Its official. My wife is EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!!

News came in last week from the office. I always thought it was a matter of time. She by far pulls the most weight in her department. So she gets her own picture in the marquee, a special nametag, a dinner with the captain and $100! BEEEAMM!
Enough to make a husband beam!

In other news, we are now 6 weeks out. The end really does feel touchable. And it needs to. We have managed to come into pretty good standing with our higher ups. My boss is still NO FUN AT ALL but I think THINK he trusts me enough in my playing, so I suppose I'd rather just finish strong and get out of here!

We'll be seeing some of you soon and others a little not as soon. Miss you all!!

Matty

looking back... looking forward

Matty and i are sitting in a starbucks in mexico (i know, shame shame) and were just thinking that a year from now we'd most likely be planning our return to Chicago and looking for places to live and work, etc... and yet... a year ago we LIVED and WORKED in chicago. how strange this 'halfway' point feels. We wanted to take a "year off" which is now turning into two years. I feel a sense of promise and i'm reminded that God is a great storyteller and that i've so enjoyed being a part of the story. I am excited to be 'home' for a while and take on the challenge of a new ocean and new american clientel come 2010. I am happy to say i'm happy. i'm grateful. i'm paused.

deep breath and continue.

much love from a place of contemplation.

kris

next contract... 10 more weeks to go on the Paradise

Matty and I have just been assigned our next ship contract.
the VALOR sailing out of Miami. We start january 10th and work till july 11th.
sun: miami, mon: at sea, tues: grand cayman, wed: Isla Roatan, thurs: Belize, Fri: Cozumel, sat: at sea, sun: miami.
we are excited to have better ports and be employed so soon after the holidays! we are also excited to have our american port on a SUNDAY so we can finally find a church! i think there is a Covenant church 7 miles away from the dock.

this will probably be our last contract since we are eager to get a dog in the near future... so jealous of jenn and charley with their new puppy, Cinder!!

kris
much love... and please join me on the ship in April for my 30th!!

Crossroads

Well here we are, just days more then 10 weeks left on our contract, and at the crossroads of our mentality on it all. This coming Monday also is the day a slew of our new good friends leave this boat, significantly depleting our social circle, which kinda sucks. We have been making inroads on gaining friendships with the new production cast that has come on for the new show, Xtreme Country. (That’s right folks! Trainbeats, yee-haws and all the processed nationalism you can devour! It even ends with “God Bless the USA”)
On the plus side to this mass exodus, it really allows us to see the end of the contract. We’ll be running into lots more people that will be on this ship longer then us, making us no longer feel like the people with a long time to go. Kris is getting 2 new team members who might actually kind of want to be here which could reap benefits for her. I am gaining a new bassist, which won’t promise better times, since the old one is a really cool guy, a kind of mixture of three of my very close friends, but I will hang tough and stay strong throughout the “In the moods” and “Tequilas” ☺.
Honestly, it may sound like our position is worse then it is. It’s not. Kris mentioned plenty of great positives in our last blog, and they are great points. It is just that this particular run (Long Beach, Catalina, Ensenada) does not lend itself to being a thoroughly enjoyable and fresh run over the long term. HOWEVER, we heard about our next option starting in January and it appears to lend itself to that enjoyment and fulfillment much more. We found out today from the main office that they would like us to start on the Valor from January 10th to July 11th. We are still waiting to make the ultimate decision in our heads if another contract with Carnival is what we want. But financially, it makes sense and its also harder to turn down a 6 month gig that does 7 day runs to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan and Belize. MUCH better then this one ☺. So its great to know that option is on the table for us. We have still have time to make the final call. Right now our heads are filled with plans for our 5-week vacation out west.
Our thoughts are with all of you. We do miss our friends and family here, but are grateful for the experience. As always, will continue to update with the latest.

M and K