Dear Friends and Family, December 2009
We hope this letter finds you well. We are doing well after surviving another year of being newlyweds. For me, the biggest change was becoming ordained in March this year. The service was unique and fun and a great way to celebrate the end of a long journey. I continue to work as a chaplain for Hospice in about 7 counties around the KC region as well as PRN work at the Hospital.
One of the most exciting things for A. was earning his driver’s license motorcycle endorsement in March and purchasing a 1983 Yamaha Seca 750. He rode it on his commute to work in Topeka most days. It was a great way to enjoy the round trip to work.
Our garden experiment went pretty well for a first attempt. Though the grass and weeds were a constant fight, we grew tomatoes, celery, peppers, squash, green beans, lettuce, onions and cucumbers with success.
No big vacations this year, but we did enjoy a nice long weekend seeing the sights in Kansas. We enjoyed the museums in Atchison and the Brookville Hotel fried chicken dinner. We camped at Lake Wilson, toured the Garden of Eden, and then went to Hays, Regan’s birth place.. We ended the trip seeing the rock formations at Rock City. Never knew there was so much to see in Kansas did you?
In October, A. found a full time permanent job. He helps clients with filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. While he enjoyed doing technical support, with his new job he has a great work environment and opportunities for advancement.
A. also achieved 2 belts in Okinawan Kenpo this year, his orange and blue belt. It’s fun teaching the new white belt beginners in class despite their confusion between left and right.My back has been improving with PT and water aerobics. I hope to start back to karate in January.
I rescued a kitten that was lying in the middle of a busy highway. After recovering from her wounds, Lucky Francis stayed with us for a couple months until she was old enough to be fixed. The holy terror kitten now entertains A.’s mom and her indoor cat Squeekers.
There were plenty of other great memories and blessings. Again, you and yours are in our thoughts and prayers and we’d enjoy hearing from you. Many blessings to you!
Love,
Regan
Showing posts with label christmas letter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas letter. Show all posts
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
2008 life summary (our christmas letter)
December 2008
Greetings and salutations to our dear friends and family! This past year has been one of transition and change once again for our budding family. 2008 began with some back trouble for me. It was a nightmare because I was working onmy chaplain residency at a KC hospital, working 55-90 hours a week while all this went on. My hubbie was a lifesaver and helped me through it all. I'mfinally able to do normal things again (as long as I watch it).
A. went from working for the University of Kansas as a computer nerd jack-of-all trades to working at the corporate office of Payless Shoesource rolling out new computer systems for Central and South America doing bilingual technology support. In September, I began work at a hospice in Lawrence, KS. and I love the work. After a year at a level one trauma hospital and seeing all sorts of extreme cases, the pace at the hospice is just right. I work with the patients as well as with the families, including following up with the families for a year after the patient's death. I have been approved for ordination by my denomination and will be getting ordained this spring sometime.
We moved into my mom's house in Lawrence and began renting with the hope to buy it. Mymom moved to Charlotte NC to work with a different land conservancy agency. Moving into our new home was an adventure in and of itself but it helped 3D, our doggy-daughter feel more at ease now that she can run around outside without needing a leash. She still seems to have a love-hate relationship with the neighbor dogs on two sides of her yard, but she still has lots of fun running figure eights and circles when she isn’t trying to run down squirrels and rabbits in the yard. It also made space for some late season gardening of cherry tomatoes and basil. Plans for a larger garden are in the works for next spring.
During the recent hunting season, A. successfully hunted a deer. It only took 20 minutes before bringing home the venison on opening day of the Missouri firearm deer season in November. We also started attending my old karate class. It helped her back heal faster and A. attained a yellow belt, after only four weeks of classes.
In August, we took a long awaited vacation/honeymoon driving through the Smoky Mountains. We camped in the Mark Twain National Forest and went to see Indian Burial grounds in Kentucky. A highlight for A. was figuring out how to use a power inverter to air up an air bed for camping while also running a camping fan all night to make camping out a little more comfortable in the tent (imagine the steamy August nights). Then we spent a few days in Tennessee perusing the local folk art and music, drove through the National Park. A. as always, took lots of photos and a few videos and even has a short video of me playing a dulcimer while they were in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The finale of our trip was visiting my mom and Mark. We enjoyed their wonderful swimming pool and hiked up a local mountain to see a beautiful waterfall.
A.’s mom is doing well. We continue to visit her and the plethora of animals (goats, chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, etc.) about once a month on the farm in the Ozarks. Since her purchase of a neon green Artic Cat ATV, she is doing even better around the dairy goat farm now that she has a “green goat” to make tasks easier to do.
We hope you are doing well and look forward to hearing from you soon!
Blessings,
Jaded Mystic
Greetings and salutations to our dear friends and family! This past year has been one of transition and change once again for our budding family. 2008 began with some back trouble for me. It was a nightmare because I was working onmy chaplain residency at a KC hospital, working 55-90 hours a week while all this went on. My hubbie was a lifesaver and helped me through it all. I'mfinally able to do normal things again (as long as I watch it).
A. went from working for the University of Kansas as a computer nerd jack-of-all trades to working at the corporate office of Payless Shoesource rolling out new computer systems for Central and South America doing bilingual technology support. In September, I began work at a hospice in Lawrence, KS. and I love the work. After a year at a level one trauma hospital and seeing all sorts of extreme cases, the pace at the hospice is just right. I work with the patients as well as with the families, including following up with the families for a year after the patient's death. I have been approved for ordination by my denomination and will be getting ordained this spring sometime.
We moved into my mom's house in Lawrence and began renting with the hope to buy it. Mymom moved to Charlotte NC to work with a different land conservancy agency. Moving into our new home was an adventure in and of itself but it helped 3D, our doggy-daughter feel more at ease now that she can run around outside without needing a leash. She still seems to have a love-hate relationship with the neighbor dogs on two sides of her yard, but she still has lots of fun running figure eights and circles when she isn’t trying to run down squirrels and rabbits in the yard. It also made space for some late season gardening of cherry tomatoes and basil. Plans for a larger garden are in the works for next spring.
During the recent hunting season, A. successfully hunted a deer. It only took 20 minutes before bringing home the venison on opening day of the Missouri firearm deer season in November. We also started attending my old karate class. It helped her back heal faster and A. attained a yellow belt, after only four weeks of classes.
In August, we took a long awaited vacation/honeymoon driving through the Smoky Mountains. We camped in the Mark Twain National Forest and went to see Indian Burial grounds in Kentucky. A highlight for A. was figuring out how to use a power inverter to air up an air bed for camping while also running a camping fan all night to make camping out a little more comfortable in the tent (imagine the steamy August nights). Then we spent a few days in Tennessee perusing the local folk art and music, drove through the National Park. A. as always, took lots of photos and a few videos and even has a short video of me playing a dulcimer while they were in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The finale of our trip was visiting my mom and Mark. We enjoyed their wonderful swimming pool and hiked up a local mountain to see a beautiful waterfall.
A.’s mom is doing well. We continue to visit her and the plethora of animals (goats, chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, etc.) about once a month on the farm in the Ozarks. Since her purchase of a neon green Artic Cat ATV, she is doing even better around the dairy goat farm now that she has a “green goat” to make tasks easier to do.
We hope you are doing well and look forward to hearing from you soon!
Blessings,
Jaded Mystic