Merry Coastline
and a
Sunny New Year!

Get your toes deep into 2009
and make some waves!

The coast of Belgium
May, 2008

Dear Friends,

2008 began sadly as we said goodbye to Martha Rapoport - and ended wonderfully as we said hello to Oscar Maitreya Ricioppo, son of Joseph and Holly, born December 9. Our whole family came together in Virginia (USA) to celebrate the holidays and Oscar's birth - a rare event, to get all eleven of us on one continent.

Ron and I had a surprising and meaningful experience in June. We were in Madrid for a few days of work/play. On the last day before we were supposed to fly back to Holland, Ron's back "went out." We ended up spending two more weeks in our hotel room, lying in bed watching Euro 2008 (we could hear tens of thousands of Spanish fans celebrating in Plaza de Colón after winning the final match), eating every meal from room service, talking, talking, talking, and laughing! It was a kind of unplanned marathon talking experience, like Paul Solomon used to recommend. By the time it was over, we had committed ourselves to slow down, say NO more often, enjoy life more, and focus on what's really significant. Cliché, but important. It's made quite a difference for us.

I've decided to stop as editor of the expat magazine, after four years of thoroughly enjoying the opportunity for creativity, communication and networking. I plan to focus more on working alongside Ron to complete the training program we are creating. In that direction, we made two more writing retreats in 2008 - the coast of Belgium in May and southern France in October. Each one a pretty cool place to take a laptop!

Here are some of our favorite photos from 2008.

In this newly hopeful and exciting year of 2009, we wish you good health, the energy and resources to accomplish what you want, a safe place to always turn within, and lots of joy in your days and hearts.

Love,
Ron and Grace