Business Ventures & Family Updates

It’s March!! How is that even possible?! A lot has been happening around our neck of the woods…Alexis continues to work hard juggling school and family life, and now, he is even getting to do some fellowship work at the hospital and nursing home which is a wonderful reprieve from the classroom and is building great practical foundations. We continue to drive most Sundays to our parish assignment in Allentown, about an hour and a half south, but even though the drive is tough, the church community is wonderful, and Father Richard is the most wonderful mentor.

Recently, Alexis made a weekend trip to the Ukrainian seminary, St. Sophia’s, in New Jersey. This was an extremely positive trip where he was able to connect with Archbishop Daniel and things are moving forward in terms of ordination steps and graduation timelines. We don’t have a date yet, but the first step will be to make him a sub-deacon, and God willing, that will be happening in the next couple of months.

Otis is thriving at school and we continue to be ever so thankful for the community there, the teachers, and the Catholic Archdiocese for supporting his attendance. We look forward to giving back as soon as we graduate!

Meanwhile, Jack is growing like a weed! He is into everything, walking along furniture, starting to stand independently for a few seconds at a time, and eating like a champ. I swear, these boys are going to rack up an expensive food bill in the coming years if they keep up at their current rate. Hah!

And now... drum roll, please!

* The Chaplain’s Wife*

Storefront here: https://www.thatalaskanginger.com/about-1

I am super thrilled to share my latest venture. I have been working away at establishing my own small business called The Chaplain’s Wife. Through this business, I will be selling travel prayer kits. There are currently three kits to choose from, and a fourth one is in the works as we speak. The current kits are for Labor & Delivery, which I am categorizing as, "Pregnancy" kits.

The other two are Military prayer kits and Hospital prayer kits. If you follow me on social media you have probably seen all about it, but if not, please check out my new storefront on my website for additional information. I would greatly appreciate the support! (https://www.thatalaskanginger.com/about-1)

I have long desired to pour myself into something meaningful for soldiers and give back to the military community; particularly, Orthodox Military Seminarians on the track to becoming Orthodox Military Chaplains. The long-range goal with these prayer kits is to take a percentage of the proceeds and donate it to future military seminarians once we graduate. In the meantime, they will help support us as we continue in the seminary world for the next year and a half.

I have already begun working on an additional kit for everyday travel purposes, so be on the lookout for those in the coming month. I always travel with an icon, and it was brought to my attention that having a go-to, ready-made prayer kit for your typical travel purposes would also be a useful option.

Additionally, there is a sponsorship option for the Military Travel Kits. If you would like to sponsor a soldier, this would require you to purchase the cost of the kit, which is $25.00, and I will send it to the next soldier on my running list of suggested recipients. If you would like to know more, please visit the storefront, check out my social media pages, or contact me for further information.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has supported this endeavor, who has already committed to purchasing, and who has shared on social media. Also, a special shoutout to those who helped with the backend business side of things. I won’t call you out for your privacy, but you know who you are, and THANK YOU! It’s been a few years or a decade-plus (oof) since business school, so I was rusty. Haha!

Sending love from rainy (I love it!) PA...

Love,

Two wild boys and their sleepy parents ;)