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The personal basics: any new updates since
you’ve graduated or last updated us – moved, purchased a house/condo, married, kids, pets, etc.
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The biggest news is the arrival of my son Mason Herbert Beining. He is such a blessing- perfect in every way- but I may
be a little bias. He was born on May 2, 2004 after a horrible labor, loss of consciousness and an emergency c-section. But
I would do it all again in a second for another angel like him. He is getting so big so fast. He already has his first tooth.
Well I could go on and on about how amazing he is- but instead I'll refer you to his website www.daveandjodieslittleangel.com There are pictures and updates on how he is developing. The other big news is my husband. He is answering a
calling. He is currently in a training program to do ministry work. It is one step short of seminary- which he may be doing
next. This has been such a blessing on our family- and very unexpected. Having a child really changes things. The down side
is that he is in Pennsylvania for a year and Mason and I are back in Wisconsin. It isn't a big deal for Dave and I to be apart,
but it is hard with him being away from Mason and me playing single mom. We visit when we can and have phone calls and letters.
It is all part of God's plan and it will work out. I'm not so sure about being a pastors wife, Betsy do you have any
pointers?? Our first baby (our dog Bud) died in February from cancer. That was devastating. We loved him so much.
Dave and I got him when we had been dating a couple weeks. We had him for 9 years- it was very strange since we had never
really been together without him. We got two stray kittens after that. Not a good idea, they were great until Mason came along.
Then they turned into demons- chewing up stuff, trying to bite Mason, and every other bad thing you can think of. So they
are now happily on a dairy farm getting fat off of fresh milk. I'm holding out for a Bull Mastiff puppy when Mason gets a
little bigger.
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In my personal life, as you see above, I am still with my same girlfriend since we have been putting together the news
letter, and it still going well!! We have been travelling throughout Europe and had some pretty amazing times meeting, visiting,
interacting with all the different people we encounter. Other than that I have a trip back to Wisconsin this November, and
hope to see some good football games, spend time with friends, and eat some American food while there!!
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I am still living in Colorado. Karrie and I purchased a house last year and got engaged last fall (no date planned
yet). We acquired another 2 dogs - 2 newfoundlands to go along with the 3 legger rotty/mastiff mix. I'm currently
working at a ASP company in Denver called Northstar, helping them to raise money and clean up their past mistakes. Most
of all, looking forward to another ski season. Later.
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I'm moving into my own apartment soon - and will be learning how to heat it with a coal-burning stove (For the past year,
I've lived with a wonderful family in a spare bedroom. I decided maybe it was time to move out the 100th time my host
grandma dragged me downstairs to help with the chickens - interrupting a 'Mental Health Day'.) And I have tentative plans
to adopt a stray cat -- but knowing the cat is probably not going to be able to come back to America with me is the only drawback. Final
update - in keeping with fine Peace Corps tradition - I just won a grant, which, combined with money I begged from friends
& family, will cover the costs of digging a well and installing running water for the village of Topala. By winter
2004 1,100 people will have clean running water in their homes, school, and medical clinic. The website for that project
is: www.geocities.com/topalawater. And as always, I'm chronicalling my adventures with Communism (you knew Moldova was one of the remaining Communist
nations didn't you?) at my personal website: www.geocities.com/seanne_hanke.
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I became a seasonal employee because of the birth of our first child. Elizabeth was born in December and is the
best thing that has ever happened to me. I didn't think I would be so excited about being a stay-at-home mom, but I
LOVE it. The ability to see all the firsts far exceeds any career goal I ever had (It's going to be very hard to go
back in January). My motto is: "Have baby, will travel". We've been doing a lot of visiting with the grandparents
and family. I'm taking full advantage of not having to pay for a airplane seat until she's two. I figure if I
want I can try to get my career back when Elizabeth goes to school....I'm still thinking about running for a local government
position. Our taxes are way too high.
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Still in Munich - still with husband and cat, but our family will be
enlarged (God willing) in February when I give
birth to our baby girl.
We're very excited. Our apartment is impossibly small, so we hope to move, either within
Munich or back to the USA, sometime in 2005.
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Not much new since last year - no kids that I know of.
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Not a lot is new with me. I was able to attend a round of this year's Masters Tournament which was incredible.
I also passed Level II of the CFA Program.
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I'm the very proud mother of a boy! Gavin Jason Lahm was born 12/28/2003. So, he is 9 month old now, crawling
and getting into everything.
I'm still living in Kaukauna, but I'm very proud of the fact that Jason and I are just completing building our own
home ourselves. With general contracting it ourselves, I've learned more about the building process than I really wanted
to know. But, it's pretty cool to look back at what we've accomplished.
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Allison Nawrocki (Wells-Marley)
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During the past year, my husband and I bought (and sold) our first house. After spending most of the summer redoing
our house here, Phil got a great job offer in Milwaukee and we decided to relocate. Within the last three weeks, we've
decided to move, sold our house, will be moving this weekend and closing on our house here next week.
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Reading the other updates, my unmarried, childless state puts me in the minority!! I did make one further step
towards adulthood by buying a house. It's an old (1929) duplex in Wauwatosa; for those of you familiar with the greater
MKE metro, I am half a block north of Washington Highlands. As I tend to worry anyway, this has given me a whole new
list of worries and hastened my inevitable ulcer. I did find a renter that I like, which is key. However, because
neither my boyfriend or I are what one would call 'handy', the work that has to be done must be contracted. Being a renter
was SO much easier - I will be going for a brand-new, maintenance-nearly-free home the next time around.
Still living in sin with boyfriend Chad, and we acquired a new cat, Max, who was supposed to be my Sophie's life partner
(see last newsletter) but has turned out to be more like her dysfunctional brother.
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Tim and I are still living in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, but by the time FIFO V comes out next year we will probably have
moved on. Not sure where we’re going yet, but hopefully someplace a little closer to home. We live in the
same house. Surprisingly, I still haven’t strangled our Boxer, Louis. Sophia is 1 ½ years old now.
She is more fun every day, and she’s as smart as they come (a mother’s unbiased opinion). She can do puzzles
already, but she doesn’t speak, so I imagine she’ll be an engineer someday (Isn’t that what all bright,
socially awkward people become? Oh wait, some become accountants. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?).
She’s an absolute beauty with bright blue eyes and wavy red hair. And she’s tall. I’m afraid
she’s going to tower over mommy and daddy in not too long. Sophia’s been walking for 8 months, running for
6, and she recently learned how to climb. I am now a certified expert in babyproofing with an advanced degree in chasing.
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Married to Megan, living in Portland, typical (at least for Portland) granola yuppies, took an eight-week road trip around
the US and Canada this summer, no kids, no pets of our own, though we always seem to be dog-sitting
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Still living in a condo in Saint Paul’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood with my husband and dog, Aiko. Unfortunately,
I was elected president of the condo association, which roughly translates to “unpaid, under appreciated building manager”
who get such fun jobs as hiring the new cleaning service, meeting with locksmiths, meeting with contractors, etc. I
can’t say I would recommend it to anyone else.
Probably the biggest development of the year was that after 6 years of treatment and 4 courses of chemotherapy, my doctor
finally told me that my “lab results were normal” and that my lupus appears to have gone into remission.
And while that doesn’t mean that my health is actually like that of a “normal” person, it is much closer
than it has been for 9 years. After a couple of years of treatment, I began to think that it would never happen, but
I guess seeking out good doctors who were willing to try anything paid off.
I was also lucky enough to go to Mexico twice last year. Last October I took my first 2 week vacation to Playa
del Carmen Mexico. I HIGHLY recommend taking 2 weeks whenever possible. We spent all day on the beach and I became
a certified SCUBA diver. The diving and beach in Playa were amazing! We were enjoying ourselves so much we were
considering extending our vacation another 4 days, and then my husband went and had a SCUBA diving accident. Anyone
that’s certified knows the highest risk for accidents is at the surface, and he fit the mold. He had just entered
the water when the next diver was released into the water prematurely and her oxygen tank landed squarely on the side of his
head. The was lots of blood, but thankfully no sharks. A concussion, 14 stitches, a visit to a Mexican clinic
(where they thought it was necessary to mention that the stitches were NOT reused, but a bargain at only $350 for and exam,
Xrays and stitches), 3 hours in the police station, an interpreter, and a lawyer convinced us we should cut our losses and
go home as scheduled. Sure made for a great Halloween costume though. The pictures are a little graphic to include
on our little website, so email me if you really want to see them. And if youre in Playa, don’t go diving with
SCUBA Caribe.
We found the courage to go back to Mexico in March, but we went to Cabo san Lucas. Went diving there too, and while
it was much less eventful, it was also much less enjoyable. The water was freezing and the visibility was really bad.
Got stung by a couple of tiny jellyfish and pretty much just wanted it to be over. No head wounds though!
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Aaron Sprang
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My wife Sara and I still live in Madison. Last fall, we adopted a basset hound named Daisy.
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Suzanne Wessels
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Moved - sold a condo - bought a house.
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