Newland General Construction will be in it's first year of existence in February 2012. I felt like it was time I wrote down a few things I've learned about starting a business in hopes that it can help someone else. 

If you like pictures, video or traveling these videos are for you. Amazing! 3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries later they created 3 short films entitled Move. Eat. Learn. My favorite is Move, I love how the frame has him right smack down the middle.



MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.



LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

New York was fantastic! The first three nouns I can think of to describe New York are culture, lights, and energy. I know this blog is primarily about the West Coast but I have to give my East Coast followers some kudos for you have the liveliest and fastest paced city I have ever been to. Let’s just say I think I fell in love with your city. Everything from the food to the happy hours was extraordinary. I was only in the city for a couple of day which of course wasn’t enough time but, you bet I made the most of those 2 days.

First, I took the train from Rocklin County into Grand Central Station. The station is gorgeous and was crowded with passengers frantically trying to catch their trains, or patiently waiting for their New Yorker relatives or friends to come by and pick them up. We right away jumped into tourist mode and tried to see as much as we could in one day: Rockefeller, The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Radio City, Little Italy and the beautiful Natural History Museum. Of course along the way we stopped for some good eats like Shake Shack for a burger, Junior’s for Cheese Cake, and Capitale Grille.

The following day was all about good ol’ Time Square we went there at night and I walked it with a great friend during the day. We also managed to find our way down to the financial district almost getting lost in the subway system due to weekday closures. My friend was in the market for an apartment and while we were down there we visited one that was facing onto ground zero. Almost 10 year later and you can still feel the emotion and pain of that day. I don’t think there is a single New Yorker who didn’t lose someone or knew of someone who lost. It was very powerful. After we paid our respects we headed down to Wall Street where I saw the building in which our first USA President was inaugurated. I love the old buildings and coblt stone roads we ended up stopping at Ulysses for a bite and then proceeded to hop back on the subway and walked to Dallas BBQ for some well deserved drinks. After all that I went back to grand central, headed up north. While on the train I was going through all of my pictures, and I remember thinking to myself, “This is the first of many trips to the big apple.”

My best-friend of 15 years and I along with 498 other Micheal Jackson fans were very excited to play tribute to the King of Pop yesterday at the San Diego Del Mar Fair. Below are some images and a video clip of the performance. We were dressed in our finest Mardi Gras attire because we started the show with the Masquerade scene from the Phantom of the Opera. Enjoy :)

i am...always trying to grow.
i want...to travel all over the world.
i wish...I had my house by the sea.
i have...far to many things I want to do.
i hate...lazy people.
i fear...the unknown.
i wonder...what my kids are going to be like.
i regret...nothing ~ everything happens for a reason.
i love...Ryan, through thick and thin.
i always...try my best at everything I do.
i dance...a lot.
i rarely...have a bad time because, I make the best out of any situation.
i cry...when I am mentally exhausted.
i lose... place of my keys, ID, and cell phone all the time.
i am not always...extraverted I like my personal time.
i know... I am strong and can do anything I want to do.
i should...always be a first rate version of myself and never a second rate version of someone else.
who are you?
Inspired by Lucy who wrote a wonderful I am Poem about her self in her hip London blog. Picture taken at Dukes Restaurant in Waikiki

    It's amazing that locations like this still exist and are still available to the public. Point Loma Cabrillo National Park offers the best Skyline view of San Diego. I remember my first time there. I walked through the National Park Visitors center and onto an outdoor terrace where all I could think of was WOW! The pictures do not do this beautiful landscape justice. To experience it you must go see it.

    Along, with the amazing views there is also the Point Loma Lighthouse, though it is cramped and small on the inside, it offers an amazing spiral staircase. If you stand at the bottom of the staircase and look up it makes for a very creative photograph. Our friend Chad is giving Point Loma a thumbs up. Enjoy