While I was working at The ZOO, I also applied to be a "guide" for About.com (the 5th largest search engine on the Internet... that no one's ever heard of!)

In 1999, I was one of the first guides they hired to create and maintain a web site about Pensacola, Florida -- one of 500 web sites for their network. (Today, companies don't pay for this type of service, so I was quite lucky to get in when I did!)

This photo shows the day I received my first paycheck from About.com.

It was so rewarding... being able to turn something that I was truly passionate about (that seemed more like a hobby) into a job that I actually got paid for! (Today, Jim and I are still working for About.com, and as a rule that "hobby" pays more than our full-time jobs alone do...)