Big News (and details of our trip to Michigan)

I know that I promised you all a post about our trip to Michigan and I haven’t provided it until now.  I promise I will get to it in this post.

On the BIG NEWS front – Derek and I have been talking about moving to a new place and starting over for years, but being straddled with a house under renovation made that seem impossible.  Instead of moving forward, we dreamed of living somewhere new.  We had our list of criteria for a new city and we made a list of places we visited that fit those criteria.  And we waited.

And then, we got the offer/contraction on our house.  Within a couple of weeks, we found out I was pregnant.  And then, a job posting went up in a city in that was on our list.  It was “the perfect” job for Derek.  His degree and experience made him be an ideal candidate.  The job would require little or no travel.  And it would be less stress.  He put in for the job with little hope that he would receive a phone call for an interview – especially considering the fact that we lived in Georgia and this job posting was in another state.

And then, 2 nights before we closed on the sale of our house – he got a phone call.  The company hadn’t been looking to recruit from outside of their state, but his resume stood out among the candidates and they asked for him to come for an interview.  We booked our plane tickets and we went for his interview.  And while we were there, we did some house hunting just in case he got the job.   (Just in case you haven’t tied the two topics together – the interview was in Michigan.)  We used our remaining time to visit with his family and enjoy the snow.

Although the interview seemed to have gone well, we weren’t entirely sure what would happen.  We anxiously awaited any news.  And waited.

And then, on Sunday, we got the phone call.  He was being offered the position.  We discussed the offer and the changes this would mean to our lives.  And then he accepted the position.  WE ARE MOVING TO MICHIGAN!!!!*

We have both given our notices at our current jobs.  My last day at my job will be on December 30, 2010.  His last day will be January 6, 2011.  I will spend the extra couple of days tying up loose ends and spending some time with my family.  Derek’s parents will be driving down with their truck.  We will be selling one of our cars.  His parents and I will pack up our rental house on Thursday the 6^th.  And when Derek gets home from his last day from work, we will get in our vehicles and head north.  North into a new chapter of our lives and a new adventure.  I am absolutely thrilled.  And I am scared to death at the same time.

·       Some of you may ask – Carli, what about your job?  Well, considering the pregnancy, I don’t know if I will be able to find a “career” job when we first get there.  I will probably attempt to get a job part time or seasonally.  And then when the baby is born, I can have some time to stay home with our little one without worrying about rushing back to a job.  Once we get situated and we figure out how our finances will be with this new job, we will be able to determine how long we can survive as a single family household.  Whether it is for 6 months or a year, I will be thankful for whatever amount of time we can afford.

·       Some of you may say – But Carli, what about the snow and the cold???  Well, I know.  But 10 degrees and snowing in Michigan somehow doesn’t feel as cold as 37 degrees and raining in Georgia.  I know I will be cold.  I know the winter is long.  I will by cuddle duds for every day of the week.  And I am looking forward to our child having a white Christmas and getting to sled or build snow men.  And I want to learn to ski.  And, the spring, summer, and winter weather is amazing.  I am up to giving it a try.

·       Some of you may ask – How can you leave your family and friends when you are FINALLY having a baby?  Well, that is the toughest question to answer.  And the best answer I can give is that I feel this is the right time to make this move.  Maybe it was determination.  Maybe it was patience.  But all of these things all fell into place together.  All in a row.  In the order that things would have to happen for us to be able to be triply blessed.  Is it Fate?  Is it God’s Plan?  I don’t know.  But I feel like this is what we are supposed to be doing.  I hate the fact that I am leaving my family behind.  I detest the fact that I will be leaving behind the best friend I have ever had.  I will miss all of my other friends terribly.  And I am worried that none of these people love me enough to want to travel the 15 hours by car that it would take to visit me.  But I have to have faith that they love me enough to come.  And I have to trust that once they visit us, they will see why we fell in love with our new city.  And I know that they all want me to be happy.  So, instead of turning down this opportunity, I cry about the fact that I will miss them and I have begged them to come visit me.**

I have to sign off now.  I am really supposed to be working (but instead I am typing a post to email to my blog!) but I have accomplished a lot today and I am not worried about getting fired.  And I need to leave in 15 minutes to go to my first official OB appointment.  I am sure I will have more to post later.

*I will not be posting my city’s name on this blog.  Perhaps I am just being too careful, but I don’t feel comfortable with that.  If you happen to live in the area and want to know my new destination city, I will gladly provide details in some other form.  I know some of my readers will now be my neighbors and I would love to know if we will be close.

**(Crying as I Post)  Mom and Karina – just in case you missed it, this section of the post was for you.  I love you both and will miss you tremendously.  You can’t possibly know how much it hurts me to be moving away from you two when I want you to be there to experience this pregnancy and child with me.  I know this move is going to be hard on both of you as well.  I don’t know what else to say other than we will have to do what we can to make sure we see each other.  Unlimited texting, friends and family numbers, and web cams may be required, but we WILL get through this.  I love you both.