A baby is born! and Zek might get a job ... eventually

Rains continue to fall in Georgia.

Zek has a few interesting career opportunities.  He interviewed with Kimberly-Clark (a paper products company).  This is an internship during school and may or may not turn into a full-time position after graduation.  He also met the general manager of one of GE's businesses.  That business includes the group he worked with this spring as part of a marketing consulting project.  That might turn into another opportunity.  Finally, he has interviews with several consulting firms this week.  Unfortunately, these firms may only hire a few MBAs, and there are a lot of applicants.  Consulting work comes with pros and cons, including traveling almost every week Sunday night through Thursday night.

He is starting to relax and realize that if he don't get a job right now, it's OK.  He is kind of bummed that the job search is distracting him so much from school, and rejection is never easy to accept.  Tracy is doing well in school, and she is excited about what she is studying.  CNN Money ranked Physician Assistant the #2 best job in America. Check it out! http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs/2009/full_list/index.html

Our new niece, Eva Maria Niebauer Fossas, was born October 9^th, 2009 at 12:54 am weighing 8lbs3oz. She is beautiful and completely healthy. God blessed Tracy with the opportunity to be there for the birth. When her sister called to say she was being induced on Thursday, Tracy left school and drove to NC and was able to make it in time to team up with Micah (sister’s husband) to help her sister through labor and see Eva Maria being born. The proud and happy parents are doing well, but exhausted. Titi (aunt in Spanish) Tracy is completely in love with our new niece. We'll be visiting the Niebauers in NC for Thanksgiving.
 

This Christmas we'll be slightly compressed for time.  We'll go to Nebraska from December 12 through the 21st then to PR from the 22nd through January 4.

How are you doing?

More pictures:

School year is in full swing!

Hello everyone.

First, I want to say that even though you probably received this via email, the blog is actually hosted at http://zekandtracy.blogspot.com/.  If you you want to reply to this email message, it should go straight to my Gmail account, but I'm not sure.

I am caught up in the career search, but things do not look good.  I thought MBA would be a good time to switch careers and try something new, but that thinking seems only to be adding to my stress.  Tracy is also busy.  They weren't lying to her during orientation:  she really doesn't have a life outside of school!

I have been doing more at church.  On Sunday I'm leading the Sunday school lesson.  On Monday the Christian fellowship at the business school starts up (not associated with our church).  I am the president this year.  I also participated in the church's talent show, breakdancing:



You can find the YouTube video above at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a6FdYRErtI.)

A couple friends moved from a suburb of Atlanta to only a few minutes from our home.  We're excited about that.  They are great and in October they're planning a mystery dinner theater at their home.  I am excited for that.  It will be our first.

Over thanksgiving we're traveling to Tracy's sister's house in NC.  It will be a good time to (hopefully) relax.  We're excited to see you again, Trishie and Micah!

Away from India, onto North Carolina and Atlanta

Hey All,

This summer, I wrote a blog about my time in India. At the same time, I followed a blog written by a couple who use it to update family and friends on their goings-on. So, I decided to try the same thing, hoping this will be a way to keep you up-to-date on our life. I (or Tracy) will probably update the blog every month or so.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, "Why hasn't he called lately anyway?" To that I can say 2 things. 1) I've been thinking about it, and I am probably praying for you often. 2) You can call me just as well. In any event, I hope we will talk soon enough.

So, here it goes with our first post...

After leaving India, Tracy and I spent a week with her sister (Trishie) and her husband (Micah) in North Carolina. What a wonderful time of relaxation and fellowship before we ease back into life in Atlanta! Micah's sister (Rachel) and her husband (Brandon) were there also, as were Tracy's mother and mother's mother. (Did you get all of that?) As we slowly got over jet lag and our bodies settled down, we enjoyed not only family and friends but also Micah and Trishie's pool, Jacuzzi, and food.

Tracy With Trishie

Now, we're back in Atlanta. Tracy started her PA education (the actual degree is MMSc). She is so excited to get started and has been dragging (shall I say, allowing?) me to all of her events. Apparently, this year she will be the busiest she has ever been, but I think she finally feels like she is on the path to her lifelong career. She's probably 60% excited and 40% fearful. I'm excited for her too!

 

Some PA Friends (Ben top-left, Sandy bottom-left, Dave, and Sophia bottom-right)

Rachel and Brandon (see earlier mention) actually just moved to Atlanta recently, so we began spending time with them. We went camping for the first time in Atlanta, and Rachel and Brandon joined us. That was a great time as well. I brought many of the camping habits I've learned by watching my father:

• Cast iron cooking ware
• Breakfast of bacon, eggs, and pancakes
• Meals wrapped in aluminum foil, placed directly in the coals
• Starting the fire with only the previous fire's coals
  

I did not fish, but I swam in a nearby lake. I was inspired by the pictures my dad sent out of a camping trip with mom and my nieces and nephews recently. I remembered old times when I saw Austin and the others standing near my family's old camping sites, taking hikes we used to take.



Pictures from Camping at Stone Mountain

This has been probably all that you can handle for one blog post. It's been a great couple of weeks and summer. Now, I'm looking ahead to the recruiting process and applying to jobs. I'm a bit nervous about that, but I must trust God's will. I'm less nervous about classes and just have to choose which ones I want to take.