Life has been so crazy this year that I am just now getting around to our Christmas letter! This year has been jammed packed full of important milestones. Last spring Warren completed the requirements to earn his Journeyman status in masonry and I completed my academics at Colorado State University. In order to complete my Masters in Occupational Therapy I needed to finish two twelve week internships; one in Kalispell, Montana the other in New Hampshire. In preparation for our great journey we purchased a stylish 34 foot fifth wheel, complete with a combo washer/dryer, flat screen TV, and a plush queen sized “princess” bed.
In Kalispell we stayed at an RV park right on the Flathead River, less than an hour from Glacier National Park. Just as I got my feet wet at the hospital’s inpatient rehab unit, when work in Kalispell dried up for Warren so he was off to Helena. We spent quite a bit of time canoeing on the Flathead River and catching up with friends and family and driving back and forth between Helena and Kalispell on the weekends. My internship in Kalispell was fantastic; I had the opportunity to work with some amazing therapists who were more than willing to share their knowledge, expertise and experience with me. People in Montana really are the ‘salt of the earth;’ the patients that I was privileged to work with have made a lasting impression on me.
I joined Warren back in Helena for a wonderful month long break from school and internships. We parked the fifth wheel at my grandparent’s ranch. My days were spent painting the ranch house and I enjoying the company of friends and family at night. While perusing the internet I found a listing for a pediatric occupational therapist in Helena. I called and set up an interview; I figured it would be a good opportunity to polish my interview skills. The interview went well, but there was no firm offer until October.
At the beginning of September Warren and I hooked our home on wheels onto the truck and headed east for my final internship. Along our journey we stopped at Mount Rushmore, Chicago, and Niagara Falls. While at Mount Rushmore we saw the Oscar Meyer Weiner-Mobile! We had a great time visiting our friends, the Formolo’s, in Chicago; we spent an evening cruising the Chicago River and enjoyed the company of their family. We made a slight detour to see Niagara Falls; what an amazing sight and a fantastic place to spend our fifth wedding anniversary! (Hard to believe it has already been five years!)
Our choice to go out East for my final internship was two-fold; I would have the opportunity to gain experience in pediatrics at a private clinic which specialized in sensory integration, and we could be near to Warren’s family. We made the most of the weekends, driving to the Plymouth, Massachusetts, northern New Hampshire, and to Maine. We had a great time catching up with Warren’s family, definitely the best part of our trip out East.
The day before I was formally offered the pediatric occupational therapy position in Helena we found out that we were expecting our first baby! I accepted the position and the whirlwind of life continued. We hit the road for Colorado the day that I finished my internship and make record time driving westward. (Amazingly we avoided all of the awful winter storms that occurred before and after our travels.)
In Kalispell we stayed at an RV park right on the Flathead River, less than an hour from Glacier National Park. Just as I got my feet wet at the hospital’s inpatient rehab unit, when work in Kalispell dried up for Warren so he was off to Helena. We spent quite a bit of time canoeing on the Flathead River and catching up with friends and family and driving back and forth between Helena and Kalispell on the weekends. My internship in Kalispell was fantastic; I had the opportunity to work with some amazing therapists who were more than willing to share their knowledge, expertise and experience with me. People in Montana really are the ‘salt of the earth;’ the patients that I was privileged to work with have made a lasting impression on me.
I joined Warren back in Helena for a wonderful month long break from school and internships. We parked the fifth wheel at my grandparent’s ranch. My days were spent painting the ranch house and I enjoying the company of friends and family at night. While perusing the internet I found a listing for a pediatric occupational therapist in Helena. I called and set up an interview; I figured it would be a good opportunity to polish my interview skills. The interview went well, but there was no firm offer until October.
At the beginning of September Warren and I hooked our home on wheels onto the truck and headed east for my final internship. Along our journey we stopped at Mount Rushmore, Chicago, and Niagara Falls. While at Mount Rushmore we saw the Oscar Meyer Weiner-Mobile! We had a great time visiting our friends, the Formolo’s, in Chicago; we spent an evening cruising the Chicago River and enjoyed the company of their family. We made a slight detour to see Niagara Falls; what an amazing sight and a fantastic place to spend our fifth wedding anniversary! (Hard to believe it has already been five years!)
Our choice to go out East for my final internship was two-fold; I would have the opportunity to gain experience in pediatrics at a private clinic which specialized in sensory integration, and we could be near to Warren’s family. We made the most of the weekends, driving to the Plymouth, Massachusetts, northern New Hampshire, and to Maine. We had a great time catching up with Warren’s family, definitely the best part of our trip out East.
The day before I was formally offered the pediatric occupational therapy position in Helena we found out that we were expecting our first baby! I accepted the position and the whirlwind of life continued. We hit the road for Colorado the day that I finished my internship and make record time driving westward. (Amazingly we avoided all of the awful winter storms that occurred before and after our travels.)
We stopped off at Beaver Creek for a couple of weeks; Warren taught the whole time and after a week of working I buckled down and started studying for my board exams. We arrived in Helena less than a week before I started my new job. It was a crazy few days of unpacking, many boxes we had not seen th
e contents of since we moved down from Alaska! We are now living in my Grandparents old house on the ranch. After living in the fifth wheel it is a bit overwhelming to be in four bedroom house. My goal is not to fill it with “stuff.” We are going to give the place an update over the next several months. The kitchen has hunter’s orange countertops with harvest gold appliances. The main bathroom toilet, bathtub and sinks are literally Smurf Blue! One bedroom is still in the sixty’s with shag red/orange carpet.We were in town less than a full day before Warren was back to work as a mason and I was juggling a new job, studying for my board exam and trying to get enough sleep. After passing my board exam in late January I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. (I had been working under a “temporary practice permit” which would have been revoked if I had failed the exam, YIKES!) Finally, I had time to focus on the upcoming baby. (This really had become a necessity as I was outgrowing my clothes on a daily basis!)
Warren has had a busy fall and winter with ski instructor business. (Though this winter is the least that either of us have skied in more years than we care to count.!) He went to Alaska for two weeks in November to conduct Nordic exams and clinics. He has developed an incredible relationship between Nordic clubs and PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America); which has exponentially grown the membership of the Alaska Division. With successes in hand he is now preparing for Nordic National Team Tryouts later this month. Whenever he gets a chance he is driving up the pass to go cross country skiing after work.
I am now 31 weeks pregnant and not quite as big as a house, but I am amazed by how much my body changes from week to week. Based on ultrasound images and measurements I am track for an eight to nine pound-er… YIKES. My mom is planning a baby shower for April 26th at 2pm. I know the distance is too much for most of you to make it, but we will be thinking of you. We are due on June forth, and we have not found out if it is a boy or a girl yet. We had the ultrasound technician write the results in a card, amazingly we have left the card on our refrigerator, without peeking for the past month. We have thought about opening it for my birthday, but now that we can find out, the anticipation is exciting.
I hope you all are doing well, and I am very, very sorry for falling out of touch over the past year. We have lots of space here in Montana, please come visit if you can!
Love and Cheers,
Racheal, Warren and the baby bump
