Mike and Aileen

D.I.N.K.s

Hello to all who have kept checking up on us after a couple months of stagnation. Mike and I are now submerged in a steady stream of work in our respective fields. Just finding jobs in our home state of Montana was a true blessing, but the type of work we're both doing really fits our interests too! Mike is using his creative bug to design all sorts of things. He does a fair amount of business branding, e.i. logos. I am just a couple weeks in to my position as a transportation engineer which happens to be an area of engineering that peaks my interest quite a bit. I couldn't ask for better co-workers, so praises there too! As for our not too distant future, we are trying to become informed home-buyers, and hope to have a little place of our own in early summer. We will just have to see what the Lord brings our way. We were very excited about an opportunity a month or so ago to acquire a lovely little car that is sure to take us on an adventure or two.

Maybe it doesn't interest you, but the title of the post is a fond little term Mike and I use for ourselves nowadays. (double income no kids) We heard a speaker in Bolivia use the term and just thought it was funny. Sorry I can't muster up much of a blog. Love to all!

Our two days of winter

Happy 2008! I thought I'd get a post on here since its now a new year. Mike and I spent two weeks at my parents home over Christmas. We savored our meager two days with snow. Both were on skiing adventures. One of the downhill sort, and the other being cross-country. We saw some family friends of mine in the little town where I grew up. Wow, how we've all grown up. Mike is back on the trail, hunting down a job. It is down to him and one other applicant for one position. We wish all of you a blessed year wherever you are.

Also, after being literally on opposite sides of the world (Kelli in S. Korea and us in Bolivia) Mike and I finally caught up with a good friend and college roommate of mine!! She was reminiscing about her first job which was at this little diner we ate lunch in. I think that about does it for updating you about our going ons. Chau!

What We've Been Up To

Here is a good portion of our mission family on our last week in Bolivia.

I'm sorry to say, this probably won't be a very exciting blog, but we did want to inform those of you who might look here for information about what we are up to these days since coming home from South America. Well, it took us about two weeks to catch up with all the family, which was nice. Of course, there's been some adjustments, a big one was saying goodbye to a large group of friends and coworkers and feeling a little bit lonely these first few weeks. We are trying our best to make the transition from volunteer work to full-time employment. Staying in Montana is high on our wish-list, but makes for very few openings in Mike's field of graphic design. We welcome your prayers for our future, to have wisdom and courage to follow where God leads. There are two opportunities for Mike that we are waiting on, and while we wait we are blessed to be able to live rent-free with Mike's mom in Billings. It is hard to put into words what this past year has meant to us. Although we can't share every memory or experience with you directly, we certainly have many of you to thank for your direct impact on our lives and many lives in Bolivia as well. We always love to hear about your lives, so drop us an e-mail or comment.

School Picture Day!

I got volunteered to take school portraits for the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center last week (Pre-School through 12th grade). I guess you get what you pay for.

End of an Era

Teaching English as a second language in a Bolivian University was not something I would have guessed we would do when coming here, but for the last four months we have really enjoyed that particular responsibility. Friday was our last class. There were some obstacles to overcome, especially having never taught English (or any other subject) before, but the rewards were well worth it. The students who stuck with it were eager and had unique personalities. They even threw us two parties during our time. One on the Bolivian Teacher's Day, and the other this last Friday. They made us a card and gave us balloons, and of course provided salteñas for all to eat.

On a little different note, two of our students from the American culture class we taught have come to the English church with us twice and seem very enthusiastic to get involved in some of the church programs, like a weekly English practice session. These non-Christian students have a love for learning and we are thankful that there is such a giving and God-centered Church with various things for people to get involved in. Thanks for all the prayers you have said for us and the people we work with. None of these things would be possible without them.

Thankful For 2 Years (and surviving the anniversary)

A trip on a Bolivian Flota (bus) gave us an anniversary to remember. We started out on August 12th and I will never forget seeing the digital clock on the bus turn 12:00 am. At that moment the first day of our third year of marriage began and we also ran out of pavement, entering a windy mountainous road that would have me nervously peering over a straight-down edge into oblivion for the next 8 or so hours. Luckily, we made the 16 hour trip in a record-breaking 14 hours. Even though it was a fast and furious initiation in to mountainous bus travel, that two hours made all the difference with no bathroom breaks. All in all the buses were tolerable, although I can't say the same for the music, or at least the volume of the music. We quite literally had to put a sock in it on the ride home. A great memory, and yet a relief that we're not doing that again any time soon.

This Was Sweet

Today we were helping out with a VBS at a local church. There were all kinds of ingredients for a good time: skits, songs, puppets, sidewalk chalk, and best of all... Hoola Hoops. The kids eventually convinced an elderly woman from the church to give it a go. One word: AMAZING