It’s been two years since I wrote a year-end letter. I suppose that is because the ends of 2009 and 2010 were really hard. And it’s hard to sit and reflect on the entire year when you’re blinded by serious tragedies or depression. 2011 hasn’t been that bad, in comparison. So I feel like maybe I can start being myself again in the year-end-letter-writing aspect.
Many, many fun and exciting things happened in 2011. I think the biggest and most reassuring thing for me was finally getting a good third roommate. All through 2010 after I moved in with Theresa, we just had a slew of unstable third roommates. It was so hard. We prayed and prayed, and finally decided that the only way to have a sane third roommate was to stop looking for Americans. I don’t know what it was about having an American as a third roommate, but it seemed to be the problem. So we put our house on the homestay list at Concordia University. In January, we were blessed with Yoojin, a student from Korea. She only stayed with us for two months, but it was a great two months. In March, we received another student, Motomi, from Japan, to take Yoojin’s place. It has been extreme fun to have Motomi as our third roommate. She has a great sense of humor, she’s very positive about life, and she loves living here.
After eight months of unemployment (3 were fun, 5 were excruciating), I finally got a job in mid-February. It was perfect. It’s about the same work I was doing before, administrative assistant for an accountant. Only this is for a group of accountants and they’ve been in business for 30 years and have really established business practices. What a relief to work for a company that’s not going to change the way it organizes its work flow every six months! I am working part time, about 20 hours a week (30 hours/week during tax season) and I LOVE IT. My bosses are nice and my co-workers are great. Even though I’m part-time, I still qualify for health and dental insurance benefits. What a blessing!
In addition to working at an office 20 hours a week, I have three of my own bookkeeping clients. It brings in just enough to keep things moving smoothly. I really enjoy working for these three businesses. They are all very, very different from each other. I keep the finances organized for a veterinary anesthesiologist, a baker, and a synagogue. All three are fascinating fields for me to work in, but I’d have to say that the most interesting one is the synagogue.
In May, we celebrated Mom and Dad’s 30th Anniversary. Bryan and I wrote a song for them. It’s still up on Facebook if you haven’t seen it yet. I’m so amazed and happy that my parents are still together after all we’ve been through. God is good, all the time!
Throughout the summer I went on a few adventures – camping in the Umpqua National Forest, Crater Lake, and Blue River (outside of Eugene). At the end of July my family visited Hurricane Ridge at the Olympic National Park. That was definitely the scenic highlight of the summer. If you’ve never been up there, you must go. The panoramic views of the snow-capped mountain range will take your breath away! It was so so amazing!!
At the end of the summer, I seriously injured myself. I separated my left shoulder – tore almost all the cartilage between my clavicle and acromion. It is definitely the worst physical injury I’ve ever had. I’m still healing from it. The chiropractor says I’m at 80% healed now, but I’ll probably still need that therapy until March. Praise God for providing me with a job that allows me to have amazing health insurance! And I’m really happy that if it had to happen, it happened at the end of the summer!
After serving on the worship team at my church for one year and eight months, I decided to step down at the end of October. It was not an easy decision, but definitely a necessary one. I prayed about it a lot and received confirmation. My church is going through a lot of changes, again. Please pray for Irvington Covenant Church.
Well, I hope you all had a great 2011! Looking forward to making more fun memories in 2012! I hope you have a blessed holiday season!
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