We spent a fabulous
2 weeks in
the colonial city of Merida and on the coast near Playa del
Carmen, enjoying the Euro-city vibe of Merida and the sun, sand,
surf and fruity drinks in Playa…aaaahhhhh! Much to our surprise,
one week into our trip, our realtor contacted us to say that she
had a buyer and we signed a purchase agreement from an internet
café in Merida before we even returned home! The sun was shining
on us indeed!
Upon returning to San Miguel from our trip, we packed up all
our things into the van, said goodbye to our friends, signed
away our Mexican home and drove off, northward-bound. As most of
you know, we landed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where we have
made our home since April.
After a few final delicious weeks in March back in Puerto
Vallarta while we waited to
get into our new home, we came back
to Albuquerque to settle in to the two-bed, two-bath newer,
modern southwest-style home we rented on the banks of the Rio
Grande, amidst the cottonwood trees. Although very ugly when we
moved in, in the early spring, the cottonwoods quickly bloomed
their beautiful, vibrant green leaves, as promised. We spent the
spring adjusting to and enjoying life in Albuquerque and New
Mexico in general: exploring the Bosque Trail bike path that
runs along the river near our house, hiking in the Sandia
Mountains on the east side of Albuquerque, playing tennis,
learning our way around town and making friends. Scott even
located an organic farm nearby, Los
Poblanos Organics, and
participated in a workshare program in exchange for discounted
produce. Needless to say, we've been eating very well, on a
budget!
We also made time for some exploring around New Mexico,
southern Colorado and Arizona, visiting places like White Sands
National Monument, the ancient mesa-top Acoma Pueblo, the
beautiful Jemez Mountains near Santa Fe, the Hatch Chile
Festival and even Grand Canyon National Park and Scottsdale, AZ.
In July, we hit the road one more time (it's in our blood, I
swear!), for a road trip to Vancouver Island that we had planned
before relocating to the States. It all started when we accepted
a home exchange offer last year from a nice Canadian couple, Donna and Wally, who live
near Victoria on Vancouver Island. They stayed in Puerto
Vallarta back in November of last year and we had arranged with
them to stay in their home this past August. Well, we got to
thinking, and we decided if we were going to go all that way,
that it would make sense to make some stops along the road. Two
weeks on Vancouver Island quickly turned into a 6-week road
trip!
It turned out to be one of our best trips yet. We managed to
allow plenty of time and took the back roads whenever we could.
We visited some amazing places - the great landscapes and
wildlife of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, the
quaint, flower-filled streets of Victoria, the lovely, lakes,
rivers and ocean of southern Vancouver Island and the amazing
wilds, including the many black bears,
of northern Vancouver
Island. We fell in love with Seattle, even during the misty, grey days, and the snow-capped mountains of Olympic National
Park. The Oregon Coast was a real show-stopper with its
gorgeous, sandy beaches, rocky tide pools and playful sea lions
that were difficult to leave behind. Finally, the national parks
of southern Utah - Zion, Bryce, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Capitol Reef and Natural Bridges - were nothing short of
breathtaking, each in its own unique way.
It was hard to return home, knowing that the fun, excitement
and adventure of traveling were over, at least for a little
while. We would have loved to stay on the road for longer! But
in August, we came home and got down to business. After many
months of discussions about where to go from here, we finally
made the decision (and the leap!) to start our new business The
Alluring Home - A Home Staging Company, (www.thealluringhome.com)
here in Albuquerque. It has been slow-going, getting started, as
we still manage to have lots of other exciting things going on.
We were fortunate enough to have two sets of visitors during
our city's famous Balloon Fiesta in October; Scott's parents,
Jerry and Denise, came for a week at the beginning of the month,
followed by our friend Leane from San Francisco for a week after
that. We'll have many wonderful memories for years to come from
those visits and definitely look forward to the opportunity to
visit with any other out-of-town visitors who come our way!
In addition to having houseguests, this fall we've also been
busy doing background work (as extras) in the New Mexico Film
Industry, which seems to be booming. On a tip from an
Albuquerque friend, Naomi, we sent in our photographs late this
past summer to several
local casting agents and have been
surprised by how much work we've gotten. Our first background
gig was on a Kevin Costner movie called "Swing Vote," which
Naomi also worked on. Caroline may be appearing as a US Marshal
in an episode of a new TV show on the USA network titled "In
Plain Sight," scheduled to air beginning in January, while Scott
just finished a background role as the "Postmaster" in a western
called "Appaloosa" and recently did some work as a stand-in
(typically no on-camera work; a stand-in is a person who is
similar in height, hair color, age, etc. to the principal actor
and stands in place for the actor while the lighting, camera
angles, etc. are set up; better pay than background work!) for Tobey MacGuire on the new movie "Brothers."
So, the excitement continues and we can't wait to see what
the New Year manages to bring!
Wishing all of you the happiest of holiday seasons; may 2008
be your best year yet! We look forward to hearing what you've
been up to, so please drop us a line!
Love,
Caroline & Scott
For further entertainment, check
out these Ghosts of Christmases Past:
Christmas 2006
Christmas 2004
Christmas 2003
Christmas 2002
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