We’re Moving!

Well, it is official…we are moving to Houston, TX. After many months of interviewing and negotiating, Erik accepted a position as the Commercial Manager for GE’s High Speed Reciprocating Compressor product line. Erik will be responsible for new pricing initiatives, customer responsiveness and growing the international segment of the business. Erik will officially start this role on August 31st, however he has already been doing some work to get up to speed with business operations. Thankfully he will be able to work from Oshkosh through September until he has to permanently be in Houston.

We will be putting the house on the market in the next week. We are very sad to leave our home, neighborhood and friends here, but are very thankful for this professional opportunity. Marin will continue to work for Family Services until the house sells. We don’t anticipate having to commute for more than 4 months, since there is an option for a buy-out of the house if we are unable to sell it quickly.

After our house sells, we will be purchasing a new home in Houston. We will be looking at neighborhoods on the northwest side. Once we do get settled, we would love to have guests. We are guaranteed to have a much more pleasant winter than Wisconsin!

Thanks to everyone who has been thinking about us and praying for us through this time of transition. It is reassuring that despite the current economy and layoffs within GE, Erik was able to receive a promotional position…even if it means moving to Houston.

We promise to keep everyone posted in the next few weeks and months!

Marin and Erik

Summertime Update

June and July have been busy months for the Barton’s. We spent many weekends away from home and had several fun adventures. We spent a weekend up at the Ross’s cottage on Lake Michigan playing shuffleboard and burning mattresses and doors in the bonfire. We also set off several fireworks…a cottage tradition! It is necessary to mention the excellent filet mignon’s from Jaime parent’s restaurant….yum! For the 4th of July we travelled to Duluth, MN, to see Marin’s Aunt Janine and Uncle Bob. Marin’s parents also joined us. We took a day and traveled up the Gunflint Trail and onto Seagull Lake where Marin’s mom grew up, her parents met and Marin spent most of her childhood summers. Erik got to meet some of the “regulars” up there and even went out on the lake for a brief tour. It was sad to see all of the damage that the fires caused, but reassuring to see that it is growing back quickly. We hope to spend some more time up there in the years to come. The picture below is us at Palisade Point on Lake Superior.



For Marin’s 30th birthday we took a short trip to Chicago. We had a fabulous Italian dinner at Carmine’s on Rush and visited the Science and Industry Museum. It was really neat to see the innovative things that are being designed, but does it really need to be so expensive…I mean $16 just to park? Erik’s parents also came to visit for a weekend. We had a really good time and enjoyed some great food. We tried some new Greek recipes that went over pretty well. We also visited the Appleton Farmers Market and played a new card game called “Golf.”

The summer seems to be flying by. Marin continues to work as a Project Consultant and is making a lot of progress for the Residential Treatment Program. Surprisingly, the staff is open to and willing to make the recommended changes. Erik is still negotiating for a new position within GE. He recently had interviews for a new role that would be located in Houston, TX. Most likely, we will be moving to Houston within the next few months and hope to have some answers about that soon.

We hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful summer weather, even our friends in Tacoma who are setting record high temps!

Love, Marin and Erik

All Settled In...

The last few months since returning to the U.S have been quite busy. Just days after arriving home, we traveled to Houston for Erik's JOLP (Junior Officer Leadership Program) Graduation. We were able to see many work friends that we hadn't seen in a long while. We were hoping to get a round of golf in, but the torrential rains in the days before our arrival caused the course to be closed. Nonetheless, we had a great time! Our next trip was a drive down to Wheaton, IL (Erik's hometown) to celebrate the MDiv Graduation of our brother-in-law, Jonathan. We spent a lot of time with our family and were able to see all the nieces and nephews on the Barton side (7+2 on the way!). It is truly amazing how fast kids grow!


We have also been able to spend some time with Marin's family. Marin's parents took care of Lola when we were gone and although they didn't mind having the fat cat, they were more than willing to bring her back shortly after our return!! Marin's childhood cat "Murphy" did not take to Lola so well. When the Anderson's came they helped us prune our yard to get it ready for summer. We are now enjoying the fruits of all of the boys labor! Here are some pictures of our backyard in bloom!

Still waiting for the daffodils to bloom....

We also took a last minute trip to Las Vegas with the Anderson's. It was a great weekend, and Erik and I had some luck. The weather was actually perfect for walking around (mid-seventies). We are looking forward to spending the 4th of July with Marin's parents, Aunt/Uncle and cousins in Duluth. If we're lucky, we might also squeeze a trip up to the Boundary Waters where Marin spent a lot of time as a kid.


Marin is back at work full time for the same non-profit that she worked for before, but no longer managing the foster home. Her new role is as a project based consultant, which she really enjoys. She is currently working on updating policy/procedure and conducting a organizational review and workflow/process analysis of the residential treatment program. Erik is finishing up his Blackbelt projects from Aberdeen and negotiating his next position within GE, which could require a move to Houston, TX.


As we patiently wait to see where we might be headed next, we are enjoying the WI summer. We have been golfing, spending time with the Ross's, enjoying BBQ's with the neighbors and Marin has rejoined her neighborhood bunco group.


We hope this post finds everyone enjoying the beginning of summer. Happy Father's Day to all the dads in our life!