Passports and Airline Tickets

 The world adventure started about 3 weeks ago. I was working a normal Thursday. The numbers were low, the bosses were angry and I was stressed out. (very normal Thursday) I was just gathering my team back from lunch when my boss came back from meetings. She called me into her cubicle and as if it were no big thing said that I was going to be sent to the Philippines! At first I was waiting for the JK but that never came. The next words out of her mouth were "go get a passport and be ready to leave May first" "Oh and Phillip is going too". Slight side note Phillip is my boyfriend who moved to Utah from Texas less than a year ago to be closer to me and I got him a job where I work.

Heading back to my seat to understand what the heck just happened I called Phillip over to drop the bomb on him too. The next morning we went and applied for passports. I failed to mention that we would be gone for an entire year!

The decisions next would be some of the hardest I have ever had to make.

Phillip and I have two dogs a 3 year old Yorkinese, Bosco and a 2 year old Pit Bull, Hercules.
Who was going to take these dogs while we were gone? Could we take them? Who did we trust? These are our babies are we sure we trust anyone? We made the choice to send them with my sister that lives down the street. We have taken our dogs to her house on a number of occasions so we knew they would be comfortable with our 80 lbs of doggy love.



What island will we be living on? Isn't there like a million islands? What do they eat? What do they speak?

We will be traveling to Cebu, Cebu City. They speak Cebuano, Tagalog and English. They pretty much eat Asian influenced cuisine. But Phillip found a McDonalds that delivers. I have already told him I am not traveling around the world for a big mac. I'll take a Taba ng talangka!

Another daunting question was what to do with all of our belongings. Do we continue to pay rent for a year at our very tiny one bedroom here in Utah to guarantee we have a place to call home next year? Do we find someone to live in our apt and watch our things? (the thought of someone sleeping in our bed was a turn off on this being an option). We finally decided with the help of my younger sister Anney that we would store our stuff at her house in her spare room.

One of the hardest things I have ever had to decide is which box does it go in.
Suitcase?
Storage box?
Throw away?
Give away?

$4000 later the flights are booked, the apartment is about 75% packed and moved. the suitcases are 0% packed. We are about 50% ready to leave country but 100% amped up and ready for the adventure of a life time.We leave in exactly one week. I am going to try my absolute hardest to blog once a week although I am aiming for once a day. I am going to use my sister Remi and her Blog as my motivation.

Stay warm, dry and happy
Love always
Whitney Hoku Germaine