That big news that’s been coming for a few weeks… the offer letter is received, a start date is set, and we can officially announce it and be estatic about it.
WE’RE MOVING TO CALIFORNIA!!!!
It’s been a really long journey, but we’re finally doing it and it’s still kind of unreal.
At the end of last year, my husband’s job (his entire team, really) was outsourced to the company’s main HQ. At first, I was actually kind of glad. We’d been wanting to make a move out of Gainesville, and hopefully to the west coast, for a couple of years. Having a steady job in this economy isn’t something you just drop on a whim, though, so while we looked occasionally, there was never any real push to do it. This job loss would be just the push we needed. And the prospects seemed great at first; my husband was getting flown all over the country for interviews. Unfortunately, he was always edged out by someone with just a bit more specific technical experience. He did such an amazing job at staying motivated and positive throughout so much of this. But it eventually started to wear down on him. This trip to the UK was going to mark the six month point, and when we got back, we’d look at where to go next. About a week and a half before we left, he got the phone call: he’d be getting an offer with a company in Mountain View, California.
The past few weeks have been a blur of thinking about moving out, waiting to hear numbers, counter offering, waiting to hear back from that, seeing family and having to share (conditional) good news before it’s all set and done and hoping that it doesn’t all fall through.
The relief we feel right now is indescribable.
And bittersweet.
One thing that’s become clear (that we took for granted before) this year is what an amazing group of friends we’ve been able to surround ourselves with here in Gainesville. Friends who supported us while Chris was looking, sent us links to every job posting they saw (trying to keep us in town), who pointed him towards part-time gigs while we were waiting for something to come through. We can’t thank them enough for their support during this (although, we’ll start with a big going away/30th Birthday bash before we go).
I’m so sad to be leaving them.
Even new friends like my book club crew… I never imagined that a book club could be so much fun, so open, so full of amazing women from all walks of life that I only got to meet with a few times. I’d finally found a great yoga studio that was affordable and amazing. Even things like the doggie daycare crew at Camp Marlin and Elphie’s groomer Heather at Nature Pets… they can’t be replaced, but I don’t know how I’m even going to begin filling the gaps they’ll leave in our lives. Not to mention my great coworkers… how will I find an office full of people I can laugh with all day again?
Being surrounded by my in-laws this week, I’ve started to think about family, too. We’ll be even farther away (both phone and flight time) from the UK contingent and my parents’ house won’t be a ten minute drive away. I like to think of myself as a nomad, independent, not in need of anybody. The truth is, I can’t imagine not being able to pop by my parents’ house just because I’m in that part of town. On the bright side, we’ll be joining my brother and his family, who paved the way with a similar move about nine months ago. I suspect my nephew will be on the receiving end of some transferred homesickness cuddles.
The overwhelming feeling right now is just excitement. Excitement about the move, about discovering a new place, finding new people and jobs, and starting this amazing new chapter in our lives that we’ve striven to start for so very long.
As cliché as it is to say… California, here we come!
My husband and I during our 2008 trip to San Francisco
