from Tessa
Stephenson Brasier
Patty Stephenson
From:pstephe7@yahoo.com
To:Jenk Stephenson
Fri, Jan 5 at 12:25 PM
Hi Aunt Patty,
Thank you for adding me to receive updates from what family is doing on the other side of the USA.🙂 I enjoyed reading your email on what 2023 was like for you and Uncle Jenk. Y'all are busy busy busy! I did enjoy the pictures on Facebook that were shared from your Europe trip. I think it is great you were able to meet up with so many people and do catch up. Great to hear Beth makes sure to bring the grandson for visits in CA. On a sad note, I am sorry to hear you and Uncle Jenk have dealt with numerous losses this year. Makes one appreciate life more and remember the good memories of the lost loved one. I do hope 2024 keeps y'all busy but safe at the same time while making more memories with each other!
As for what is going on in the Northeast with your niece....umm still adjusting to Maine life. My husband, Jake, is still worried I am missing Texas after a year and 3 months. I told him he would have to drag me back. I had my first Maine summer and waited for the heat wave to come through and am still waiting. lol. We did have some 90 degree weather but it was only for 2 days at a time and then went down each night. I love being able to go to the beach for the day and, in the evening, look out the bedroom window into the woods for any wildlife to pop up. Jake got his mountains and I got the ocean so we are both very happy and have been enjoying day adventures. We bought a house in February 2023 and moved into it by March. Fixed the basement to where it is partially done and now the hobby area. Going from a house to an apartment back into a house in less than 6 months was stressful and I am not doing any more moving for a long time. Along with giant house projects. lol. In October 2023 I flew down to TX for a 3 day visit with Dad. He took some of that time off to visit but I guess I will take what I can get. He did share that he was seriously looking at retirement so my goal this 2024 is to keep him in that mindset.
As for 2024 for us, Jake is continuing with school to get his BA in Economics while working for Texas Instruments. I have found a production worker job at the New Balance Manufacturing Plant in Norway. My commute went from an hour and 10 minutes to now 15 minutes. Yay! For big adventures planned right now.....we are heading to Europe ourselves in April for 10 days. It is my first European trip and very exciting. The factory I work at does a shutdown every July for two weeks so there may be another adventure there. The other week it shuts down is the week of Christmas so maybe family will come visit this time. Otherwise we take it day by day and enjoy the mini adventures too.
I really do hope 2024 brings you a year of great memories!