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Someone mentioned that if any of us were doing those Holiday form letters they'd like to read them. Here's mine to start things off--this is the actual "for public consumption" letter that is going out this year...
Dear ,
This has been a year of big changes for us! Last December, after both of us doing lots of soul searching and looking at possibilities, Mike decided to sign on to be one of four doctors in a group practice in Russellville, Arkansas—a community of 24,000 about an hour west of Little Rock. January and February were spent putting the Wisconsin house on the market (it sold in 3 weeks) and finding a new one in Russellville. On March 31st, Mike finished his Family Practice residency and later that week the truck arrived for our furniture. We went to see Elizabeth’s family in Seattle for a week, closed on our old house on April 14th, our new one on April 17th, the furniture arrived the next day, and Mike started his new job on May 1st. (Whew!!)
We celebrated our first anniversary in June, spent a week in Denver in July, and added to our family on July 31st—a Miniature Australian Shepherd puppy we named Raleigh. He’s black and white and tan (like a small Border Collie with no tail) and is about seven months old now. His favorite things are hiking with Elizabeth, chicken breasts, stealing socks, chewing shoes, sneaking into bed with Mike and Elizabeth in the middle of the night and dragging grass, leaves and sticks into the house. He’s been a real blessing to us and has made a wonderful difference in our lives.
We’re very happy in our new home. Small town life seems to suit both of us very well, and Mike’s practice is really taking off—we run into his patients all the time around town and they’re always pulling me aside to tell me how wonderful he is and how happy they are that we decided to come to Russellville. We’ve been learning to speak “Southern”, too: for instance, asking someone how they are feeling sometimes gets the response “Fine as the hair on a frog’s back.” It takes some getting used to, but Mike is already getting quite a Southern accent, and I’m happy as a clam to be known as “Miss Elizabeth” (“Miss” is an honorary title for fine Southern ladies). Traffic is nonexistent, except for when a train goes through town, we have lots of “combination” shopping (“Russellville Tire and Driving Range”, “Bob’s Taxidermy and Gifts”) and you can get a free shotgun when you buy a Ford F Series pickup. But most of the people we’ve met here are as warm and friendly as the weather (we were still wearing shorts in November) and we couldn’t have asked for a better place to have landed.
Elizabeth tried her hand at herb gardening this year and has found a lot of people in town who share her love of cooking (and recipes). She just started as a volunteer for Hospice—doing respite care and being a “personal chef” for patients’ families. Mike has become an expert house painter, (after being banned from it in Wisconsin). He’s painted everything in the house except for the closets and we’re thinking of hiring him out once they’re done. He says “If this doctoring thing doesn’t work out...”
We just returned from celebrating Thanksgiving in Washington DC with Elizabeth’s family. Her brother Chad just finished his training as a Diplomatic Secret Service Agent with the US State Department and we got to attend his credentialing ceremony at Main State and saw Colin Powell in the lobby. It was a great way to top off the year.
We hope you’ve had lots of joy in your lives this year too, and we’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that 2004 brings you health, happiness and peace!
Dear ,
This has been a year of big changes for us! Last December, after both of us doing lots of soul searching and looking at possibilities, Mike decided to sign on to be one of four doctors in a group practice in Russellville, Arkansas—a community of 24,000 about an hour west of Little Rock. January and February were spent putting the Wisconsin house on the market (it sold in 3 weeks) and finding a new one in Russellville. On March 31st, Mike finished his Family Practice residency and later that week the truck arrived for our furniture. We went to see Elizabeth’s family in Seattle for a week, closed on our old house on April 14th, our new one on April 17th, the furniture arrived the next day, and Mike started his new job on May 1st. (Whew!!)
We celebrated our first anniversary in June, spent a week in Denver in July, and added to our family on July 31st—a Miniature Australian Shepherd puppy we named Raleigh. He’s black and white and tan (like a small Border Collie with no tail) and is about seven months old now. His favorite things are hiking with Elizabeth, chicken breasts, stealing socks, chewing shoes, sneaking into bed with Mike and Elizabeth in the middle of the night and dragging grass, leaves and sticks into the house. He’s been a real blessing to us and has made a wonderful difference in our lives.
We’re very happy in our new home. Small town life seems to suit both of us very well, and Mike’s practice is really taking off—we run into his patients all the time around town and they’re always pulling me aside to tell me how wonderful he is and how happy they are that we decided to come to Russellville. We’ve been learning to speak “Southern”, too: for instance, asking someone how they are feeling sometimes gets the response “Fine as the hair on a frog’s back.” It takes some getting used to, but Mike is already getting quite a Southern accent, and I’m happy as a clam to be known as “Miss Elizabeth” (“Miss” is an honorary title for fine Southern ladies). Traffic is nonexistent, except for when a train goes through town, we have lots of “combination” shopping (“Russellville Tire and Driving Range”, “Bob’s Taxidermy and Gifts”) and you can get a free shotgun when you buy a Ford F Series pickup. But most of the people we’ve met here are as warm and friendly as the weather (we were still wearing shorts in November) and we couldn’t have asked for a better place to have landed.
Elizabeth tried her hand at herb gardening this year and has found a lot of people in town who share her love of cooking (and recipes). She just started as a volunteer for Hospice—doing respite care and being a “personal chef” for patients’ families. Mike has become an expert house painter, (after being banned from it in Wisconsin). He’s painted everything in the house except for the closets and we’re thinking of hiring him out once they’re done. He says “If this doctoring thing doesn’t work out...”
We just returned from celebrating Thanksgiving in Washington DC with Elizabeth’s family. Her brother Chad just finished his training as a Diplomatic Secret Service Agent with the US State Department and we got to attend his credentialing ceremony at Main State and saw Colin Powell in the lobby. It was a great way to top off the year.
We hope you’ve had lots of joy in your lives this year too, and we’d like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that 2004 brings you health, happiness and peace!
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