Whew, we've been busy! It feels like an eternity, but it's only been a week...
Last Thursday was my last day of work, and we spent all day Friday packing up the apartment and getting ready for our estate sale. During the packing process, I had a little surprise from my brother, who showed up unannounced at my loft. I had been under the impression that he wasn't going to get leave from his military assignment before I moved away, but apparently my family decided to set up a sneaky surprise!
Bright and early on Saturday, we sold all of our furniture, kitchenware, electronics, linens, and a large chunk of our clothes, books and DVDs at our estate/moving sale. We are feeling quite minimalistic now, living on just a few suitcases worth of clothes & personal items. After this experience, I'm confident that every economics teacher I've ever had has vastly underplayed the complexity & effort involved in liquidating assets. It's exhausting.
On Sunday, my family hosted a " 'Murica + British Tea Party" going away party at their house, where Ron and I were able to visit with a bunch of family & friends before we leave! It was a scorching 105 degrees outside and SO sticky. But, despite the heat, everyone still showed up and showered Ron and I with love and well wishes on our upcoming adventure. There must have been 50 people at the house - we were so thrilled that everyone could make it!!
Last Thursday was my last day of work, and we spent all day Friday packing up the apartment and getting ready for our estate sale. During the packing process, I had a little surprise from my brother, who showed up unannounced at my loft. I had been under the impression that he wasn't going to get leave from his military assignment before I moved away, but apparently my family decided to set up a sneaky surprise!
Bright and early on Saturday, we sold all of our furniture, kitchenware, electronics, linens, and a large chunk of our clothes, books and DVDs at our estate/moving sale. We are feeling quite minimalistic now, living on just a few suitcases worth of clothes & personal items. After this experience, I'm confident that every economics teacher I've ever had has vastly underplayed the complexity & effort involved in liquidating assets. It's exhausting.
On Sunday, my family hosted a " 'Murica + British Tea Party" going away party at their house, where Ron and I were able to visit with a bunch of family & friends before we leave! It was a scorching 105 degrees outside and SO sticky. But, despite the heat, everyone still showed up and showered Ron and I with love and well wishes on our upcoming adventure. There must have been 50 people at the house - we were so thrilled that everyone could make it!!
On Monday, Ron and I woke up to the amazing news that our Visa applications had been officially approved! We had been worried that there may be issues since we are unmarried, but luckily we had over-prepared the application and everything went smoothy. Next, we had to get started on inventory paperwork for the movers. So, we sorted through everything we are planning on moving to England and finalized all of our customs documents. It's amazing how little we have left!
We started Tuesday morning off with two Newcastle apartment tours via Skype, and then had some financial appointments to make sure all our accounts are set for the move. We also had to put in a request for another currency exchange, so we have cash when we arrive on August 10. The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing up more paperwork and test-packing our luggage, to ensure everything will fit (everything that's not going with the movers, that is).
Today (Wednesday), we drove out to the Ozarks to visit my Uncle Bob, who couldn't attend the going away party last Sunday. After getting home, we made a Pros & Cons list of our favorite apartment ("flat") options. Not to take any breaks, we then immediately started researching flights. This part is especially tricky, since we have to make sure to follow all airlines rules about flying with little Apollo. Only certain airlines will carry cats internationally, and there are a lot of checkboxes to mark off.
Each time that we complete one step in this crazy process, there are 3 new steps we have to get started on. It's been a wild week with very little downtime. It feels like we've been in a sprint ever since last week, so we're hoping that things start to slow down a bit after the big packing day tomorrow! The movers will be coming over to get everything wrapped and started on the shipment to England; we'll meet up with the packages in Newcastle in just a few weeks.
Next steps: purchase our flights and sign a lease on our new flat. Yikes!
We started Tuesday morning off with two Newcastle apartment tours via Skype, and then had some financial appointments to make sure all our accounts are set for the move. We also had to put in a request for another currency exchange, so we have cash when we arrive on August 10. The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing up more paperwork and test-packing our luggage, to ensure everything will fit (everything that's not going with the movers, that is).
Today (Wednesday), we drove out to the Ozarks to visit my Uncle Bob, who couldn't attend the going away party last Sunday. After getting home, we made a Pros & Cons list of our favorite apartment ("flat") options. Not to take any breaks, we then immediately started researching flights. This part is especially tricky, since we have to make sure to follow all airlines rules about flying with little Apollo. Only certain airlines will carry cats internationally, and there are a lot of checkboxes to mark off.
Each time that we complete one step in this crazy process, there are 3 new steps we have to get started on. It's been a wild week with very little downtime. It feels like we've been in a sprint ever since last week, so we're hoping that things start to slow down a bit after the big packing day tomorrow! The movers will be coming over to get everything wrapped and started on the shipment to England; we'll meet up with the packages in Newcastle in just a few weeks.
Next steps: purchase our flights and sign a lease on our new flat. Yikes!
RSS Feed
