This newsletter started with three trips to the coast in one week and ends preparing to leave for two trips to the coast this next week. Grandma Maldonado and I are going up for a quick trip to Long Beach Monday and Tuesday. Then I will return to Long Beach with Dad on Thursday to celebrate our anniversary. Most often we have gone skiing at Timberline for our anniversary but that wasn’t even a choice for us this year.
At the end of January I went to the beach three times in one week. I always look forward to my annual weekend at the beach with my girlfriends with whom I served in a You
ng Women’s Board several years back. Our president, Angie Bleazard, moved to California so we try to make arrangements so that she can also be there. Last year she came up for Adrianne’s wedding and Jamie Jorgenson was very sick with her pregnancy so we didn’t have the entire group. Angie said she couldn’t come this year but then her husband surprised her with a plane ticket for Christmas. She kept it a secret from the rest of the group so it was fun to see the surprise on their faces when she walked into the condo as we were in the middle of a game.
We lucked out on the weather most of the days so it made for enjoyable walks on the beach until the last morning when the rain was sideways. Otherwise, we enjoyed a ton of game playing, talking and eating.
From that trip I came back to Beaverton for a couple of hours for Jaden Mitchell’s open house. He married a girl from Utah so they had an open house in Beaverton. It is always great to be in the Mitchell’s home. They had a sandwich bar with homemade breads that John had made and of course, they had lots of his chocolate desserts for which he is known. We saw lots of old friends there which was great but they all look so, well, OLD!
I drove Carol Stanger’s car back to the beach so that I could stay the last night with the girls and then we met Dad on Sunday in Lincoln City (her family was meeting her there also). Ramona Jones had offered Dad and I a week at Otter Crest so we took advantage of piggy backing it at the end of my YW weekend. Business is picking up for Dad so we didn’t really have a whole week to spend on the coast. Plus, Aunt Carla was coming to visit Grandma and we wanted to be back for that.
We drove to Otter Crest in a driving rain storm and then the weather cleared up for the rest of our visit. It was very mild so we took our long walks in pretty good weather. We ran into a couple that we met last year on one of our walks and visited with them for awhile in their newly opened art gallery right at Devil’s Punch Bowl. They lived up the street from the little girl that we came upon last year that had been mauled by a bull dog but they didn’t have much information about her since her family had moved from the home right after the accident.
We had lots of relax time at Otter Crest with no cell coverage and very little internet since it went out while we were there. We did lots of planning, making goals for the coming year, swimming and walking. We had dinner one evening with Ramona and Ivan. They now own completely their one unit at the top of the complex so they live there when they are not traveling or staying at Corina’s when Ivan needs to be in Beaverton for work. He is becoming more and more retired. They are finishing up some business deals before turning in their papers for another mission.
We came home in time for me to do laundry, attend to a couple of appointments and pack for the beach again. This time it was with Grandma and Aunt Carla at the WorldMark in Long Beach, Washington. I like the Long Beach area; it has a quaint little town and good walking and biking trails.
In January we enjoyed a basketball
visit from Morty. He arrived late Saturday evening so he joined us at church and we were able to have everyone home for Sunday dinner including Katie and Grandma. I don’t even try to make sense of Katie’s schedule (well I do but it is not often possible) as she did some crazy traveling herself during January: Salt Lake, New York and Phoenix, that I know of. She was home to go to the Blazer game on the Monday night with Morty. They played Jimmer’s team again.
Morty came for a second basketball weekend in February. He actually was here twice since he came up for a very last minute trip having obtained great Blazer tickets for free for one night. It was close to his birthday so we were able to do an early birthday celebration for him here. Then on his real birthday, Nate and Aaron took him to dinner. The second time he came up he went to a couple of games and then there was lots of sports to watch on TV. I told him that I have never seen so many sports games in one weekend. It isn’t until Morty is here when I realize that my TV tells me when someone is calling my phone!
I have enjoyed hearing news of work successes and promotions from several in the family. Adrianne applied for a promotion to work in the Marketing Department at Shelf Reliance as the online Marketing Director. She says PR must run in the family. She started a couple of weeks ago and is now on salary with even more responsibilities. That company has given her lots of experience so far. She said that she earned employee of the month in January and that earned her a special parking spot and a massage at work! She and Blake are at the Wolf Creek WorldMark in Ogden, Utah celebrating their first anniversary this weekend.
I haven’t heard it from Nate but Grandma Maldonado tells me that he also received a promotion, much of the job he was already doing for quite sometime. But now, I guess he got the raise and the title to go with it. She said it had something to do with managing more people in his department at Zappos. We will have to hear more from Nate but I hear that he is in New York right now!
I also received a promotion with SendOutCards. I am a new Senior Manager as of the day after Valentine’s Day. That increases my percentages and coaching bonuses which is pretty exciting. Aaron is helping fine tune my Facebook Business Page, Cards by Lori Bitter, so the welcome page looks better. I appreciate all your individual help either for liking my FaceBook page or reading my blog, CardsbyLoriBitter.blogspot.com. In my blog. I include tips that any card sender could use, not just those using the SendOutCards service (even though it does make card sending so much easier)
delight. She loves to play, loves to work and is just plain lovable. She started learning a new song on the piano, Nephi’s Courage, and worked on a few more goals in her Faith in God booklet. She loves being challenged by a goal. Can you believe that she turns 11 this year and she will be preparing for Young Womens. What an exciting time in her life. We planned to finish up some more while she and Meeja are here for Spring Break. Kyre, Alina, Adam and Klaire will stay part of that week with us also. After bringing Sunhee back to Albany today so we didn’t have to drive to Sweet Home, we had dinner and visited with Kyre and the children. I don’t think I have written since I challenged you all to read that great Ensign article of President Monson’s on keeping a positive attitude, believing in ourselves and having courage. I appreciated hearing from all of you that read it and about what you enjoyed most from the message. Thank you for sharing your feelings; I loved that. Dad and I did a drawing for Family Home Evening while at Otter Crest and Aubrey won the gift card for sending her thoughts on the article. Thank you! That was fun!
I love you and hope you have a great week ahead. Love, Mom
