Dear Family and Friends,
2013
has been a very full year for us. New jobs, fun road trips, and a new house! God
has been so good to us. Here is a look back on the year.
 |
| Our Wedding, November |
 |
| Tulip Festival, April |
 |
| Mt. Rainier, July |
 |
| Our House, October |
Marie
It
started out for Marie with a new job as a Montessori Assistant in an Early
Childhood Classroom (2-6 year olds). Marie absolutely loved working with the
little ones, and fell in love with the Montessori Method. She decided to turn
down a full-time position for the following year, however, because she wanted
to be able to focus on a new venture—training to become a FertilityCare Practitioner.
She
attended the first part of her educational training in Omaha in October, where
she was taught by Dr. Hilgers and the other founders of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. Now she is in the practicum
phase of her training, and starting to grow her client base. She is able to
help couples who are struggling with infertility or are seeking natural and
ethical ways to avoid pregnancy, and also aid women throughout their
reproductive years monitor and maintain their reproductive and gynecologic
health.
In
her spare time, Marie is involved with a variety of ministries at their parish.
She takes part in pro-life outreach and helps teach a Montessori-based
religious education class. She is also becoming trained to provide Pastoral
Care through the Church. From time to time, she writes at merrydreamer.blogspot.com.
Andy
Andy
started the year doing contract work for Microsoft. After getting his
certificate in Data Science, he was promoted to
another position, a contract with Juniper Networks, while maintaining a
supervisory position on his previous work at Microsoft. He is now working
mainly as a database administrator and data analyst for Juniper.
Besides
work, Andy keeps busy by playing trumpet in a community Wind Ensemble every Thursday
evening. He is also an active contributor at philosophynews.com
where he mainly writes blogs and articles on PhD placement trends in philosophy
(thus, combining his interests in philosophy and data analysis). Andy is
actively involved in church activities at their parish in Kirkland, in
particular, the Men's Ministry, Youth Confirmation, and the Knights of
Columbus.
Andy and
Marie
At
the beginning of October, we bought a house! It is a split-level, with 4
bedrooms, a spacious backyard, and a covered deck. Andy has enjoyed working on
the many upgrades and repairs that come with being a homeowner. He has
installed cabinets, shelves, light switches, air circulating fans, and stairway
railings. He has also added many holes to the walls. Marie has enjoyed
(with the help and expertise of her mother-in-law Merrie) planting flowers and
vegetables to make the house more beautiful. With all the space, we both have
our own “office” and one of the bedrooms is being used as our music room—with a
baby grand piano given to us by Grandma Sue.
We
took lots of little trips throughout the year, including a trip to Montana in
May for a friend’s wedding and an excursion to Mount Rainier. This summer, we
spent a few days at the Carsons’ cabin on an island in the Puget Sound.
In
November, we celebrated our first anniversary with a trip to Gig Harbor,
Washington. It’s a quaint little fishing village in the Puget Sound. Neither of
us had been there before, and we enjoyed learning about the local history and
eating lots of fish! We stayed at an inn that was situated right on the water.
It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the blessings of our first year of
marriage, and look forward to many more years together.
What
does the next year look like so far? For Marie: more FertilityCare Training, writing, playing the
piano, and ministry. For Andy: more data analysis, philosophy blogs, trumpet
concerts, crab feeds, fish fries, bathroom remodels, and a Superbowl victory
for the Seahawks! We hope ;)
You
are all in our thoughts and prayers this Christmas Season. May you have a very
happy 2014!
Love and Blessings,
Andy and Marie
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