2015 Christmas Letter

What a year this has been! I cannot believe it's time for my annual Christmas/Holiday letter.

This year was a year of two halves for me. The first half of the year, I celebrated my 12th year of employment with The Robert Allen Group. Over the summer, I began a new journey and started working for Amazon in Spartanburg. It has been hard, but fulfilling and rewarding work thus far. I like having more opportunities worldwide and getting to participate in the company's two busiest times: Prime Day and Peak 2015.

I still maintained and exceeded my fitness status. At 37, I am in the best shape of my life. Running became more serious for me in 2015 as I ran my first half marathon, a 10K, and I am lining up my 2016 races. One of which is a full marathon in late April. My furthest distance ran to date is 20 miles so I feel I am on the right track with my training.

While I have joined other fitness and running circles, I have reconnected with some old friends and circles, and discarded others. It's life and  often this is necessary. I do enjoy the time with the friends and close family I have, especially with all of the holiday gatherings and socials currently ongoing.

Smokin Rita and Friends is still going strong, raising money for The Christmas Is For Kids campaign, and many others in need. This year, more than $10,000 was raised for such causes. I wasn't able to be as involved this year, but I hope that changes in 2016. 

Entertainment wise, I have gotten into more good TV such as Empire, Power and the classic ABC sitcom The Middle. I am currently watching an episode as I type this letter. The quality and appeal of movies has waned for me. Hollywood is seemingly running out of ideas, plus it's easier to stream them on Netflix. I did see a few good ones this year on the big screen, such as the new Star Wars movie and enjoyed it, but I didn't have the desire to see the midnight premiere.

2015 was definitely a year of change, progression and growth. My mom has gotta away from social media and is mostly a homebody these days. I have fallen back from most social media, but have gotten into Snapchat.

I would like to congratulate all of my friends/fellow writers that have books and blogs out. It appears everyone wants to be Shakespeare now, but I do admit writing is a joy and a rush. Keep writing!

As always, I will enjoy the holiday season and look forward to many new things in 2016. Continued fitness progress, my e-book, more gatherings (hosted by me), my 20th high school class reunion and a new President of the United States.

Happy Holidays friends and family! I love you all and encourage you to keep reading and reaching for the stars.

My Christmas/End of Year Letter for 2011

This year 2011 has been filled with ups and downs. Overall though, I'm happy, healthy, and wise through it all.

The year started off well as my favorite NFL team, The Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl, their 4th and 1st in 14 years. I also got rid of my Blackberry (Slackberry) and got an HTC Desire, joining #teamandroid. I love this phone and do not plan on ever going back to the slow, unreliable Whackberry.  However, my year would take a quick turn as my laptop crashed back in March.   It ended up being my hard drive. At days end, it was much cheaper to buy another brand new laptop with a warranty than to repair my current one. Therefore, I have been without a home PC for much of 2011 and have relied heavily on my Android device. 

I suffered many additions to my family and friend circle. Five new baby cousins, but several deaths, including my former trainer and the owner of my gym, David Fink. Also, I lost 3 uncles: Raymond Bradley, JL Lanier, and just recently my uncle Joe Dean Moss. Uncle Joe passed only a week after he and my Aunt Dolly celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Speaking of weddings, I went to several this year, 5 in fact. I was a groomsman for the first time in my life as one of my best friends, Rashad, married his long time girlfriend, Rayn. Career wise, I'm still at the Robert Allen Group after 8 years. This year, I changed departments, from the Cut Floor after 6 years to SBF. I took a paycut initially but it was worth it because I grew tired of the Cut Floor's incentive pay program. I like being on a flat rate in a smaller department. We are currently working reduced hours after receiving lots of overtime during the summer. I'm making the best of it though. I'm still active in the gym. However I slipped some and gained 20 pounds this year. I am determined to shed this weight as I have encouragement and motivation from several sources, I'm restarting my weekend physical challenges and 10K runs, changing my regimen. I've already made changes to my diet, and added Insanity to my regimen. With all of this in tow, I expect to be back to top form by summer. My love life wasn't the best for much of this year. I suffered a drought this summer, couldn't get any dates. Things picked up in the Fall fortunately, as I even reconciled with a couple of old flames. My immediate family has not had it easy, but is hanging in there. My mom has been struggling financially as her alimony is no longer enough for her to live off of. I help where I can, but I'm not doing much better. My now 15 year old cousin, LJ, has grown about 6 inches, has long hair, and the women love him. He was named a Junior Scholar back in the Spring. He just started high school and is still adjusting. All in all, I see positive things for 2012. I plan on getting another laptop, printer, and maybe a tablet. I'm closer to paying off my 3rd car in 9 years. I'm also still healthy and happy, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Happy Holidays to all who read my blog. I plan on expanding my blog to make it more prominent. I hope your year was also joyful and productive