A New Adventure

When I moved to Elko in August of 1992, I planned to stay five years and then move back to the Wyoming area. Life threw me some curves. I went through a divorce, found and married my partner for life, Dave, and now I call Elko "home." Eighteen years later, I'm finally leaving. Dave and I are moving to Accra, Ghana, Africa the first week of April.

The move is bittersweet for us. While a new adventure awaits us, we will miss our family and friends. Dave was born and raised in Elko, and other than a few years spent in Reno for college and work, Elko has always been his home. His family surrounds him here, and those that don't live in Elko, visit often. While I never thought I would live in Elko as long as I did, I can't think of anywhere I would have rather been, in retrospect. It has been a wonderful place to raise our family, which grew exponentially by simply marrying Dave. I have made lifelong friends in Elko, to add to those that have been in my life for longer than I can even remember (you know who you are).

Dave works for Newmont, one of the largest gold producing companies in the world. He is the Vice President of Human Resources for North America. He is going to test his skills by heading up the African HR Operations. I have no doubt that he will be as successful there as he's been in North America.

I have been working for the Elko County School District for the past 18 years (with a 2 year hiatus when I went to work for the local college). My latest position has been that of Grant Writer/Manager and Public Information Officer (that's a mouthful). I recently established my own business - Kern Grant Writing Services, LLC, and plan to provide some services to the District virtually. I have also signed a contract with Polycom, a company that offers a variety of technology products to companies, to provide grant writing services to their clients.

I created this blog to allow friends and family to follow us as we head across the ocean to a new land. I suspect we will all learn a little more about the world together. So, let the adventures begin!