Mama needs a new pair of shoes!

Life can sure throw you some curve balls. Those of you who know Julie know that she spent 16 years at one conservative employer, an Oregon Credit Union. Did a great job for them and advanced on up the ladder. Well, today she accepted a job as the Player Development Gal at Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln City, Oregon. For those of you who don't know Oregon that's right on the coast just steps from the Pacific Ocean. She entertains the "whales" as they are called. Gets them what they want so they come and play their game of choice. It's a Portland based, home office job with an occasional weekend at the coast. Darn it, that's tough. So what's your pleasure?

Kindness Revealed!

Hello everyone! We're back and we have all kinds of exciting news! The most important has to do with our visit to Laos and our time spent with our Servas hosts Jodi and Bruce. (Somehow they have gotten pregnant, imagine that). Both of them ate teachers at an international school in the capital city of Vietienne. On our visit with them we saw so many children who couldn't go to school because they couldn't afford the uniforms. Very sad. Well, Melissa got a great job with FedEx upon her reentry and one of her customers Dennis Uniform has agreed to donate 100 uniforms to needy Laos children. Jodi and Bruce have set us up with a contact who will help us find the right kids and the right school.FedEx will deliver the uniforms and Dennis uniforms top execs will deliver in person Oct. 17th or 18th of this year. Isn't that amazing?

Work, Work! Watch me Now!!

Melissa began a new job as an account executive with FedEx. It's a new industry for her but she is very excited about the opportunity. Her territory is Southeast Portland out to Hood River. Currently life is good at The Vaux. (where we are living) Now, you might think this is pronounced Vaux, frenchy like. It's not. Its pronounced liked Vox, after the Vaux Swift a small hummingbird size bird that migrates to Portland a couple of times a year. We went out for a walk to orient ourselves in our new neighborhood and noticed, well, let's guess... about 40,000 of these creatures flying in the sky. Very Alfred Hitchcockish. They wait until dark, make like a cyclone and all dive down into a chimney at Chapman School. Apparently this is a big deal and 100's of people gather to watch this event. We were just lucky. Anyway, the birds have left and will not be back until September so mark your calendars! They come all the way from South America. I wonder how many wing flaps that takes? http://www.audubonportland.org/science/swift_watch Read for yourself. I say get a bottle of wine, a blanky for the hill, and let's all bird watch! Minnie the chihuahua is doing much better. For those of you who don't know she spent five days at Dove Lewis Animal Hospital, http://dovelewis.org/, one of the best critical care units for pets in the world. Something caused her to lose fluids, causing a mixture of issues and nearly killing her. She is back to 100% and now eating lean ground beef and baby food. Life is grand. We also came to understand the value of pet insurance! So, back to FedEx. Melissa will be gone the entire month of June due to "training." She spends three weeks in Memphis, TN and one week in Toronto, Canada. She hopes to swing on over and visit her parents in Nashville - as she hasn't seen them since spending a week in Bavaria, Germany with them in October. Julie may fly in to meet her if she can pick which city she wants to see! Toronto or Nashville? Your vote? So, both working, dog healthy, birds in and out of town, and no monthly party in June. That's the skinny.

Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living!

Julie started a job last week as the Business Development Director of EDGE Design. www.edgedesign.us. Take a look and contact her at julie@edgedesign.us if you need any of their services - or just to say "hi!" She's in the midst of learning how to use an Apple computer, we had no idea there were so many differences! A super duper part of the job is her corner office right downtown Portland in the middle of the shopping hub. How much money will that cost her? Melissa is finally home after two weeks of out of town training. Her suitcase for 5 days of travel was more packed than the 5 months overseas. She didn't think her new boss would appreciate seeing her in the same clothes every day. Last weekend we had our friends and family over to our flat for the much anticipated import party. It was great seeing everyone and many left with unique items from our travels. We really enjoyed telling the stories and re-living our time abroad.

St. Patricks Update!

Hello Everyone! Happy St. Patricks' Day! We wanted to give you an update and let you know how things are moving along. We have both been interviewing for jobs since our return to the United States on March 1st. So far we have had several interviews with many different companies and are expecting to entertain some offers in the next two weeks. The process takes some time, as you know. An initial interview, an assessment test, a second and sometimes third interview, a ride along, the negotiation, blah blah blah. The most important news is that any worries we had about how quitting our jobs and taking a trip around the world and how that would appear to prospective employers have been laid to rest. Everyone we talk to thinks what we have done is great and would make us valuable employees. Julie says "I told you so." Melissa says "Whew." We will keep you updated. What else to tell you? We are getting ready to start selling our import items. If you are looking for some great jewelry, scarfs, Thai silk, fisherman trousers, handmade paper lanterns, etc... we have them! It's been fun to go through what we brought home and relive the memories of finding them. We are also printing several of our pictures and look forward to matting and framing them. We are still based in the little house in Olympia, Washington, but looking for work and permanent housing in Portland. We have yet to get Internet service, just drive until we find someone who has wireless and pick up their signal. For now it's manageable but we do feel a bit funny sitting in the car for any length of time with our laptops out - typing away. We have found some great possibilities for housing in Portland and are just waiting to firm up employment. We hope to get back into the Pearl District or Northwest 23rd. Last, we promise you the final budget update. The tattered budget book has temporary disappeared but when we find it we will break down all costs, per country. The total for the trip was right at $23,650 for both of us. Shockingly cheap, we think. We learned so much, we have been affected so much, and really as MasterCard says, it is priceless. (no we didn't charge it Mom!) 12 countries, 5 months, and a lifetime of memories. Not bad.

Mom's Home!

Here is a picture of Melissa with Minnie the chihuahua and Bella the Golden Retriever. Everyone is very, very happy to see one another. It was a bit difficult to leave them for five months, but everyone remembered each other and seems to have picked up right where they left off.

The Mysterious Lynn!

For those of you following our travels, you know that one of our best "commenters" was Lynn. She was faithful in checking the blog, keeping us updated, and providing feedback. We enjoyed her comments so much - only - we don't think we know Lynn. Lynn, do we? Who are you, how did you hear about us? Can we buy you a drink? Can't wait to hear...