For those of you that may not know, who read this passage and continue to find out things you did not know, Feliz Ano Novo means Happy New Year in Brazilian Portuguese. One of the 3 languages in 12 countries and 5 currencies that I have been working with for the last 8 months with my wonderful renewals team at EMC.My oh my, has 2009 been a turning point for me. I found blogging, and by the looks of my previous scripting, it looks like I had some mighty good times and learned how to cook along the way. I figured out that I'm pretty decent in the stock markets and the way that legal gambling regime operates.
I made some big moves and made some money that allowed me to make adult decisions with my life and managed to put $60k into a co-workers pockets - granted he laid down the cash, but I pointed him to the giving trees on the NYSE and NASDAQ. I took my best gal to the wonderfully majestic lake of my youth in McCloud, CA, and watched the trout run to the mouth of the river by the old Castle. I reconnected with great friends from my past like 
James Cole and CJ Collings from Orange County via San Sebastian, SPN and my cousin Shawn Brassfield. I welcomed in some youngsters from Boston and shared My Bay Area before unleashing them into the California wilderness. I saw a few boxing matches at the Heart O the Mountain and shared more than a few glasses of pinot with my tall cousin, Brandon - it was nice to reconnect with him and realize he's even more off his horse than I am. My father and I, with the help of Shea Nyquist invented a FunGun for the Car Wash and we made the morning news. If you haven't seen the video, check it out. I sat down one night with my grandmother and learned about the Nieto and Vaca family orchard. I saw my niece and nephew grow up a little taller and scream with excitement when their Uncle John came into the room. I built a ginger bread house at Mom's for the 14 year in a row. I saw the Springville Rodeo with Melissa and all my cousins and had a great family reunion in the old town where Brassfield's have been creating history and family for near 100 years. My brother is now the Fire Captain of that town which pretty much makes him 'the man'.Most of all I found the love of my life, Melissa Lynn Morrissey and asked her to marry me. She is the rock I depend on. We realized our convictions while dancing in our living room last year, and this year we took the next step to etching our union in stone with a ceremony. If music be the food of love, play on.
Here's to 2010 and a few things I have marked in the calendar: marriage, promotion, better eating, better health, my Wii, racquetball, fishing, bachelor party in McCould, attend a bunch of wedding including my own, more golf, a new invention (you'll love it), seeing Luke at my wedding for the first time in 9 months, holding Emil and Chanel's child, sharing love and laughter with my family and friends, try to do a little better than last place in our Bocce league, and embrace all the heartache that comes with it.
Happy New Year.
