May 19, 2013

       

You are here: Home / Archives for Tucson

Ode to A Creosote

July 5, 2011 By 3 Comments

Fuzzy creosote goodness

Every Tucsonan knows the desert smells damn good after a rain.  Sure, sure, the foresty green parts of the country smell nice after the rain too. But the desert smells good.

People who aren’t familiar with the creosote bush that is native to this area are just missing out.  I once took a foreign visitor out to Saguaro National Monument East so she could meet the Sonoran Desert in all its glory.  The giant saguaros almost knocked her off her feet, but when I taught her to cup the creosote in her hand, blow on it and then breathe in that amazing smell, she was in love.

Ocotillos are my favorite desert plant

Yes, Tucson is in all its glory today.  The cactus will soon be in bloom, the
ocotillo will turn furry and green.  But today, the morning after the rain, is as good as the desert ever gets.  I hope you take a moment to breathe it all in.

With love,

Tannya

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

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

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

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

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Another year older…

February 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Happy Monday everyone! Today is my birthday and I am… er… thirty something years old.  Whenever it is your birthday it is only appropriate to reflect back on birthdays gone by. So today I will take you back — not so very long ago, mind you — to my thirtieth birthday.

Adrian and Me. Do you see the family resemblance? Ha!

My thirtieth birthday party was awesome, as all thirtieth birthday parties should be.  My brother Adrian came to visit from Oklahoma, my friends Flora and Cathy took me out to dinner, and then we all had a big ol’ party at a really fun bar in New York (I was living in NYC at the time).

Me, my eyelash gems, and Flora Chao (one third of my trio of besties)

Me, my eyelash gems, and Flora Chao (one third of my trio of besties)

Despite the party, and the fun, and the awesome eye makeup (yes, I have little gems on my eyelashes), turning thirty was really tough.  I had just gone through a divorce and was single for the first time in my adult life.  To celebrate my milestone birthday alone, for the first time without my husband, was incredibly painful.  Divorce makes you question who you are.  It makes you reevaluate everything in your life.  It makes you doubt yourself and your decisions.  And turning thirty amid all of that was really awful.

I know at QuikHelp we sometimes poke fun at divorce. (QuikHelp\’s Mini-Movie \”Help, Help I Need A Divorce Too!\” by AnthonyRyanMediaTV)  But I know how serious it is, too.  Having gone through it all myself (without an attorney, by the way) I know exactly what it feels like.  That’s why every birthday since my thirtieth birthday I look back on that day.  Every time I turn a year older I take a moment to look back on that newly-thirty version of me, and reflect.

Since my divorce, I have rebuilt myself and my life and I am happy with me now.  I have managed to surround myself with wonderful friends, here in Tucson and in New York.  I have the love and support of the most amazing, quirky, hilarious group of fun-loving family members a girl could ask for.  My work gives me little blessings every day and allows me to help people who don’t have anywhere else to turn.  I am a very lucky girl.  Put all of that together, and this year I can very truly and honestly look me in the mirror this morning and say “Happy Birthday to Me”.

With love today and always,

Tannya

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Bring On Another Weird Week!

February 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Tucson, Bill & Rose Carabeo's Home -- borrowed from FaceBook

This was a weird week in Tucson. We froze, our pipes froze. This is Tucson, we’re not supposed to be cold. We are warm and sunny and WARM. But not this week.

Through this atypical Tucson weather, we coped and kept warm as much as we could. Luckily for the crew at QuikHelp, although we all lost water service at home, we did have water at the office. With an extra squirt of perfume and hair going in every direction, I still managed to get to the office and help out a few clients.

Yes, it was a weird week but I’m starting to understand that in the life of the entrepreneur every week is a weird week. Whether its the first time you go on the radio or the first time you go to work without a shower — the life of the entrepreneur is unpredictable. Unpredictable, but fun.

When I first decided to start QuikHelp, early in 2009, I was really frustrated after having lost my job in NY. I had loved where I worked, but I didn’t love the job. I didn’t love waking up every morning and going to the same office to do the same thing with no real passion. And as I looked for a new job, the idea of going back to the corporate grind under a different logo didn’t seem appealing. So I decided to do my own thing.

Working at QuikHelp is worlds away from any work I’ve done before. It has been my first step out of the big corporate world and away from big finance, and I’ve loved it. I love getting to talk to people every day, knowing that every time a client walks out of my office I’ve made a difference. Sure, I wake up every day and go to the same office, but now I’m really passionate about it. I love my team — Peter and Maribel, and our new intern Vanessa — and I wouldn’t trade them for anyone. Together, I know we’re making a difference and it feels great. So even when the water pipes freeze and I have to go to work with a double layer of deodorant, I’m really happy to be at QuikHelp.

This morning, I raise my coffee mug to you and to another great weird week! Happy Monday!
T

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Remember Camp Cooper?

January 24, 2011 By 1 Comment

This weekend I was happy to host a friend of a friend on her first trip to Tucson.  I love it when people come to Tucson for the first time.   You give them margaritas, a trip down Fourth Ave, and 80 degree weather in January and they’re in heaven.  Add some hiking, a sammy dog, and cocktails at Club Congress, and they’re in love forever.  It never fails.

But this weekend I somehow felt that even though I had given our guest a great taste of Tucson, she could never really get it.  She’d never really get why Tucson is a special place.  Of course when I was growing up here — like every angst-ridden teen — I couldn’t wait to hop the first plane out of here.  But since I moved back here in 2009, I’ve come to appreciate again all the great things about Tucson.

This weekend I was thinking about Camp Cooper.  Do you remember Camp Cooper?  These days its called the Cooper Center for Environmental Learning (http://www.tusd1.org/contents/depart/cooper/index.asp), but when I was a kid it was camp.  A camp where we stayed overnight with our elementary school class.  We learned not to push our beds against the walls (scorpions), to flip over rocks with the toe of our shoes (centipedes), and to check our shoes before we stuck our feet in them (more scorpions).  We learned about owl pellets and pack rats.  Someone inevitably sat on a cactus (I’m looking at you, Dimi.)

But we also spent a lot of time running around like the little sun-baked Sonoran Desert-grown kids that we were — catching horny toads, sneaking in and out, eating marshmallows in bed.  And we loved it. We loved our desert and our cacti and we bonded.  It was a such a uniquely Tucson experience that when I’ve tried to explain it to people that aren’t from here they always end up giving me weird looks and stressing about scorpions.  And I think all of Tucson is kind of like that.  Yes, its blisteringly hot.  Yes, we have scorpions and weirdo politics.  But there is also something really magical about this place that you can only appreciate by actually living here.

I lived ten years on the east coast and loved life in great cities of the East.  But since I’ve been back in Tucson, I’ve been having a Camp Cooper experience — I’ve been learning all the fun and quirky things to love about Tucson.  This Friday I had a wonderful time with my fellow Tucsonans, first at at a mixer at Lupita Mitz’s Concept 100 Realty and later at SkyBox for Leslie Leon’s and Lea Marquez-Peterson’s birthday celebration.  This is a great town, and there’s a lot of magic to be found here.  Like Camp Cooper, Tucson is hard to explain, but I’m really glad to be back.  

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , ,

WE Are Arizona — All of Us Together

January 10, 2011 By 1 Comment

I really struggled to write today’s post.  This was a very difficult weekend for many of us.  The tragic events of Saturday morning left a beloved public servant very seriously injured, took the life of a respected Federal judge, and abruptly and cruelly ended the life of five more innocents.  Not to mention all those who were injured, all those who were terrified, and all the family and friends who were left at home clinging to each other, fearing for the worst and hoping for the best.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, AZ Congressional District 8

I was one of the ones who sat by my radio for hours, heartbroken, and listened to the events unfold.  As the news came trickling in and events unfolded, the Twitterverse, Facebook, and my email inbox began to fill with anger, fear, and more anger.  Accusations flew — the Tea Party did it! Sarah Palin is to blame! — and my heart broke even further.

It’s normal to feel anger when faced with a national tragedy like this one.  It was so cruel, so unjust, so senseless.  I’m angry too.  But we don’t gain anything by feeding the very fires of hate that cause a tragedy like this one.  As long as we continue to talk about us vs. them, to denigrate people who don’t share our political views, we feed the fire.  And on Saturday after the shooting the fires of hate were raging.

At the same time, there was a very beautiful scene unfolding in Tucson and across Arizona.  Individuals started to come together to support each other, to wipe tears, to plan vigils, to commemorate and remember and love.  Sunday the lines were hours long at the Red Cross donation stations.  Churches and synagogues brought their communities together in prayer.  Facebook profile pictures have been changed in honor of Rep. Giffords and the other victims.

Even while Sheriff Dupnik accused Arizona of being a mecca for prejudice and bigotry, the outpouring of love and support from the community was enough to bring tears to my eyes.  Because Sheriff Dupnik was wrong.  Yes, Arizona has seen some tough political times recently.  But that is only because too many of us have lost track of one fundamental truth:  WE are Arizona — all of us together.  We share a love of our saguaros, of our purple mountains, our buildings painted in outrageous colors, and Sonoran hot dogs.  And like people everywhere we wake up in the morning, try to make a better life for ourselves and our families, and go to bed ready to do it all over again tomorrow.

Today, as the news continues to be flooded with pictures of Gabby Giffords, and we learn more about the motivations behind Mr. Loughner’s actions, I urge you to turn away from your anger and accusations.  I urge you to remember that we are all Arizonans first, and that we are Democrats, Republicans, Tea Partiers, and Liberals, second.

With love,
Tannya

P.S. Please give blood.  Our emergency services were able to meet the needs for blood during Saturday’s tragedy because people had given ahead of time.  You can help replenish the supplies and to keep the blood banks well stocked by giving now and in the future. http://ht.ly/3ABgv If you cannot give blood, please consider donating in other ways.

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Real Christmas Gift: Each Other

December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Oh boy, Christmas is here. The rushing around, the presents, the wrapping, the tape randomly stuck to my elbow… It’s Christmas for sure.

Amid all the buying and giving and getting of Christmas, last week I got to take a wonderful break to remember what the holidays are really all about. The ladies of Las Comadres went to the Casa de Esperanza senior home and spent an afternoon with some of the residents there.

I spent my time talking to a very sweet man, Mr. M. He had moved to Arizona when he was a kid, and shared stories with me about a Tucson I never even knew existed – a place with housing for WWII soldiers’ families and old neighborhoods that have long since been built over. And even though I was there to do him some good, Mr. M. did me a lot of good too. He reminded me of how wonderful it can be to take the time to talk to a perfect stranger; that we all have our stories to share and we deserve to be listened to; and that spending a quiet hour in good company – without presents or shopping or tinsel – can be one of the best ways to celebrate this holiday.

I hope you all get the chance to give an hour of your time this Christmas week, whether to a loved one or a stranger, and that you have a chance to feel the true Christmas spirit in your heart.

Merry Christmas.

Filed Under: Tannya Gaxiola Tagged With: , , , , ,