We share a special connection with you through this work in the world! We love hearing from you over the years and knowing what’s unfolding in your lives..and here’s a personal update from our team…
Deana
Deana went to Bali for breathwork practitioner training this year and recently started teaching breathwork classes. Leadership coaching remains her full-time job, but she’s found healing, insight, and inspiration through breathwork and wants to share that in the world. 2024 found her skiing in Durango, taking desert hikes in Zion, sitting a 10-day silent retreat, and solo camping in places that make her heart sing. She also got a surprise visit from Bree Straight-Grealis, a friend who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal with her. After spending Thanksgiving with 30 friends, Deana is looking forward to a quiet holiday in December.
Nancy
Jen
This year started off with Jen traveling to remote Native Alaskan villages along the Bering Sea to provide free tax filings for villagers as part of an IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. In May, she graduated with a Master of Accountancy from the University of Montana and has now completed all her CPA exams. She is currently working as a Senior Tax Associate at a top accounting firm and is expecting her CPA license spring of 2025. In her personal life, Jen and her family enjoyed trips to Mexico, Montana, and Arizona this year. Plus Jen and her husband Erik escaped for a couples getaway to Seattle, visiting their good friends Stew and Jillian Wolf whom they met on their Nepal trek in 2015. Jen is looking forward to a quiet holiday season. Her older girls (Alexis 22 and Kiersten 19) are coming home from college, and her little ones (Kora 8 and Ewan 4) are excited for holiday lights and Christmas celebrations.
Bill
Bill continues to work on his pilot’s license and recently bought a vintage airplane that was previously owned by his father. Together with his brother, Bill flew the 1947 Call Air from New Hampshire back home to Moab. He has also spent the year working hard for his constituents in Grand County where he serves as a local commissioner. Bill often travels up to the state legislature, building strong and lasting relationships for the benefit of his county. He and Crystal have met a lot of great people and made new friends while traveling all over rural Utah. Crystal is currently the director of the local food bank where she spends several days a week helping to gather and distribute safe, nutritious food to individuals throughout her community. Bill & Crystal have enjoyed recent travels to Nevada and California and look forward to spending time in Nepal soon!
Parshu
SODEC Executive Director Parshu Dahal traveled to Victoria, BC again this year for ABIN’s annual fundraiser…and then his brother Rabin from Texas joined him there, the first time they had seen each other in 9 years! Together with Rabin’s wife and children, they enjoyed sightseeing in Victoria and Vancouver including visits to French Beach and Cypress Mountain, home of the 2010 Olympics. Back at home Parshu and his wife Bhima are empty nesters–their son Pramit has left to study for a master’s degree in IT cybersecurity in Perth, Australia. And Parshu’s father, who is 87, just got his first smartphone ever. He was delighted to be able to talk to his grandchildren in Texas on video chat. That’s revolutionary technology for a man who was born in a village where the only phone available was a public payphone at a local shop.
