Happy Holidays 2023
Dear Friends and Family,
It’s that time of year again when we look back on 2023 and share what we’ve done, how we’ve improved, and what our aspirations are for 2024. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished in 2023, both in our personal life and professionally.
While Jeremy continued to lead the charge in converting our bus into an RV, he also crossed the four year mark of using Duolingo every day to learn Japanese, Irish, and Scottish, and yes, all at the same time!
Loretta focused on improving her physical and mental health. She was tired of suffering from the symptoms of PCOS and decided to make big changes. She significantly changed her diet, started strength training, and invested in tracking her blood sugar, stress, and sleep with health wearables. All these changes have helped her lose 25 lbs and counting.
This year, we didn’t travel to many new places, but instead returned to some old favorites, saw friends, and just relaxed.
Here are some highlights from this year:
Winter
If we could sum up our winter into one word, it would be “togetherness”. We prioritized quality time with each other, our friends, and some family.
New Years Eve
Our plans to ring in the New Year in Carmel with the dogs were dampened a bit by excessive rain; so much rain that many local shops closed due to lost power. We made the best our soggy holiday by sipping champagne and whiskey in the hot tub under a dark, drizzly sky and It was perfect.
New Year’s Day graced us with sunshine!
Cabin in Tahoe
After a two-year Covid hiatus, we finally brought back our annual friend cabin trip. We all ventured up to Tahoe and spent a few days in the snow; sledding, playing games, and eating way too much. As usual, Zero loved the snow and Darby was indifferent.
Sean and Lexi’s Wedding
It was our privilege to watch Jeremy’s cousin, Sean, and Lexi, his high school sweetheart, take the next step and continue the ongoing commitment they have toward each other at their wedding.
Girls weekend in Irvine
Loretta visited with her mom and Nana over a long weekend, and took some time to get their hair cut from the family stylist.
Spring
Spring was all about experiencing new things, whether it was going to conferences, conventions, or interactive museums.
South by Southwest
Loretta spent some time getting to know Austin while attending SXSW with two co-workers.
Exploring Omega Mart in Las Vegas
It had been several years since we’d been to Meow Wolf’s first location in Santa Fe, and Loretta was jonesing for another interactive art museum, so we flew out to Las Vegas for the weekend and explored Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart and spent time on Fremont Street.
Loretta loved looking at all the fake packaging. Many of the items in the store were actually for sale as souvenirs too!
Fanime
When your oldest friend invites you to Fanime, you don your racoon tail and ears and get your ass over there. We had a lovely time walking the stalls, admiring all the art and trinkets, and buying way too much stuff we don’t need.
Summer
We had a very mild summer this year, which meant spending time outside, with the dogs, and in the bus.
A little photo shoot showing off some of Jeremy’s film gear and services
Just a few of the silly filter photos our dog walker took of the boys…😂
Bus progress
We spent much of spring and summer diligently plugging holes to make sure our bus was waterproof while adding a new door, fans, and a skylight. We finished framing in October and have just completed insulating her.
We went to a Pick-n-Pull yard to buy my chair, and then worked with a fabricator to make brackets. Next we added our skylight and two fans, and then framed out the whole interior.
The spray foam insulation was a messy and stinky process, but necessary. Thanks to Jeremy for doing this one all by himself!
Loretta’s Promotion
This year, after a lot of hard work, Loretta was promoted to Principal Product Designer. She continues to love her job and build strong bonds with her team.
Camping in Shasta
It was a very mild fire season this year, so we decided to take a camping trip up north near Shasta. The water levels were quite low, but the boys couldn’t resist a dip in the shallows under the hot sun.
Denver for work and play
Loretta attended a community event for work in Denver and Jeremy tagged along. We saw a work friend of Jeremy’s and attended another Meow Wolf location!
Jeremy’s Birthday
We hiked up in Sea Ranch on Jeremy’s birthday. It was absolutely lovely, but a bummer that there were no drones allowed.
Fall
Fall always feels like it goes by very fast as we usually stuff it full of activity and this year was no different.
Back to Ireland with Jeremy’s Dad
It was our third trip to our beloved Ireland, and this time Jeremy’s dad traveled with us. It was the only place he ever wanted to go, so we wanted to make sure he saw it.
Kerry Cliffs
Dingle’s brightly colored shops
Afternoon walks around Cork
A lookout point in Conemara
Jeremy climbed down to this point as Loretta said “no thanks, I’ll stay up here”.
Roaming the low passage ways of this beautiful ruined castle.
Going all out on Halloween
Because last year’s Halloween was minimally decorated, we wanted to step up our game, both on the house and our costumes.
Loretta and Jeremy toiled over a hand-made dark druid costume.
We ton best couple costume at a friends Halloween party!
Loretta went as “Bad Sandy” for her company’s Grease themed costume party.
Continuing to “do that hockey” thing
The Avs were only going to be playing in San Jose once this year, so we had show up to support our team. The game was well matched, but the Avalanche bested the Sharks in a shootout, which made a very happy Jeremy.
Fall hiking
Fall couldn’t be complete without some final hikes before the wet season. We met up with some friends and took all our dogs on a fun jaunt in Tilden Park. Afterward we found a nice outdoor spot at Headlands Brewing in Lafayette to enjoy some food and beers.
For Thanksgiving we headed up the coast and hiked in the hills north of Bodega Bay. It was a warm and sunny day, but a lovely hike. After completing the hike, we found a picnic bench overlooking the ocean and sat and ate lunch with the prettiest of views.
Jeremy ups his Game Master skills
Jeremy also worked really hard on improving his dungeon master skills. He’s been building more and more elaborate terrains for his players to enjoy.
Jeremy’s Work
As part of his efforts to continue to grow his services and improve his camera operating skills, Jeremy prepared for and passed his Part 107 test which enables him to fly a drone legally and professionally. He bought a used drone and has everything he needs to start taking drone operator jobs.
Jeremy’s industry has taken a beating these last three years. Between Covid-19 shutdowns, and multiple guilds of the film industry going on strike year-after-year to advocate for better working conditions and fairer pay, and there’s been a lot of extra competition for freelance work. On top of that, the economic slow down in the tech industry has lead to fewer corporate clients spending money on video production. Despite all those challenges, Jeremy still had some work come his way and he even had a few travel jobs. We count ourselves fortunate, as we know many friends in the film industry have struggled to find work. We remain hopeful with contracts being signed and markets opening up that work will regain its demand.
In the mean time, we do what we can, we cherish each day we have with each other and enjoy the life we’ve built together.
Jeremy worked on a feature centered around a church, up near Chico, for a few weeks. Some of the crew members captured this shot and sent this image as a joke.
Jeremy traveled to New York on a job for Quickbooks with Gorilla Creative early in the year, making Loretta very jealous.
US Womens’ Soccer team promotion shoot for the Womens’ World Cup
Another set in Menlo where Jeremy did the lighting
Jeremy filmed a fundraising video for a few friends wanting to enter the Rebelle Rally, a long-distance off road vehicle race.
Here’s Jeremy “working” on a work trip in Alaska with the crew of Gorilla Creative.
What’s next?
In February, we’re heading to the mountains with the dogs and looking forward to spending a week playing in the snow and lounging in the hot tub.
Next year, in the spring, Loretta plans to take her sabbatical. We hope to have the bus “camping ready” so that we can take it on a month-long roadtrip with the dogs. We hope to stop in Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, and Idaho to see family and friends.
We’re laying low in the summer, as Jeremy is excited to be working on a six-week feature film in June.
We haven’t yet decided on where we’re going internationally this year, but some of the contenders are a trip to Denmark, the Netherlands, and Iceland, a trip to Spain and Portugal, or a trip to Thailand.
Loretta’s book about Japan is STILL in the works. It has taken a back seat to the bus updates, but we hope to film the kickstarter early next year.
Happy Holidays!
Love you all,
Jeremy, Loretta, Zero, and Darby
