15 weeks today

Apologies for the long blogging lag... there doesn't seem to be too much to write about. Brian and I have both been getting settled into both of your jobs, starting to become more familiar with the city, and starting to get used to the idea that we will not be seeing any snow except for on the tops of the nearby mountains.

The holidays are coming up and we are looking forward to spending some time with my family. My Mom and Faby are both going to for sure be spending Christmas with us, and hopefully my Dad will be able to make it after all. The owners of his hotel have been talking about opening at the beginning of January, which would make a two week vacation to the U.S. impossible to pull off. We're hoping they change their minds, but for now, are planning it this way. The Christmas tree is up, and Brian and I both will have a couple of days off after Christmas, when we plan to go to the Grand Canyon.

The pregnancy is progressing well. I'm 15 weeks as of today, and am basically in the clear for morning sickness. We've already had our first two ultrasounds and everything is looking good. We have our anatomy ultrasounds scheduled for December 28th, where we will hopefully be able to find out the sex (ad narrow down that list of names). All of a sudden, sometime during the weekend, my body decided to switch from pudgy-stomach mode to full on pregnancy belly, so I leave you with a picture of my pregnant self.

Officially Nevada Residents, but Chicagoans at heart.

As of last week, our cars officially became Nevada residents. Yesterday, both Brian and I received of Nevada Driver's licenses! The license is NOT pretty, not even taking into account the fact that my picture was taken between my trip to the bathroom to lose my breakfast and my trip to the bathroom to lose my lunch. Although we were too late to vote in the Midterm elections, we are now officially Nevada Residents.

The apartment is finally starting to feel like home. We'll post some update pics soon, although I'm trying to put off taking any pictures until all of the boxes are gone (they aren't!), which should be soon, because I'm finally starting to feel better, and I'm starting to feel like I have the energy to do more than just lie on the couch when I get home from work.

We are both really liking our neighborhood. We have found that the Rosati's pizza that they have in Las Vegas is the closest thing to decent pizza we are going to find. Our first attempt at pizza delivery from a place called "Pie in the Sky" turned out to be much too similar to Papa John's - bad news. Rosati's actually cuts its pizza into squares, something not usually embraced outside of Chicagoland. We were very happy.

First Vegas Post

Apologizing for my extended absence, but only now that our belongings (most of them, anyway) are firmly sitting in our apartment do I feel back into a good enough state of mind to post again. I am not going to get into the awful details of what this moving company put us through, but if you would like a full account, I might eventually put up a link to Brian's terrible review that we are planning on posting at every single Relocation website, Van line website, and the Better Business Bureau.  A semi-brief rundown of the past two weeks.

We officially moved out of the Cornelia apartment on October 3 and spent the night at Brian's Dad's place. Although not until ideal circumstances - moving company stress + morning sickness - Brian and I were able to get to know Iryna quite a bit before moving across the country. I think both Brian and I would have liked to have the chance to do a bit more "Chicago things" before leaving, but at the time, we were just so overwhelmed and tired.

Sunday October 10th at 3:30am, our alarm went off and we were able to get on the road at 4am, to Brian's delight, totally on schedule. Brian got us smoothly through Illinois, Iowa and into Nebraska and even made an exception to the no-sleeping rule, and let me take a hour long nap. I relieved Brian for about 3 hours in Nebraska, where the speed limit is 75, incidentally, and Brian finished the day by taking us into Colorado, where we stopped for the night at a lovely pet friendly Best Western. The dogs were surprisingly quiet and cooperative the whole drive to Colorado, but they were happy to stretch their legs and run around the hotel room. We went to sleep so early, and slept in until 6am. We didn't want to get into Las Vegas too early, since we weren't (supposed) getting our furniture until the next morning, so we weren't going to have much to do in our apartment yet.

The next morning, Casper (the White Honda Insight) struggled up the Rockies, but throroughly enjoyed the downhills. We were able to take in the spectacular views driving through the second half of Colorado. Utah is equally as breathtaking, but so desolate that it gets a bit spooky to drive by exit after exit with signs indicating "No Services", and having no cell phone reception.

A quick drive through Arizona (more canyons!), we were disappointed not to see the Luxor's beam of light, but we made it to Las Vegas around 8pm.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to spend our vacation week unpacking and getting to know our new city, since we didn't have any furniture, had limited amounts of clothing, and were in generally low spirits (sleeping on air mattresses for 5 nights will do that to you).

We did manage to take a quick trip to the Hoover Dam, though.

Sunday, our furniture finally arrived! At least we were able to sleep on our bed the night before we were both to report to work for our first days. Too bad this is what we have to come home to:

The Dates are Set!

After wading through the estimates, we have finally decided on a moving company. They are coming on Monday, October 4th to Cornelia to pick up OUR ENTIRE LIFE. I will take the morning/day off of work to coordinate the movers.

We will spend our last week in Chicago at Brian's Dad's house. We will then leave on Sunday very early in the morning, on October 10th. We should be arriving in Las Vegas very late on October 11th and will spend the first night in our apartment on aero beds. Our furniture should be arriving in the morning on the 12th, and then... that's it! We'll be in our new home less than 2 weeks from today.

A Plethora of Estimates

I have basically spent the past 5 days on the telephone with men and women who work for companies with various incarnations of American Moving Company. They all want to talk to me for at least an hour, they all want me to go through everything that I have in my apartment, estimate the number of boxes that I anticipate boxing, want to know various zip codes and parking situations etc. It's EXHAUSTING!

As if packing all of one's belongings into cardboard boxes, plastic bins, and suitcases isn't difficult enough, there aren't any companies who will come out to your apartment, look at your stuff, and give you a price that doesn't make you want to claw your eyes out (there are companies who come to your house and look around, but they give you prices that make you want to claw your eyes out).

Most people who find themselves in this situation will have their move sponsored by their company. Ours is only partially sponsored, since they are giving me a nice pay increase. In the end of course, it's worth it because our way of life will be much easier out west (no shoveling snow! no driving in the snow! no walking in the snow!), and you know, the potential for growth within the company is much better, yada, yada.

But this part SUCKS. We've decided to make a decision by the end of the week. So I have 2 more days of dealing with estimates and picking a company, etc. Then, the real fun begins!

Birthdays!

It's Brian's 29th Birthday today! In lieu of gifts (movers are expensive!), Brian has requested that I prepare beefsteak tagalog and apple pie for dinner tonight. So that is what he will get!

Vegas Apartment Hunt

Brian arrived in Vegas very late on Thursday night. I had to work for at least a few hours in the morning, so we went straight to sleep. The next morning, Brian and I were ready very early (thanks to the 2 hour delay), so Brian decided to drive me to work in the borrowed '96 Montero, and then drive down to see the strip until I was done.

We had an appointment with a rental broker at 11am. He drove us around and showed us apartments that were Condo rentals in the vicinity of my office. We really liked the first place we saw. The apartment looked relatively new, the complex had a very nice pool, but we were afraid it might not fit all of our stuff, and all of the stuff that we needed to store. At 900 square feet, it was significantly bigger than our old place, but didn't have any storage areas other than the closets. The broker took us to a few more condos which were bigger, but were total dumps. I mean, stained carpets, dead cochroaches everywhere, and even one place that still had food in the refrigerator from the former tenants. None topped the first apartment.

Then, we stopped for lunch at the famous In-N-Out Burger. I had texted Fabi the night before to find out that if you ask for your burger "Animal Style" you get it with grilled onions and a special sauce. It did not disappoint. Brian loved it. We had it for lunch both on Friday and Saturday!

Finally, we went around to the various apartment complexes that Brian and I had found on Apartments.com. It is difficult to find an apartment complex that allows dogs. So many said online that they allowed dogs, only to find out when we arrived that they only accept dogs 25 lbs and under. Total! The first totally dog-friendly place we went to had a dog-run and some swimming pools, but the tenants seemed a little sketchy. I hate to be judgmental, but I saw someone moving in who definitely looked like a stripper. Brian didn't mind (duh!), but I don't really want to share my pool with a stripper.

Finally, we came upon Hampton Garden Apartments, a beautiful gated complex 5-10 minutes away from my office. It has two pools, one indoor and one outdoor (swimming all year round!), a little gym, barbecue areas, doggie pick-up stations, some very nice apartment managers, low pet deposits, a nice balcony, two bathrooms, a walk-in closet, a in-unit washer/dryer and 1100 square feet! We are very excited about our new home and are really starting to look forward to setting up our new life.

Plus, 1/2 mile from In-N-Out!

Random Vegas Thoughts

I'm here:

For the week. (That's the New York, New York in Las Vegas, for anyone who might be confused) I arrived this morning to work on the company's new Employee Handbook, and other issues. This may sound like a silly reason to plan a trip, but it's actually a bigger job than it sounds. Also, we jumped at the chance to have a scouting out trip, before our big move date.

Brian will be joining me on Thursday night, and we'll spend half of friday (I do have to work, after all) and all of saturday looking for an apartment. We've decided (almost) to go with a two bedroom, to save the extra $200/month for a 3rd room that would only come in handy 3-4 times a year. We are checking out some condo rentals, but we'll also take a look at some of the full-service apartment complexes they have out here. They are a little more expensive ($50), but come with a pool, gym, dog run type things, a playground (I like swings), and a full maintenance team. I think it will be worth the extra money, but I want to keep my options open.

The weather is gorgeous. It was 84 degrees today, but it felt nothing like the Chicago equivalent of 84 degrees, aka hot and muggy. It's supposed to be this way for the rest of the week, which means this little city should make a good impression on Brian.

The Chicago condo has not yet had any interested visitors. The realtor has not yet scheduled the professional photographer to come in. Maybe once that happens, it will get a few more bites. We did repaint the bathroom though, at the realtor's request. I guess it has more mass appeal than the purple that it was before.

Yesterday was labor day. This was the first time that we were over at Brian's family's house since we told them the big moving news. Everyone was very supportive, and seem to be excited about the prospective visits. Brian's nephew is getting cuter every time we see them. He turns one year old next month. He played in a box for most of the afternoon:

Anyway, we had a great time, and were happy to learn that everyone is already planning their visits to our soon-to-be home. But, I will miss this place:

OCT 15!!!!

CRAP! October 15th is the date!

Job Offer!

Brian was officially offered a position at Big Blue Bank in Nevada this morning! Evidently, Big Blue is expanding quite a bit out West, and they are extremely eager to have him start. Of course Brian is extremely professional and genuinely enjoys his new job, so I had no doubt that he would make a good impression. Brian has told them that a doable start date is November 1st, but we could come as early as October 15th, if they were in a bind. I hope hope hope they don't take the October 15 option, because that would be significantly earlier than I would like, but that's life!

I am going to be in Vegas from September 7 until the 13th for work, and we just bought a second ticket for Brian to join me during the weekend. We will make an appointment with an apartment finding company to find ourselves a complex to live in, so it should be a pretty hectic weekend. I'm excited for him to see the area, and he might even be able to get in a meeting with his new boss.

I guess it's time to get started on the moving!! I'm going to stop by target during lunch today and buy some plastic containers, so we can start filling them with the unbelievable amounts of junk we have in the apartment. Perhaps garbage bags are a better idea.

Yes, mom, I already called the realtor. Don't freak out. She is coming by either this weekend, or early next week to view the apartment. Oh, and the new washer/dryer was installed yesterday. It is beautiful, and extremely quiet. It should be a nice selling point.

Chicago Air and Water Show

This past weekend was the billionth annual Chicago Air and Water Show. According to Brian, who knows about these things, the CAWS is good, not great. Two years ago, we decided to skip out on the crowds of North avenue beach, where you can see the water show, and stick closer to our neighborhood and watch the water shower from the Belmont section of the lakefront. You still see all of the air show, so that's good enough for us.

This year, we thought it would be fun to invite some of the Caccamos down. Iryna has never been down to the lakefront, so it was a nice way to show her what her new city has to offer. Also, she really likes Tyler:

Tyler was not a big fan of the sonic booms some of the airplanes were making (probably not the most thought out portion of inviting the 8 month baby, but what can you do). Other than those few booms, he was, as usual, in excellent spirits.

Chloe and Swarley were happy to be out of the house for an afternoon. They were exhausted for the rest of the day. We only had to take them on a pee break before dinner!

It was a gorgeous day in Chicago, a nice change from most of the summer's weather, which has been hot, sticky and humid. I've found that after spending a week in the dry Nevada climate, despite the high temperatures, I much prefer it to the gross stickiness of Illinois. But, this week has been a nice change. It's been in the low 80s, with very little humidity. I can't wait for Chicago's fall, and I will make sure that Brian and I take advantage of (possibly) our last Chicago fall, the best season Illinois has to offer.

In parting, I leave you with an adorable picture of Brian and his nephew.

Transfer Update

I haven't posted anything in a while about the transfer to Las Vegas. That's because, there hasn't been any progress to report. Nothing has happened on my end. We are still working on reorganizing the company on this side. I am not yet done figuring out what to do with all of our employee's immigration statuses, so I am trying not to get ahead of myself. Until I've figured out how to make their transition from one company to new company smooth, I shouldn't start thinking about my own, far less complicated transition.

In other family news, Faby is visiting Chicago for about two weeks. Neither of us are entirely clear on why he is spending two weeks here, rather than spending the two weeks before classes begin back in San Francisco, but either way, he is here. Since he's only been here for four days, it's still fun. Just kidding. It's a little strange having him back here, acting exactly like he always has, when so much as changed for Brian and me. (You know, being married, both working full time, having a structured schedule). It is fun to have him though. I wonder when he will ever grow up.

I (finally) went to the wedding photographer's office to figure out our wedding album. It took us a really long time to pick out all of the photos to go into the album. We kept on putting it off. But, we (mainly me, with Brian's agreement, let's be honest) decided to pick out all the photos to "tell the story" of how the day went, instead of picking out all of the portraits, etc. Any picture that looked a little more candid that posed will go into the album. I picked out a few extras to go into the frames we received as wedding gifts. I'm not usually a big fan of the 8x10 portrait, but since we received 2 beautiful 8x10 frames, I picked out my two favorite photos of Brian and I. I guess that should be the last "wedding-related" item on my to-do list! Apparently the online ordering of the wedding photos is now closed, but not to worry... we will be getting a CD of all of the photos. We can print some out for anyone who missed out!

Hi!

Hello!

Big Blue Bank Transfer: Update

Brian did talk with his boss for a second time and she responded much better than she did the first time. Obviously, nothing is official yet. Neither he nor I have a definite job offer.

We do feel much better about his ability to move before the end of his year with Big Blue. I am infinitely less stressed about the idea of having to support our family on one salary.

Big Blue Bank Transfer

One of the big steps that we have to take before the 'move' becomes official is get Brian transferred from his branch in Evanston to a branch in the Las Vegas area. Brian was doing his habitual research on Las Vegas (seriously, he gets moving quote voicemails, realtor voicemails, relocation guides sent in the mail...), and found that there was a job opening at a branch near the UNLV campus that has a very high sales average. Of course, it is ideal that he can move from his branch in Evanston with medium to low traffic into a branch with high traffic. That means higher commission points, and more bacon to bring home!

Because of this opening, Brian wanted to approach his branch manager about the transfer slightly sooner than probably was ideal. We hadn't talked about an exact timeline, but we hadn't even gone over how he would approach the branch manager, so he wasn't as prepared as we would have hoped. As you can imagine, the branch manager did not react well... oops. Her response was: "You have to commit to a branch for at least a year before being able to transfer. You're going to have to apply for a job out there, but there are no guarantees." No Guarantees about what? About there being a job? About getting the position?

She's off today. He plans to give it another - more prepared - shot again on Friday. I am hoping that he if approaches her with more humility and deference, things might be a bit better. Also, I've met his manager, and she's a bit of a child. She wears bows on her hair, decks herself out in designer patterns (whether they are real or not is undetermined), and has one of those husbands who wears Ed Hardy and man jewelry. The Regional Manager I have not yet met, but according to Brian, is a much mroe reasonable person. I am hoping that when he talks to the regional guy, the response won't be given with such a 'you're on your own' attitude.

Cross your fingers for us. We really don't want to have to work something out where I am in Vegas while Brian is here, or to delay my start date in Las Vegas. We both are starting to feel like our time here is limited, and we are just in limbo, waiting for everything to be put together. But, I am not moving until December 1st (semi-officially), although there is a good chance of my having to travel there before then.

We are starting to plan on going to Las Vegas for labor day weekend. I will stay on for the rest of the week to get some work done, but Brian and I will spend the weekend looking at apartments and getting ready to sign a lease.

Colgate Wedding

This past weekend, Brian & I attended the wedding of one of my very best friends in the world. She looked gorgeous!

Leanna was the maid of honor at our wedding. She was my roommate for 3 out of the 4 years of college. She and Greg have been dating since our freshman year of college. We were all patiently waiting for Greg to pop the question (Leanna probably more anxious than the rest of us), and he finally did last summer, when they had already been together for 8 years. 

Here is a picture of us back in the day:

The wedding ceremony was held at the Colgate chapel, which made for a gorgeous backdrop:

Jen, Cris, Leanna and I all lived together our senior year in Parker 103. All 3 of us stood up with her for the ceremony.

Brian & I had a wonderful time. It was a great opportunity to show Brian where I spent such a great 4 years of my life. Now, he has a place to pair up with our endless P103 stories!

Welcome!

As many of you have already heard, although we have not yet made any official announcements yet, this new family is (likely) Westbound! As my company is growing, its operations in Las Vegas are playing a more important role than its operations in the Midwest. Remaining based out of the Rosemont, IL office will not be a viable option for long.

We all know that relocating is not something new for me. Some may immediately assume that because growing up, I was so often being relocated from one country to the next, I would take this lightly. But, I am not. I understand that not all families are like mine. More than that, I understand that mine is out of the ordinary for moving so often. Brian has been aware that this move to the West coast was a possibility when I took this job, but never has it been so imminent as it is now. Nor, so permanent. Changes in U.S. Immigration laws, and healthcare licensing rules, which I will not get into here, have all but forced staffing companies to rethink their business models. Luckily, my company had already expanded beyong being a mere "staffing company", but these changes are forcing our operations to rely on our "real" operations, meaning the rehab facilities, medical management, and home health branches of my company. All of these are based in... you guessed it! Las Vegas.

Whether the move will be happening (if I remain with the same employer) and when the move will be happening are both good questions. Tentative dates are Oct 1, 2010, January 1, 2011, or July 1, 2011. Honestly, for my career, the sooner the better. The delay will depend on Brian, and whether the Big Blue Bank can offer him a transfer so soon into his employment with them.

We will both have to weigh the pros and cons of what is best for our little family. The possibility of buying a house sooner rather than later is a big pro. Being away from the city we both love, con. Being far away from Brian's family, con. Being independent in a different city that will allow us to grow together and depend on each other, pro. Having our future children grow up far away from where we grew up, con.

For my main point... when we move, we will be far away from all of our families and friends. I thought this would be a good way to document our lives out there, and give people a place to keep up with us!