Yes, We're Moving! (Countdown: 3 Days & a Wake Up)

Some of my new readers hadn't heard about the move yet, so this is the official informational post.

HusBean and I and our six animals are moving to Portland, Oregon. We've lived in Augusta, Georgia for almost 5 years, and were in Key West, Florida for 2 years before that.

I moved to Key West from Vancouver, Washington (it's considered part of the Portland metro area) to be with HusBean (then just boyfriend) after only having seen each other in person a total of 16 days. We had dated long distance for 5 months and got engaged shortly after moving to Florida.

HusBean is a former United States Marine, and has a GI Bill that he needs to start using in the next three years or it will expire. 

The plan is that he will go to school and get a Business degree, I will be working as an Escrow Assistant at a title company (I was an Escrow Officer previous to my move to the East coast).

We're planning to take Homeward Bound Hot Sauce big time, and Portland is a great place to do it. In addition  to that, we both grew up there and have long-time friends and many family members there or nearby.

We've really enjoyed our time in Florida and Georgia, and made some wonderful friends and connections that we will greatly miss. We fully intend to fly in on our fancy black hot sauce jet (pepper on the tail) to visit.

It's time to go home!

Photo Therapy

It always makes me feel better to have some sort of artistic outlet.

Carrie and I took another photo/walking tour of downtown Augusta today and got some fun shots.

Beautiful Day for a Picnic

Amy and Carrie and I spent the day together - meeting first at a cafe in downtown Augusta for Coffee, then we drove out to the New Savannah Lock and Dam (not actually IN Savannah) for a picnic lunch on a dock. Then we all came back to our house and Scott and I handed out candy on the front porch to all the neighborhood kids.

Buster was in a skunk costume and Stinkerbell was (briefly) dressed as a pumpkin. Those pics will come tomorrow... but here's some from today.

On The Hunt

I had an adventurous day yesterday.

A friend since high-school lives about 40 minutes away in Aiken, SC and we've been hanging out a bit. It's good for both of us to have a friend out here where we know so few people.

Yesterday we went to the Augusta Mall where I collected eight job applications. As I was gathering one from Williams Sonoma the manager took my name and number and called me right away to schedule an interview next Wednesday at 2pm.

I got a blister on my finger filling out the rest of them last night.

After our job hunt, we went "downtown" Augusta and took pictures.

Traveling Zoo

Thirteen hours according to Google maps is really more like 16 or 17 in a Honda pulling a 4x6 U-Haul trailer.

We departed Key West at about 7pm on Saturday (a week ago) and made a few stops... one for gas, another stop on Big Pine at Rob's Island Grill for the best gardenburger in the Keys.

We made it to our approximate halfway point - a Clarion motel in Titusville, Florida at about 4am Sunday morning. It took us about a half hour to get all the critters and their stuff in the room and then we went to bed. We put the big baby gate up across the bathroom/sink/closet area and put Stinkerbell's house under the sink, with the cat litter box in the bathroom itself.

We managed to get all the animals fed and once we went to bed everyone pretty much quieted down and went to sleep.

Scott got up around 1pm and I got up around 1:30pm and we loaded up and headed north. We stopped for gas and food somewhere near Jacksonville I think...

I had everyone but Scott in the Honda with me, the cats' litter box in the trunk with the back seats down and Buster in the passenger seat. The cats and Stinkerbell got to run free.

Chou likes to ride in the floorspace up front and since there was a bunch of stuff and bedding in the passenger side floorspace, he chose mine. Fortunately he stayed out from under the pedals and didn't mind if I shoved him back with my feet when he encroached on my space.

Minx was a little bit everywhere, mostly starting to yell about five or six hours into both days. At that point I put on my ipod and was able to tune her out.

Maui split his time snuggling with Buster and sitting in the cat bed in the back seat.

Stinkerbell was either asleep in the front seat with Buster and Maui or in her bed (sometimes underneath it). She managed not to bite anyone, which is usually her modus operandi when in close proximity to the other animals. The picture on the left shows Buster, Stinker, Maui (right above Stinker's tail) and Chou (on the right - in my armpit) all in the front seat which lasted about ten minutes. Then I kicked the cats and skunk out so Buster wasn't so cramped.


Won-Ton initially was on the dash, with two of the feet of his travel tank on a "non-slip" pad that is meant for cell phones and such. After two incidences of the tank flying off the dash and dumping water everywhere (the second time requiring me to pull over, call Scott and have him bring a bottle of Evian to refill the container) I took the handle off the container and rigged it with a bungee cord to hang from my rear-view mirror. Sounds silly, but he was safe for the rest of the trip (when Buster wasn't trying to drink him).

The drive on Sunday was a lot easier. We had both had at least eight hours of sleep and were a lot less anxious about what time we were going to arrive.

Fortunately the realtor that helped us find and lease the house only lives about fifteen minutes from the new place and was willing to meet us when we arrived at about 10:15pm to let us in. He knew we weren't going to have water or power until Monday, but he was able to turn our water on at the curb and his wife sent a bunch of her candles over so we could see enough to get our mattress and the animals in the house.

Monday morning the power came on around 10am and the water heater made quick work of heating up enough water for about a five minute shower. Once presentable we drove to the bottom of our subdivision and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant in the strip mall there. We found a Food Lion and bought a few necessities before heading back to the house for a walk-through with the realtor.

Tuesday Scott managed to get a Georgia driver's license and we took a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond, followed by dinner at Macaroni Grill.

Wednesday Scott went to work for the first time at his new job and Comcast came to hook up our DVR and internet. After he came home we went to Lowes and then Red Robin for dinner. (We don't have wireless yet and the ethernet cable isn't working for my computer, so I have to pirate Scott's when he's not using it.)

Thursday my friend Carrie (from high school) came over from Aiken, SC and we spent the day together, having breakfast (around 1pm) at IHOP and then a quick trip to Home Depot. I looked for herbs and vegetables to grow at the house but I'm guessing it's past season for them this far north because there was NOTHING edible in the nursery there. I bought three Hostas instead.

Friday I slept in and then did some unpacking and organizing and moving furniture around. Once Scott got home we went to Publix and did the REAL grocery shopping.

Today we had Apple turnovers for breakfast (something my family did every Saturday morning for awhile when I was young) and then spent the day alternately unpacking and watching TV and feeding animals and ourselves. I made a batch of Potato Cheese Soup with a few fat-lowering modifications. It's not quite the same since I am mysteriously out of Paprika and I used 1% milk instead of half and half, but it was still good and filling.

Just Peachy

We're here in Georgia and getting settled in.

The house is beautiful.

I've taken lots of pictures - most of our two-day trip up from Key West, but they are on my computer which for some reason is not connecting to the internet.

So in the meantime I will just say that I'm planning some great posts and have some fun pictures to go with them.

Most importantly: We're safe! Everyone loves the house, the dog and cats (including the "fourth") are having fun exploring and hiding behind boxes.

The movers brought our stuff yesterday morning at 8am and we've been unpacking ever since. I've got most of the kitchen put away and we're working on the bedrooms and living areas.

Comcast came today to hook up our digital cable and wireless internet. The cable works. The internet only works via an ethernet cable to Scott's computer. We tried plugging it into mine and that doesn't even work.

I'm going to attempt to solve the problem tomorrow when my brain cells are fresh.

Last Day

It's beginning to get light out on my last day of work in Key West. I'll likely go in on Sunday or Monday and do some computer stuff, but today is my last shift on the floor.

Stinkerbell is sleeping on my lap... when I got out of bed about an hour ago she got up and followed me to the living room.

All the animals are being extra-needy right now - Stinkerbell has never moved so she can't really understand the boxes, but Buster and the cats have experienced boxes before and are getting worried.

Buster tries to come with us anytime we leave the house now, he's afraid of being left behind!

We signed a lease today and faxed it back to the realtor, I'll post pics as soon as there's no way it can fall through. If I've learned nothing else in this recent chapter of life it's that I HAVE to take each day one at a time or I'll lose my freaking mind!

I did find an insurance agent in the area and have transferred our car and renters insurance, once the lease is confirmed I'll go online and transfer Comcast and do our address change.

I've packed a bunch of stuff - mostly clothes and bedding as it's clean. We're probably going to get rid of some stuff before we leave: two tv's we never use, our bed frame (since it's TOTALLY busted now) and all the crappy pots and pans since we've been collecting new ones from Crate & Barrell thanks to wedding gift cards.

I'm REALLY excited about the kitchen in the new house... once you see it you'll understand why!

Stay Calm

more animals

I'm sure that I will jinx the whole thing by talking about it - but I believe we're moving to Georgia. We picked a house tonight (I'll post pics as soon as the lease is signed) and are going to call tomorrow to schedule the movers.

I'm excited - I would love to go home to the northwest, but going anywhere new is cool, too. I'm hoping that we will be more free to travel "home" from Augusta than from Key West, I'd really like to be at my Family Reunion and Family Camping Trip next summer.

Of course, I'm having a hard time sleeping because my brain keeps making lists of things that need to be done before we move or in order to move.

And, there's a bit of added stress because someone is apparently illegal in Georgia.

Too Much Head Noise

It's 3:07am.

I tried to go to bed twice so far - starting around 10:30pm... I only have two more work days until I have four days off, then another 6 days on and that's it - we're gone!

Thanks to my fabulous in-laws, I'll be joining Scott on a trip to Seattle in November to (hopefully) meet our new nephew (if he cooperates with our schedule of course).

My mind keeps making lists of things to do and organize and pack... overwhelming.

Our immediate goal is to secure somewhere to live in the new town, there's a few possibilities lined up. Our favorite so far isn't available until the 21st of October and we'd like to be moved in before that, so we may have to go with something else.

My next goal once we have a new address is to work on new employment! I know it will be much easier once I'm actually in town and can walk in somewhere and convince them to hire me based solely on my brilliance.

Ha.

Packing Up

Things are far enough underway that I feel it is safe to announce our decision...

We ARE moving to Augusta, Georgia (unless we don't for some reason).

Right now we're planning to move around October 15th, we began showing our house here today and a rep from a moving company came to check out the house to see how much to charge Scott's company to move us.

We're trying to find someone to move in here as soon as possible so we don't lose our last month's rent.

Scott has been working very hard the last two days on cleaning the house while I have been working at the pet store. His last official day at work here in Key West will be this Tuesday.

My last day at the pet store will probably be the 12th or 13th and then we are anticipating having the movers take everything on the 15th.

Scott will take Buster, Tempura, Won-Ton and Zim in the BMW and I will take the three cats and Stinkerbell in the Honda. Should be an interesting 13 hour drive... Scott suggested that he and I and Buster go ahead and have Maui drive the other cats and the skunk.

I Give Up

I'm not blogging until our decision is final. Georgia is back in the running.

Gah.

No Georgia.

As soon as we thought we were sure about something, it changed.

Originally we were told that if we took the position in Georgia, we'd make at least what we are making now and have a lower cost of living - giving us the ability to save up a significant amount of money.

The official offer came in today at quite a bit less than what we are making in Key West to account for the lower cost of living in Georgia. Basically we wouldn't get anywhere financially and would have about the same amount of money.

In my opinion that's just not worth it. We've decided that the only reason to move from Key West is either to get ahead financially (and by a lot, not just a little) or to move HOME.

So, we're going to take the offer from the new company in Key West and work on the Washington/Oregon opportunities, and take them as soon as they are something that is worth our packing up and moving.

If you are in the Portland/Vancouver or Columbia Gorge area and think you know of a good job for me, let me know!

What Comes Next

I am watching Unwrapped on Food Network.

I'm not really paying attention though, I'm more mentally wrapped up in not knowing where I'm going to live a month from now.

Recently another option besides Augusta came up, and then today "Company C" gave Scott an offer to stay that is pretty good.

But now we've gotten our hearts ready to leave Key West.

The "mystery" option could put us close to home on the west coast, but likely wouldn't pay anything near Augusta or Key West. But it would be close to home.

Close enough to go to church every week at the place we love. Close enough to visit our ailing grandparents on a regular basis. Close enough to see our nephew (due in November) and all our friends' kids grow up.

This is a very hard place to be, emotionally.

I'm good at just picking up and leaving, I made the decision to move to Key West from Vancouver, WA in about a week.

I'm not good at not knowing what the plan is.

The Midnight Train

In the last two days a lot has been going on at our house.

We've pretty much decided to move to Augusta, Georgia.

The WHY:
Scott is currently employed by a company whose contract for his job is up October 1st. Instead of going with the new company to keep his job and get less pay, less vacation, no hurricane pay and a host of other non-benefits, he has the opportunity to take a position WITH his current company but in Augusta at at least the same pay rate and benefits.

The WHEN:
Scott will likely go in about two to three weeks, I will probably follow within about three weeks to a month.

The CONS:
I'll be giving up my job at the pet store, which is the job I've enjoyed most anywhere.
We'll miss our friends here in Key West - my coworkers and especially Jenny.
Augusta is not a tropical island.

The PROS:
I've already applied for a real-estate closing assistant job in Augusta, which is basically the same type of thing I was doing in Washington before moving to Key West. If that doesn't come through, there is a general manager position available at a PetCo in Augusta and a few other things that look interesting.
Housing in the area is significantly less expensive than in Key West. We've already been scouting out possibilities and I've found beautiful five-bedroom homes on huge lots for a hundred dollars less per month than we are paying for our two-bedroom here in Key West.
We'd be about a two-hour drive from Atlanta, which is a hub for several airlines thus making it much cheaper to fly anywhere anytime, but more importantly to Portland.
Then there's the conveniences... Target, Red Robin, Trader Joes, Old Navy, and my favorite - Old Spaghetti Factory all within driving distance.

We're hoping to make strong headway on saving up a bunch of money so that when we DO have the opportunity to move to Portland/Vancouver, we have more freedom with what to do once we get there.