News and Events

My New Home:

9.05.2007

The Journey to Austin was very smooth. It ran a lot better then I thought it would. We have been here for a little over a month now and I am tremendously enjoying being an Austenite.  

I am excited to be volunteering this year with the Austin Film Festival. The Festival will take place this year on October 11-18, so if you'll be in the area come down and enjoy all that the festival has to offer. Or contact them for volunteer opportunities if you're interested.

I was surprised that the cost of living here in Austin is cheaper than the cost of living in Ohio. I guess that's why Austin was rated the second best big city to live in by Money Magazine

And voted #1 for Steroid Cities (Not in the drug related Steroid) in Forbes cheapest Places to life

As you can tell I am a proud resident of this fine City. 

I have also taken part in some fun here in Austin with the Wednesday night Mixers (that incorporates a mix of talented individuals in the filming industry) and the pool tournaments that take place throughout this city and its outer limits. I took third place in a pool tournament just last week 

I truly enjoy having my children in the schools here as well, my youngest is involved in a dual-language kindergarten program that will continue until she is in first grade. I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for her, of which she will speak fluent Spanish by the time she is in the fifth grade. 

Thanks Austin for welcoming me and my family in - I greatly appreciate the beauty, fun, opportunities and generosity you offer and will take full advantage of living the life here anew!

 

Saying Good-bye to Toledo

I have always thought of the place I grew up in as home, well of course it is my home. Living in the Toledo, Ohio area all my life I felt rooted, this is my home where I will land forever. As I got older, along with the negativity I have been through here, those feelings and love for this city has changed. 

It's not only that many Toledoens are shady and rude, except all those wonderful people I adore (my family and friends) and I don't mean all Toledoens are this way -  the rude ones know who they are - but its the culture or non-culture that resides in this depressed area of the country, that festers inside and makes me yearn for a life fully lived, a real opportunity in the arts community and adventures that can actually be found.

 Don't get me wrong Toledo has a great art museum and tons of incredible restaurants, and there will always be a special place in my life for this town that has seen me go from a freckled-faced tom-boy into a woman. But it also harbored negative emotions, a foster home and domestic violence. Perhaps its the negativity of life that I am ready to shed from my existence, or its the shadow of living in this town that has me ready to relocate my family 5,000 miles away. 

As my husband and I say good-bye to a home I never thought I'd leave, I say hello to a life I and my children fondly deserve. For the sake of my hometown and the people I love who remain here, my only hope is that Toledo can find its way to a better community, a promising future and can create a place the people can all be proud of - Yes, this is my wish for you Toledo.