Dear
Friends and Family,
We
hope this letter finds you all healthy and happy during this season of
joy. 2012 has been a wonderful year for
us. We have settled into our lives in Penang and have been fortunate to see the
world in ways that we never dreamed. In case you missed what we’ve been up to here
is a quick catch up on our lives.
December
marks our 17th month living in Malaysia. Eric continues enjoying working at National
Instruments Penang where he is an Analog Tech Lead and is invested in mentoring
and growing the local team of engineers.
October marked the opening of NI’s new permanent site in Penang, Eric
will forever be a part of the building as all founding hands were cast in
stone. Jenn has settled into her duties
as a “housewife”. She spends her days
walking in the botanical gardens, going to lunch or coffee with her friends,
playing with Coco, and is the head swim coach at Dalat, the International
American school. She is currently
coaching 48 kids ages 7-18. Jenn and
Eric continue to explore Penang and spend time with the large group of friends
they have made from all over the world.
Travel – This year we have literally
flown around the world, more than once! It has been a busy year traveling. We have
utilized the 18 public holidays that Eric gets working on Malaysia. We rang in 2012, in Perth, Australia, where
we explored the Western Australian outback and snorkeled the beautiful and
untouched Ningaloo Reef. Our friends,
Dave & Emily were our first visitors in Penang and stayed for a few days
during their two month South East Asia honeymoon. Dave & Emily joined us at our private
villa in Bali and met up with us in Hanoi, Vietnam. The four of us took a 3 day cruise of
majestic Halong Bay, where we kayaked and enjoyed the cool weather. Our next
visitors, Christie and Jason came to Penang for two weeks in February where we
explored Penang and our favorite neighboring island, Langkawi. In March, we met back up with Dave and Emily
in Emerald Lake, British Columbia, Canada to celebrate Robin & Eli’s
wedding. We enjoyed cross country skiing
on scenic Lake Louise, warm fires, hot tubs, the company of good friends,
cheese, and good Canadian beer.
In
April, we decided to scale back our travels and took a road trip with our
friends to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. We spent the weekend eating delicious food,
shopping, visiting the American grocery store and filling our cooler with pork
products. In May, we returned to our favorite island to the north, Langkawi,
with Nikki & Leon and Louise, Eric & Mya. We all enjoyed a relaxing weekend on the
beach. In June, Eric and I spent a long
weekend in Bangkok where we visited the famous Wat Arun and Reclining Buddha
temples.
July
brought more visitors to our home.
Jenn’s Aunt Joann and cousin Alasdair spent four weeks in Malaysia,
where they partook in daily activities such as going to the market, drinking
fresh juice and visiting the samosa man.
We also visited the Perhentian Islands off of Eastern Malaysia, where
the snorkeling and diving is amazing and reef sharks and schools of fish
abound. A few days after we returned to
Penang, the four of us hopped on a plane and flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia to
explore the ancient temples of Angkor, the largest religious site in the world. We had an amazing time learning about the
temples and we were lucky enough to be the last tourists at Angkor Wat one
evening, very magical. In August, Eric
and I returned to Vietnam. We visited Ho
Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Hanoi. In
Hanoi, we took advantage of their wonderful tailors and had clothes and shoes
custom made. We also spent each day under a cabana enjoying the gorgeous South
China Sea.
In
September, Eric and I returned to the States for a fast 20 day visit, where we
made stops in Michigan, Texas and New York.
We attended Aunt Vikki and Gordon’s wedding in Michigan and Chris and
Sarah’s wedding in Rochester, NY. We
made a quick 4 day stop in Texas and were able to catch up with our friends in
Austin and spend time with our dog and horse at Jamie and Brian’s new home in
Bryan. We also caught a Michigan
Football game with Christie and Jason and spent time catching up with family in
Michigan. It was a very busy trip. We returned in late September and “took a
break” from traveling. For Jenn, that
lasted 28 days before she flew to Singapore with Nikki for a girls’ trip. We are planning on spending Christmas in Koh
Samui, Thailand and ringing in 2013 in Penang.
Big Milestones in 2012 – Both of us celebrated our 30th
Birthdays this year and were surrounded by friends from all over the
world. Eric and I also celebrated our 10
year anniversary and 5 year wedding anniversary. The biggest news came shortly after our
return from the States. Eric and I are
expecting our first child due May 30, 2013.
We are very excited and are looking forward to being parents. With the growth of our family, Eric and I are
working on extending our time in Malaysia for an additional 18 months. We are
enjoying our second home very much and think this will be a wonderful place to
start raising our family. We hope that
you will come and visit or at least give us a call on Skype. Don’t forget to check our blog for more
updates: ourjennericlife.us
We
wish you all a peaceful and joyful new year!
Come and visit us in Penang!
Love,
Jenn
and Eric and Coco
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