Editors, Authors and Guest Travelers

Keyauni Kern is one busy woman these days, but her wanderlust is a driving force in her life.

Keyauni’s “day job” is actually working evenings for a US Postal Service factory, as a package sorting machine operator. Her job keeps her busy a minimum of 40 hours per week, and more often than not, 45-50 hours a week.

Keyauni also recently purchased her first house, and has been busy updating and renovating different portions of her home, but she loves having a place to call her own.

Along with all of that responsibility, Keyauni is the owner and host of the Facebook page Be Elevated, where she posts inspirational quotes and videos for maintaining a positive outlook on life, and following our passions. She is also a talented artist, occasionally creating contracted pieces, and even sharing her talent for local festivals and fairs doing face-painting for the children’s areas.

Keyauni yearns to see the world, and at the moment that particular yearning is to visit Cambodia. Although she hasn’t made it there yet, she frequently makes time get in an occasional Extravagant Excursion or Everyday Adventure. In between everything else, she has written for Gypsy With a Day Job, and shared her travel experiences both in words, and in pictures.

We here at Gypsy With a Day Job are very happy to have Keyauni as an administrator on our Facebook page, and as a writer and photographer for our blog. We look forward to learning about many more of her travel adventures.

Barb Lindsoe was once a Gypsy With a Day Job, but nowadays, it is an honorary thing, because she has been there, done that.

Barb worked for AT&T, back in the glory days of landline telecommunications, in a very demanding position.  She also raised two awesome sons, David and Ryan.

Back in those days, Barb was the epitome of the super-mom.  She managed her career, kept her home, cared for her family, and still made time to do all of those things that we all aspire to do, such as serving on the PTA and the Boosters club, at her children’s schools

A few years ago, she celebrated that glorious day the rest of us look forward to:  Retirement.

Since then, Barb and her husband Chuck, sold their home, and moved off to a retirement village in Florida.  They spend their days experiencing the wonders we all hope to have, in our retirement years.  They travel around the country, visiting some amazing places.  They make outdoor adventures, such as low mountain hiking, to see stunning waterfalls,  or recently, kayaking.

Barb is an avid Chicago Cubs fan, and always has been.  She likes to travel to Arizona to pick up a few games during spring training each year, and of course make a few other games around the country when possible.  This profile picture was taken in Minneapolis, before a game.

Her sons live across the country now, one in the central Illinois area, and the other in the Seattle area.  This gives Barb and Chuck one more reason to get in the car for a good road trip.  The awesome thing is that when they are on the road, they make a point to find interesting and unique places to stop for the night.  Barb will be sharing some of those stops with us here, at Gypsy With a Day Job!

Wendy Sebok is the youngest of our authors so far, but she already understands the demands of a career and a family, and how important it is to find ways to maintain balance in life, and get away to see the world from time to time.  

In Wendy’s own words:  We all know how life can get stressful and mind numbing just going through our everyday responsibilities, whether it be work, or school, or raising children. For me it is raising my son and work.

I have been working overnight for the US Postal Service for 3 years now.  For those who don’t know anything about our jobs, they are extremely time consuming.  I  feel as if I spend most of my time there. I am also a single mom to  a one year old little boy, Remington.  He is literally my whole world.  My plate is full.

If you have ever worked night shift, you know that overnight jobs take you away from so much.   We have to sleep most of the days away and be up all night while others are sleeping.  Those who have never had to work night shift, never understand how much more this takes from our lives than a normal job.

Wendy was recently promoted to a Distribution Supervisor position, with an extensive training requirement, and a high level of responsibility.  This has challenged her in many ways.  

Robert Stauffer is a former US Marine who served in Desert Storm.  To this day, he stays in contact with his military brothers, and considers them lifelong friends.  His service has also instilled in him a fascination with history, especially that related to politics and military pursuits in the past.  He hopes to visit many of the WWII memorials and sites in Europe someday soon.  

He is also a 16 year veteran of the US Postal Service where he works the night shift as a mail handler, and serves as a union steward for the National Postal Mail Handlers Union.

Originally from Baltimore, Robert somehow ended up in the corn country of central Illinois, but travels home to the Maryland coast every few years, to visit family, and enjoy some of the delicious Atlantic Coast Seafood.

Robert, his wife Sherry, and son Kyle enjoy traveling together.  Kyle is preparing for college life, and so the family has been checking out different areas in the west, particularly in Colorado.  If everything goes as planned, Kyle will go to school there, and Robert and Sherry will retire there.  

Christine Gillmore is another very busy lady, who epitomizes why we do what we do.

First and foremost, Christine is a mom, with two daughters and a son.  Her two oldest children are adults, now out and about in the world.  Her youngest daughter who is still in school.  

Christine’s work life keeps her running all the time.  She works for the US Postal Service, as a Distribution Supervisor in a plant.  She has come up through the ranks, so to speak, starting her career as a Data Conversion Operator,  then working as a Letter Carrier, and later a Mail Processing Clerk.  A few years ago, feeling she had acquired an extensive knowledge of the processes, she made the leap into management.  

Christine also served in the United States Navy for several years.  One of her primary service stations was in Japan, where she learned a lot about different cultures, and had some amazing experiences.  She hopes to return to Japan as a civilian one day.  

Christine has the travel bug, and has taken road trips all across the US, and into Canada.  Typically, her youngest daughter, Gabriella, is her primary travel companion.  She is also an avid hiker, and has a love for waterfalls.  She has driven, and hiked, many hours, to get to some very special waterfalls across the US.  She will share many of those amazing waterfall experiences with us here, at Gypsy With a Day Job.

Nancy Lamb  is a woman who demonstrates what Gypsy With a Day Job is all about!  She is a wife, a mom, a business owner, a competitive athlete, and a performing artist, all in a 7 day week, and she is adding contributing author to that list.  Whew!

Nancy graduated from Illinois State University, with a degree in Sociology, but long ago decided that was not her true calling.  She became a kick-boxing instructor, when it initially became a significant influential in health and fitness.  Soon after that, she became KickForce licensed, and was certifying other instructors.  

Nancy later opened her own fitness center, FirstNFitness, in Bloomington, Illinois.  She both manages and instructs classes, including kick boxing and boot camp, and also performs personal training.  

Even with all that work in fitness, Nancy competes competitively in Tower Climbing, and doubles tennis.  She has raced the stairs of some of the tallest buildings in the world, and has been ranked among the top 10 in the US, and top 25 in the world.  In tennis, she and her partner travel around the Midwest in league competition, and they recently took second place in the central Illinois Tri-County tournament.  

On top of all of that, Nancy is the lead singer for the band Sweetwater, which performs live throughout central Illinois.   

Nancy and her husband Troy have been together since their college days.  They have three beautiful children, two young ladies, who are now off to their own college experience, and a son in high school.  

Andre Raymond is probably not the typical person you would expect to find as a guest traveler here on gypsywithadayjob.com. But like the rest of, Andre is a man who works hard, and enjoys relaxing during his time off. When we talked to him about Gypsy With a Day Job, he could immediately relate to our mission.

Andre grew up in Miami, one of those places that many of us consider a great place to go for vacation. Going to school he had dreams of professional sports, like many young people. Unlike many young people, he diligently continued his practice and work-outs in the off seasons, and throughout the year, honing his skills. His dedication paid off in skill, and he was rewarded for that with a full scholarship to Eastern Illinois University, where he played as a team mate to none other than Tony Romo.

Andre’s love for football continues, and he has played and coached for the Bloomington Edge in the Arena Football League for several seasons. He also works a “day job” like the rest of us here at GWADJ, as a Dock Expediter for a US Postal Service Factory. His duties consist of checking in and out semi trailers, and assisting with loading or unloading them, as the case may be, about 45 hours a week. When football the spring arena football season comes, he puts in about 16 hours a day, between both jobs.

Andre loves a vacation where he can unwind. More often than not, that involves some time on a gorgeous beach. He planned ahead and made some time to get out and take some extra pictures to share with the rest of us. We of course, hope he will do so on his future trips!