After ten days working with the company in Europe, I stopped the project because  I realized that if I wanted to work that hard, I would prefer to promote my own business and projects plus other issues that would take too long to explain.  So, I am no longer jet lagged, but am not sure of a stable income either.  I've always been a risk taker and this is just another one.  I have three things in the fire right now.  

1.  Setting up my recruiting and consulting firm's website, which was deleted accidentally a couple of years ago and start marketing its services.  Have been debating whether to have this company grow organically or to actually start a marketing campaign.

2.  Set up the training center that has been in the works with some partners in Europe.  The moodle needs a lot of work as I've barely started on it.

3.  Set up a new venture that my sister and I will be doing together.  

My sister and I will be going to some training with the Small Business Administration on Tuesday, which will be helpful with all of the above.  I'm fully expecting all three ventures to be successful!  I've also started working on my professional blog and have a lot more ideas for it.

I'm experiencing jet lag   You might ask how as I haven't traveled anywhere.  If you are in the know, you would even ask me if I've applied for a new passport since my last one is expired.  Well, the reason I have jet lag is I just started a new job.  This job requires me to work Central European hours during the business day in Europe.  I'll also have to be around for some evenings and weekends as well.  This means I'm having to change my internal clock to accommodate this new job.  I work from home and will be working from 1 AM to 9 AM weekdays.  I haven't yet decided whether I will sleep when the Asians do or when the Europeans sleep.  What an exciting life I lead!

I remember back in High School, Heidi and I volunteered at our church camp up in McCall as many weeks as we could.  Anyway, one summer, the theme was "The adventure begins where the road ends"--since then I always think back to that when I something new happens as I consider all aspects of my life as one huge adventure (or many small ones).  Anyway, tomorrow, I will be moving from a rather spacious three bedroom home or in Europe it would be considered a six bedroom home--anyway, I'll be moving into a very small studio apartment that was once a garage.   I'm very grateful to my family who is letting me move in there so that I don't have to worry about paying rent and building my business.  I'm nervous, I'm excited and wonder what will happen.  Will Alpo and I do well in small quarters?  Will my business grow?  Will I end up just getting a job and not doing the business?  What will happen this year?  I'll try to post as I can and eventually these questions will be answered...

Today, after sleeping as late as possible and then lazing around the house, my sister's family and I decided to go on an adventure.  We packed the car, my brother-in-law gave the three kiddos their own backpacks with their own snacks and we set out on a mini road trip   The adults in the group all enjoy driving around and seeing the area and the kids just tolerate it.  Anyway, we drove about 150 miles today.  It was fun.  We got to talk a lot and just enjoy the scenery.  We stopped in a very small town called Murphy to see the only parking meter in Owyhee County!  I later googled it and found this from a S. Carolina newspaper in 1956--it was interesting and thought I would post it here.  

In Idaho, it has been 2013 for about 45 minutes now.  I started the year in with my mom and her husband and my twin sister and her husband.  Within minutes, J., my mom's husband, led us into a few moments of prayer, which was really special.  As the year begins, I'm starting out with an unknown future ahead of me.  For those who are not in the know--I was laid off of my job on Halloween, just a few weeks after the boys moved in with me.  The boys left less than two months after they arrived and went on to another pre-adoptive home.  It was a challenging experience and with my job loss, I didn't feel I was equipped to handle new parenthood and this loss.  Anyway, I'm starting out this year with no idea as to what will happen....  A few moments ago, on twitter, I saw a quote that more succinctly portrays what I'm feeling/thinking:

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose." -Dr.Seuss (Thanks, @ptarkkonen)

Looking forward to seeing what will happen as the days, weeks and months progress!  

As most people know who have read this blog from time to time, I consider everything an adventure!  Well, in the next week or so my whole life is going to be turned upside down--and in a good way, too.  When I returned to the USA, I had no idea what would be in store and what opportunities would come my way.  On the day I arrived home, my sister and her husband became license foster parents.  I have walked along side them as they have welcomed between 30-40 children in their home in the last three years.  After careful contemplation and thinking--I have decided to take the local PRIDE class that trains people to be foster parents.  Because of my sister and brother-in-law's great reputation with the department, I received a call half way through the training asking if I would consider welcoming two young boys into my home--ages 5 & 7.  I didn't commit until I met them and got to know them a bit, which happened last week.  I am now waiting on licensing and once that happens these two boys will be welcomed into my home.  I will become a parent.  After twenty plus years of single hood and living only for me.   This is going to be the most major life change I have ever made in my life.  I am excited, petrified, scared, happy--every emotion you can think, I probably have experienced it.  I'm sure there will be times that I wonder what I have gotten myself into.  There will be times that I miss the single life.  There will be good times as well.  I'm going into the unknown.  The biggest adventure I've been on.

I've been thinking a lot today about why I like spring time here in the USA!  Today, I'm sitting in my office with my office door open to the backyard, my dog sitting at the door and we are hearing the birds chirping--yep, spring has sprung at least for a while.  In Finland, they have this word that describes when the spring comes and then winter returns for a short time--that happens in our lives at times as well.  Anyway, the reason I like spring is because of the new beginnings and expectations that come.  Everything is growing new and I always see myself start planning goals about the year ahead.  I don't think much about that in January, but once spring springs--the ideas start going and the excitement starts to grow.  I love it!  I love having my door open when I work, I love hearing the birds chirping and the kids outside bouncing balls and riding their bikes, I love the longer days and the short nights.  I love new beginnings.  God, thank you for these new beginnings whether it is a yearly thing like spring or something new in our lives--thank you!  

After a very uneventful day on Sunday as I flew to Newark, New Jersey, my friend and I awoke the next day too early, but with great anticipation as to what we will see today. We had a very nice, but rushed breakfast at the hotel and then walked to the bus stop that would take us to the port authority in NYC. The bus was very crowded and since I enjoy bus trips, I was looking forward to seeing the route they would take, but, after a few minutes I fell asleep and missed seeing all the traffic. We arrived at the bus station and immediately got separated--as D was calling me, I found her. I immediately felt at home! I really enjoy navigating large cities and just being around all the diversity... Anyway, after finding our way to the subway, we went to the 9/11 memorial, which was just opened on 11 September. I immediately thought of my experience the first trip to Germany back in 1990 how reflective I felt when I went to Dachau concentration camp--at both places lives were lost for no true reason--as I was reading the names, I kind of got choked up. There was one couple that had taken a large piece of paper and was transferring the name of their friend/family member with a pencil. You could tell how much it meant to them and there was tears... We also went to a small museum where we heard some stories of survivors and victim's families. Afterwards, we went over to Canal street as D wanted to find a purse she had bought before. I felt like I was back in Asia as there were so many peddlers and D almost bought a purse, but it got sort of fishy as they didn't have a store and were taking us back to where we could buy it. After we walked for about six blocks, we decided not to continue as it just didn't seem right. We left an continued shopping in souvenir shops in Times Square. We also stopped at a deli for lunch and to rest our feet as we were getting very tired! After souvenir shopping, we decided to go to the harbor to take a sightseeing cruise over to the statue of liberty. We were so tired of walking D sprung for a taxi. Once there we learned we missed the three hour cruise by 30 minutes and would have to wait three hours for an evening cruise. We started walking down the street looking for other cruises and also missed them as well. We ended up going to a ferry station and took a ferry Hoboken, NJ which was across the river. Once there, it was so nice and quiet and I started thinking I could live here and started wondering if I could afford the real estate here. (I always look at real estate ads when I travel somewhere I really like.) Anyway, we ended up going down the street and found a tavern, which was actually a nice restaurant. We ate an appetizer and rested our feet! Then, we took the ferry back to Manhattan and caught the cruise. It was two hours and we saw the city at night and ended up at the statue of liberty. After the cruise, we found a diner and ate some breakfast food-- it wasn't that good... After missing the first bus at 11pm to our hotel, we took the next one at midnight. I had a wonderful day and am enjoying the city very much. Tomorrow, we are going to sleep until we wake up and the play things by ear... I didn't realize until this trip however, how much of a city girl I am!

The first long roadtrip that I took my foreign exchange student on was during the Christmas holidays.  The day after Christmas, 26 December, we packed the car and headed  to Greenleaf to drop off Alpo at his second home (mom & J's place--he loves it there) and picked up C's friend J for a trip to Seattle.  My aunt & uncle agreed to let us stay at their place and because of them we had a wonderful time!  Thank you A & J!!!!!  Anyway, because of the roads and my lack of confidence in driving, my brothers suggested, I drive to Portland and then take I-5 towards Seattle.  It was just a few hours longer, but probably safer.  The girls had never seen such big freeways like when we arrived in Portland area and then again in Seattle--four lane freeways are not common in parts of Europe, I guess.  So, we got somewhere close to Tacoma and I had C. turn on the garmin.  Well, the garmin had the settings set to avoid traffic and if anyone knows the Tacoma-Seattle area--there is always traffic.  So, the garmin took us off the freeway in Tacoma although we were going to Redmond, which is north of Seattle and Tacoma is south.  At first, I didn't follow the garmin's directions as I actually knew better (even with no sense of direction! ) and then after about four 'recalculating', I decided to see what it will do and got off of the freeway.  Well, it took us through every little town between Tacoma and Redmond and we started making fun of this stupid machine.  It also took about two hours longer... I decided to follow the directions and if it didn't get us there by a certain time that I would get directions to the freeway.  It got us there by the deadline, but it took a lot longer than it should have...  The girls did get to see the Seattle metropolitan area however!  My aunt and uncle were so gracious!  Although, I took the girls on vacation to Seattle, I was still working and at that time I was working nights teaching Japanese, Koreans and a German.  So, I would teach until about 6 AM and then go to bed.  Every morning, my uncle, who is an early bird, drove the girls to the bus station and made sure they got on the right bus.  He even humored them and stopped while they took a picture of the Microsoft sign--actually, I think he was tickled by their excitement.  They spent the daylight hours in Seattle and had a wonderful time.  I didn't really get to spend time with them as I slept most of the day.  When the girls were ready to come home (we had them home before dark), we would go pick them up.  I think my uncle drove once or twice and then my aunt and I went together as well.  My driving 'fear' (if that is what you want to call it) just might be genetic because my mom and aunt both hate freeways and go out of there way to avoid them--I come by it right.  Anyway, we spent New Years in Redmond ice skating and then the girls humored me by seeing the new year in at a movie theater watching Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  The trip home was completely different as I had originally planned to drive to Eugene, Oregon for training for a new job I was going to start in January.  Well, after we booked plane tickets for the girls, I was informed that the training would be a week later.  The plane tickets were non-refundable so I had to drive home alone.  All that week, my uncle was watching the roads and he suggested that I go over the pass in Washington (can't remember the name) towards Yakima, which is what I did.  I loved it!  I decided then that I really enjoyed driving and wanted to go on more road trips!

I have a really good friend who is a professor at the University of Wyoming and my niece D. just started attending there as a transfer student, so I saw this game as an excuse to go see C. & D. and to let my foreign exchange student experience a university football game.  I talked my brother, D's dad, into coming along and then invited my other brother as well.  It turns out we ended up taking two cars.  My exchange student  got to ride in my brother's brand new truck with D's friend and my brother's friend/colleague.  I had my other brother drive my car with another niece and a friend who was along for the ride to see her daughter.  My brothers don't really agree on the route, so they each took different routes and what I liked about this road trip is that I didn't have to drive!!  There were two other drivers in my car, so I let them drive and I just enjoyed the scenery and the trip.  Half the group stayed at D's place and half the group stayed at C's place in Laramie.  We had a wonderful time!  Before the game, we did a little site seeing as we went to a local territorial prison turned museum and then went in search for ice cream.  We never found the ice cream, but did find a western store, which was cool.  I ended up having to wear UWYO colors as I went with C. to the President's tailgate and was told I had to...the president of the university thanked me for wearing yellow when I got to meet him.    Anyway, BSU kicked UWYO's butt and I really liked how UWYO fans were so gracious about losing and wished BSU luck in the bcs.