Thank you. The nine years my husband, Siebe, and I have run Prema Bistro have come with a full menu of unexpected lessons and surprises. 95% of the time I'd say I'm very happy with our decision to move here in an open restaurant but the other 5% has been full of some real questioning and angst. I knew that I wanted to be a teacher by the time I was 5 and all of my decisions in my early life kept me firmly on that path. I, after earning my masters in teaching at Seattle University, I taught in the Seattle Public Schools for nine years. So for me the first surprise in restaurant ownership is that I owned a restaurant. On January 13th 2006, Siebe and I were more or less coerced into driving up to would be to check out the then empty star Bistro space. We loved visiting would be and had actually been married up here but we had absolutely no intention of uprooting our lives in the we had a 2 year old I had a great teaching position and Siebe was a chef at an up and coming restaurant in Seattle. So there was absolutely no way. Jean Felton let us through this dusty, dank, deserted space with a lantern and then he took us downstairs to meet tomorrow and we quite literally fell in love with the space and the Felton's and before we made it to the ferry back home we said what the hell. Let's go for it. I somehow wrote a business plan and would be Allen Bank decided to give us some money and we had taken possession by April 1st. Siebe moved into the restaurant to begin renovations while I stayed in the city with our 2 year old finishing the school year and renovating our home to put on the market. On June 28th of that same year just 5 months after we were absolutely not going to be doing this we opened our doors and then one week later we were hit by the crowds of Chuchokam. So this is truly a thank you to each and every one of you out there that decided to give us another shot after whatever disaster happened at your table. Running a public business in a small town has its challenges. The rumor mill in Langley is a thing of wonder and I can say that I definitely have had to grow a much thicker skin than I ever thought I would have to as an elementary school teacher. Siebe and I have been together for 22 years and operating a restaurant is not easy on a marriage. One of my favorite quotes about restaurant life is by a Seattle restaurant owner and she says people think that opening a restaurant would be like throwing a dinner party every night for your friends and that that would be fun. But in actuality it's more like running or throwing things giving dinner every night while doing your taxes. And that could not be more true. Prima is our life. We stress constantly, we both don't sleep very well. We argue a lot and we agonize over difficult business decisions especially the ones that have to do with employees. We don't see enough of our kids in the summers. We drink too much wine and we eat too much butter and we battle over small things but typically as long as I let him think it was his idea then I'll get my way. But for some crazy reason we really love what we're doing. Restaurants get into your blood. It's the energy, the constant ever changing, crazy situations, making people happy, creating a community between ourselves and our customers and our employees. It's a great place to be raising our girls. They are surrounded by so many people who care about them and they're proud that they're the owners of Prima and I'm very proud of what we've created. Surprisingly looking back over the nine years the best piece of advice I've received did not come from a business mentor but it came from Seab that first summer that we opened and he said to me no matter what when someone asks you how things are going come up with something good to say something positive because people want to be part of something successful and I've really taken that to heart and no matter how difficult the day or what kind of situation I may have had with a employee or a customer I always smile and I try to come up with something good to say because there always is something good to say and I really believe that's had a positive impact on our business. I definitely did not know how passionately I'd care about our employees. Can't look at that. That really hit home during the Crush Me Busy Summer season of 2011 when we lost our dear friend and pastry chef Natani Johnson to her battle with diabetes. Working at Prima gave her a purpose but it also made her more sick. She was a tireless perfectionist and I know many of you benefited from that. She would work at something until it was exactly how she wanted it even if she should have been home in bed and I will grapple with that for the rest of my life. A group of us have created a scholarship in her name to send Southwood Be girls to culinary school and we are currently supporting Jessica Van Wetter in her in her pursuit to become the very best pastry chef in the world. We've raised over $20,000 and we hope to have a second recipient this spring. Yeah. I definitely when I was teaching first grade did not think I'd be someone with multiple tattoos or that I'd be working with a group of people who 100% of the time have tattoos. Restaurants attract a harder living, more alternative personality and often issues that we're dealing with at Prima are indicators of larger issues in our community. I had no idea how much mental illness and addiction we'd be dealing with. I've spent countless hours in the office with broken people sorting through personal problems. We've had employees drop their kids off in the middle of the night. We've had employees live with us and given out personal loans. I certainly was surprised to find myself driving one of our young female employees up to citizens against domestic abuse and no carber for a few months trying to ultimately get her out of an abusive situation. We've dragged a few kids kicking and screaming through their senior years of high school do not drop out now. You've got one more month. I've also been very honored to be a part of many really happy and joyous occasions in the lives of our employees and the friends that we've made since moving here. I've watched many relationships begin and blossom at Prima and then turn into beautiful marriages and families. I also didn't know that there'd still be this element of teaching to my job now. There's restaurant workers are often very young and we take pride in spotting their talent and then mentoring them, training them, and then encouraging them to soar off to their new challenges. When we opened we hired a Sponk 18-year-old kid and he quickly moved up through the ranks at Prima and became our sous chef and then he moved to Seattle and moved his way up through the Seattle food scene and he's now a chef in Paris. Surprisingly many people, most people don't think that restaurant work is a real job but it is a career for many people. We've been able to offer medical benefits and this year even retirement plans for our crew. That is something I'm very proud of. One of our bartenders, a restaurant, a lifeer said to me, maybe this means I don't have to regret the decisions I've made throughout my life. Maybe this really is my real job and I don't have to figure out what I'm going to be when I grow up. Being able to contribute so much to the business is something I could only have imagined. I've been a teaming up with fellow restaurant owners to put on fundraising events. Fundraising events has been a favorite experience of mine in these nine years. I've been so inspired by the tireless efforts of fellow business owners and Langley. It's pretty amazing what they do both in their own businesses and then also in the supporting community causes. They are so, they are now also are kind. Then more so than our landlords, the filthons without their friendship and support and mentorship, we would not be where we are. Owning a restaurant was not my dream when I was five or when I was 25, but it has given me a true sense of joy and a great strong community to live in, and I would not trade this life for any other. Thank you.