Off We Go

It has never been a secret that I am quite at home in Atlanta and have never had any desire to pack up and leave. My family is here, my friends are here, and I have always imagined raising a family here. I finally convinced Deaner to give up the big house OTP and move ITP last December and city life is good. On the flip side, Deaner has never made it a secret that he would like to live somewhere where life operates at a slower pace. He has often times talked about working abroad for a few years before returning home to settle down (the debate between OTP and ITP has never ceased!). I have never paid much attention to these lofty plans because who actually goes through the trouble of finding a job in another country, packing up their life, and actually going??

We spent 10 days in Germany and Austria this past June on vacation and the ever familiar day dreams started again. When we got engaged in July I figured I had solidified my location. Who could think about moving when a giant wedding is in the works? So when Deaner mentioned that he had been contacted to interview for a position in Germany I thought that surely there was no harm in supporting him. Something would end up being wrong with the position, he probably wouldn't get it, it wouldn't pay enough, or he would chicken out. Deaner interviewed for the position sometime in July and we didn't hear anything for months. Woooo-hooooo! Then he got an e-mail asking if the manager involved with the new position could contact his current boss for a reference. Huh? What kind of employer does that? Unless your candidate is on a very short list and it is likely you will offer them the position. I held my breath for another month. There was a lot of hassle involved with convincing his boss to make the time to return the phone call and things moved slowly. While on a business trip last month his boss joked around with him that when he got the job he deserved a cut for being such a great reference. Still no word. I started to breathe again. Slowly but surely things started to look as though Deaner was in fact not the top choice and that he would not be getting the job. We heard lots of promises that he would be contacted early next week or in a few days. Deaner remained very optimistic stating the whole time that he was pretty sure he was the one. I thought to myself "oh great, this is not going to be a pretty letdown". I felt badly because while I didn't really want to move to Germany, I wanted him to be happy and I knew this was something that he wanted to do. So I did what any normal girl would do in my situation. I started to pretend as though I would have gone along with this move all along and that I was definitely open to moving to Germany. Why not? When he didn't get the job at least he would think I was supporting him all along! And then one day it happened...

I got an e-mail from Deaner that ended in "P.S. I heard about the Germany job". Come on! I knew immediately when I called him at work and he answered laughing about how quickly I had called that he had been offered the position. OH GREAT! Remember how I had been agreeing for weeks that I wanted to do this too?? Now I really had to do it!

That was roughly 3 weeks ago or so. I will still never understand how the government can take so long to make an offer and then expect that someone report to a foreign country within 30 days. We ran into some issues there but thankfully that was settled this week. I flat out refused to move BEFORE we got married and there was no room for negotiation on changing the ceremony. At least we were on the same page about that! So as it stands today, we are getting married March 7th, returning from our honeymoon on the 17th, and leaving for a new life on the 27th! I have no clue how I am going to get things organized between now and then. We own 3 cars, two houses, and have wedding gifts delivered every week. I am thinking that the next three months are going to be pretty busy. I am so proud of Deaner for putting his mind to something and succeeding at it. I am excited about starting the new adventure but only because it is with him. Well, alright, I also REALLY want to quit my job. :) Now I just have to figure out what to do with all this STUFF!