Holiday Greetings!

Happy Holidays 2011

Dear friends and family,

Know that we would much rather sit down over a cup of coffee,
reminisce old times and catch up with life, but unfortunately this little letter will have to do…

A lot of you know this, but the past year has mostly been spent pursuing travel therapy with my job (Occupational Therapist). It gave us the opportunity to explore the US, learn a lot about ourselves, and meet some incredible people. It truly was an amazing adventure! Last holiday season we were en route from Sandpoint, Idaho to Dallas, Texas. We spent the winter in Texas which was a lot of fun. After 13 weeks of being there, we headed up to Moose Lake, Minnesota. We made a few trips to Duluth to take in all that city has to offer. While we were at Moose Lake, Andy started looking for a more permanent job. After many applications and interviews, he chose a job in Business Development for a Logistics company called King Solutions, which is in the Minneapolis area. Through a variety of services, King helps companies manage their supply-chain activities. As he started his transition there, I finished my assignment and applied for jobs in the cities. I was hired at the Courage Center. I float between four facilities and cover for maternity and medical leaves. It has been fun to get a wide range of clients, but also really challenging to learn all I need to know. I work with kids and adults with genetic disorders, brain injuries from strokes and accidents, spinal cord injuries, and lots more. It’s been a great learning experience so far, so I’m really happy with that. We moved to an apartment August 1^st and have been here since!

The cities have been good for us, but we are often homesick for Bismarck. It is finally hitting us that these jobs aren’t travel jobs, and that we’ll be here for a while. We miss all of our friends and family back home, and wish we could see everyone more often. We do have a few friends and in the area and are now closer to Andy’s sister, so that’s been great being able to spend time with them. We’re slowly starting to make this our community and have enjoyed getting more plugged in. We’ve found a church that we really enjoy, and are now looking at opportunities to plug into other organizations. Our focus each day is to live life to its fullest, realizing that we are all created for a higher purpose. Although the past 6 months have been challenging at times, we feel blessed beyond measure to have each other, an incredible family, and a support system like none other.

We hope this New Year brings you true happiness full of great purpose. May this holiday season remind you of the true meaning of Christmas. If you ever pass through the Minneapolis area, please let us know as we always love re-connecting and catching up with friends and family.

         Blessings to you and yours,

                   Andy and Kara