I'm Home!

First thing's first: I'm here, I love it, and I have no regrets!

In the next couple of days I will post highlights and pictures from the roadtrip and my first couple of days in the area. My computer is currently having some internet connectivity problems, so once that is straightened out, I will download my pictures and regal you with my stories.

Key points:

• I love my husband and am very happy to be near him again.
• The weather and scenery reminds me and my Dad of Germany. The high yesterday was probably 69. It feels like fall in the middle of August. It's wonderful!
• The cats were the most amazing travelers you could ever imagine. They were so good and I'm so proud of them!
• We're unhappy with our moving company right now, but we're working on resolving our issues.

It Smells Like Cardboard Here

My apartment is now packed into probably 100 boxes. Tomorrow I have to pack about two more boxes of loose odds and ends. That means that my packing will be complete Tuesday and the movers will be here Wednesday. No frantic late-night packing for me! My Mom and Grandma came to Orlando this past weekend and were an incredible help. In the picture, Mom is on the left, Grandma on the right; it was the exhausting second day of packing. My Mom packed the entire kitchen by herself. She's pretty amazing. I guess after years of watching the Army movers pack up our household goods, she has a pretty good idea of what she's doing. But I guess we'll determine her true packing abilities once we unpack and see what is (or hopefully, is not) broken! Of course, the hard work doesn't end when the packing is complete; after the movers leave Wednesday I will start the heavy-duty cleaning. That will take awhile! The most time-consuming aspect will be wiping off all the surfaces that don't often get dusted (top of the fridge, cabinets, blinds, etc.). We don't really dust as much as we should and we have cats who shed so much that we could make several children cat-hair coats if necessary. I'm sure that the deep cleaning will convince me to do more monthly cleaning maintenance once I move into my new place. Only a few days left!

Federal Way: Here We Come

At least we won't be homeless. Robb signed a lease yesterday for a great apartment in Federal Way. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fireplace, a balcony with a storage room, full size washer and dryer, and a remodeled kitchen with brand new appliances and countertops. It's over 1,000 square feet, has a heated pool at the complex, as well as a really big gym. It's definitely an upgrade from our current apartment. The only negative about it is the city's location. Federal Way is probably about a 30-40 minute drive from Seattle, NOT during rush hour. And it is about 20-30 minutes from Tacoma. While we would have preferred living closer to Seattle, we couldn't pass up this place. It's possible that one of us might even work in Tacoma, so living between the two metropolitan areas might work out well. Yay, we have a place to live!

Move Causing Gray Hair?

At the age of 24 I discovered my first gray hair this morning. I wonder if this gray hair has any correlation with the fact that I'm making a stressful move across the country in two weeks with, as of now, no job, no apartment, and no friends. Who's idea was it for us to move again?

Finding a Place to Live

There's nothing very exciting to report in my life. I spend the days packing boxes and watching daytime television (Family Feud, Cosby Show repeats, etc.) I also spend a lot of time online looking for jobs and apartments. The job search is slow. The apartment search is faster. When I find a good apartment/house listing I send it to Robb and he makes an appointment to see it. He's able to fit in 3-6 showings a day. While there have been a couple of good leads, we still don't have a place to live. We started out with higher expectations (washer and dryer in unit, an apartment that isn't on the 1st floor, etc.), the only requirements now include cats being allowed and availability by August 1st.

I think the apartment searching process is stressing Robb out. He thought it would be a little easier to find an appropriate place. And it doesn't help that he's doing it all by himself in an unfamiliar area. He has a lot of showings in the next couple of days. We hope that we have enough options that we can make a decision by Monday. If we have a place to live then we can focus on the other stress factor in our lives, finding a job.

Robb Discovers Seattle

After many long days of driving, averaging about 8-10 hours a day, Robb made it to Seattle yesterday. He is sharing a house, until the end of July, with a woman we got in touch with through CraigsList. He will spend the next couple of weeks looking for a job and trying to secure us a place to live starting in August. Today he explored the city a little bit; he drank coffee, walked through Pike's Market, and strolled along the waterfront. He says it's cold at night. While the heatwave in the West does reach to Washington, it doesn't reach as far as Seattle. He says that I'll love it there. It's comforting to know that in his first 24 hours, Robb doesn't hate the place. I'm a little jealous that he gets to explore a new city without me, but I also know it will be nice to get there and have someone already familiar with everything.

As for me, I packed the entire bathroom yesterday (that's two whole boxes)! A small victory, but the 'baby steps' makes me feel like I can do this. I think my plan of attack this upcoming week will be to pack up the office and most of the bedroom. I think I should look at a calendar and make a packing/cleaning schedule. It'd be nice to finish packing a couple of days before the moving truck gets here so I don't have to go into panic mode.

Ramblings: Twine, Golf, CDs

Robb's trip is going well. He toured the Jack Daniels distillery in Tennessee and spent an extra day in Topeka to spend time with his Mom and his Godfather. He took the back roads out of Kansas so that he could see the World's Largest Ball of Twine and also the geographic center of the 48 States. He spent last night in Cheyenne, Wyoming and tells me that the state has breath-taking scenery. Today the plan is for him to make it to Boise, Idaho and tomorrow he will arrive in Seattle. It worries me when I don't hear from him throughout the day. I know that he is driving in some pretty rural places and cell phone reception isn't the most reliable, so I shouldn't panic, but I always sigh with relief when my phone finally rings and I see his name pop up.

I spent the 4th of July holiday with my parents. My Dad's side of the family came over for a rain-soaked barbecue. Today, while Mom was at work, Dad and I spent the day together. He took me to the driving range and taught me how to hit a golf ball. Although they don't go very far, I hit straight! We also went to the library to scout out the books on CD available for our cross-country trip in a few short weeks. We were sorely disappointed in the selection. Hopefully when we're finally ready to check out the CDs, the Michael Crighton ones will still be available. Tomorrow I head home to start the heavy-duty packing.

It's hard to believe that I'm slated to arrive in Seattle in exactly one month. This week I just kind of realized, "Wow, I'm going to live in Seattle." It seems like I'm preparing for an extended vacation rather than a permanent move. It might seem more real if at least one of us had a job lined up. If we had been there before. If we knew what to expect. But we're going blind. I can't wait until Robb gets there, looks around, calls me and tells me that we're making the right decision.

Robb's Departure

Robb and I have been in many different situations where we have spent weeks or months apart. In high school we even spent years apart when my family moved to Germany. And in college we each went abroad at separate times for a few weeks. And because my Dad was in the Army and often gone, I know that long absences aren't something to really lose sleep over. Being away from each other, while hard, isn't the end of the world for Robb and me. But it's always hard to say good-bye.

Robb loaded up his car and started his week-long trek to Seattle this morning. Today he plans on driving by the world's largest peanut in Georgia and then stopping tonight near Lynchburg, TN. Of course, he has to stop by the Jack Daniels' distillery tomorrow. He plans on arriving in Topeka, KS Monday night and stay there all day Tuesday to spend time with family. After Topeka his route may change depending on if he visits his godmother in Wyoming, but he will end up in Seattle on July 6 or 7. He's been in contact with a girl in Seattle who might let him sublet a room for the rest of the month. If that works, he'll spend the rest of July checking out apartments and applying for jobs. If the sublet falls through, he'll probably stay in a cheap hotel for a few days and try to rent us an apartment starting mid-month.

As for me, my last day of work was on Friday. So I have an entire month to pack up the apartment and take care of last minute details, like taking the cats to the vet and deep cleaning the kitchen. I'll go to see my parents and family a couple of times this month. My other to-do on my list this month is to spend plenty of time by the pool to get sun. Once I live in Seattle, I'm sure I'll get back to my regular pale self!

Plans Are Falling Into Place

We've decided to hire professional movers to take our junk to Seattle. We got quotes from two companies and decided to go with United Van Lines. The cost is a little higher than I expected, but still cheaper than renting a Penske truck ourselves, with the gas prices that they are today. Plus, using movers gives everyone in my family peace of mind. My Dad will no longer be forced to drive a rental truck across the country. And Robb and I don't have to worry about how I would've moved all of our heavy belongings from the second story apartment into the truck since he will already be in Washington by the time I leave Florida. So I'm really excited about our decision. And a little scared because now I have to fax the contract which makes everything more real.

So the plan is for the movers to come on Wednesday, July 25 and pack up my apartment. And by pack up, I mean that they will take all the boxes and furniture to the truck. I will have to pack all the boxes myself before they arrive. Then I will have Thursday to clean the apartment. And I will turn in my key Friday morning and take the cats to my parents' house in Tampa. I will spend the weekend there to get in some quality time with my Mom and last-minute good-byes with the extended family. And early in the next week Dad, the kitties, and I will be on our way!

The Moving Plan (Subject to Change)

It's somewhat overwhelming to make a plan to move us, all our stuff, and two fat/spoiled cats across the country to an area that we have never even visited before. We had a million different ideas about how to best approach this move, but we've decided on the more 'adventurous' option.

We have decided that Robb will leave Orlando (in his car) around July 1st. He will probably take a week to drive out there and then hopefully be able to sublet a room or apartment in Seattle for about a month. Then he'll spend his time trying to nail down an apartment for us to live, getting to know the area, networking with people he meets, and applying for jobs. His last day of work was on Monday, so he has less than 2 weeks to find a place to sublet, help me pack up some of our apartment, and create his cross-country plan. I think Robb's very excited about driving across country by himself and having this 'once in a lifetime' adventure. I think I'll buy him "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac as a book on CD for his drive.

In the meantime, I will be packing the rest of the apartment and taking care of all the last minute details that come with moving (forwarding the mail, arranging for the electricity to be shut off, cleaning the apartment, etc.) I plan on leaving town the end of July, when our lease is up. And I'm so grateful that my recently retired Dad has offered to drive out to Seattle with me so I don't have to do the whole trip by myself.

There are some big questions still on the table that will hopefully be resolved this week. We haven't decided if we're going to hire movers or drive a Penske rental truck. We're getting moving quotes this week, so I'm hoping that the costs are where they need to be for us to use professionals. Otherwise, my poor Dad will be driving a Penske truck and towing our car for the entire drive. (Although I'm an excellent driver with my little Honda, I don't know if I could handle a moving truck and towing!)

If anyone has suggestions or ways to make our move easier, please let me know! While I've moved several times in my life because I was an Army brat, most of those moves were handled very well by my parents and the United States Army. And Robb's and my move from VA to FL will not even compare to moving from FL to WA.

Katherine and Robb: The Adventure Begins...

After many months of making decisions and then second-guessing ourselves, Robb and I have finally decided to move to Seattle in six weeks. We have been planning to leave Orlando for quite some time now. Not only do we miss the seasons, but we also feel as though Orlando is a cultural wasteland, obsessed with Mickey Mouse. So as I completed my master's degree and Robb decided to leave restaurant management to pursue his dream of a career in a more creative field, our question was, do we move to Seattle or Washington, DC?

DC is the practical choice of course. The job market there is perfect for my line of work. My sister lives there. The vast majority of our friends live there. We know what the area is like. My parents could easily fly there for long-weekend visits. But the idea of actually living in that metropolitan area and dealing with the traffic, attitudes, and cost of living has been so disheartening. DC is practical, but Seattle has been a dream. We know that in Seattle we will love the weather (I imagine it's like the rain I loved so much while living in Germany). We know that we will love the scenery (Seattle is an hour away from the mountains and an hour away from the beach). And the more laid-back attitudes of Northwesterners will match our personalities and how we hope to live our lives.

So Robb and I talked about it and we decided that the timing is perfect for us to take the risk and adventure of a lifetime. We are going to go with our hearts and move to Seattle, without ever even visiting it before. Of course the hardest part of this decision was knowing that we'd be far away from friends and family. But this is the only time in our lives where we'll have this opportunity to just go for it. We're in our 2o's, we're both done with school, we both want to start over with new careers, we don't have kids yet, we don't have a mortgage yet, and we have nothing tying us down. If we don't do it now, we never will!

We have approximately six weeks until our current lease is up. So the next six weeks will be a whirlwind of planning, organizing, and making tough decisions, a lot of times based on the faith that everything will just work out. This blog has been created to let loved ones (or anyone interested in our adventures) know how our adventure progresses, and then once we arrive, how we adapt and discover our new lives.