Employment – Life with us ~ The Wandering Workentins

New Adventures on the Horizon

March 13, 2023 Ali

If you have followed along for any length of time on our blog for the past 15+ years, you know we say our plans are written in jello ~ which means our plans are flexible and can change from time to time. And once again they are a changin!

After much prayer, talks, prayin’ some more and more talkin’ and prayin’ we made the decision to leave Big Creek Missions and take a job in Oxford, NJ. Our last day at Big Creek Missions was Wednesday, March 8th. After one more “edible” delicious breakfast prepared by Kevin, we did the final loading of the trailer and began our trek to New Jersey. Well in a roundabout kind of way.

We started in Bear Branch, Kentucky
Once we crossed into Tennessee we had to deal with

and so thankful for Ron from North Carolina who stopped
and tightened the lug nuts!

Before Ron from NC stopped Ali tripped over Ron leading to

then we dropped the trailer in Apiston, TN
and continued on our way to
Land O Lakes, FL where we got lots of
Grammy & Grandpa HUGS!!!

Tomorrow, Tuesday we will begin our trip to New Jersey,
stopping in Milledgeville for the night,
Picking up the trailer in Apiston, TN on Wednesday
and then making our way to New Jersey!
Our plan is to arrive on Friday, St Patrick’s Day!

While here in Florida, CharlieBoy has decided to make his home with us ~ he is a sweetheart, 4 year old coonhound with a little mix of Sharpei thrown in for good measure. He already follows us around, sticking to us like glue 😁. We are excited to start this new journey with this new baby!

We are looking forward to checking out New Jersey as well as the surrounding areas of Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Massachusetts and hopefully taking time to get to Maine to fulfill one of Ron’s dreams ~ standing in the farthest northeast corner of the continental US in Maine…fulfilling is dream of being able to say he has been in all four corners of the continental US.

Stay tuned for updates of our journey to New Jersey,
as we settle into our new jobs, look for a new church family to connect with and seeing more of the beautiful land we call home.

Employment, Work

Awake Staff Needed at BBYR

February 27, 2020 Ali

Awake Night Staff are responsible for knowing what children reside within the cottage during their shift, completing observation forms in accordance with overnight procedures, and conducting routine bed checks to verify each child is in their assigned room/bed. Awake night staff is responsible for waking the regular house parents to address any out of the ordinary needs of the children such as when a youth requires emotional support, becomes sick during the night, or is not in their assigned room.

Duties and Responsibilities:
• Assist in providing a safe, structured and nurturing environment for youth by providing a visible presence of safety/security throughout the night and alerting the regular house parents of any out of the ordinary activity during the night
• Possess general knowledge of children served, including any history of child sexual aggression, child behavior problems and/or victimization history
• Consult with daytime caregivers before each shift to ensure needs of youth are being met
• Provide daily documentation noting the events during shift
• Be able to complete in-service trainings successfully
• Be a positive role model for youth and co-workers while promoting positive work environment
• Must be willing to give and receive constructive feedback for professional development
• Must be able to work a flexible schedule.
• Responsible for obtaining and maintaining confidential information.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
Working Conditions:
• Works in a “home-like” cottage/house setting located in rural south Texas, approximately 40 miles north of Victoria,
• Must be able to use a telephone and computer.
• Must be able to stay awake during all eight to ten hours of work time.
• Must be willing to interact positively with children displaying inappropriate behaviors
• Must be able to interact with residents and other staff from various ethnic groups in a culturally competent and professional manner.
Qualifications/Requirements:
• High school diploma or equivalent
• One year of experience working with children, families or other vulnerable populations preferred
• Must be self-motivated and possess good communication skills.
*Must receive favorable results on background check*

~~~ Contact us for more information and a complete job description ~~~

4652 US-77-ALT S, Yoakum, TX 77995, United States

Change, Employment, Entertainment, Grateful, Memories, Motor home, Thankfulness, Travel, Work

T is for Travel

April 24, 2013April 25, 2013 Ali

T is for Travel

Travel is something we love to do.

It felt wonderful to get back on the road in the motor home on Sunday morning. It was a good day for travel as the sun was shining and there was just a slight breeze. Our trip for the day was to drive from Branson, MO to Quapaw, OK otherwise known as the Downstream Casino. It was 136 miles from Branson View Campground (hard to say good-bye and the campground looked so sad with not a camper in sight) to Downstream Casino. We left Branson at 10:04 a.m. and are ETA was 12:31 p.m. But that was not to be. Once we were on the road Ron realized there was a problem with the Jeep…it was swerving all over the place…something was wrong with the tow bar. And of course, no place to pull over, for eight miles 😦 I stood in the back of the rig keeping an eye on the Jeep and Ron drove very cautiously. We finally got to the Walmart in Branson West ~ big empty parking lot where I pulled forward, Ron worked on the tow bar, I pulled forward, Ron worked on the tow bar, I pulled forward then backed up a little and Ron worked on the tow bar. After about 15 minutes all was hooked up correctly and we were ready to get back on the road. Problem: the left tow bar would not catch correctly. Giving thanks to God that the Jeep didn’t let loose while we were driving, that no damage was done to the Jeep or the Motor home and all it took to fix it was a little time and no money 🙂

We drove about an hour and a half and then found a nice place to pull over and eat lunch. And what a delicious lunch it was ~ leftover rib eye steak sandwiches from dinner the night before. Thank you Renee for a special evening out.

We arrived at Downstream Casino at 1:01 p.m. just 30 minutes past our original ETA.

The view from our campsite at Downstream Casino. So peaceful to look out the passenger side big window.

Cost of camping: $0 – we signed up for a Qcard (free) and with it we each get one free night of camping. Along with the free nights of camping we also each received one free buffet meal ~ so we went there on Monday evening. Usually $16.99 per person. That is more than we would normally pay for dinner at a buffet but free was good 🙂

On Monday we decided to do a little sight-seeing and decided to go to the Precious Moments Chapel and grounds. It was beautiful.

This rig was parked a couple down from us at the casino – love the picture on the back of their rig.

Funny place to park a truck if you ask me 🙂 This was on the drive from the casino to the PM chapel.

I took over 150 pictures so put them into collages.

These include the signs leading to the Precious Moments Chapel and grounds.

The entrance and the fountains welcoming you.

Different scenes inside the Gift Shop and Cafe.

Walking towards the chapel.

Inside the main room of the chapel.

Bottom left picture is of the ceiling.

The four scenes with the red borders are the chapel grounds in Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter

In the picture above the ceiling one if you look close you can see little ones playing basketball in heaven.

The middle picture top row has 15 murals…Mr. B painted them all in 4 days.

This is the Remembrance Room.

The center picture top row look out onto the garden island.

The stained glass windows were original paintings the Mr. B’s daughter-in-law made for the hallway.

This is leaving the chapel and heading back towards the gift shop.

This is a planned development that has a chapel, gazebos, a few large homes and a huge horse barn. You can rent the chapel & gazebos for weddings and parties. The large white home in the bottom left of the picture faces a river on one said and has many large windows all the way around – what a pleasant and peaceful view.

The drive back to the campground. The skies got dark and the rains started.

Hope you enjoyed the trip to Precious Memories.

Tuesday morning we left Downstream Casino to head to our new home ~ Big Chief RV Park and working for Amazon.

It was not an easy drive as we battled wind and rain most of the way.

And no trip would be complete without some type of mishap 🙂

On the drive on Tuesday morning besides fighting the wind and rain we lost two totes on the road. And as you can see there really is not much of a shoulder to be parked on. If you notice the big white truck – the guy passed us, stopped and turned around and helped gather the stuff from one of the totes. One tote never lost its lid 🙂 You also see Ron heading back to pick up stuff. And then working to secure the remaining totes ~ it was windy and rainy ~ absolutely no fun. You can see the two totes and the Christmas bear and dog that got soaked. Put them on the counter/in the sink to dry. We did lose one thing – a ceramic angel with fiber optic lights that shone on the nativity scene. It was a gift from Ron’s sister, Judy the first year we moved into the rig. Ron said it was shattered into way too many pieces to try to fix 😦 All this happened 11.5 miles from the campground in Coffeyville 🙂

And then we arrived at Big Chief RV Park in Coffeyville, KS. We are parked directly across from Amazon. The campground has 132 sites. We are parked in the furthest corner from the entrance. The upper left picture if our rig as driving towards it. Our view is of the two far right bottom pictures. We are parked right next to the booster antenna for wifi – we have a great signal 🙂 The freeway is along the back side of our rig. But looking our our living room window on the passenger side we have a beautiful green field and some trees and no one will park on that side. It is very relaxing to look out the window. They have had quite a bit of rain so there is lots of mud around right now. The weather is supposed to be nice for the rest of this week, a little rain expected early next week and then we should be in for a nice long dry spell. One thing we don’t have is TV – we cannot pick up any channels with our antenna and there is no cable. We are going to check into Netflix. The downside is we won’t know who wins the Amazing Race or Survivor ;(

Well that end’s our trip from Branson, MO to Coffeyville, KS.

If you are in the area of Coffeyville, KS give us a shout out. We love to meet up with other RV’rs.

Stay tuned for our next adventure ~ working for Amazon.

**Edited on April 25th, 2013 ~ thanks Jw for letting me know about the name of the Precious Moments Chapel**

Change, Employment, Memories, Motor home, Travel, Trust

R is for Ready Set Go!!

April 22, 2013 Ali

R is for Ready Set Go!!

Friday and Saturday were busy days for us…

…doing all the last reports for the campground,

…the final clean up of the office,

…putting all the picnic tables away,

…one more check of the garage,

…and a final walk through the campground,

and readying the motor home for travel,

Ron cleaning the front window. If you look closely you can see where he has cleaned it on the right and the left still needs to be done.

Working on the left – the right looks great!

My man hard at work 😉

We are ready to move on to our next adventure

yet a little sad to be leaving.

It was kind of weird to be in the campground the last night with no one in the campground!!

Blessings, community, Employment, Entertainment, Family, Plans, Travel

F is for Fun, Food & Fellowship, Flexibility and Future

April 6, 2013April 6, 2013 Ali

F is for Fun, Food, Flexibility and Future

F is for FUN

One thing we have learned over the years is to have FUN.

When I think back to our early years of marriage it seemed we were always busy working or trying to solve problems or just plain surviving.

One of the things we seemed to have lost was having fun. I remember once when my therapist asked me what I was going to do with three hours of free time as the boys were going to a birthday party. I replied “clean my house.” And she challenged me to actually do something FUN with my time and I could not think of anything to go. As time has passed and we have lost loved ones over the years I started to reflect about time spent with the loved ones and it was really hard to remember fun things we did together. I used to be a perfectionist about keeping our home spotless and always feeling like I had to be doing something instead of just relaxing, or going for a walk or spending time with a friend. Now I plan things to do that are fun to do by myself or with friends or family.

Ron and I enjoy going for rides and see the many blessings and creation of the Lord.

Spending time with our family.

Having coffee with special friends.

Family!!!

More family!!!

What have you done that was fun lately?

F is for FOOD & FELLOWSHIP

We love to have friends over and go visit them in their homes, go to potlucks and Fellowship with friends.

Here’s a peak at two of our most recent time of being with family & friends, sharing in a meal and lots of Fellowship.

Jamie and the groomsmen at the Rehearsal Dinner

Not the best picture, but we were definitely having fun!!

Emilio enjoying lots of fruit & vegi’s at the Rehearsal Dinner.

Fellowshiping with friends!

Having fun with friends!

Lots of great food enjoyed by all!!

Have you spent time with friends or family just enjoying being with each other?

F is for FLEXIBILITY

Something I have learned over the years is to be Flexible, don’t sweat the small stuff, know that God tells us he is in control as shared in Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And in the RV’ing community there is a saying “All our plans are made in Jello.”

And so even though we make plans we know they can change and that leads us to

F is for FUTURE!

We have been Campground Managers here at Branson View Campground for almost a year.

We have talked often about what we might do in the Future for work and travel.

We have enjoyed exploring the Branson area, attending many of the shows and participating in many different activities like Silver Dollar City and the Showboat Belle.

And we started praying for where the Lord would have us go next and when. We talked about working for Amazon this winter in Campbellsville, KY or staying here in Branson through December or ??? And we prayed for the Lord to lead us and open doors according to His will.

And so we applied for work with Amazon for this coming winter. And then the door was opened for us to go to work for