Julie and Derrall are Moving to Peru

At some point I will post about our trips to Spain and the UK, but for now I will share the latest.

Last November Julie and were talking. She said that she could move.  She wanted a house with at least one room where the entire family could gather...a room that would hold the expanding family of in-laws and grandchildren.  I surprised her by stating that of late I had the feeling that, indeed, we would not be in our house very much longer.  When she asked if we should start looking for another house I said "no".  I told her that I had a very strong impression that when it was the right time to move "it would be very clear".  Julie said "OK" and we went on with our lives, even starting some minor remodeling projects that we had talked about for some time.

In late March of this year I was walking down the hallway at work (FLSmidth) and the Operations Manager asked me if I had a minute. He reminded me that a couple of years ago I mentioned that if an opportunity came up in the company to work in a Spanish speaking country I would be interested. He asked if that was still the case and if my wife would be supportive.  I said I was interested and that Julie and I mentioned it to each other every once in a while. The Operation Manager living in Chile that was covering both Chile and Peru had resigned and FLS wanted to replace him with someone to cover Chile and also someone else dedicated to Peru. He asked if I could consider living in Peru for a couple of years. I told him I was for it and that since Julie was leaving the next day to visit her sister in Texas for a week I could ask her when she got back.

That evening Julie was in charge of a Relief Society project making over 50 porta-potties. I went over to help but there was no time to talk or bring up anything about the move.  By the time she got home I could not hide my enthusiasm. She asked "what's that smile on your face?" I said, "How would you like to move to Peru for a couple of years?" She asked a couple of questions and then after about 3 minutes she said "THAT'S VERY CLEAR" and that she was not opposed.  It depended upon the deal.

The next day Julie flew off to Texas and I told the Operations Manger at work that "we were in".  I asked if the company was truly serious about the opportunity. I was assured that the offer was real and that we would be happy with the deal.  It only needed to be formalized. He told me that the Peru office was in favor of my move and that the man in Chile who resigned had endorsed me. The Peruvians snd Chileans at FLS had come to know me while working together on various projects over the past 4+ years.

It was that simple. I had a business trip already planned for Peru and Chile within 2 weeks. I told work that if they were serious Julie should come down for a long weekend while I was in Peru so we could look for a place to live. They told me to book her flight.

OUR PERUVIAN ADVENTURE HAD BEGUN