The Year in Review:
January, February &- March --
As Andy had gotten his Green Card in December of 2004, we pretty much knew that the move would happen this year, but didn't know the "when" part. The house was on the market but had few viewers. We spent a lot of time with friends and Andy's family and did a whole bunch of weeding through our possessions and figuring out what to bring, what to throw away and what to give away/sell. Andy turned 33 in March. I finished work at the Congleton Library on the 18th March to have more time to spend with friends & preparing to move.
April --
Andy's official last day of work was the 8th April, but he chose to use up a week's worth of Holiday before finishing, so ironically his last real day was 1st April -- no fooling!
We have our plane tickets booked and stress greatly about what to do with the cats -- we encounter a cowboy company (see Andy's blog archives for the full nasty story) and then discover a wonderful company SkyMaster and have a fantastic experience of flying the cats over to the States with them.
We all flew out on 20th April -- Andy and I arrived in Columbus around 5:45 and the cats didn't arrive until 11:30. We all slept soundly our first night as residents in America. It is nearly 80 degrees the day we arrive and less than 2 days later, we get a snowstorm that lasts for 3 or 4 days!! Welcome back to Ohio weather, Kristen!!
We start to look casually for jobs for Andy (he wanted to take a couple of weeks off to get used to living in America).
May, June & July --
The weather gets really warm and my mother graciously turns on the air for most of the summer months (because of Andy!! If it had been just me and Dad, she'd have let us roast!).
Andy has made some geocaching friends and meets up with them once a month at Cache & Coffee.
We started hunting for a church in April, but don't settle on one until the 22nd of May -- when we find the diamond in the rough -- Dublin Fellowship Baptist Church. I still rejoice when I think of that day. It was like walking in and realizing you had come home. The church has a wide variety of ages and there are several couples our age, which is incredibly encouraging! We find out later that they haven't been there long -- it appears that God has been drawing us all there!
Still no job for Andy yet -- several interviews, one that even looks very promising -- the decision is between him and another candidate and the other guy is hired. It is starting to get frustrating, but we press on and keep looking.
Brian & Ali & Mia and Ali's mom Vicky and step-dad Tom all arrive for 4th of July weekend -- it is a blast -- Mia is growing in leaps and bounds and is very expressive and says quite a few words! One of her favourites is "cookie", followed closely by "kitty", and we start to hear her say "no!" (much to my Dad's dismay). Ali & Mia are able to stay for a couple more days -- Dad rearranges their flights.
Sad news shortly after Mia & Ali fly back -- My Mom's sister, my Aunt Sue has passed away. She lived in Waco, TX but the funeral was in Harrisburg, PA. Andy and I drive to Harrisburg and spend time with Brian and my Uncle Mike and cousins Colleen & her hubby Ben, Jennifer & her hubby Joe and their son Aidan, and Michael and his wife Suzette. It is a sad time, but we are able to really spend some quality time with them -- it has been years since we last did that.
August --
Still no job but getting closer... Andy applies with a couple of computer temp/consulting agencies with the intent of doing temp work until he finds a permanent job. He hears about a job at a company called Capital City Consulting on an emailing list for jobs, and applies.
We celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary!
September --
We drive down to Atlanta Georgia on the 7th to celebrate my brother David's birthday -- and to spend the weekend there for his wedding to Katie! Most of the rest of the family descend on Atlanta the following day. It is a great time together with the family, and a beautiful wedding.
What made it even more special is that while we are down in Georgia after the wedding, we receive an offer on our house in Congleton!!!
Even more amazing, while we are driving back from Georgia on the Tuesday, Andy receives a callback for a 2nd in-person interview with Capital City Consulting! This interview will be a lunch meeting with the rest of the team, and if the chemistry is right, he will have the job!!
Kristen turns 33!
Wednesday the 14th of September is a big day -- we call the real estate agents and accept the offer, and later on in the afternoon, Andy is notified that he has been chosen for the job!!! Much celebration ensues.
Andy starts work on the 19th of September.
We start to get to know Adam & Steph from church, and their lil baby girl Adelyn.
October --
We decide on what we want to send over for presents to the Helsbys in the UK and we make them fleece blankets and post them off so they will arrive well in time for Christmas.
31st of October, Andy's first Halloween in the USA, we close on the house in England via our Solicitor & Power of Attorney, and we get "candy duty" at Mom & Dad's house, to pass out candy to the trick or treators. The evening is cool but nice and clear and there are lots of adorable children in sweet costumes that come to the door.
November --
Now that the house has sold and the money is in the bank, we begin to explore some of the Sunday "Open House"s. We look at different areas of Dublin and also some areas in Hilliard, Powell, and Columbus. We find a real estate agent and go through a bizarre experience of yo-yoing with a particular house we like. Long story short, they keep saying "no" but then turning around and saying "well maybe yes" and then eventually saying "well actually, no" -- this happens twice with the same house!! Talk about rollercoaster emotions! I was such a mess.
We eventually find a house -- an awesome story of God's faithfulness -- it's as though he saved this particular house for us!! We put in an offer and the fun begins! (*insert sarcasm here*)
For Thanksgiving, Dave & Katie drive up from Georgia and bring us some furniture!! We bought 4 of the infamous "THE chair" and David is able to bring us some countertop/tabletop pieces that were rejected that we're going to turn into a table/desk. We have a wonderful time with them and Mom cooks a fab turkey dinner.
December --
Our closing date was scheduled for 7th December and the moving date for the 10th December (Nobody told me til AFTER we'd scheduled them that the bank won't allow the insurance to start on any other day but the closing day -- so you need to close on the same day you want to move in!!!!).
We buy a new (to us) car -- a Buick Century -- a big ol' grandma car, that rides so smooth! It's silver and we've nicknamed it Clank -- like in the Playstation 2 game Ratchet & Clank. Clank is a silver robot with all the bells and whistles and accessories -- so it suits the car, which is full of features.
We go through so much stress and drama with the house purchase and finally on the 9th of December, we close at 4pm. The owner's mom (who lives in the area and has been acting as a sort of marketing agent for him -- b/c he's been sent to work in Chicago) is very thoughtful and has brought the keys with her, so we can run over that evening and start moving in. Which we do!!
Over the course of the next week, we start to find things for the house, arrange for the delivery of our items from storage, and moving things from Mom & Dad's crawl space to the new house. A very tiring but exciting time, and I don't know where our energy comes from but we do it all and don't feel tired until a week later!!
Our official moving-in day is Monday the 19th December, and we (along with the help of our uber-strong friends Taylor and Adam) move the furniture that Mom & Dad have kindly given us to the new house and also the items that we have purchased at various garage sales plus what we got at good ol' Mr. Treasures Xchange! All the furniture is in the new house and now the only item remaining at Mom & Dad's is the piano.
We celebrated Christmas just the two of us, which felt really weird -- as we're used to spending it with Andy's family now, and my parents went down to Georgia to spend it with Dave & Katie. It was nice, fairly relaxing, but it somehow didn't feel like Christmas. Strange.
I know I'm sure to have left some things out, but that seems to be it. We'll be sending out a We've Moved! letter at some point in the near future with pictures of the new house etc. so keep an eye out for that, and if you're not on our mailing list, let me know.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!
Here's a brief (yeah right -- you know me too well!) summary of what the last week of our lives has looked like......
Friday 9th December -- we sign a million papers (I only had to sign half) and the very thoughtful mother of the owner brings the keys to the closing so we can start moving in whenever we want to!!! So after going home and having a quick dinner, we take our first load of items over to the new house!
Saturday 10th December -- we take over another load in the morning, then head over to Meijer (having their super sale) and buy a vacuum cleaner and a couple of throw rugs for the hardwood floors and some other random household cleaning items. Then to Lowe's for some firewood -- the fake logs you just light and leave. We go to Sams club with Dad and back to the house with another load of things. Steph & Adam and Mom & Dad come over around 7ish -- before they come, we light one of the logs and sit together in front of the fire (very romantic!). This is the first time Adam & Steph have been to the house, and only the second time Mom and Dad have been -- so they all get the grand tour. We have a blast with Steph & Adam (Adelyn is so cute! We discover she adores dried mango!) and Mom & Dad. Our first entertaining session is a success even though we're in "minimalist" stage at this point... sitting on outdoor furniture in the living room, with just pop to drink and candles lit... cozy mood! The worst part was having to say goodnight to them in our new home, and then having to leave it to come back and sleep in our beds! (The new bed arrives on Tuesday the 13th and we don't officially move in until the 19th).
Sunday 11th December -- We head off to Sunday School (tired b/c of the late night) and after church we meet up with the Pastor and 2 deacons about membership. They mention sending a letter of thanks to Wheelock Heath and I ask them why would they want to start Pastor Danny crying all over again?? He's only just now started to sniffle instead of sob! (Just for the record, Danny, we miss you as much as you miss us!!!! And when are you going to send me some sermons on mp3!!????) After that, we head out into the countryside to find Kathy & Larry's house for a lovely British Sunday lunch -- they're from our church and are an international couple like us only she's British and he's American. We are slowly adopting them. (not in the legal sense so don't anyone send any comments or emails!! -- long story) After that we head straight back to church for the final Managing your Finances evening bible study and when that finishes we run to Wendy's for a quick burger (poor Andy's tummy was a rumblin' all through the study!!!!) and then scoot to the new house to meet Steph & Adam and John & Tracy there. Light another log (I am really getting spoiled by those things!!) and have great conversation (once I've given John & Tracy the official tour). A wonderful time was had by all (again still in the minimalist stage) and another late night... again the weirdness of having to leave your own home after entertaining guests there.
Monday 11th December -- Mostly running around with errands etc. and then staying at Mom & Dad's organizing things. Mom and I go to Oakland Nursery for her to buy a live wreath to hang over their fireplace and I see a wonderful artificial tree that is 8 feet tall and doesn't look fake and is 50% off!!!!
Tuesday 12th December -- I call to find out the delivery time for the bed and they tell me 10:30 - 12, so I swing round to Andy's workplace to drop him off some coffee and the cds he needed and then I scoot over to Oakland to pick up the tree -- it is so amazing... it comes in three pieces, top piece is just like a lil mini tree, but the other two pieces, when you lift them up and turn them upside down, it is like closing an umbrella -- they are all hinged and all the branches immediately fold up near to the base!!! Mom has graciously agreed to loan us their christmas lights and ornaments (about 40% are mine due to her tradition of giving me an ornament each year) and she brings them over after her haircut. We put the lights and ornaments on the tree and it looks AMAZING! At about 3:30 in the afternoon I phone to find out about our things in storage (when they might be delivered -- the woman was meant to call me back on Friday with a date) and am told it will be tomorrow (Wednesday!) and that she'll call back with a time. She does -- between 8 and 10 am! WOW! So plans change and we head back to Mom & Dad's house so I can get ready to go to the last "Believing God" bible study. This is a sad thing... because I have really been impacted by this study. After the study is over, I meet Andy at the new house and we tinker a bit putting a couple more things away that I picked up at Target.
Wednesday 14th December -- I am at the house at 7:45, tidying up the countertops (which had been covered in items we'd brought over and hadn't figured out where they'll go yet). No sign of the guy at 8:15 so I continue to tidy until about 8:45 and sit down and finish writing a letter and make some lists. Still no sign at 9:45 and I begin to wonder... at 10 I call to find out if perhaps he might have called Mom & Dad's number and nobody answered so therefore he isn't coming? No, the lady assures me he is in transit to my house and will have him call me. He does, and he is very happy and sweet on the phone. I immediately notice a difference between him and other movers I've encountered. When he arrives he continues being considerate and as he moves the boxes he handles them extremely carefully, like handling a baby or something! I am impressed. When the bin-men's truck comes up the road, he stops what he is doing and moves our two bins out to behind the truck so they can easily reach them. I am dumbstruck. What a thoughtful thing to do! As it turned out, it was the recycling truck, so he moved them back, but again I was struck by how considerate he is. We start to have a conversation as he brings each load of boxes in. I am doing the inventory part, checking off the box numbers as he brings them inside. When he finishes, I ask him to open the things that are most likely to have been damaged... the table & chairs... my gallery of cross-stitched pictures (my ladies!). We joke about it being like Christmas as he opens the table. When he opens my ladies, he is gob-smacked. He takes several minutes looking at each one and falls in love with the Angel of Love and Winter Queen. He calls me an artiste! As he drives off, I am just amazed and still impressed by his professional attitude, his pride in his work and his gentleness with the boxes (even though they weigh a TON). A make a mental note to remember his name -- Brandon Cloud -- because he says he moves pianos. We may need him in the future! After the truck is gone it occurs to me he said Have a Blessed Day instead of nice day -- and I wish I'd asked him if he's a Christian. I would bet he is. Fruits of the Spirit in evidence there. Big style. I spend the rest of the day opening boxes (I now have about 12 cuts on my hands) and putting things away in the kitchen. Andy comes home from work a bit early (didn't get a break at lunch -- ate while he worked) and he joins in -- we get about a third of the boxes open and emptied.
That's my plan for today too so I'd better end this long missive (I did warn you it would be long!) and head over to the new place.
| You Passed 8th Grade Science |
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Anna's definitely addicted -- and she's trying to get me too!!
| You Are Mud Pie |
 Those who like you give into their impulses |
On Saturday we went for a drive up to Delaware to look at some used cars... we ended up buying a nice one -- more about this later... and afterwards we were walking around in a shop near the car sales place and we ran into a lovely friend I haven't seen since our wedding. I used to babysit for her two boys from when Paul was 3 (he's now a senior in High School!!!!!).
She asked how we were doing and what's new?
my reply?
"ohh, you know, everyday stuff -- bought a car today, closing on the house on Wednesday... just normal stuff really!"
How scary is this part of our lives! It is really strange, because we thought we'd have been at this point in July or August -- our stuff is still in storage and we didn't pack many wintery clothes back in April...
So we're scheduled to close on the new house Wednesday, and move in starting on Saturday. We'll move some of the bigger furniture-type things on Sat (or whenever we can borrow the real estate agent's big ol van) and then move the smaller stuff (clothes, kitcheny stuff etc.) any time after that. We'll probably arrange the delivery of the new bed and the stuff in storage for days during the week after -- just so we have a chance to decide where we want everything to go!
I'm starting to get excited -- still a bit cautiously, almost waiting for something to make it all crumble to pieces. Once Wednesday is here and we've signed the 90-odd pieces of paper that we have to sign at the closing, I'll be ecstatic and really hyper -- until then, I'll stick to being cautious.
That way if something does fall apart, I won't be crushed.... but if it doesn't fall apart.... I'll be delightfully surprised!