New Post, New Year

Dear friends and family

It's that time of year again: the BEGINNING of a new year! We have had a crazy busy year here in Perryland.

Jeff has had continued good fortune in the work world. He was recruited by the competition, and thus left AT&T for a position at Comcast in the fall, and was lucky to get a position that is work from home! He has enjoyed his time thus far with the company and he has a very supportive boss and team, and he has the added flexibility to continue working on his academic goals this past fall. He is continuing to pursue his degree in business and is getting closer and closer. Before the year ended he received a new calling in our church as a counselor in the elder's quorum, which means he helps to oversee any needs the families of the church might have.

Jen knocked another year out of her program, and plans on graduating with her master's next year. Now that the end is FINALLY near, she is contemplating life where she will finally no longer need to be a student. After so many years, it'll definitely be an adjustment. She also switched jobs and works for the school district which she enjoys. She works with a small class of 7 students and loves being around her new kiddos as much as her old clients. After working with one child for almost a year, Jen continues to work in the church with Jeff as employment specialists, where she can help others find jobs, write resumes and the like.

We have had a  lot of adventures and even ending the year with a weeklong vacation. This coming year we are hoping to travel to at least one new state (and we are open to suggestions!) and possibly planning an oversees trip to celebrate Jen's graduation.

It has been a fantastic year and we are grateful for all that we have been fortunate enough to experience and are looking forward to a fantastic year with more adventures. We hope you all had a great holiday and here's to 2016!!

Fox

Jacob

Pepino

Callie

Ichabod

Jeffery and Jennifer aka the bipedal Perrys

A Vacation Much Needed

An interesting perk of Jeff's new job is that there is a bit of travel involved. The bad news: he was gone for almost the entire first half of November.

Jeff's first work trip took him to Boston and New Hampshire for training. That was fine, and he was gone for a few days and back by Saturday. The only problem was he had ANOTHER training the following week, and was gone in less than 48 hours, this time to Maryland. After he returned from both trips, he found out that there was yet ANOTHER trip the first week of December and he wouldn't be done until December 4th. The problem: That was when we planned on leaving for our anniversary trip to Chicago. So, why not make a long trip?

We both traveled to Washington DC on December 1st and settled into our hotel in Maryland. While Jeff was working, Jen was able to sight-see without him. She went to the Capitol Building and the Library of Congress, then went with Jeff at night to see a few of the monuments at night. Day two took Jen to Virginia to see Mount Vernon and some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, and again at night we hit the city to see more monuments and walked around the city while they televised the Christmas tree lighting at the Capitol. Friday was our first day off, so after checking out of the hotel, we went to look around the Smithsonian and then the Holocaust Museum, one of the most moving experiences we had. We had to cut our day short and took a late flight to Chicago that evening.

Chicago was a lot of fun as well. We went to the Art Institute of Chicago and looked at all of the paintings, which Jen enjoyed being a huge fan of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. We also enjoyed trying authentic Chicago-style pizza and driving around the city and outskirts. We even found a small burger chain that Jen loved because their mascot was a penguin! We packed as much as we could in two days, and then spent a lot of time in the airport on Monday. We were fogged in, and our original 9 AM flight was supposed to take us to Denver for a layover and then take us home to California. The fog changed that for us, though, and we ended up leaving to Las Vegas around noon. Originally we were in a puddle jumper, which is a Southwest flight where you'll land in a city, but instead of getting off and switching planes, you stay seated for a few minutes, more people get on, and you continue on your flight. However, just before we landed, Southwest decided to change us to another plane, so we had to sprint through the Las Vegas airport to get to the plane. When we got home, because of all the switched flights, our luggage came much later and, while we got back to Newark at 6, our luggage arrived sometime around 1:30 in the morning! It was a great trip overall, despite the extra confusion at the end, and we are hoping to go back to both cities soon!

Washington Monument

Mount Vernon

The LDS Temple. It was COVERED in Christmas lights and so pretty!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington, VA

A photo wall at the Holocaust Museum. This is actually from the top floor and we are standing on a walkway; it was 3+ stories of pictures.

The famous bean in Chicago

Willis Tower. Yeah, it's pretty big

Outside of the Art Institute of Chicago

As The (Work)World Turns

So there have been two major changes in the Perry household: Both of us changed jobs!

After being with AT&T for over a year, Jeff was offered a new position at Comcast. It was a surprise, as he accidentally applied for the position, and technically he didn't meet all of the desired qualifications. But, Jeff being as awesome as he is, he really impressed the higher ups in the company and they offered him the positions. He is now an Accounts Executive, which means he signs up apartments and communities to get them good rates for promoting Comcast. The best part is he works from home most of the time! He has to go to Sacramento once a month, and Livermore once or twice a month, but the rest of the time, he works from home. We even cleaned out the office so it's a little more functional for work. Let's see how long it stays clean though!

Jen also was offered another job. After being with Easter Seals for 3.5 years, she left to be a paraeducator at a local elementary school. While she misses her clients (some she had been with since she started ESBA) she is excited to be in a classroom setting. Also, the hours are shorter, and her drive time is significantly shorter, and she is done by 3 PM every day. Plus, she won't have to deal with paperwork!

We are both excited to start these new phases in our careers. Wish us luck!