Time flies.

At the time of our last reunion, we were living and working in Stavanger, Norway for Phillips Petroleum Company.We moved back to Bartlesville, Oklahoma in 1996. In the fall of 1997, we were on the go once again, this time to Caracas, Venezuela. Phillips was doing a start up operation in western Venezuela. My husband Tom was in charge of setting up the information technology infrastructure and telecommunications for the new operation.My job was to start up the human resources activities. This included relocation of 40+ expatriates and their families, hiring the national staff, setting up local benefits, policies and procedures, building out two office facilities in two different cities, and of course melding together the staff members from different countries and industries to work together as a team.Very exciting... and Latin America is fabulous.

When this project was complete in the fall of 2000, Tom and I resigned from Phillips, and moved to Ames, to be closer to extended family.After years of preparation, we adopted a Siberian princess named Karina in the winter of 2000. She was 19 months old when we made our two week trip to Russia to pick her up. She was and is an angel, and will be starting kindergarten this fall. Our other kids are Kevin, who will be a senior at Ames High, and Melissa, who will be in 8th grade at the Ames Middle School.

After adjusting to Ames, and a new baby, I accepted a job at the Iowa State University Foundation as Human Resources Director. After leading the HR aspects of the organizational privatization of the foundation in July of 2002, I accepted a position at the City of Ames, as Human Resources Director in December of 2003.

So, here I sit, back in Central Junior High... 30 some years later. In our spare time, we do kid things, and hang out at our condo at Clear Lake. Life is good, and I look forward to the class reunion, and the chance to catch up with many classmates.

Julie Huisman
Director of Human Resources
City of Ames
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j h u i s m a n (at) city . ames . ia {d0t} us