Hate to do it but I’m parting with my very first Taylor Acoustic Guitar – a 2002 310ce series. I bought her new from Guitar Center and she has been played mostly for pleasure and in church settings. There are a few dings in the body but everything else is in great condition – no cracks, straight neck, recent fret dress, etc. Guitar comes with original Taylor Hard Case.

I have a 510 series Taylor which is what I play most of the time. The 310 sees little play time these days which is why I’m willing to part with her.

The Taylor 310ce is one of the finest dreadnought acoustic-electric guitars you can get in this price range. The warm tone and open midrange of solid sapele back and sides balances the bright and snappy characteristics of a solid Sitka spruce top with scalloped X bracing. Textured satin back and sides, gloss top, ebony fretboard and bridge, plus Indian rosewood headstock veneer for classic Taylor visual appeal.

Features

• Solid Sitka spruce top
• Solid sapele back and sides
• Ebony fretboard and bridge
• Mahogany neck
• Indian rosewood headstock veneer
• Cutaway dreadnought body design
• tortoise plastic pickguard
• Grover Rotomatic tuners
• Dot inlays
• 25-1/2″ scale
• 1-11/16″ nut
• Tusq nut
• Fishman Prefix pickup / preamp system
• Serial #: 20020605020

I’m asking $900 o.b.o. Why pay $1300 plus tax for a new one when you can get this seasoned beauty that plays wonderfully and has been well taken care of? If  interested, please feel free to contact me via the Contact Form of this site.

Now for the pictures (click image for larger version).

Irma and I experienced something we have been wanting to do for some time – drive along the Pacific Coast Highway in California. Known as the “1″ or “PCH” for short, this highway runs mostly along California’s coastal line and offers breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, sometimes at near sea levels while other times atop high cliffs.

The original plan was to fly to Bellingham Washington, which sits near the U.S. / Canadian border, and work our way down. After thinking about it, we decided that would take much more time than we had for a vacation. Therefore we decided to go up as opposed to down and started our journey in San Diego.

Rather than bore you with all the details, I will say that the only planned part of this trip, that is where we were going to actually go and stay, was the first part – San Diego. Everything else depended on where we would end up the next day. In light of this, I must say that the trip was both adventurous and sometimes exhausting. I’m grateful for the Kayak app for Blackberry which helped us secure lodging for each new destination.

The general idea was to work our way up the coast till we hit the Sonoma area (wine country) and then head over to Lake Tahoe area and work our way back home through Nevada.

The cities we actually ended up staying in were as follows:

• San Diego, CA (Shelter Island) – 2 days
• Ventura, CA – 1 day
• Cambria, CA – 1 day
• Monterey, CA – 2 days
• San Rafael, CA- 2 days
• Reno, NV – 1 day
• Las Vegas, NV – 1 day

After 10 days and almost 2,300 miles in our Z, we were back home. Driving the Z was a lot of fun but did require very strategic packing. Luggage space was already pretty cramped when we left Phoenix and bringing 15 bottles of wine back home from our wine tasting adventures left little room for the imagination.

I can’t say the entire trip was “relaxing” – maybe certain parts of it, but I can say it was “educational” in that should we do something like this again (and we will), we know now what to do and what not to do.

Here are some of the highlights of our little trip:

• Saw two excellent bands at Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites in San Diego, one of which (Subliminal Trip) really stood out.
• Added another roller coaster (Giant Dipper) to my list of coasters ridden over my lifetime bringing the total number to 141.
• Visited Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery which has beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean.
• Got to walk out on the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, which is the longest concrete pier on the West Coast, measuring 1,971 feet.
• Drove through several beach cities in Southern California including La Jolla, Del Mar, Encinitas (stopped for tacos here), Carlsbad and Oceanside.
• Visited and stayed in Cambria, a seaside village located midway between San Luis Obispo and Hearst Castle on the Pacific Coast Highway.
• Visited Hearst Castle where we did one of the three tours available.
• Experienced the wineries of Paso Robles for the first time including Hearthstone, Opolo, Carina, Mondo, and one of my personal favorites, Rabbit Ridge.
• Visited Fisherman’s Wharf and Cannery Row in Monterey.
• Visited my wife’s brother in San Francisco, celebrating his birthday at the same time.
• Discovered Embassy Suites in San Rafael, the place we will now stay every time we visit Sonoma.
• Had a most excellent tasting at Cline Cellars in Sonoma (hit a few others but this one was the best).
• Got to see what Reno was all bout (not impressed) and stayed at the Peppermill.
• Drove the very boring Nevada State Route 95, also known as Veterans Memorial Highway, from Reno to Las Vegas where we passed through several ghost towns (the down economy) and a creepy dying lake (Walter Lake). I did pass everyone on that road and hits speeds up to 110 which is a plus. I would have gone faster but my wife was with me and hates when I speed.

Of course the very best part of the trip was being able to be alone with my wife, who is not only my lover but my very best friend, for 10 uninterrupted days from the normal drama of everyday life. That is something that I feel every couple needs now and then.

I think we will do another one of these types of trips in the future but the next time take more time to actually “relax” in each place. Irma would say a big “Amen!” to that. For example, the next time we might take I-10 to Los Angeles and stay in Paso Robles for a few days, then visit Carmel/Monterey again but for a few days this time. We would definitely have to visit Lake Tahoe (we drove past it but didn’t stop). Coming home, we might drive the beautiful U.S. Route 395 (as long as it is not winter) as opposed to the boring 95 in Nevada.

All in all, I thought it was a great experience and look forward to doing it again in the future but this time with some more experience and maybe a bit more pre-planning.

San Diego Naval Base

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery

Ocean Beach Municipal Pier

Hearst Castle

Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle

For the most part, I love living in Anthem, Arizona, a master-planned community built mostly by Del Webb (Pulte), located just south of New River. However, I hate my anal HOA (Home Owners Association). In fact they have to be one of the most anal, annoying and idiotic HOAs on the planet. A recent violation notice they sent me has got me all fired up. Now I’m ready for a fight!

Although I consider myself a model neighbor (I abide by the CCRs, keep our home in great shape, have the landscape manicured regularly, etc.), I have had more battles with these “power hungry” powers-that-be than I care to recall. I have received violation notices on several occasions regarding everything  from parking vehicles in the street in front of my home, to leaving trash cans out on days they are not supposed to be out, to even one where they claimed my grass is not green enough. They even go so far as to steal your garage sale signs that are placed around neighborhoods to draw in traffic.

The notices over the grass was so idiotic that it is almost humorous. A few years ago, they sent me a notice that my grass was not green enough. My grass was actually very lush at the time with the exception of a couple of small patches that those pesky rabbits had eaten. I mostly ignored the notice because I thought it was so absurd.

Soon afterwards, we had the grass cut down to the dirt to prepare for overseeding of Winter Rye Grass, something of which the CCRs require Anthem residents to do every year. I got a second notice that my grass not being green enough to which I responded to them that I was in the process of overseeding, something which they required my to do. They admitted to their folly (ignorance) and dropped their action against me.

The latest incident that has really pissed me off and really turned me against HOAs altogether is related to a parking violation. They sent me the first notice a few months back (not the first type of notice I’ve ever received) about a Jeep parking on the street in front of my house, something of which they strictly forbid. The problem is that the Jeep was not mine, nor did it belong to any visitors to my house. In fact, the day of the incident, my wife and I were out of town. I replied to their notice letting them know this.

Today, I received a second notice related to the first violation saying that I was now going to be fined $25. This time, the notice made reference to a BMW that was illegally parked. Again they got the wrong person as I do not own a BMW nor does anyone who has recently visited our home.

What’s even more ironic is that the Anthem HOA does not govern the streets in Anthem, at least in Parkside on the west side of I-17 (the section we live in). Maricopa County does and to my knowledge there is no law restricting parking vehicles on the street at any time. Therefore the Anthem HOA cannot legally enforce this although they do send notices and fine people all the time.

I wrote them back the following response:

To whom it may concern,

I received a notice from you which is titled “2nd Notice of Non-Compliance Fine Notification” with regards to vehicle parking on the street. I do recall getting a recent notice regarding a Jeep parking on the street in front of my home to which I pointed out to you in my response that the vehicle was not associated with me or anyone I know. In fact if we are referring to the same vehicle, it is a vehicle belonging to a service person providing services to my neighbor across the street.

This second notice I am writing about makes reference to “BMW ALG3488.” Now if that is referencing a BMW, whoever is reporting these so-called violations got it wrong again as I do not own a BMW nor does anyone I know, at least that has been visitors to our home recently.

This being said, we do have service people come to our home including pool service people, landscapers and even more recently, medical staff aiding my dying father-in-law who has been in a hospice situation in our home for the last two weeks. I will not allow these service people to park their vehicles in my garage or carport and it is ridiculous for you to assume that any homeowner in Anthem would allow services to park anywhere but in the street in front of their homes.

Finally, even if I were to park my own vehicles or vehicles of my guests on the street, you have no right to enforce a “no parking” rule as the streets in Park are not governed by the Anthem HOA but Maricopa County and there exists no such parking restriction in Maricopa County’s laws governing neighborhood streets. If there is, please reference it to me. Otherwise I demand that you remove the fine imposed on my account immediately and bother me no further with false accusations of parking on the street.

By the way, I have three vehicles that I personally own, all of which are in the garage (come see for yourself) and as of the last two weeks, we have had two additional vehicles parked overnight, one which is my ailing father-in-laws and the other my sister in law, who has been helping my wife take care of their father. Both of these have been parked in the carport during the entire time.

So as you can see, both notices were related to vehicles that I had nothing to do with and even if I did, the Anthem HOA has no right to tell me if I can or cannot park on the street. Really, are we supposed to let the landscappers pull the vehicles and trailers into our garage in order to keep them off the street? If we decide to have a gathering or party, are we to limit the attendance to only those who can park in our carport?

Anthem is still a great place to live but if you aren’t able to stomach a “Barney Fife” home owners association that is super anal about everything, live somewhere else. I know if I ever move from here, it will be to place where HOAs are non-existent!

This post is more of an experiment than anything else. I was conducting keyword research for a client in relation to my search marketing business and I was very intrigued when the Google AdWords Keyword Tool showed a decent amount of searches for “what is social media” and yet scored it as low competition. So, I thought I’d quickly define social media here and see if I can get this post to rank. If it does so, especially being that this is my personal blog, then the Google Keyword Tool’s competition scoring will seem accurate to me.

So with that said, here is the Wikipedia definition for Social Media.

Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable communication techniques. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein also define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”[1] Businesses also refer to social media as consumer-generated media (CGM). A common thread running through all definitions of social media is a blending of technology and social interaction for the co-creation of value.

There you have it. And to provide a bit more info as to what are the top ten social media sites (according to Alexa data), check out the graphic below.

That’s all I have. Oh, I almost forgot -  if you are reading this and are in need of any social media marketing services, check out my business site for more info.

It is with sadness that I announce that our dog, Jody, passed away yesterday. She was about 10 – 11 years old as we are not sure of her birth date, only her adoption date. Jody met her fate after getting into some rat poison which she mistook for something to chew on. The vet tried to save her with injections of Vitamin K but is was too late. And while she lived a very good life for the 8 or so years we had her, I’m very sad it had to be shortened in this manner.

The first time I met Jody, she was a little over a year old and belonged to one of our friends. I thought she was a most beautiful canine but was frustrated that she would never let me near her due to the fact that she had obviously experienced some abuse when she was a puppy. I’d get to just about an arm’s length of her when she dart off in fear.

I was surprised one day when my wife came home and Jody was with her. We already knew that our friend was moving to another state and could no longer care for Jody so my initial response was, “What is that dog doing here?” You see, I didn’t want another dog as we had had some bad experiences with the last one. I barked, “That dog is not living here. No way, no how!” Some eight years later, she’s still here, at least until yesterday.

Once Jody came to live with us, her initial fear of me (and every male for that matter) quickly subsided and I became her best friend. That was a natural occurrence most likely due to the fact that I’m the one that fed her, spent the most time with her, walked her, pet her, occasionally bathed her (she was an outside dog), in essence loved her. Sure the rest of the family gave her attention as well but I was her favorite.

I recall how every time I came home after being out of town how excited Jody was to see me. In all honesty, that occurred every day when I’d first see her in the morning however when I was gone for any length of time, she was always especially excited to see me. She loved to go on walks as well, so much so that at times when I didn’t want to walk her, she’d dart out the gate and go on one by herself. She always come back though because she loved her home.

When we were building our swimming pool, I took Jody to a friend’s house three miles away so she could stay in his back yard while the contractors where applying the cool deck surface. A couple hours later, I’m in my back yard and hear this barking coming from the front of the house. It’s Jody. She had dug a hole under my friend’s gate and found her way home. That’s how much she loved her home.

Even though I initially I was reluctant to the idea of ever owning another dog, Jody turned out to be one of the best dogs we ever had. She had a very sweet and gentle way about her and yet her bark would scare off anyone that was not supposed to be in “her” back yard. She never chewed on anything that she wasn’t supposed to like furniture, clothes left outside, etc. She was never “over desirous” of affection as many dogs are (one thing I hate about dogs) – a simple pat on the head or a stroke of the coat would do.

We will miss our Jody. She was a great pet and if all dogs do go to heaven, she will certainly have a special place there. I wish we could have had a few more years with her but thank you Jody for 8 great years. May you now rest in peace.

We (my wife mostly) watch our grand-babies, Andy – 2yrs. old and Jadyn – 1 yr. old, at least three times a week while their mother works. With myy daughter being a single a mom, we are glad to help out as the costs of daycare can be enormous.

That being said, we have literally transformed portions of our home to keep these precious little ones safe. I thought it would be interesting to provide a peek at what we actually have to do every time these little ones are with us.

Of course there are the normal things most people do when they have toddlers running around – safety locks on cabinets, safety latches on doors leading to pools, and the like. In our case, we not only have these but many other pre-cautions in place, mostly for our grandson who is quite adventurous to say the least.

While we do have one bedroom in the house dedicated as a “playroom,” the grand-kids spend most of their time in our great room which consists of a family room, kitchen, large pantry and eating area. The following are safety measures we have put in place in order to make this area safe for our little ones.

One of two removable gates to keep babies out of dangerous kitchen where there are knives, hot stoves and other off-limit things including playing hide-and-seek in cabinets.

Here is gate number two, restricting baby access to kitchen.

This gate, which is permanently bolted to wall, keeps babies out of formal dining/living room.

Another permanent gate to keep them from hallways leading to bedrooms and front door.

Without a lock on this pantry (hanging skewer used to unlock), babies would get into a lot of mischief such as emptying out entire 5 gallon water jug from water dispenser.

No picture is not upside down. If bar stools were not placed on counter like this, babies would climb up on counter and then dive off. Seriously, they would!

By opening vertical blinds all they way, keeps babies from pulling them out. believe, I have already replaced half of them and reinforced top slots with steel brackets.

Okay, this one does nothing to protect the babies but it does protect the 73" TV and componets underneath FROM the babies

Finally, a safe place has to be fun as well so every time the grandkids come over, we pull out a selection of toys that they can play with. Here they are all neat and tidy just prior to them being strewn out all over the place.

There you go. Add to all this preparation the fact that we have to constantly keep an eye on them to make sure they are staying safe. It is not really about “restricting” their freedom and creativity but rather providing a safe environment where they can explore their freedom and creativity.

What about you, the reader? What kinds of steps have you taken, crazy or not, to ensure your little ones are safe in your home? Let us all know in the comments section of this post.

Postscript: Finally sold this amp. Leaving this post up as an archive.

I recently purchased a Vox Custom Classic AC15CC1 Guitar Amp so the Marshall Guitar Amp I’ve been using for the last several years has to go. Because I’m running POD XT Live effects, I no longer need the four channels as well as all the effects that the Marshall amplifier offers. So she’s up for sale.

If you are looking for a 150 watt Marshall Combo amp, this is your chance to get one at about two-thirds of what you’d pay for it brand new.

The Details

The amp is loaded with 2 x 12-inch 100W Celestion speakers, paired with the 150W (75 watt per speaker) Valvestate amplifier in a combo unit. This amp features 2 x 12ax7 preamp tubes as well as solid-state poweramp circuitry. There are 16 onboard FX channels, including several reverbs, delay, chorus, flange, and various permutations.

The amp features 4 channels – Acoustic Simulator, Clean, OD1 and OD2 along with 2 EQ sections – one for the clean channels, one for the OD channels. There is one Master volume, and one master presence knob. FX send/return, headphone out, mono/stereo emulated line out for direct recording.

Includes power cable, 6 button LED footswitch to select channel and engage/disengage effects and original manual.

This Marshall functions like new but there is some wear and tear on unit itself from light gigging (few scratches in vinyl on back and small tear on bottom).

I have more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/david-wallace/sets/72157618749063770/.

How Much?

I’d like to get at least $650 for her. I paid almost a $1,000 brand new. If you are interested, send email to david [at] davidwallace.com or call me at 602-300-6927. I will not ship this amp so you have to be in the Phoenix area (sorry).

Happy Easter or as I like to refer to it, “Resurrection Day.” Because Jesus Christ was crucified (died) and rose again from the dead (resurrected), I too was able to die to my old sinful nature and now live in Him!

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid ; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.”

Matthew 28:5-6

Irma and myself have made it an annual event to visit San Francisco and the Bay Area annually in conjunction with Search Marketing Expo and Search Engine Strategies conferences that are held in the San Jose area.

Typically we take 3-4 days after the conference and head up the 101 to San Francisco as well as Napa and/or Sonoma Counties. Most recently, we decided to do the “vacation” portion of our trip first and limited it to just two days.

The reason why we decided to vacation prior to business was due to the fact I was scheduled to sing at my cousin’s wedding on Valentine’s Day. Seeing she had asked me well over a year in advance, there was just no way I was going to opt out due to my normal travel plans in conjunction with SMX West.

We also had to limit the trip to just two days because my youngest daughter’s birthday occurred just before the trip and seeing that we are her primary babysitters for her two young children (13 months and 2 months), we decided to sacrifice 1-2 days in the Bay Area so she could go out and celebrate her birthday with her best friend who has a birthday on the same day.

All the same, the limited time we had still worked out to be a great trip.

We decided to catch the earliest flight possible to San Francisco Airport so we could take advantage of the rest of the day to tour some wineries in Napa. Our flight was scheduled for about 8:45 am and we were due to land in S.F. by about 9:50 am (California is an hour behind us right now).

The flight was delayed by about 30 minutes so by the time we landed and had our rental car, it was about 11 am. This still gave us plenty of time to pick up Irma’s brother and friend and head to Napa.

Instead of trying to hit a bunch of wineries, we visited a total of four, three that are favorites and one that was brand new to us.

Viansa Winery

Overlooking the Sonoma valley, Viansa Winery is a picturesque wine country destination. Located in the world renowned Los Carneros region of Sonoma and Napa, Viansa produces over 15 fantastic varieties of wine, all available for wine tasting.

Viansa Winery sits gracefully on the crest of a hill, surrounded by acres of healthy vineyards, groves of olive trees and a unique 90-acre natural preserve that’s home to native California plants and wildlife. Embracing the Sonoma Valley land is a Mediterranean climate that nurtures Italian and California vines, and gives Viansa its distinct Tuscan environment.

The winery is incorporated into an Italian marketplace that offers an array of delectable food items as well as wine accessories. One feature we did miss from last year’s visit was the wood-fired pizzas which were most likely absent due to the fact that it had been raining. Instead we enjoyed one of their delicious sandwiches in which the bread was phenomenal.

We purchased two bottles from this winery – a 2004 Freisa, a very full-bodied wine with rich flavors of currants and blackberry and a 2006 Farneta Carneros Primitivo, a rich, yet soft and satisfying wine with a lingering fruity finish.

Roche Winery

Our next stop was the Roche Winery which is a very close neighbor of Viansa. The Roche family takes pride in their success of making some of the finest wines in Carneros. The ranch, which was once deemed as unsuitable for grapevines, is now perhaps the most valuable piece of property in the Southern Sonoma Region.

Last year as Irma and myself were sampling wines in their tasting room, I was sure that the couple next to us, in which we were having pleasant conversation with, was Rosie O’Donnell and Kelli Carpenter but later after seeing pictures of Kelli online, I realized we were mistaken. Luckily I did not embarrass myself by asking something like, “Hey, aren’t you Rosie O’Donnell” which I don’t think I’d ever do anyway if encountering a celebrity.

After sampling several of their quality wines, we decide to purchase two bottles – a 2007 Carneros Estate Chardonnay and a 2004 Carneros Estate Merlot . When visiting wineries in California, I always try to buy wines that are made from grapes grown right there on-site, which is typically indicated in the title “estate” or “estate-grown.”

Reynolds Family Winery

During last year’s visit, one of our favorite wineries was located on what is know as “The Silverado Trail,” home to some of Napa’s most prestigious wineries. Reynold’s Family Winery is probably one of the smaller wineries located in the region but one of the best in my opinion. It was last year that Steve Reynolds himself gave us a “behind the scenes” tour and represented himself as someone who is very passionate about wine-making.

We purchased four bottles from this winery – a 2005 Napa Valley Chardonnay, a 2005 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2 bottles of 2004 Persistence Red Wine. I believe we acquired 2 bottles of the Persistence because we thought we’d drink one while in California. However, they both made it home with us.

Pine Ridge

Our final destination for the day was Pine Ridge, located a bit north of Reynolds Family on the Silverado Trail. We enjoyed our tasting very much, mostly due to the young but very knowledgeable hostess who served us. She was even so gracious, at my brother-in-laws’ coaxing, to allow us to taste one of their Cabernets that sells for over $100 a bottle.

We chose one bottle from this winery – a 2005 Carneros Merlot which was absolutely delicious.

Manora’s Thai Cusine

Dinner that evening took place at a wonderful Thai restaurant called Manora’s Thai Cuisine located on Folsom street. We started off with Por-Pia-Sod as an appetizer, followed by Gang Jurd for the soup.

For our entrees, the four of us shared Pad Thai, Gai-Kraprao, Salad-Nur-Sun and Gang-Gari-Gai. Every dish was pure enjoyment to the palette. This is one of my all-time favorite Thai restaurants both for authenticity and appeal to the appetite.

Day Two

Day two was questionable as to whether it would be productive due to the fact it had been raining quite frequently in the city. Fortunately, we awoke in our Kensington Hotel Royal Court King room to clear skies. That meant that we would venture out into the city as opposed to being shut up in the room.

Because I had missed visiting North Beach during our last visit, it was a primary goal to be able to visit this section of the city which features fantastic Italian restaurants. We decided this time to try one that was new to us. Mona Lisa was our choice and a great choice it was. In fact, I think of all my visits to San Francisco, Mona Lisa is my favorite North Beach eatery. Check out a review I wrote on Likes n’ Gripes.

After a hearty lunch, we need to “walk off” the calories. Chinatown is just south of North Beach and that is where we spent the majority of the rest of our daytime hours. The streets were refreshingly uncrowded, which is not typically of this very popular tourist destination. Maybe it was the economy or simply the fact that winters in San Francisco combined with the possibility of rain are very cold. Nevertheless we had a great time moving from shop to shop and even took away with us some nifty merchandise and a couple of fine teas.

The Macy’s at Union Square is very unique and worth a visit when in the city. The basement includes a selection of eateries and a marketplace where they sell fine wines, mostly from California. Having worked off some of the Italian food we had at lunch, Irma and myself decided to get a snack before dinner.

A wood fired pizza from the Wolfgang Puck restaurant did the trick. We also picked up a couple of bottles of wine for the room so we would not be tempted to tap in to the collection we had amassed the day prior.

After resting for awhile, my brother-in-law and his friend picked us up for dinner. They had wanted to treat us to one of San Francisco’s best Mexican food restaurants located in the Sunset district but unfortunately it was closed (typical of traditional Mexican restaurants to close on Mondays).

So we opted for a past favorite – the Cafe for All Seasons located on Portal Avenue. I had their Seafood Stew which consisted of a melody of whitefish, jumbo prawns and scallops. It was wonderful indeed.

After dinner we hung out with Irma’s brother and friend for awhile back at the hotel and then called it an evening around eleven as both of them had to work the next day.

That comprises our short but very fulfilling trip to San Francisco. The next day we would drive down to Santa Clara to attend the SMX West conference where I was to speak on two panels.

If interested, you may read a recap of that portion of our trip on the SearchRank blog, which I will link to from here once it is written.

Just wanted to take some quick time out here to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I’ll be spending mine at home with family although we are itching to get up to Flagstaff to see some snow.

This was a very interesting year for Irma and myself as it was a year when we became grandparents for the first time. What is even more interesting is the fact that we became grandparents twice – both grandchildren born to our youngest daughter.

It has been very exciting to watch Andy who was born in January to grow and develop as well as to see Jadyn who was born in November in her first month of life. We are very happy that they are both healthy and beautiful babies.

Both grandbabies and our daughter live with us so our lives have pretty much centered around them this year.

We did have the opportunity to some travel for business (which we always combine with pleasure as well). We were in the Bay area in February, Ohio in September and Vegas and Anaheim (Disneyland) in November. I myself also traveled to Houston in April and Seattle in June.

Other than that, it has been life as usual at the Wallace residence.

Finally remembering that “Jesus is the reason for the season” I leave you with this cartoon from Reverend Fun.