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I Can Do This.
Nelly's Motto
About Nelly Anderson, but written by Rob Anderson.
Nelly Anderson is somewhat of a legand. I can be accused of bias, but there is quite a bit of evidence even if I'm not the one explaining it.
Born in Bogota Colombia in the early 1970's, Nelly grew up in the rough part of town and during the time Narco Kingpin Pablo Escobar was setting off car bombs and basically terrifying the civilain polulation.
As a teenager, it was Nelly who was tasked with working outside the home so her mother could raise the family. Times were tough and there were lots of opportunities to make money which were not acceptable to Nelly. By the time she was twenty she was working as an Administrative Assistant. Because of her appearance jobs were easier to get, but she also lost several of them for refusing to adjust her moral compass when a boss made demands.
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December 21, 1999
Picture taken of Nelly by a professional photographer just a few minutes after she met me (Robert) at a Colombian dating service. Our fist date would be later that evening.
A friend of Robs acted as an interpreter since Nelly didn't speak english and Robert didn't speak spanish.
Johanna the intrepreter started getting jealous on the second date, so the third date we started working on our own made up Spanglish.
2 Weeks of Dating
I (Robert) took this picture during the two week period we dated in 2000.
An outdoor zoo near Bogota Colombia.
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Wedding Picture
August of 2000. Bogota Colombia.
We had a small wedding with just a few family members.
Oncem.
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A Family Honeymoon
Yep, Nelly's entire family came on our honeymoon with us.
When we were checking in, Nelly asked the receptionist to give them a room on the other end of the hotel. We all laughed.
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Moved to America with Robert
Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Nelly jumped in and started working with Robert - part time pressure washing business.
Stayed in Hattiesburg for a few months while selling the house, and then went to Arkansas to get the rental home on the market too.
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Fixing and Selling the Rental in Arkansas
Spent a few weeks in Arkansas fixing up a rental home of ours so it could be put on the market and sold.
Worked many hours a day for weeks, repairing a home renters had made a mess out of.
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Arkansas
We have a friend who owns a nice farm. Took a day off from working on our rental house and drove around on quads.
North West corner of Arkansas near Missouri.
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In Training to Run a Contracting Company
In the rental house we sold in Arkansas.
Forshadowing of the future. Two years after this picture was taken, Robert and Nelly would be working in the remodeling business full time.
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First Time Touching Snow - Mt. Lemmon, AZ
Made it to Tucson in December of 1999. Nelly saw snow in person for the first time shortly after.
It was probably over 80 degrees in Tucson, but there was still snow on the mountian.
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Daughter is Born - 2001
In Tucson for right at a year and our daughter was born.
Robs parents came from Phoenix for a visit. Memories of a lifetime.
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We Didn't Have Much In The Beginning
Getting going in Tucson wasn't easy. Not speaking english, Nelly needed to learn quick in order to get better job opportunities.
"The Ranch" as we affectionately called it. West of Tucson and home for a year.
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Bought a Fixer-Upper
By 2006 Nelly had learned english, gotten a good job, and then started a daycare.
She bought herself a fixer-upper and we started remodeling it.
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For the next ten years this would be home.
Remodeling is a fair bit of work. Nelly ran a daycare in a home we were remodeling which was a hurclean amount of work.
We remodeled during the evening and weekends, and Nelly ran a daycare here during the day.
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Daycare Outgrew One Home
The in home daycare grew large enough Nelly got a contract to purchase the home next door. Two houses, one giant yard.
We remodeled during the evening and weekends, and Nelly ran a daycare here during the day.
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Fate Throws a Curve Ball
When my brother and dad passed away, my mom (Nelly's mother in law) wanted to move close to us. Nelly decided to sell the daycare and then my Mom could live in the home next door (which Nelly was renting to buy). Now "Grannie" lives next door to what is now our business headquarters.
We remodeled during the evening and weekends, and Nelly ran a daycare here during the day.
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A Funny Nelly Story
Years back I hired a local hispanic gentlemen for our standard roof patching and coating work. At lunch time on his first day he walked up to me with his head down and said he was quitting. I hadn't been at the job for much of the morning so I didn't know what happened. I asked if he was mistreated? "No". Was the work too hard? "No". For the next few minutes I played twenty questions trying to figure out what was going on. He kept looking down the entire time. Then it occured to me to ask, was working for Nelly a problem? "Yes". As it became more clear I could see he was imbaressed trying to keep up with her on a roof in the heat. As is widely known by others working with her, Nelly is a detail oriented working machine whom few people can keep up with.
We remodeled during the evening and weekends, and Nelly ran a daycare here during the day.
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