Red Headed Frog

This is actually my first time sending out a year end summation to everyone, but I figure it is about time I start doing it. There have been so many changes this year, that I was surprised Dennis and I were able to handle it so well. There will be many more changes to come in 2009 that I am very excited about as well. I will briefly discuss them below, but I mainly want to talk about what has gone on this past year.

The Job Offer

As most of you know, Dennis was offered a position in the United Kingdom this year. That left us with a very important decision to make. It was very difficult to leave our home and our family, but in the end we felt it would be a very exciting opportunity for us. Needless to say, we were on our way to England.

Starting Red Headed Frog

Red Headed Frog continues to evolve, and next year will be no different. We launched the blog in March, and we are constantly updating and tweaking our design and strategy. Starting the company from scratch has been a very interesting endeavor, and we have learned a great deal about business and project management as a result. My technical skills have grown, but I know I still have a long way to go to reach our goals. I am glad to say we’ve had around 11,000 visitors so far and growing. 2009 is certainly going to be a very exciting year for the company.

The Move to England

We were planning on being in England by February, but it took us until July to get everything in order. Brighton was highly recommended to us by our friends here so we decided to give it a go. We were not disappointed. I LOVE this place.

Brighton is an amazing city on the sea, attracting 8 million visitors annually. There is a thriving arts community here and it is quite a tolerant an eclectic area – I have been told perhaps one of the most tolerant areas of the world. Down stairs from our temporary housing is the most amazing Thai restaurant called Sabai; they have a mojito-chili drink that is out of this world.

Making Wonderful Friends

During September and October Dennis worked on AntiXSS, a solution to the most important security problem on the internet for the last 4 years, and he published a solution. During that time Dennis and I met a wonderful group of people that I am glad to call our friends. They have been incredibly welcoming and kind to us. Dennis and I are not used to such kindness and hospitality in others. We were truly grateful to meet such wonderful people.

Trip to Mallorca, Spain

In November, Dennis and I planned a trip to Mallorca, which is a little island off the coast of Spain. We had a fabulous time! Unfortunately, it was the first time in about 40 years it snowed up in the mountains. That made it incredibly cold down by the coast in Palma where we were staying. In the end, it didn’t matter at all. We enjoyed ourselves so much, and managed to see so many wonderful things. It was a very memorable trip.

The Proposal-by Dennis

This Thanksgiving was a fairly important time of the year as Samantha and I as we celebrated our third anniversary together. For our anniversary Samantha painted me a beautiful painting that is a remake of a painting she did three years ago at a public art installation declaring her love to me. It now hangs over our bed. I put together a special trip to Mallorca Spain, and I asked Samantha to marry me. She said yes…

Christmas-By Dennis

Samantha got a little pine tree and it smells so much like home, and we decorated it with origami birds.

On December 21rst – Winter Solstice, we had 7 hours and 52 minutes of daylight. They also have a celebration here called burning of the clocks that we went to, and we really loved it – it was so much fun. You can watch a video about it here.

Christmas we missed our families and Samantha made Chicken Mole for dinner and we had a small gift exchange. She got me a Moleskein Notebook and Fisher Space Pen, I got her a gorgeous full length mirror with the most amazing frame I have ever seen on anything.

Plans for 2009

I don’t know where we will move to in 2009, but we are seriously considering Kemp Town or Hove. Additionally, Dennis and I are planning to downgrade our lifestyle considerably. I think it will do us some good especially with the recession hitting so hard. Red Headed Frog will be subject to quite a few changes. We are tweaking our business model, re-designing our website and designing and creating new products among other things. I am taking this on as a full time endeavor now. I am very excited to work on all we have planned for Red Headed Frog this next year, and very thrilled to share the outcomes as well.

I hope everyone has a fabulous new year. We miss and love all of you very much.

With Love,

Samantha and Dennis