Twas the night before Christmas Eve, and Chris and Steve were celebrating their first anniversary. Steve stretched out on the sofa. Chris took the La-Z-Boy. Steve’s parents had already retired – still suffering from jet leg and the hard day’s skiing. Steve’s sister Laura, lay crashed on the floor, unable to keep her head up. “What a boring way to spend our first anniversary, huh?” Steve commented. “I would not have wanted it any other way,” Chris replied.
Now Steve and Chris were relaxing in their new flat, enjoying the quiet. “Wow. Can you believe we’ve already been here for almost one year?” Steve said, looking around their apartment that still had bare walls and a few as-yet-unpacked boxes stuffed in closets, even though it was all decorated for the holidays.
“Yeah, it’s gone by so quick. But this feels like home now. I could not imagine spending another year in Hoboken.” Their new dwelling is a three and a half-room, apartment, centrally located in Zurich. Chris continues, “This apartment is perfect and easy to maintain. We don’t need a lot of space to live.” Steve replied, “Well, it would have been nice to have some more space for Thanksgiving, so your sister and brother-in-law didn’t have to sleep in the foyer/dining room!”
Chris looked around. “Did you hear that?” she asked.
“What? I didn’t hear anything.” Steve said. Chris listened again, didn’t seem to hear anything, and went on. “It’s nice to just sit around and relax for awhile, huh?” she asked. It seemed like life had been flying by this year.
The year started off with a bang. After tying the knot one year ago, celebrating the holidays with family and friends in North Dakota and Minnesota, and celebrating Steve’s brother Joel’s wedding, they prepared for an international move to Switzerland for Steve’s job. Not knowing a word of German or any of the Swiss customs, the Nelson’s moved to Zurich on January 11, 2006. Steve settled into his new role at Ernst & Young, working closely with an old partner from NYC. Due to a delay in getting her work visa, Chris continued to work for NY’s Ernst & Young office remotely, from their apartment. She took multiple trips back to NYC, often carrying American food, toiletries, 20-pound electric converter, or a 19-inch computer monitor between the cities. Skiing or hiking on the weekends, taking German lessons two nights a week, traveling around Europe, and participating in the local church seemed to keep them busy.
Now they could sit in their living room and relax. Steve walked to the window and noticed it was starting to snow.
“You did a really great job making those curtains,” Steve said as he sat down again.“Thanks. You know I really love to do that sort of thing,” Chris exclaimed. Chris has always loved interior design. After completing a certificate in Interior Design at a design school in NYC, she explored switching careers this spring. She quickly learned that knowing German and even Swiss German was essential in order to enter the field; the interior design dream will have to wait until they return to the US.
Instead, in July, after a two-week break for their summer vacation back to the States, Chris began a new job as the Global SOX Coordinator for PartnerRe, a Zurich-based reinsurance company. While SOX had been implemented three years ago, she thought it would be a well-suited job and would allow some free time to design and travel. As it’s turned out, her responsibilities have broadened from the beginning and the workload is more than she had expected.
“There it is again. Did you hear that?” Chris asked. Steve shook his head. “Nope. What’d it sound like?”
Chris watched Laura re-position her head on the floor as she answered. “It sounded like… bells.” She shrugged. “But now I don’t hear it.”
It had definitely been a busy year. To get away from it all, they had taken their two-week trip back to the US. Five days in NYC with two weddings and a fourth of July party, and a week and a half split between Minneapolis, Fargo, and Cottonwood. It is always good to re-charge and spend quality time with friends and family. Chris’s sister Erin always grows a few inches between visits and friends that married before them have started to have kids.
Steve got up. “Well, I’m ready to hit the sack. How ‘bout you?” Chris got up, too. “Yep. I’ll be right behind you,” she said. Steve headed to the bedroom, while Chris lagged a few minutes behind to blow out the candles on the Christmas tree and put down the AeroBed for Laura to sleep on.
It was only then that the faint tinkling of bells once again sounded outside. The women never saw or heard the man dressed in red as he slid down their chimney and placed presents under the tree, but as he jumped in his sleigh and took to the sky, they heard a voice cry out, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!”
Love,
Chris & Steve
Now Steve and Chris were relaxing in their new flat, enjoying the quiet. “Wow. Can you believe we’ve already been here for almost one year?” Steve said, looking around their apartment that still had bare walls and a few as-yet-unpacked boxes stuffed in closets, even though it was all decorated for the holidays.
“Yeah, it’s gone by so quick. But this feels like home now. I could not imagine spending another year in Hoboken.” Their new dwelling is a three and a half-room, apartment, centrally located in Zurich. Chris continues, “This apartment is perfect and easy to maintain. We don’t need a lot of space to live.” Steve replied, “Well, it would have been nice to have some more space for Thanksgiving, so your sister and brother-in-law didn’t have to sleep in the foyer/dining room!”
Chris looked around. “Did you hear that?” she asked.
“What? I didn’t hear anything.” Steve said. Chris listened again, didn’t seem to hear anything, and went on. “It’s nice to just sit around and relax for awhile, huh?” she asked. It seemed like life had been flying by this year.
The year started off with a bang. After tying the knot one year ago, celebrating the holidays with family and friends in North Dakota and Minnesota, and celebrating Steve’s brother Joel’s wedding, they prepared for an international move to Switzerland for Steve’s job. Not knowing a word of German or any of the Swiss customs, the Nelson’s moved to Zurich on January 11, 2006. Steve settled into his new role at Ernst & Young, working closely with an old partner from NYC. Due to a delay in getting her work visa, Chris continued to work for NY’s Ernst & Young office remotely, from their apartment. She took multiple trips back to NYC, often carrying American food, toiletries, 20-pound electric converter, or a 19-inch computer monitor between the cities. Skiing or hiking on the weekends, taking German lessons two nights a week, traveling around Europe, and participating in the local church seemed to keep them busy.
Now they could sit in their living room and relax. Steve walked to the window and noticed it was starting to snow.
“You did a really great job making those curtains,” Steve said as he sat down again.“Thanks. You know I really love to do that sort of thing,” Chris exclaimed. Chris has always loved interior design. After completing a certificate in Interior Design at a design school in NYC, she explored switching careers this spring. She quickly learned that knowing German and even Swiss German was essential in order to enter the field; the interior design dream will have to wait until they return to the US.
Instead, in July, after a two-week break for their summer vacation back to the States, Chris began a new job as the Global SOX Coordinator for PartnerRe, a Zurich-based reinsurance company. While SOX had been implemented three years ago, she thought it would be a well-suited job and would allow some free time to design and travel. As it’s turned out, her responsibilities have broadened from the beginning and the workload is more than she had expected.
“There it is again. Did you hear that?” Chris asked. Steve shook his head. “Nope. What’d it sound like?”
Chris watched Laura re-position her head on the floor as she answered. “It sounded like… bells.” She shrugged. “But now I don’t hear it.”
It had definitely been a busy year. To get away from it all, they had taken their two-week trip back to the US. Five days in NYC with two weddings and a fourth of July party, and a week and a half split between Minneapolis, Fargo, and Cottonwood. It is always good to re-charge and spend quality time with friends and family. Chris’s sister Erin always grows a few inches between visits and friends that married before them have started to have kids.
Steve got up. “Well, I’m ready to hit the sack. How ‘bout you?” Chris got up, too. “Yep. I’ll be right behind you,” she said. Steve headed to the bedroom, while Chris lagged a few minutes behind to blow out the candles on the Christmas tree and put down the AeroBed for Laura to sleep on.
It was only then that the faint tinkling of bells once again sounded outside. The women never saw or heard the man dressed in red as he slid down their chimney and placed presents under the tree, but as he jumped in his sleigh and took to the sky, they heard a voice cry out, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!”
Love,
Chris & Steve
