Meet Your New Neighbors

After a four year absence, Josh and Julia Orrantia have moved back to Tehachapi. They had moved to Irvine to be closer to family support and special schools for their children but they missed the mountains. Now they are looking forward to having Josh’s mom move here as well.

Julia works in administration at Kaiser in Bakersfield where she supervises case managers. She was born in Davis, Calif., and is the middle child of three girls. She is still in the middle, because one sister lives in Northern California and the other in San Diego.

Josh is currently the homemaker, taking care of ten year old Izak and seven-year-old Izabel while completely remodeling the kitchen of their new Bear Valley home. In fact, the family is renting until the project is complete. Although Josh was born and raised in San Diego, he says that he considers Tehachapi his home. He has two older brothers who still live in Orange County. The last time he lived in Tehachapi, Josh ran a coffee roasting business and tended a bar in Bear Valley but has no plans to do either this time. At one time he was also very active with the Tehachapi Community Theater. His daughter, Cassandra, now attends NYU, but once appeared in the productions of “Rocket Man”, “War of the Worlds” and “Little Women” at the BeeKay Theater. These days Josh enjoys being a dad and working on the house. He plans to install solar panels when he is finished with the kitchen. He enjoys running and cycling; he plans to ride both Challenge the Bear in July and the Gran Fondo in September. He is running to train for the events. Wine tasting is also one of his hobbies.

In her free time, Julia loves scrap-booking and gardening. She and Josh are putting in a straw bale garden (where plants grow out of the bales) and a wood chip garden. Josh thinks that Julia should also include “Happy Hour” as a hobby.

Since moving to Tehachapi the family have adopted Buddy, a cute Aussie/Rat Terrier mix from Have A Heart. We welcome the Orrantia family back to Tehachapi and I know they will be moving into their new home very soon.

Amanda Kendrick and Rick Deleon are newly engaged and settling into their home in Bear Valley. Amanda had been living in Valencia but wanted to be near her sister who lives here. She and Rick have known each other since they were in their teens. They went to the same high school in Maricopa, and Rick actually graduated with her sister. Rick said that at one time, she was hired to be his “baby sitter” even though they were almost the same age. It was only recently that they reconnected and fell in love.

Amanda was born in Rome, Georgia, but moved a lot before ending up in Maricopa. She married a military man and followed him around the world. Her 23 year old son, Jaren, is an Air Force “cop” stationed in Arkansas. While living in Valencia, Amanda was a mentor for abused women at her church. She also spent some time taking care of her grandparents. In 2011 she was hit by a drunk driver, an accident from which she is still recovering. She is not one to be kept down and is now a marketing representative for Younique Makeup, the manufacturers of “3D mascara”.

Rick was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, but spent his early years in foster homes. He came to the Bakersfield area at the age of nine and finally moved to Maricopa. He spent 4-½ years in the Navy and got to see much the world. His 22 year old son, Andrew Jakob, is a Marine and stationed at Coronado although he is currently at sea. His eighteen year old daughter, Sabrina Irene, has been accepted to Berkley this fall and seventeen year old Cienna Raquel may be headed for Notre Dame to play soccer. Rick had worked as a welder in Bakersfield for eleven years until a work related injury last year forced him to take some time off. He is an avid sports fan and his favorite teams are the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Blackhawks.

While Amanda and Rick no longer have kids at home, they do have a little bundle of Chich/Yorkie named Bella who gives great kisses. Congratulations on your engagement, Rick and Amanda and “Welcome to Tehachapi”.

Welcome!

If you have moved to the Greater Tehachapi Area within the last six months and would like to know more about your new community, call 661-822-8188. We will be happy to make an appointment for a hostess to come by and give you lots of helpful information, some valuable coupons, gifts and much more. Many families and individuals who come to the area are pleasantly surprised with the amount of knowledge they gather about their new home. Publishing your welcome article is completely voluntary and is not a requirement of being welcomed.