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Easter: The Cutest Holiday

April 25, 2011 By 1 Comment

We all know how I feel about Valentine’s Day and no, I don’t celebrate Easter either. I don’t celebrate Easter because I don’t have kids (and because I’m not Christian), but believe me, as soon as I have a few of those little suckers I’m going to go Easter crazy. Why? Because Easter is the cutestholiday. It’s kittens-playing-with-yarn cute. It’s brand-new-puppies cute.

[picture deleted]

Easter ranks right up there with Halloween on the Cute Holiday ranking. Although Easter might be cuter. I mean, you get your kids, you dress them up in little suits and little hats, you give them a ridiculous basket, and then you send them to go hunt for eggs? It’s over the top. As someone who is very susceptible to unbearable cuteness, it is just the best.

Go get 'em!

My favorite Easter event, for sheer cuteness, is the White House egg roll. For some reason they won’t let me shamelessly steal the pix off the official White House website to show to you here, so I highly recommend that

Little girls in sweater sets rolling eggs. Sweater sets!??! Too cute.

you go check them out. The set up is this: kids, dressed to the nines, with spoons, racing to roll eggs. And the President is in there somewhere too. Check it out.

For one final dose of Easter cuteness, I give you my little bro Xavier, who was inexplicably dressed as a yellow crayon on Easter.

The cutie in the middle is my little bro

Have a good week!
Wishing you love and unbearable cuteness,
Tannya

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An Arizona Life on the Beach

April 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

People always assume that because you’re from Arizona you don’t know what life is like on the beach. Please, people. Just because our state is landlocked and we have no natural bodies of water here (Lake Sahuarita does not count) doesn’t mean we can’t find our way around a bonfire, a bikini, and some beach volleyball. With Rocky Point only three hours away, and Kino and San Carlos only slightly farther, there are few of us who don’t take advantage of the water.

Magda, Me, and Adrian at Kino

As a kid growing up in Tucson never seemed like growing up away from the beach. At every opportunity, my parents would throw us in the back of the car, load up the tents, and drive south. I give you Exhibit A: A trio of salty-haired kids with tans.

For the Gaxiolas, the beach weekend is a way of life. I give you Exhibit B: Gaxiolas stacked to the sky.

From bottom to top: Fernando, Samuel, Eloisa

Normally, Easter weekend or semana santa is a perfect beach-going time. Unfortunately, this Easter I will miss out on the beach. There is just too much craziness going on at QuikHelp and at home. Such is the life of the entrepreneur.

BUT, I am looking forward to some serious beach time come Memorial Day weekend. All I have to do is somehow survive the rest of April and most of May. Bring it on!

Already at the beach in spirit,
Tannya

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New habits are hard to make

April 5, 2011 By 1 Comment

Oh Tucson, you quirky little town

I went for a run this morning. Today is day two of my plan to run for thirty-three days in a row. Why thirty-three? Because someone told me it takes 66 days to create a habit, but I figure I’m a fast learner so thirty-three oughta do it. Plus, Kino is less than 66 days away, so that number would be useless if my goal is to get in shape for Kino. The logic works, trust me.

This morning, my run (ahem! fast walk) took me to the top of a little hill by my house overlooking Tucson from north of River. It was so pretty up there. Lots of birds and cacti and bunnies. It reminded me of where we used to live when I was a kid — way out southwest, past Cardinal and Valencia. This was before there was a casino and the insane amount of development that has happened out there. My bro and I used to hop on our little BMX bikes and go cruise around the desert. It was awesome.

What's not to love?? (Picture borrowed from the A Fanciful Twist website. Check it out.)

When I was a kid, I also had particular soft spot in my heart for the horny toads. I can’t have been the only kid who was obsessed with those unfortunate little guys. But how could I not love them? They are like little tiny dinosaurs. Little tiny dinosaurs that you can take home and keep in a bucket with gravel in your bedroom until one day they mysteriously “disappear” (I’m looking at you, Mom) and you are forced to go find another one. (I miss horny toads. Now I have turtles and that is just as good. Even better, my mom can’t get rid of them.)

This is just weird.

So today, in addition to my 33-day plan to create an exercise habit for myself, I am starting work on making a new habit. My new habit will not be to go kidnap horny toads and keep them in a bucket, no. My new habit will be to take a little time, every day, to admire the singular beauty that we have in Tucson. Even if it just means appreciating the sunset as I drive up the freeway. Even if it just means taking a moment to admire the weird and wacky colors on the building in South Tucson. I encourage you to do the same.*

With love,
Tannya

*Also, I encourage you to recycle more, consume less, and conserve energy. Tucson can only stay beautiful if we actively sacrifice today to keep it that way for the future.

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I believe the children are the future…

March 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This was my first record ever

This morning I’m floating around feeling idealistic and hopeful for the future. Working with kids will do that to you. I’ve got that Whitney Houston song going through my head, “I believe the children are the future…”

I taught my first Junior Achievement class this morning and it was amazing. I was assigned to a sixth grade class at Wakefield Middle School. Sixth grade… Remember sixth grade? I was in Mr. Olbin’s sixth grade class at Lineweaver Elementary. I remember there were some kids in my class that I thought were so grown up.

Wowza.

They acted so cool and dressed so cool and, well, did everything so cool. And I was so not. I volunteered at the snack bar during lunch and sold pickles. Definitely not cool.

Meeting all those kids this morning, I was struck by how young they are. I sure didn’t feel that young when I was in sixth grade. I had stress and worries. There were issues in my life. Real issues. Like how exactly I was going to get the puff-paint I needed to paint sneakers for our Mini Society project. Issues!

Yeah, that's about right

I’m sure the kids this morning had their issues too, but all I could see was how young and curious and wide open they are. They were so excited and happy just to be there. It was like a shot of caffeine to be in the room with them. I’m sure they learned something from me, but I think I got a lot more from them. Every once in a while we all need a reminder that its good — really good — just to wake up and be surrounded by our friends and loved ones every day.

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday. I know I will!

With love,
Tannya

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How QuikHelp was born

December 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Thank you for joining me on my new blog. On this blog I’m going to share my experiences, good and bad, as I build QuikHelp.

QuikHelp is my legal document preparation company. We’re here to help give people like you and me access to the legal system. Many people in our country, and in the State of Arizona don’t have access to the legal system because they don’t have the money or the information they need. I know this from first hand experience.

My dad, Fernando X. Gaxiola (who will also be blogging on this website, coming soon!) has been an attorney here in Arizona since the early 80s.

My dad and I the year he opened his law practice in S. Tucson

He has his own law office, and has always been in South Tucson. When I was a kid, my brother and sister and I used to hang out at my dad’s office after work and we would hear his stories. He’d talk about the people he helped, and those he couldn’t help. Inevitably he’d take on some of the hardest cases for no money, just because saying no to someone who needed help was too heartbreaking. He just couldn’t turn those cases away.

Over the years, and when I grew up and started to work at my dad’s law practice, I heard so many stories and saw so many people who just had nowhere to turn. They couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer, but they couldn’t do it all by themselves either. So where did they go? Nowhere.

And that’s where the idea for QuikHelp was born. I thought: what if we can provide an alternative? Something that isn’t as expensive as an attorney, but that can still help people get their legal problems taken care of?

Last September we opened QuikHelp here in South Tucson. We’re delivering on the idea that everyone should have access to the legal system at a price they can afford. Everyday we see people who can’t afford an attorney or with problems that just don’t require an attorney. And we help them.

Yesterday we finalized a divorce, got two green cards approved for our clients, and got one person their US Citizenship. Today I’m finishing up a Chapter 7 bankruptcy for a client who got sick, lost his job, and was at the end of his rope. It feels good to be able to help this way.

So, join me on my journey as I bring QuikHelp to you, your family, and to Southern Arizona. I’m really excited about building this company and about getting to know you in the process.

Until next week!

Tannya
Gracias por leer mi nuevo blog. En este blog voy a compartir con ustedes mis aventuras, las buenas y las malas, que tenga en crecer este negocio, QuikHelp.

QuikHelp les ofrece un servicio de preparación de documentos legales. Estamos aquí para ayudarles a tener acceso al sistema legal Americano. Mucha gente aquí en este país y en el Estado de Arizona no tiene acceso al sistema legal, ya sea porque la persona no tiene los recursos suficientes para contratar a un abogado, o porque no tiene el conocimiento para navegar los procesos de las cortes o de Inmigración. Este yo lo se de mi propia experiencia.

Mi papa, el abogado Fernando X. Gaxiola (quien también próximamente va a escribir un blog en esta pagina, estén atentos!), ha tenido su despacho aquí en Arizona desde aproximadamente 1983.

Mi papa y yo el año en que abrio su despacho en Sur Tucson

Siempre tuvo su despacho en Sur Tucson. Cuando yo estaba chica, mis hermanos y yo pasábamos las tardes después de la escuela jugando en la oficina, y escuchábamos las historias de mi papa. Nos contaba de la gente que el había podido ayudar, y también de la gente que no pudo ayudar. No faltaba que el aceptara un caso difícil sin que el cliente le pagara. Es que en veces llegaban casos que le partían el alma, y nomás no los podía dejar sin ayudarles.

A través de los anos, y cuando ya estaba mas grandecita y empecé a trabajar en el despacho, supe de tanta gente que no tenía con quien hablar ni en donde pedir ayuda; gente que no podía contratar a un abogado pero que tampoco estaba capacitada para llevar el proceso legal sola. Y como se ayudaba? Estoy segura que en muchos de esos casos, no encontr solución.

Y así fue naciendo la idea de QuikHelp. Me preguntaba: No habrá manera de proveerle a la gente una alternativa? Algún servicio que no fuera tan caro como un abogado pero que le ayudara a la gente a resolver sus problemas legales?

El ano pasado abrimos nuestra oficina de QuikHelp aqui en Sur Tucson. Desde entonces les estamos brindando un servicio que les da acceso al sistema legal, a documentos legales, a un precio razonable. Todos los días hablamos con que no puede gastar en abogados o que tienen problemas que no requieren la intervención de un abogado. Y aquí en QuikHelp les ayudamos.

Ayer terminamos de procesar un divorcio, dos de nuestros clientes recibieron sus micas por primera vez, y un cliente se hizo ciudadano Americano. Hoy estoy terminando de preparar los documentos para una petición de bancarrota para un cliente que se enfermo, se quedo desempleado, y necesitaba ayuda. Me agrada muchísimo saber que yo puedo ayudarles de esta manera.

Bueno, sin mas por hoy, les invito que me sigan en esta aventura de crear un negocio e introducirles el servicio de QuikHelp a ustedes, a sus familias, y a todo el sur de Arizona. Estoy muy emocionada por desarrollar este servicio, y espero que nos conozcamos un poquito mejor en esto proceso.

Que pasen una semana muy bonita. Nos vemos aquí, en quikhelp.com la semana que entra.

Tannya

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