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Looking Back at 2009

December 22nd, 2009

Each year, I write a blog reflecting on the main events that occurred over the past year.  In keeping with that tradition, here is my update for 2009.

The biggest thing to occur this year was the new house that we had built in Las Vegas.  We were originally going to buy a foreclosure and fix it and sell or rent it, but there’s no real way to do that while living here in PA.  Not only that, prices of new homes sales plummeted, so to us it made sense to build a house to our specs for the future.  The house is truly beautiful.  We upgraded everything with no compromises.  Granite kitchen with full granite backsplashes, 20″ ceramic tile laid diagonally, upgraded structured wiring throughout the house (dual coaxial, ethernet, extra jacks, etc…), extra large lot bordering US Government land (nobody can build behind us – gorgeous views of the mountains), upgraded carpet and padding, upgraded bathroom fixtures and much more.  Of course, the best part of this house is the rooftop deck, with breathtaking views of the mountains and the city.  We are so excited about this house, it’s pretty much everything we ever wanted and we are so fortunate to be able to have it in this difficult financial times.

We spent Thanksgiving in our new house this year.  The family is not crazy about doing this, and I can understand that, but things change and evolve.  It’s all good.  It was our 3rd Thanksgiving in Las Vegas in the past 4 years.  But it was the first time that Jen cooked a dinner in the great state of Nevada.  The first time we went out there for Thanksgiving, we ate out.  That was totally disappointing.  The second time we were invited to a friend’s house in Las Vegas.  And this year, we had turkey in our new home.  A home isn’t a home until you have Thanksgiving in it.

Everyone always asks me “Are you moving to Las Vegas?“  I should jokingly fire back with the question “Is there tea in China?“  But seriously, we have gone back and forth on this question several times.  One day we are moving, the other day we are not.  I think it’s safe to say we will move there at some point, but with the economy the way it is, who knows what’s going to happen and when.  If I could cash out on our PA house today, I’d move tomorrow.

In the meantime, we will continue to do what we do – travel several times back and forth per year.  For me, I’ve been there 6 times this year and have spent a total of 51 days (including travel days) in Vegas.  Jen and Arianna slightly less, since I took a 2 trips there without them (to close on the house and CES).  In a way, we already partly live there.  I like to think of it as “dual-residency”.  If and when we actually move there, it will most likely be the reverse.  We have family and too many friends not to come back several times each year.

This year, I got my insurance license back after many years of being out of the business.  I am licensed in 7 states and have sold insurance across the country.  It has certainly been different selling insurance over the phone and over the web, but I am glad that I moved forward with doing so.  I’m always looking for new opportunities and businesses, and this has always been a part of me.  At times I consider starting a software company, but I am back and forth on doing that.  I’ve started writing a program that brings two of my interests together – finance and software.  It is not done yet and I’m not sure if I want to make it commercially available or if I just want to use it for my own personal use.  Creating the program for sale will require a lot of time and focus.  I’m not sure if I am ready for that right now, nor do I think I have enough passion to write software anymore.

Over the past year, we had the chance to bond with our friends the Puringtons as well.  We are all friends – husbands, wives and kids.  A nice combination.  We all went to Las Vegas this summer together in July and Jim came out to Vegas with me in October to help me move furniture into the new house.  It’s not every day that someone offers to hop on a plane across the country, leave work behind and help a friend.  That was totally rockstar… Thanks Jim.. I mean Jake…

I’m looking forward to Christmas with our families.  I’ve been working so much, and it’s been hard to be incredibly festive, so I am looking forward in celebrating life with our families.  I can’t wait to taste Frank’s homemade wine and taste my Mom’s cooking.

Most of all, I can look back at this year and say it was a great year of love, family and friendship.  I am going on almost 13 years of marriage next year, and it just keeps getting better.  I’ve got a beautiful daughter who is such an incredible kid – I am so proud of her.    It’s great to be alive.

Ciao.