I AM BLESSED

2010. Do you say Two-thousand-ten, as I do, or Twenty-ten, which is what my kids say? However you say it, I think we can all agree that it is a beautiful, nice round number. It just looks clean to me, like a blank sheet of paper (or blog page) waiting to be filled with activities, friends, family and memories. I'm feeling soooo energized and hopeful about this new year and the decade to come. 2009, in fact, was a pretty good year for me, and I truly believe that 2010 is going to blow it out of the water. I feel it.

What was so good about last year, you ask? Well, our move to Arizona tops the list. I love, love, love it here. The weather is phenomenal for most of the year, the town of Gilbert is the most family-friendly place I could possible imagine, and I adore our new neighborhood. Moving here was a great decision that I don't regret for even a second, even though it seems so far that I may have left my photography business back in San Antonio.

But I think the real reason I am so very happy here is because of my new friends. They are all amazing people who I don't know what I'd do without, and I just met almost all of them.

Heather-I called her simply because her adorable and precocious son gave me his phone number during the first week of school and told me that he wanted to come to my house to play. I was afraid to call her because I just knew that she would think I'm a nut-case and warn all the other moms about me, but to my astonishment she agreed to come over to meet us all and to let her son play with mine. She has been AMAZING ever since. I can't even explain how much she has done for me-her husband fixed my computer when I thought all was lost, she kept my 5 year old all day while I dealt with the death of our dog, she invited me to lunches, parties and introduced me to everyone I needed to know at our kids school. I feel like I've known Heather for YEARS already, and I know that I'll cherish her for years to come. (Get this-I just called Heather to see if one of my boys could play at her house today. She was headed to Tai-kwon-do with her son and so it wasn't a good time, but she called her neighbor who zipped over to our house, picked up my son and took him home to her house to play with her son who is also in 1st grade. I love this neighborhood!!)

Christine-Our daughters are in preschool together, and they have pronounced themselves BESTEST friends, so naturally we see a lot of each other. Christine is so easy to talk to, always positive and happy, and I really enjoy seeing her and her family as much as I do.

Fanny and Tina-these are the two other moms from our little preschool group that accepted me as if I'd been here forever. I've had their daughters over to play, and they have had mine, countless times already. (Actually, Tina is a Grandma, but she doesn't look or act it and I guess I think of her as one of the moms.) I feel like I could call on any of these ladies to help me out of a jam at any time, which amazes me since we have been here such a short time.

Last but certainly not least is my friend Suzi-We went to high school together, although we never really ran in the same circles (it was a big school). When we were planning to move here, my BFF Gina mentioned to me that Suzi lived somewhere in Phoenix and that I should look her up to get some information about what the best areas might be. Thus began a beautiful friendship.

Suzi sent me tons of information about Gilbert and Chandler, steered me away from a couple of schools, recommended a Realtor, did drive-bys on some of the homes that I was interested in, reported back on the various neighborhoods and basically made it her business to help us find the best house that we could get. And that was before we even set foot in AZ.

Once I arrived, her giving nature became even more evident. I still don't think there has been a day that I've seen her that she didn't have something to give me-a magazine that she thinks I'd like, a fancy pen I admired, something for the kids, something for our house. She is just like that. Giving, always giving.

One day Suzi told me about an idea that she had for a new business that she wanted to open, creating and selling fabulous T-shirts and jewelry, called u2rblessed. I've been looking for a way to give something to Suzi in return for all that she has done for me, and so I hope that mentioning her business will send someone her way.

I took the following paragraph from Suzi's website, because she explains it so much better than I could:

Some would say it was too hot (110 degrees), too sunny (Arizona June afternoon) and the food was cheap (Burning some generic hot dogs on the grill). But what we saw was kids having fun in the pool, a great day to be outside (in the shade or water) and the sharing of a meal with friends. The conversation ranged from one of us being let go from a full time corporate job to being “upside down” on our houses. And every time another topic came up, agreed there was always a silver lining. We talked about all the job opportunities a sudden layoff provides. Even when money was tight in a household, we recognized the blessing a home brings with its love and laughter within. We came to realize, and verbalized with one another, how truly blessed each of us is. And from that conversation we realized we wanted to share that message with each of you. Life can sometimes bring burdens on us that we think we cannot overcome. It is very easy to only focus on the negative. Each day you get to decide what you will fill your mind with-and we choose to remember and focus on the good.

u2rblessed was an attitude and belief before it was a business. And what better way to form a business than upon a principal you truly believe.

I really, truly believe in Suzi's business premise, because I know firsthand what an amazing, giving, happy soul she is. I also know that like a magnet, she attracts people that are just like her, and her husband Ivan and son G are male versions of Suzi-amazing, giving and happy. I hope their business takes off in a huge way, because they more than deserve it.

So you see, I am the one who is blessed. I have a wonderful home, beautiful neighborhood, fantabulous friends (see above), and an awesome family. It is going to be a great year.