Tag Archives: work

Still Alive Up Here in Michigan

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Hey everyone!

It’s been a very long time since I posted! So, what does life look like from Detroit?

All I do is work, work, work, work, work

Ha ha, now that song will be in your head for the rest of the day. You’re welcome.

It’s just been very, very busy around here! The transition from St. Maarten to the United States has given me the opportunity to work a lot more, and I’ve been taking advantage of that. Gotta pay off those student loans, you know?

I’m still writing, and I’ve been adding new clients to my list of regulars. One of my new favorites is Forever Bride, a Minnesota-based wedding company. I’m loving love!

 

 

I’m also working as an online English teacher for Chinese-speaking children! As you know, I love teaching ESL and I love working with kids. It’s so much fun to see my students online everyday and teach from my desk at home!

VIPKID is the most fun I’ve ever had at work.

 

 

It’s been so good that Ben decided to apply to VIPKID, too. He got hired last week and just finished his first weekend of classes! Woohoo!

If you know anyone in med school, you know that working during medical school is not always feasible.

However, VIPKID gives Ben the ability to choose his own hours and work when he can, whether that’s 8 hours like last weekend or half an hour on a Friday night. Or nothing, like this week.

 

By the way, if you have a college degree and could use a fun job, you should totally apply! Email me with any questions. Here’s a link and a code for your application: 04MXB1

It’s Cold, Boiiii

As you can see, I may have left the tropics but I still took some island slang with me, boiii.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any of that sunshine. We’re literally taking vitamin D in pill form at this point.

It’s already snowing here in Detroit! Not enough for any photos, but enough for dancing in the cold with a scarf on.

 

 

Kito doesn’t know what to do about this cold. We go on daily walks along a pond near our house, and she keeps trying to walk into the water to chase the Canadian geese!  Today, she was surprised when she stepped through a thin sheet of ice. I haven’t seen anything so funny since I watched Nacho Libre last week.

 

 

Detroit is pretty cool

It’s cold, but it’s cool.

One thing I love about living here is that a lot of the public venues are totally free. Others are really cheap. A lot of the museums downtown are free for Michiganders!

 

Before we found out we were moving to Michigan, we got a U.S. parks pass. We were sad when we found out that Michigan doesn’t have too many national parks!

 

 

However, we have a TON of state parks. And the pass is just $11 per year! We’ve been all over the place between the US/Canadian border and Lansing.

Ben’s brother and his wife live in Grand Rapids, so we sometimes explore a state park with them.

 

 

In addition to the cool places, Detroit has some pretty cool people. We’re starting to meet our neighbors, and we’re making friends at church and Bible study. We finished the membership class at our church, so we have somewhere to belong in Michigan now.

 

Medical school marches on

Ben’s now about 5/8 of of the way done with med school. And yes, I’m counting down the months!

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s not so bad. The endless studying of years 1 and 2 are over, and now he’s having a lot more fun doing rotations in the hospitals.

He’s on his internal medicine rotation. He honored the first part of the rotation!

 

 

So, that’s our life in Michigan in a nutshell! It’s starting to feel like home. <3

Busy Writer!

American University of the Caribbean, Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Spouses Organization, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

As every freelancer knows, there are up seasons and down seasons when it comes to work. Since I can’t get a work permit as an expat where I live, I do a lot of freelancing, especially writing. I usually sell my skills on Fiverr.com under the username BreJay. Lately, I’ve been getting a small avalanche of commissions, which is why I’ve slowed down a bit on posting here. Well, that and the daily power outages. But don’t worry– I’m not giving up on blogging!

If you want to read a bit of what I’ve written lately, you can visit a few sites here:

Luxurious Eco-Friendly Resorts

Underwater Observatory 

6 Wild Places in Florida

You can see my complete portfolio here.

The work has been slowing down my blogging a bit, but I certainly can’t complain. I’m so thankful to be at the point where I feel busy with work. It can be so discouraging to not have a full-time job, but I’m on my way to building a sustainable freelance business that I can stick with for a long time. I also recently got a “freelance” job with Rev.com, which allows me to fill my extra time with transcription work. I’m praising God that after a year of no regular income, I’m getting the chance to take a bite out of all that student debt we’re accumulating! That first paycheck from Rev was the best feeling ever.

See you soon with more Sint Maarten posts! I have a ton of photos on my camera just waiting to be uploaded for you all. Until then.

Creatively Finding Work

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The consequence for working for pay as a foreigner in St. Maarten is immediate deportation. However, I can apparently work online through American-based employers. While a two-year vacation on a Caribbean islands sounds lovely, a two-year vacation on a Caribbean island with a job to pay some of the bills sounds even better.

I hoped to get a full-time job this summer, but somehow or other nothing I tried worked out. I think it was by the grace of God, actually. It’s been lovely to spend these days with Ben, since it’s the last time we’ll be able to spend quantity time together for what seems like forever. Also, we’ve had a lot of moving preparations to do. We’ve actually been blessed with quite a lot of paid work, anyway.  We drive two awesome kids home from camp a couple times each week. I babysit two or three times a week, and sometimes Ben comes with me. Ben has a job as a tutor, also. We get to housesit twice this summer. The biggest blessing, though, is the work that will last during our time in St. Maarten. Ben suggested that I try freelance illustrating again. I did it a little before and during college, but he thought I could try to work into a full-time job. So, I bought Adobe Illustrator and started a Cafepress store and put myself out there on a few websites. I was discouraged at first, but not long after we prayed for a design job for me, I got an offer for a part-time job with a printing company. So, I am working for a printing company designing T-shirts. I just finished my first batch of sixty-four and my client loved them. Praise God! Looks like we’ll have a little income while we’re on the island.

Check out my Fiverr gigs and my Cafepress store:

https://www.fiverr.com/brejay

http://www.cafepress.com/thirdculture

africa5

Above is one of my designs on Cafepress. I did the face with digital oil paints and added text with Adobe Illustrator.