Job Updates

Can't remember who knows what about our jobs but we have em!

Danielle has been working at Star Bucks for a week and a half now. There are a lot of good things about it. It's only 3 blocks away so she can walk, we get 30% in store merchandise, drinks, and a free pound of coffee per week. awesome. She'll be working around 32 hours a week, and this will give her time to find more of a career oriented position instead of taking the first thing that comes along to her.

This week I just started working for a place called C a s e y family programs. We do programs and support for foster families and foster kids. It is a really good work environment and every one is very friendly. I'm doing a combined job, where I do applications support and development. Meaning... if you can't accomplish a task within a computer program you would email me your question and then I answer it. It also means if there's a problem with the software, web page, etc. Then I would fix that as well. Currently I'm training which doesn't mean much, so I don't have a lot to say about it. But I do have a lot to say about my cubical which is set up against a window. It looks out onto the Puget Sound (boats, bi-planes), and on clear days I can see the mountains. This is definitely a step up from working in a pole barn and being surrounded by pastel colors.

So thats the update, I've been watching Seattle temps compared to Winona Lake/Warsaw. While it wasn't 80 degrees here monday, it's been generally warmer here than home. so ha ha.

~Travis

Domo arigato Mr. Roboto

This has taken awhile but we've been taking pictures of the places were visiting on the weekends and I finally have them loaded on my computer!

Our first free weekend we went to ROBOCON.
This is a group from TheyShallWalk.org They've created an exoskeleton that will use hydraulics to walk for a person. This is for someone who has lost movement in their legs and need to train them how to walk. The exoskeleton carry's all of the persons weight and does all the work for them. One of the inventers (the man in the suit) was paralyzed in the army when his parachute iddn't deploy. He came up with the idea when he was reading Battlefield Earth during his hospital stay.

Instead of being on GameBoy this Tetris game is made up of LED Buttons.
Thats Danielle playing it, the guy in the orange bandanna is Bubbah, to the left of him is Elyse, Julie, and then half of Amanda.

And this is what we came for. ROBO-COMBAT!!!

Heres a video of a fight:


The next day we went to Octoberfest where they had their annual Texas Chainsaw Carving Competition.


And then yesterday we went to several farms for Pumpkin Day of Fun.

Our Info

hello everyone. Just a quick post on our info, if I make this easier to read then it's easier for spammers to pick it up so i put it into an image... Enjoy!

EDIT:
Just to let everyone know, this is actually SKYPE. We're trying this out instead of going through shady Comcast or Embarq. So currently we just have the computers running it in our room. If you call and we're upstairs or something we probably won't hear it. But leave a message and we will call back. We are also working on getting a running computer upstairs so hopefully it won't be a problem in the near future.

any ways, if you have high-speed internet, you can download SKYPE here

and can talk to us on your computer (you need speakers/headset and a microphone) for free! Our Skype username (so you know who to call) is SpanglesInSeattle

Hey guys, this is Danielle...I personally haven't posted in a while and wanted to let you know that I am doing well and LOVING it here. I love the city and all the people we live with. I have had a lot of interviews so it's nice because I have a lot of options on where I want to work. I had an interview at barnes and noble today...that is really where I think I want to work. They said that they will call in 5 to 7 days to let us know (it was a group interview). I have two interviews tomorrow. One at starbucks and one at the university of Washington (for a temp job). Oh yeah, Travis might just have another interview coming up soon if we decide to go forward with it...it's for a 3 month contract job, we will let you know what we decide.

Also if you guys could be praying for me...I have had some pretty bad neck pain off and on for a while now. I actually made and appointment w/ a chiropractor today, hopefully that will help. I just really want to start a new job healthy and pain free :)

Well, we miss you guys a lot thanks for all your support and prayers! Also hopefully we will have a phone soon.

more to come

We are in the works of installing a phone line for the house. So hopefully you'll be hearing from us soon. Danielle has an interview tomorrow afternoon at "The Crumpet Shop". It's a unique tea house that bakes and sells crumpets in Pike Place. It sounds like something she would really enjoy so hopefully she'll find a position there. I have really havn't started my job search b/c of the things we're trying to take care of at the house and also b/c the employment agency had me in the process for a job the Thursday we got into town. After a phone interview I was told the schedule would be working Tuesday and Thursday 4pm-2am and then on Saturday and Sunday from 8am-6pm. I declined it the morning after. It's a little difficult to sleep during the day with 8 other people living here, and it would also be hard to get involved in anything with me working every weekend. So I'll probably get started on the job search some time soon.

Just to spice up this post heres a video of us when we got into town:



Here are some up close pictures of what happened under the truck:



I'm not familiar with whats back there but the tower pretty much labeled it as "Screwed up". Rear-bearings froze up and the drive shaft tore through itself. Something to that effect. But it got us to Seattle, so it did it's job.

One more thing, it's rained twice since we've been here and the rest of the days have been sunny and clear. The temperature has been around 50-60, it's been a nice change.

Safe n' Sound

we don't have any pictures uploaded yet, but we're here at our new home and with all of our junk. Just wanted everyone to know. the reason we haven't made any calls yet is because 2 miles before our destination the ford took a crap and we've been running around since then. We merged from I-90 to I-5, put it in first and started to roll backwards with a clunking sound accompanying.

our drive train broke and then some. so we stuck around got it towed to the nearest mechanic and everything we've had to move/get has taken us twice as long b/c we've needed to find the vehicles.

but over all things are going well and working out for us. Thanks for all of your support.

p.s. also we were counting on a telephone being around when we got here. but everyone has cell phones and canceled the lan-line so thats something else we'll have to work on.

also, if you have trouble leaving comments make sure your checking "anonymous" as an anonymous poster.

~thanks Travis

Day 3: Trucks still kick'n

Found another hotel with internet so we're able to post again (this is travis). I'm just going to post a lot of pictures of today and leave comments:

Our first stop was just a few blocks from the hotel, the worlds only Corn Palace in Mitchell SD (there have been debates on it's location).

corn palace display

Corn Palace Child Abuse

Last time I was at the CP, it was a dirty flea market. The girls had seen it before and were excited to see it again. We were in for a big surprise :

A basket ball court full of senior citizens playing shuffle board. Woo Hoo, many sad and disappointed faces during that hour.

This is us at the Bad Lands, the pictures don't to it justice.




Finally we made it to Wall Drug

Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and now...

SOUTH DAKOTA

Yes kids we are already in South Dakota...mitchell to be exact, home to the corn palace.

As our title explains we have already been through 4 states. We have waited in the great Chicago traffic, munched on some lovely squeaky cheese (cheese curds), and ...well we didn't do much in Minnesota. Now we are in South Dakota and loving it. Here are some pictures of our travels.

Wisconsin cheese house













Welcome to minnesota















Had a little trouble coming into Minnesota, this is a picture of our fuel filter. We thought we had run out of gas, but really, so much crud and rust was caught in the screen of our filter that gas would no longer get through. Yeah, you used to be able to see through it. We had to stop in a small town and luckily a car lot / mechanic / town mayer (jk) had an extra one we could buy. I replaced it and we went on our way.
-Travis















Tomorrow we plan on seeing the corn palace, a ghost town, and the badlands. We are all very excited. Thanks again everyone for your support and prayers. We are very blessed to have such great friends and family.

Tomorrow Morning

We will be leaving for Seattle tomorrow morning! The long awaited date has arrived. We are excited and bit melancholy because we are leaving so many people love, but we both know it is going to be a great adventure for us. Please be praying for us, as we will be driving and lot in an old truck. We will miss you all so much! Until our next update...

One Week

One week from tomorrow we will be westward bound to the great land of Washington.

Currently we are packing our butts off and trying to visit with as many people as we can.