What a year it has been. 2012 is winding down and this year in addition to our Christmas card we have decided to add a brag letter. Because we feel that we have not taken advantage of every social media outlet to let people follow along in every step of our life *sarcasm inserted here*. Sure Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts, and blogs tell part of the story but all of those post and statuses leave out a good hour or two of each of the past 365 days. So just to string it all together for you we send this letter.
From the very first of the year this was a new beginning for us after moving into our new 100 year old house that was promised to contain treasure in it somewhere. Accordingly we have spent a lot of free time looking under loose floor boards and in wall cavities for hidden money, jewels or stock options for Taylor Bank. While doing so we have continued to fix up a few of the important elements of the house, namely the Bar out back… that pesky crumbling plaster in the stairwell can wait til after one more cold one.
It was a big year for our Faughter (fake daughter) Robyn. Finishing out her senior year at Stephen Decatur High School in the spring she could hardly contain herself to shake the dust of this one horse town and start school at St. Johns College. Say what you will about liberal arts education but she is in one of the most intense curriculums anywhere. After three months she has been named the toughest guy on campus for sparing with only guys in boxing club. Additionally she can now talk for a solid 45 min about “What is a circle” Skills that I imagine at some point will go hand in hand.
Nellie has taken to “city” life in our little town. Living just off main street, this 11 yr old spends most her free time walking the street of Berlin checking in on local shops and businesses. Transitioning from 5th to 6th grade brought a little bit of maturity and a lot of height. Her teachers praise her to the point of exhaustion, and she made the travel soccer team as an alternate on the practice squad, which is probably good cause she is not old enough to drive herself to the away games. She has learned some valuable lessons of humility on the soccer field which is good because she is on her way to being tall, beautiful and smart and will likely be the target of scorn in the future.
Brodie, 8, also played soccer and as I commented to myself “wow he really has a future……in something other than soccer.” Our little analytical mind lives in his own world and it is a happy place built out of Legos and mazes. Brodie has as close to a beautiful mind as I have ever seen. His favorite gift of recent is a notebook filled with graph paper. He has painstakingly filled this with mazes, puzzles and drawings. Most of which are too difficult for anyone in the family to figure out. We have had mixed feelings about his early recruiting letters from Evil Genius Institutions.
Natalee thrives both professionally with her company, D3Corp, and artistically with her photography. As a project manager and social media guru she continually keeps everyone in line. In fact, the riding crop she owns is not from this year’s popular book series nor is it from a previous model shoot, it is for unruly clients, subordinates and superiors.
I have continued to add to my portfolio of work places, that are acceptable to drink for free, I’ve been DJing at bars and weddings, hosting a radio show, podcasting from the local brewery about craft beer and of course being a wholesaler in the surf industry. One more job and my nationality will officially be changed to Jamaican. The most important development in this past year for me has been teaching Nellie to make coffee in the morning.
So if you are reading this and the world has ended just know one thing…we love you all and a good sense of humor is more valuable than paper. …….. Oh, and ……..We Win!
Peace & Love!
The DeHarts