Greetings again and heart-felt wishes for a joyous holiday season to all of our dear Country Home junking friends. I trust this letter finds you all cozy, toasty warm, and happy. As you know, we live in Minnesota, so staying toasty for us means the donning of the winter duds. Down parkas, knee-high boots, warm woolen mittens, tasseled hats, and scarves wrapped tightly about our necks. This uniform makes junking a little bit more difficult, but where there’s a will there’s a way, and the junk will not elude us this winter! But before we hoist those junking ice picks we will be taking some time to kick back, relax, and enjoy love, laughter, and good cheer with our families and friends. This is indeed a very special time of year for all of us at JUNKMARKET and the American Junk Club. A decidedly hectic, but oh-so-fun 2007 has delivered the gifts of many new junking friends, fond junking memories, and the promise of good things to come. We are truly blessed and wish to thank all of you for sharing this journey with us. We look forward to the good times that lie ahead. With that said, let’s all grab a cup of cocoa, sit down by the fire, and take a moment to reflect upon the year past.

I remember last January well. There was a lot on our plates and getting around during the winter months can be a wee bit more than challenging. Winter ’07 delivered snow storm after snow storm mixed in with a few of the icy variety. Book number two was on the home stretch, and I’ll never forget the hilarity that ensued. The hauling of furniture through 2 feet of snow, waiting out the power outages by candlelight, and working in freezing temps (inside and out) were all part of the fun. We survived the storms nicely and book two, Junk Beautiful, is now completed and at the printers. Book three—Junk Beautiful, Outdoor Edition—is now under way. I did learn my lesson last year and will be moving to California for 6 weeks to wrap this book. I’m opting for flip-flops over mukluks this time around!

Our home-show speaking engagements were like a whirlwind tour taking us from coast to coast. Although we had a great time in every city, one stands out among the rest. Like the book, some of these events were fraught by inclement weather. Oklahoma City was one such place. We arrived just after the worst ice storms they had seen in quite some time. The streets were like one skating rink butting up to the next. Unlike Minneapolis, most cities are just not equipped to handle this type of weather. Schools and businesses were closed for nearly a week, but that did not stop all of the intrepid junkers from making it to the home show to see us. It brought back fond memories of the snow days we looked forward to as youngsters. Oh, and I shouldn’t forget to tell you about the rodeo. It was going on in the building next to us and apparently the weather was causing some microphone frequency problems. During the course of our presentations, over our speakers, the voice of the announcer from next door would bellow, “C’mon down, bull rider number 9!” The first time this happened we were a bit startled. After that we just rode with it. No pun intended!

Country Home kept us on our toes throughout the year as well with two stops on the Junking Journey trail (The J&J Show in Brimfield, MA, and First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX), two Antiquing Highway stories (locations to be disclosed at a later date), columns, journals, and oodles of other good stuff. Through our travels with the magazine, our lives have been enriched. We have had the honor of meeting and getting to know so many fabulous people. The folks who run the shows, the fans who come to meet us, and those who lend a helping hand when we’re in unfamiliar territory have all touched our hearts in a way that I can’t explain with words. We recently had the opportunity to meet a wonderful woman named Shelley who pulled out all of the stops and shared her neck of the woods with us over a five-day period of time. She pulled out her diesel truck, which she has lovingly named the Rolling Red Office, and whisked us over the back roads of her country side, shared her home, secret junking hot spots, down-home cooking, as well as her kind soul. She is a fine example of the wonderful people we meet on the junk pile. You’ll hear more about her in the September 2008 issue of Country Home.

The American Junk Club has taken us to a whole new level, enabling us to reach out and touch junkers across the country from the comfort of our own homes. We like to call it World Junk Headquarters, as the club has brought many new and delightful faces to the JUNKMARKET from far-away places. Ideas, junking stories, projects, and local haunts from sea to shining sea abound on the forums of this Web site. If you have not yet become a member, check it out and join the fun. We send many thanks and best wishes to all who are already on board sharing your tales of the junking underworld.

Last, but certainly not least, the JUNKMARKET has grown. With all of our new projects on the horizon we were in desperate need of some extra hands, not to mention some male perspective. Please welcome Tim Lahti (Sir Junk Club) and John Whaley (Sir Marketeer and Mantiques expert) to the halls of JUNKMARKET. Kimberly Melamed has also joined us to help with the making of the books and is being indoctrinated at a rapid pace. Who’s our youngest addition? Happy Hanna Gabrelcik, the beautiful new bouncing baby daughter of Emily, JUNKMARKET’s longtime office manager and Jill-of-all-trades. The poor little girl stands no chance of being a non-junker.

Now it is time to say good-bye, but just for the time being. Again we send you our best for a joyful holiday and of course a perfectly happy junking new year. Big hugs to from us to you and yours.

Until next time, see you on the junk pile.

Sue and Ki