How to Move to Another Country

Hello lovely internet fam,
I've been doing an excellent job of neglecting my blog for the last month or so and honestly I have no excuse except for the fact that I've been running around like a psychopath trying to organize my life before moving to the other side of the world. Given the amazing amount of knowledge I have gained over the last six months through both experience and advice from others in the same boat, I've decided to compile a list of things to do before uprooting your life and moving to another country for a few years...

1. Get on Pinterest and make a board dedicated to all of the amazing things there are to do in your new country! That way, when you find yourself blubbering into a glass of wine, you can pull up your Pinterest board and look at beautiful beaches and cool things to do!

2. Take on a new hobby or class that finishes RIGHT BEFORE you leave for said new country. Not only does it distract you in the way that stubbing your toe makes your headache go away, but you may find that this welcome distraction also allows you to get a job in your new country (employment = good, unemployment = bad).

3. Decide to bring all four of your pets with you and spend the six months before your move planning elaborate time schedules around quarantines, vaccination records, and plane tickets. Oh and, pay an excessive amount of money in the process.

4. Somehow wait until the week before your move to sell your car and rent your house out! This way, you have the opportunity to really test your nerve before embarking on your new adventure!

5. Rip the one pair of jeans you left out of your packed goods (that you wont see for a month). Who doesn't want to wear leggings for 6 weeks straight, OR that random pair of overalls you decided to bring in your carry on...just in case!

6. Decide to take a spur of the moment trip to Europe two weeks before your departure date! Sure you will spend a bunch of money and randomly disappear causing family and friends to think you pulled an Irish Goodbye, but can anyone say 'Practice Run'?

7. And lastly, spend all of your free time with family and friends that you won't see for a while! Moving to another country has a lot of crazy ups and downs and the lowest low will be not seeing your tribe regularly BUT the highest high is the amazing opportunity that you get to experience! All of the crazy little things that happen are nothing in the grand scheme of things, and getting to experience another culture first hand is a wonderful adventure.

So, take a deep breath, experience each moment for what it is, and dive in headfirst!

See you on the other side,
Em

A New Chapter: NC to FL to TX

Ya'll. I made it to North Carolina and J made it to Texas. It has been a long couple of weeks getting ready for this move, but we are both settling in nicely and appreciate everyones help with the move both physically and emotionally!

I have never been good with change. I love the idea of it and crave it when things get too monotonous. But when it comes time to actually pick up and go, I dig in my heels. This move was no exception, and the added stress of not being able to move together didn't help. But after unpacking and getting into the swing of things again around here I've started to appreciate that we made the right choice.

Today was my first day back in the office. I even got to go show a house with my mom (a REAL HOUSE, not a trailer) PRAISE!! I am not made for the life of a housewife, at least not right now. The last three months have been so incredibly tough for me not having a career, and I can't believe how motivated I am to work 24/7 right now. At least now I can hit the ground running and make the most of my months here in Durham so that J and I can save money and I won't drive us both crazy with my bored antics! I'm definitely a lucky girl to be marrying someone who appreciates my mania and encourages me to do whatever makes me happy <3

There are already so many things going on...Wedding appointments are on the books as we only have 3 months until the big day, the Trinity Park House Tour is in a couple of weeks, the Durham housing market is not slowing down anytime soon, I just got my Durham Pure Barre Membership up and running, and this Saturday I am 'running' a 10k (if I die, Brittney is to blame). I can not wait to get back into a groove again. The moving process really throws off any chance of having a normal schedule, and I am a planner so that never works out well for anybody.

So, here's to the next chapter of our crazy, peripatetic life!

Stay tuned...

Picture that James texted me when we first started dating haha

Love > Distance

We are officially down to the last few days in the Milton house. Our first home that we owned and made together. It is definitely a bittersweet moment. It will be sad the see the movers come through and pack everything up, take things off the walls, and move it all out of the house.

It will be even harder to know that J and I won't be in the same state for the next few months. Even though we weighed the pros and cons, talked about it for hours, and came to the same conclusion, I still find it incredibly hard to think about not seeing him every day.

Sometimes it feels like this is a lose-lose situation. Yes, moving to Durham will allow me to wedding plan on site, work a regular job, and be near family before our first big deployment (potentially overseas). But I will miss our little life together that we have created. I'll miss the wonderful friends we've made in flight school. And I also hate the thought of splitting up our family because Copper is literally going to mope around for weeks when he realizes J isn't coming with us. I might actually become the most hated human in all of dogdom for splitting them up. And yes, this is a legitimate concern and if you disagree you've never been around Copper at 9:00pm when he turns into gremlin dog.

Sometimes I hate that we have to make decisions like this and that we can't just have a normal life, whatever that even means. But then I think about it and realize how fortunate we are to have this life and everything that it affords us. Being a military family definitely has its downsides (potentially the biggest understatement of the year) but it is also a necessary sacrifice and an honor to be a part of something bigger than ourselves.

We only have a couple of months until the wedding and a huuuuge stack of things which need to be done that I have been putting off. I will definitely have my fair share of things to do while J finishes up his last chunk of flight school. Between fixing up our new house in Durham, getting the final wedding details done, working a full time real estate job, applying to grad programs (maybe??), and trying to get my yoga certification I'm hoping that time goes by quickly.

In the wise words of my sister in law Rebekkah, who is a Merchant Marine and is married to a Coastie, I am officially joining the ranks of the Professional Long Distance Wife club. And I have to say that I am very lucky to be marrying someone who respects and supports my dreams, and doesn't ever try to hold me back because of the restrictions of his job.

There is never going to be a solution or situation that is perfect for everyone. And a lot of times spouses of service members end up having to give up their life and goals in order to support their spouse. But I want people to understand that there are MANY ways to do that. There isn't just one path to be a supportive partner. And sometimes that path may break with conventional thought. Maybe being a stay at home mom/dad is the best decision for you. Maybe having two full time incomes is the way to go. Sometimes your jobs will have you working temporarily in two different places. There is not one solution. All any one of us can do is our best <3