Well Wow, this has been a year of big changes for us!
Change after change after change! They say change is good for you, but they never said it would be easy! Even the website this Christmas letter is on has been majorly changed - As is the method I created the letter itself!
Kerri
About those magnetic 2022 calendars....
Are you wondering about the magnetic calendar you received in your "Christmas card envelope"? I had them made for my Notary Conference Welcome boxes, and the overrun was enough to send to family and friends. Enjoy it as a calendar for your refrigerator, and also let it remind you that I can get you enrolled in these very affordable LegalShield legal plan memberships and identity theft programs provided by a great company (around for 50 years). I would feel bad if I didn't let you know I'm available to help, in case you're in the market for services like these. And these truly are good services (I have them too). Contact me with questions! (info at bottom of letter).
Reading this letter on your phone will work but is not recommended.
Sorry, this letter is so long. It is a bit of an investment in time, but there was lots to tell!
You'll have a better experience if you view this on a desktop or laptop monitor!
So what are all these changes you ask?
Most of you know Steve and I have expressed an interest in moving to Northern Nevada some day; well, some day came in January 2021. In the few first days of the new year, Steve was offered a position as Service Fleet Manager at Reno GMC. And that was the first domino!
(LOTS more photos this year - but in my defence, it was a big year!!)
Christmas 2020
But first, here are a few photos of last Christmas (2020). We celebrated the holiday with Steve’s Mom, Monnie, who stayed with us with her cutie-dog Bella for a few days.
The new job - And getting ready to leave CA.
Steve started his new job on January 11. No house yet, so his company put Steve up at a hotel (the very nice hotel-casino, Grand Sierra Resort), where Steve lived during the week for 6 months! We needed to find somewhere new to live, but first we needed to sell our Brentwood, CA house. We did landscaping, home improvements, staging; and the house sold in 2 days in mid March! Whew! As soon as the dates for the buyer’s contingencies passed by, it was on to packing. Ughh. Packing up a house you’ve lived in for 24 years is harsh! In April, I drove to Reno and stayed with Steve for a week to look at houses in the Reno-Sparks area. During this time, the market was super hot. We’d look at a home and by the time we were getting back in the car, we’d find out the house was in escrow! We got lucky though, and found a house we liked in the Southeast section of Sparks, in a neighborhood named Wingfield Springs. We have a golf-course super close to us called Red Hawk Golf and Resort, with a great restaurant there that we frequent about as often as we go out to eat (which isn’t often). Photos and more on the house coming up later.
Steve got promoted to Director of Service & Parts of the entire dealership, in March (or was it April?). Way more stress, but more money, so it’s definitely a challenge keeping balance. The owners are good people, but managing employees is always a bit of a headache!
First Quarter
January took us to visit our friends, Mary and Dan in Pine Grove to get their leftover boxes and totes, after they moved. Steve turned 60, and we spent several Sundays on Winters Family Zoom calls, trying to keep in touch.
In mid February, we drove to McCall, Idaho (2 hours north of Boise) to visit friends, Colleen and Matt; and stay in their vacation house – which was beautiful, and jeepers, do they get a lot of snow there. We got even more snow during the 3 days we spent there. They keep the birds fed with a special row of bird feeders (that they lower down via pulley to fill), and they feed the deer. Did you know deer like sliced apples?!
From late February through April were several of the busiest months I’ve ever had – contractors, landscapers and inspectors - traipsing in and out all month, me condensing closet contents, working with the realtor, staging the home. The house turned out beautiful and looked great for the professional photos. Then the buyers and looky-loos traipsing in too. Of course, with the pandemic, only 2 people and a realtor in at a time, so no open houses. And they wanted me out of the house, with the great big dog; so for me, showing the house was a nightmare. Thank goodness it sold so fast, and we could cancel the rest of the showings. Here’s a few photos that I took of the Brentwood house all staged and pretty.
The Brentwood, CA house we sold - staging photos - Click to enlarge
Second Quarter
In April, Mom and Dad drove up from L.A. to stay with us one last time. Steve and I celebrated our 27th Wedding Anniversary.
So the whirlwind of the first 2 weeks of May passes - packing, packing and more packing; in a hurry, and then the movers came and put everything in storage since we wouldn’t get the keys to our new place until June 1.
On May 15, I loaded up the pets into the Excursion (packed to the gills) and drove down to stay with my parents in Sunland. It wasn’t planned but wouldn’t you know it? THEY put THEIR house up for sale that week – the house they’ve lived in for 50 years! Another big change! They bought a big house on an acre (sight unseen) in Anderson, South Carolina, where my sister Kim and her family live. So back into the realtor/inspections/showings nightmare I go again, plus making sure we didn’t lose track of any of the pets. Mom and Dad sold their house fast too, and got top dollar.
One super fun thing Dad and I did was go to Universal Studios – took lots of tours, rode lots of rides (egads, the rides these days, feel like they might break your neck or throw your back out!) and saw the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – great day! We both loved Harry Potter World, even having a Butter Beer! So clever, bringing the books to life (I enjoyed reading all the books, then seeing all the movies).
While in L.A. for 3 weeks, I helped Mom and Dad pack and clean out the garage – they had a junk hauler haul away a LOT of old stuff (in fact, I think they did this more than once!). They also worked on inspections, etc for their new house in Anderson, SC at the SAME time. Chaos! Busy times!
Their movers came and loaded up in Early August; it took about a month to deliver to their new home in Anderson. For you curious ones, there are photos below of two of the rooms at Mom and Dad's new place (not their furniture). Their new house is like a large farmhouse.
I've seen photos of their house, mostly unpacked - it's a process, lol. Steve and I plan to visit in Spring 2022 sometime.
They had to say goodbye to long-long-time neighbors, Barbara (across the street), and Mike and Kelly (next door). Bitter sweet.
More Winters Family News
Mom turned 80 in December, and Dad 78 this summer - can you imagine packing and moving? - I was sore enough (and stressed out) at MY age!
Also, news about my nephews - Christopher and Taylor had a baby boy, Renly John, on October 9. Just an adorable little guy. And Kyle and Kelley are officially engaged! I haven't heard about any official plans yet though.
The month of June finally comes, and with it, the keys to our new house. On June 5, I load up the Excursion with the pets once again, and make the 8-hour drive to Sparks – with my BF Kim Valerio with me. I begged her to make the drive with me and she moved everything in her life around to help – gotta love these best friends! Kim stayed for the weekend, and then it was contractor remodeling time for the next 6 weeks. If I never have to be in a construction zone again, that would make me so happy! Some walls were removed, some walls put in, all new paint, all new flooring, some new appliances. And we built a catio for the cats! It’s an enclosed area for cats to go outside without them able to roam. And we can’t let them roam free here – we were warned even before moving, and heard scary stories since…..coyotes, hawks, owls, falcons, and bobcats. Yes, all in our neighborhood. The coyotes and bobcats come over from the golf course mostly, and I’ve seen the hawks and falcons in our very own trees – they’re huge. Steve has seen coyotes everywhere, even standing in our front yard one morning. This is the wild West! Seeing our cats be sad that they can’t go out and roam at will any longer, that was, and is, a hard pill to swallow; it makes us sad too. They hung out in the catio most Summer days (90 degrees average), but when it got to be 30 degrees and less, not so much! They’ll be raring to go come Spring!
Third Quarter
The movers brought all our stuff in mid July. Unpacking is easier than packing, but strangely, still no fun, lol. Five months later, all unpacked, except for what’s still in the garage. The garage is a hot mess, and we’re still missing items. Gonna have to go through the boxes in there some day soon!
Also in July, we sold our ’96 Mariah 18’ open-bow boat. It was a fabulous boat but we hadn’t been using it much anymore, and storing it in Sparks was going to be a problem. We sold it to some new Delta dweller that will appreciate it.
Our house
Our house is a one story home on a quarter-acre lot, in Wingfield Springs. Three bedrooms, two baths, 3-car garage. The house came with a 12’ swim spa (hot tub and swimming in one), which we love. Here’s some photos. Click on a photo to enlarge.
In early August, Steve and I got away for a long weekend, to attend the wedding of good friends, Dave and Stacey, in Paso Robles (we love this wine country city on the coast in central CA!). Great time, and Bonus, Steve’s band Public Eye played at the reception, which was at a gothic winery named Tooth and Nail! Speaking of the band, they didn’t get to play much this year, once again due to the pandemic. Steve played solo quite a few times though, making the 3-hour trek to the Bay Area. We’ll see how 2022 plays out.
September brought a couple of visitors. Monnie (Steve’s Mom) came for a week, sans cutie-dog Bella, as we were worried she’d get taken by the wild life here as a snack. By chance, Colleen and Matt stopped by that week on the way up to McCall, just for a quick night. We took Monnie to Virginia City (about 45 minutes from our house, up high on the mountain), famous for where Bonanza, the TV show, was filmed. It’s still got the wooden sidewalks and saloons; fun place to visit. We had lunch and wandered around, and got to see the camels for the camel races (tho we missed the races themselves).
Fourth Quarter
In October, I turned 60 too (jeepers!). The Autumn colors here are incredible, and a huge difference from California. Later in the month, I drove to Modesto, CA to stay the weekend with friend and colleague, Laura, to help assemble Welcome Boxes for our Notary Symposium conference attendees (our sixth year doing this, the last two being virtual). It took about 6 of us only about 4 or 5 hours to get them filled, labeled and ready to ship (Last year, it took us 12 hours!). I drove back to Modesto again in early November to hang out with Laura while we put on the actual virtual-live (Zoom) Symposium for about 400 registered attendees. Even though advertised as virtual, some people from other states flew in and stayed around town, so going out to the dinners and lunches was fun getting to know some of the other notaries.
In other work news, I broke off notary from my ‘websites’ website, and a new website just for notary will go live in January when I get my Nevada notary commission. I already took the training and exam, and filed the paperwork; just waiting on the state (and after that, to get my notary stamp made).
Steve and I threw ourselves a housewarming open house in November and invited lots of our new neighbors. It was amazing how many had not yet met each other (other neighbors). So over food and conversations, we got to know some of them. I hit it off with one named Margie, and even subbed to play Bunko when she hosted this month.
We had a few visitors this Fall. Dave and Stacy came to visit one Sunday while visiting family in the area. And we had lunch with Knight Crew favorites, Rick and Bob, who were in town for the Reno Santa Pub Crawl.
And Monnie moves too!
Another big change - Steve's Mom moved across the country too (like my parents), and ALSO to South Carolina - where her daughter Rhonda lives. Monnie moved to Myrtle Beach - she'd told us for a long time, one of her wishes was to live at the beach. And now it's happened for her! Steve's sister, Rhonda came out to CA for the weekend the mover was supposed to pack her up, and Steve happened to be California for a gig, so they had a little overnight reunion. They also did some sightseeing in Jack London Square in Oakland.
Update on our Pets
Sadly, we lost the two older cats this year. Bella in March (cancer), and Nintu in November (thyroid and heart disease). The other three, Bronn the Giant Dog, and Sammy and Blanca the cats are all doing fine.
This Christmas
It will be a cozy, snowy Christmas for just Steve and I – our first Christmas in our Sparks house. I’m sure Blanca will find her favorite lap (Steve) – see how she digs in with her paws and hugs him?
Hoping all of you have a peaceful and joyous season!
If you’d like to read any of the previous online Christmas letters:
https://www.kerrimarvelservices.com/xmas2020/
https://www.kerrimarvelservices.com/xmas2019/
https://www.kerrimarvelservices.com/xmas2018/
As always, we wish all of you Health, Wealth, and Happiness in the coming year. And Peace on Earth, of course.
With love, Kerri and Steve
and the Pets; Bronn (4.5), Sammy (11.5), and Blanca (10)
Drop us a line anytime!
Kerri: kdmarvel@gmail.com / Steve: steve_marvel@me.com
I created this Christmas letter (which is really just a web page) using something new I've been learning called, of all things,
Beaver Builder - it's still WordPress though, which is all I work on. If you or someone you know needs or wants a website
created, refreshed or modified, let me know!