Merry Christmas!!

Hello friends and family! Happy Holidays! 

We are trying out a new way of sharing a Christmas newsletter for our upcoming nomad lifestyle (more on this later), and we figured this is a great way to see how it will work. Most of the information in this newsletter will be familiar if you are on Facebook. Sorry for the repetition. 2022 has been full of fun trips, big milestones, amazing shows, happy memories and some losses. We traveled to Portland and the Oregon coast a few times this year to see our nieces and nephews in Godspell, a dance competition, Cinderella, Oliver and the Nutcracker. Super talented young people! Always great to see my family!

Corrie developed chronic headaches that lasted for months. We tried everything and finally a naturopath figured out it was the muscles that hold up your neck. Tech neck, he called it. He made some adjustments and gave her some exercises to do and finally it was resolved. She then participated in a vocal competition, which was a good experience for her, and she played Mary Sunshine in Chicago at her high school. Much fun! Sweeney Todd was next for her, another great experience and her first with Village Theater First Stage. She just finished Beauty and the Beast as Mrs. Potts, which was bittersweet, as it will be her last high school musical. Many came out to support her. We are grateful for the effort.

We traveled back to Ohio for her senior trip, visited with family and dear friends there, and went to the Rock Hall in Cleveland and King’s Island, an amusement park near Cincinnati. She met an online friend there, so I was on my own and rode eight roller coasters by myself! She wanted to see where I grew up, where her dad and I met and where her brother was born. Yes, she really is that sweet! She will graduate in June and attend the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in New York next summer after graduation for two two-week intensive programs. We plan to go too. Who knows where that will lead! She is planning a gap year after that. Exciting times ahead for her, I’m sure! 

After Cameron’s gap year, during which he worked at MOD pizza and was a captain there, he moved to Bellingham and started college at Western Washington University. He is adjusting to his new life and doing well. He’s still at MOD and thinking of studying psychology. We went to Bellingham a few times and love it there.  His girlfriend, Suree, just got her US citizenship. We’re so proud of both of them!

Devan has been doing music around Seattle and even played in Phoenix, Los Angeles and some other spots around Washington. Matt and I finally got to see him perform at a show he thought would be appropriate. We were blown away by how he does what he does. He works full time driving for Amazon delivering packages. He and his girlfriend, Abby, are planning to move in together at some point next year. It’s fun to watch them figuring it all out! I remember their dad and I doing the same things like it was yesterday. Well, we’re still doing that!

Matt learned he had a brother in Minneapolis that he didn’t know about. How cool to connect after all this time. Bill came out for a visit and we showed him around Seattle. He met Devan and will hopefully meet Cameron and Corrie someday soon. 

Matt also got laid off from Oracle in August, which is always hard, but we have been here before. Insurance has been a challenge, as it is for many. He is sub-contracting for now and has built a small video studio down in the old kids’ game room where he can shoot stock footage to sell online. 

 Matt has been a workhorse getting his gear in order for when we leave. He also traveled to Fargo, ND and Pelican Lake, MN three times last summer to take care of and help his mother who became very ill. She is much better now, thankfully! As a homecoming, she moved from Seattle back to Minnesota in June and we miss having her near. 

As for me, I have been packing, donating, cleaning and painting for when we put the house on the market this spring. We are selling when Corrie graduates and plan to travel for a couple of years while Matt “works from home”. We are headed for the UK, Ireland, the Mediterranean and down under, among other places in Europe and the US. There are several moving parts and things can always change, but that is our current plan. We will be home for the holidays and summers, although we’re not sure where home will be. Likely, we will be wherever our kids are! Stay tuned for updates on where and when our travels will take us. I’m hoping to start a blog, but I need to figure out how to do that first! I had several amazing trips with friends and my sisters to The Gorge and Vegas, as well as many other fabulous concerts, shows and parties right here at home! Corrie turned 18, so Matt and I have officially raised three kids to adulthood. Phew!

That about sums up 2022 for us. Wishing you all happy holidays and a happy, healthy new year! Our love to you all!