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The title this year is one of Jen's favorite Christmas songs, Happy Christmas (War is Over). If you haven't heard it, it's sung by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and the version she has played lately was actually sung by Maroon 5.
We wanted to do our yearly update on the blog instead of putting it in our Christmas card, so that everyone can have access to it, so here we go with our wrap up of 2012!
We have had an interesting year to say the least, with a lot of ups and downs. Early this year Jen lost her cousin, Jimmy, very suddenly, and the family has felt his loss very much. When we celebrated with the Borgen side of the family yesterday, as we goofed around and played video games (We all played Dance Central together) thoughts of Jimmy did come to our minds, but we know he's watching us all act up together.
Starting in February, Jen has had some medical issues. She began to have headaches and dizzy spells, and while she has had migraines before, these were something very different, often leaving her bedridden for several days. She began to go to the doctor's office, as well as visit an ENT and a neurologist. She went on a medical leave from Stanford and it wasn't until the summer that we got some sort of diagnosis. We had thought she suffered from vertigo, but as it turns out, she has vestibular migraines. In Jen's case, when she is feeling ill, not able to properly sleep, or undergoing a lot of stress, she begins to feel dizzy as her "aura" prior to having a large migraine. We have been able to curtail a lot of the migraines as of late, and made some changes to help her cope (more to come later) and she seems to be on the mend for the most part.
This summer there was a bit of upheaval as well. Jeff was let go from his position at Starbucks and Jen was on medical leave from Stanford, so although funds were tight, we were able to spend a lot of time together. During the summer, someone from our church got Jeff in touch with New York Life, an insurance company, and they had him test to be a life agent. After some studying and training, Jeff passed his test and is now licensed to sell life insurance, as well as help with long-term care insurance, financial planning and retirement planning along with other things. He started out with a license in California but now covers Utah as well, and is looking at going into other states as well. If anyone out there has any questions or wants insurance, be sure to come our way!
As for Jen, after all of the medical issues and a lot of discussion, it was decided that she leave Stanford University after working there for 4.5 years, and almost 3 in her last position. It was sad to leave such a well known place, but someone must have been looking out for us, because she was offered a job at Easter Seals Bay Area. Presently, Jen works as a Behavior Interventionist, and goes into families' homes to work with children on the autism spectrum working on a variety of life skills. This has been a huge blessing for us, because she is able to work from home part time with data entry, her travel/commute is shorter (most of her kids are close to home) and because the hours are generally later in the day (a plus when you don't get enough sleep). She currently works about 35 hours/week, and has a Tuesday-Saturday schedule, which she enjoys because Mondays are always hard for her. And some days she is able to come home for a little bit before seeing her next case. Her "siesta" as she calls it, is long enough to get a quick nap and a good lunch in, both of which help with her migraines. Plus, it is less stressful than research, as she basically gets paid to play with her little guys, most around 4-5 years of age, and one older elementary age boy.
In animal news, we have had a lot of changes as well. Two of Jen's beloved chinchillas passed away this year. Hobbes, one of the first chinchillas she adopted, passed away earlier this year. Scout, her very first baby chinchilla (and the only boy we've raised since birth) also passed away after getting injured in his cage. While we miss our little furries a great deal, we have also had the addition of Kandi, Jeff's parents' dog. They recently moved and were unable to keep Kandi, a 14-year old German shepherd/rottweiler with them, so she joined the Perry Pack. Despite her old age, Kandi tries very hard to keep up with our dogs, Chris, Fox, and Jacob, who continue to grow and get into mischief. We definitely have some
As we continue on through the end of this holiday season, we are looking forward to everything that the new year may bring us. We hope that you also had a wonderful holiday season and love to hear from you as well, and hope nothing but the best for you all.
With love,
Jeffery and Jennifer Perry
