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| We can't send Christmas cards and letters to ALL our friends; otherwise we would go bankrupt! If you normally get a card from us, you can ignore this. You'll get a hard copy! :-) |
Razz Chronicles: Keeping in touch with family and friends while traveling around our beautiful country.
Showing posts with label Year in Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Year in Review. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Christmas letter 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
What happened to 2012?
It's a brand new year with all new possibilities. I'm not sure where 2012 went but I am looking forward to 2013.
We spent most of this past year in three states: Texas, Idaho and Arizona. South...north...south. Does it sound like we are the typical snowbirds? Yep, absolutely. Although winter has definitely arrived here in Arizona, there is no snow and daytime temperatures are usually in the 50s and 60s. Not bad at all—and our water lines haven't frozen once!
My last post was around Thanksgiving and I totally missed December. I suppose it's because Christmastime just isn't the same without family around. This year was better though than the last two years since we left California.
Christmas 2010 was spent in Nashville, TN right after finishing our jobs at Amazon early in the morning on Christmas Eve. We had snow which was cool (literally) but we were both recovering from our physically demanding jobs, plus we were stressed because our black tank split just before we pulled out of our campground in Kentucky to head for Tennessee. It wasn't fun walking through the snow in the cold to the campground bathroom late at night and early in the morning.
Christmas 2011 was the absolute worst though. We were in the company yard in south Texas waiting for an oil rig gate. Gloomy, bored, no way to go to church and running out of money. Not fun!
This year was much better. The RV park we are in is really a retirement community made up of 85% park model RVs (think very small mobile homes) and15% RVs. We believe we are the youngest ones here. Anyway, these seniors get real serious about their Christmas decorations. We had beautiful lights all up and down the streets in the park as well as in and around all the buildings we clean. It gave the park a very festive and cheerful look.
Another thing that made Christmas nice is the fact that I was able to participate with the Christmas choir at our church. We had four performances but I was only able to participate in three of them as I got the achy/fever/congested flu right at the beginning of December. However, I was well enough to go to the convalescent hospital as well as be a part of the two performances at the church. Not only did I sing, but I went WAY out of my comfort zone and signed the whole thing as well. Although I have been learning sign language for the past four years, this is the biggest thing I have attempted to date. It made me far more nervous than singing, but it went well and I learned a lot.
On to this year ... we finally decided to do a little exploring this weekend, so this past Saturday we took off and drove northeast to Theodore Roosevelt Lake. What a beautiful drive! We ended up going through the mountains (I know, I know, those of you from Colorado are laughing right now) and found some surprisingly lovely scenery including a little bit of snow. On the way back, Wayne had determined we would go a different way to see something else and boy howdy was he right! We saw some absolutely gorgeous lakes and mountains, but the road ... the road was twenty-two miles of one-to-barely-two lane, bone-jarring dirt road with a major drop-off on the passenger side. We wanted an adventure and we found one! The washboard road was so bad that it made the truck fishtail even at 12-15 mph which was somewhat nerve-wracking with the narrowness of the road and the cliff edge. However, Wayne was very careful so it really was okay. I wasn't biting my nails or holding onto the dashboard (headrest! - family joke) but poor Wayne got quite tired of it very quickly. It must have taken us over two hours to get back on the blacktop and we were so excited to see it! Here are a few pictures:
We will be here in Arizona through mid-April. At that point we are going to put our sweet little Lucy in a kennel and head out with just our truck to see the family in California. By that time it will have been a full year since we saw any of the kids and grandkids, plus we will have a new grandson by then, courtesy of our son Joe and his sweet wife Daunielle. Once we say goodbye to all of them yet again (I hate goodbyes!), we will head to Arizona to pick up Lucy and then on to New Mexico. We have accepted positions as Assistant Managers at the Carlsbad KOA for a minimum of one year. We are excited to see what the Lord has for us there. Onward and forward into 2013!
We spent most of this past year in three states: Texas, Idaho and Arizona. South...north...south. Does it sound like we are the typical snowbirds? Yep, absolutely. Although winter has definitely arrived here in Arizona, there is no snow and daytime temperatures are usually in the 50s and 60s. Not bad at all—and our water lines haven't frozen once!
My last post was around Thanksgiving and I totally missed December. I suppose it's because Christmastime just isn't the same without family around. This year was better though than the last two years since we left California.
Christmas 2010 was spent in Nashville, TN right after finishing our jobs at Amazon early in the morning on Christmas Eve. We had snow which was cool (literally) but we were both recovering from our physically demanding jobs, plus we were stressed because our black tank split just before we pulled out of our campground in Kentucky to head for Tennessee. It wasn't fun walking through the snow in the cold to the campground bathroom late at night and early in the morning.
Christmas 2011 was the absolute worst though. We were in the company yard in south Texas waiting for an oil rig gate. Gloomy, bored, no way to go to church and running out of money. Not fun!
This year was much better. The RV park we are in is really a retirement community made up of 85% park model RVs (think very small mobile homes) and15% RVs. We believe we are the youngest ones here. Anyway, these seniors get real serious about their Christmas decorations. We had beautiful lights all up and down the streets in the park as well as in and around all the buildings we clean. It gave the park a very festive and cheerful look.
On to this year ... we finally decided to do a little exploring this weekend, so this past Saturday we took off and drove northeast to Theodore Roosevelt Lake. What a beautiful drive! We ended up going through the mountains (I know, I know, those of you from Colorado are laughing right now) and found some surprisingly lovely scenery including a little bit of snow. On the way back, Wayne had determined we would go a different way to see something else and boy howdy was he right! We saw some absolutely gorgeous lakes and mountains, but the road ... the road was twenty-two miles of one-to-barely-two lane, bone-jarring dirt road with a major drop-off on the passenger side. We wanted an adventure and we found one! The washboard road was so bad that it made the truck fishtail even at 12-15 mph which was somewhat nerve-wracking with the narrowness of the road and the cliff edge. However, Wayne was very careful so it really was okay. I wasn't biting my nails or holding onto the dashboard (headrest! - family joke) but poor Wayne got quite tired of it very quickly. It must have taken us over two hours to get back on the blacktop and we were so excited to see it! Here are a few pictures:
We will be here in Arizona through mid-April. At that point we are going to put our sweet little Lucy in a kennel and head out with just our truck to see the family in California. By that time it will have been a full year since we saw any of the kids and grandkids, plus we will have a new grandson by then, courtesy of our son Joe and his sweet wife Daunielle. Once we say goodbye to all of them yet again (I hate goodbyes!), we will head to Arizona to pick up Lucy and then on to New Mexico. We have accepted positions as Assistant Managers at the Carlsbad KOA for a minimum of one year. We are excited to see what the Lord has for us there. Onward and forward into 2013!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
2011 in review~
This has been quite a year. Just like last year, rather than feeling like the year has just whizzed by, it feels like it has been much longer than one year since we said "hello" to 2011.
We started the year off near Hattiesburg, Mississippi working at the Okatoma Resort & RV Park. It was such a beautiful area and we very much enjoyed our time there. Finances got a bit tight at the end, as this was a "site only" job.
We left on Thursday, April 7th, and over the course of the next week made our way north to Saco, Maine. We spent six months working at the Saco/Old Orchard Beach KOA. We loved it there and miss the people, the lobster and the lighthouses.
We left Saco on October 21st and drove south to Livingston, Texas -- our official home. We spent a few days relaxing and then it was back to work, gate guarding near Shreveport, Louisiana. After three weeks there, we were off for about 10 days before we headed to relieve another couple at a gate near Cotulla, Texas for a week. From there we drove directly to our present assignment near Big Wells, Texas. All told, the odometer on our truck clocked over 4,000 miles this year just traveling from one job to another. That's a lot of driving. One cool thing -- Sue drove a few hundred of those miles...WITH the 5th wheel hitched up! She is proud of that!
Overall, this has been a better year than 2010. We enjoyed our summer job in Maine immensely, unlike last year in Chicago. We worked and got paid for about 70% of the year as opposed to only about 45% last year. Also, even though we had a great experience at Amazon, we are really enjoying the gate guarding instead this year. We are making relatively good money for a whole lot less work and very little physical difficulty.
We have high hopes that 2012 will prove to be even better. We plan on continuing to gate guard through March, and then take the month of April to vacation a bit while we drive to Idaho for our summer campground job at Montpelier Creek KOA. After Labor Day when that job is done, our intention is to come back to Texas and continue gate guarding for the winter season. Things can change, but that's the plan right now.
One more thing ... we can't wait to see our kids and grandkids in April.
Signing off for 2011! HAPPY NEW YEAR from our little house to yours!
We started the year off near Hattiesburg, Mississippi working at the Okatoma Resort & RV Park. It was such a beautiful area and we very much enjoyed our time there. Finances got a bit tight at the end, as this was a "site only" job.
We left on Thursday, April 7th, and over the course of the next week made our way north to Saco, Maine. We spent six months working at the Saco/Old Orchard Beach KOA. We loved it there and miss the people, the lobster and the lighthouses.
We left Saco on October 21st and drove south to Livingston, Texas -- our official home. We spent a few days relaxing and then it was back to work, gate guarding near Shreveport, Louisiana. After three weeks there, we were off for about 10 days before we headed to relieve another couple at a gate near Cotulla, Texas for a week. From there we drove directly to our present assignment near Big Wells, Texas. All told, the odometer on our truck clocked over 4,000 miles this year just traveling from one job to another. That's a lot of driving. One cool thing -- Sue drove a few hundred of those miles...WITH the 5th wheel hitched up! She is proud of that!
Overall, this has been a better year than 2010. We enjoyed our summer job in Maine immensely, unlike last year in Chicago. We worked and got paid for about 70% of the year as opposed to only about 45% last year. Also, even though we had a great experience at Amazon, we are really enjoying the gate guarding instead this year. We are making relatively good money for a whole lot less work and very little physical difficulty.
We have high hopes that 2012 will prove to be even better. We plan on continuing to gate guard through March, and then take the month of April to vacation a bit while we drive to Idaho for our summer campground job at Montpelier Creek KOA. After Labor Day when that job is done, our intention is to come back to Texas and continue gate guarding for the winter season. Things can change, but that's the plan right now.
One more thing ... we can't wait to see our kids and grandkids in April.
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| Back row: Josh, Kaitlyn, Emily, Beth Front row: Daunielle, Joe, Ray, Julie, Anne, Cristen, Jon and Madeline |
Sunday, January 2, 2011
2010 Summary
Here are the dates and titles of the blog posts we made during this year. It might not be too impressive to you, but it is to us ... this was our life and boy, did we cram a lot into 2010!
To put it in a different perspective, I have posted part of our Christmas letter below:
Jan 03, 2010 Goodbyes are hard!
Jan 05, 2010 Days One & Two
Jan 07, 2010 It's COLD in Texas
Jan 13, 2010 We are official Texans!
Jan 14, 2010 Nacogdoches
Jan 15, 2010 Old Town Nacogdoches pictures
Jan 20, 2010 Visit with Greg, Janelle and Jackson in Magnolia, ...
Jan 20, 2010 Our Town - Livingston, Texas
Jan 26, 2010 Adventures in Galveston, Louisiana, and cooking??
Jan 30, 2010 Corpus Christi sightseeing
Feb 06, 2010 Dallas/Fort Worth
Feb 06, 2010 The San Antonio area
Feb 06, 2010 Corpus Christi sightseeing day two
Feb 11, 2010 Trip from Sanger TX to Lubbock TX to Alamogordo,...
Feb 21, 2010 Feb 15-21, 2010 Anaheim
Feb 27, 2010 Feb 22-28, 2010 Desert Hot Springs, CA
Mar 10, 2010 Mesa and Apache Junction, AZ Mar 1-14, 2010
Mar 16, 2010 Biosphere 2
Mar 16, 2010 Apache Junction and Benson, AZ Mar 8-16, 2010
Mar 25, 2010 New Mexico
Mar 26, 2010 First day in Colorado Springs
Apr 10, 2010 Colorado and Nebraska
May 01, 2010 We are in Illinois
July 03, 2010 Illinois Update
Aug 24, 2010 Six weeks, five days and counting!
Sep 14, 2010 Michigan
Oct 01, 2001 Road trip to St. Louis, Missouri
Oct 15, 2010 From Michigan to Indiana to Ohio
Oct 28, 2010 Our last two weeks of freedom before Amazon!
Nov 15, 2010 AMAZON
Family we have visited
At Disneyland in February -- our son Jon, his wife Cristen, and our youngest granddaugher, Anne; Wayne’s brother Ken, his wife Laurette, and their two daughters
In Arizona -- Sue’s Aunt Sarah, Aunt Flora, and cousin Dotty, her husband Wally, and their granddaughter
In Texas -- Wayne’s cousin Karen, her husband Danny and their daughter
In Colorado -- David and Judy (Sue’s brother and sister-in-law); several members of Sue’s extended family: Uncle Gene, Aunt Erma, Aunt Shirley, cousins Tim, Eric, Larry and Dan, cousin Gayla, her husband Rutilio & their three daughters, cousin Mike, his wife Erika, two of their girls and Erika’s Mom
In Iowa -- niece Heidi, her husband Dean, and their four children; nephew Nate and his wife Pam
In Wisconsin -- nephew John, his son Zander, and ex-wife Angela and her new husband
In Indiana -- Sue’s cousin Steve Early
New states we have camped in (12)
New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi
This year has been almost everything we could have asked for as a beginning to our new lifestyle. There were problems, yes; difficult people, absolutely; unpleasant days, of course, but this isn't heaven! We are still imperfect people on a fallen planet. Together we will keep pursuing a relationship with Christ so that he can enable us to be all he has called us to be as we seek to be his hands and feet wherever we travel. Thanks for "listening" this year, and please continue to pray for us.
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