California

I'm a few weeks behind in my regular postings, but rather than catch up on those, I need to share the HUGE news that we are moving to California!!

Joseph got a job with Netflix, and it was just too good of a career opportunity to pass up.  He had been interviewing with them for about 6 weeks, so we had talked hypothetically about moving, but I don't think it sunk in with either of us that he could actually get a job offer.  They flew him out to interview on May 12, and then he got the job offer on May 20.  We spent the weekend going over finances and logistics to see if he should accept, and we decided he should.

He is so excited about his new job, and I'm very proud of him.  He works extremely hard at his current job but gets frustrated with the company, so it will be nice for him to get a fresh start at a place that is known for being a great company.

Of course we have a ton of things to figure out before we move.  Selling our current house, dealing with our rental properties, finding daycare in CA, finding housing in CA - not to mention the actual, physical move.  Luckily the relocation package is pretty generous, and they will pack all of our things for us, move them, and store them until we find permanent housing.  They will put us up in temporary housing for two months to give us time to sell our house.

We hope to buy a house rather than rent, just so we don't have to move twice and can get settled in immediately.  Plus I think it would be hard to find a rental large enough to suit our needs.  I will continue to work for my company remotely, so I need dedicated office space.  Netflix is in Los Gatos, just outside of San Jose and about an hour south of San Francisco.  We will try to find a place as close to Netflix as possible so that Joseph doesn't have a long commute.

We are trying to plan a visit out there in the next week or so for us to look at houses and schools.  Thankfully I have found a few schools already that have openings, which was unexpected - I thought there would be wait lists everywhere like there are here.  So now we just need to check them out and decide which one we like best.

We are excited about the new adventure.  The climate out there is amazing - no more sticky hot Atlanta summers!  There will be so many new places to explore and things to see.  And obviously the work situation will be better for both of us (no commute for me!).  But we are so sad to be leaving our friends and family in Atlanta.  We have many old friends from college, plus many new friends from our neighborhood and Lola's school.  One of the hardest parts for me will be leaving Lola's school.  It has become a family for us, and Lola loves every one of her teachers and classmates.  I know she is resilient and will make new friends, but I'm sad to take her away from the friends she has known for 2 of her 3 years of life.  I was also looking forward to Thomas becoming part of the Nest.  We can only hope to find an equally amazing school in California.

Overall it's a time of excitement, despite the details and logistics that are stressing me out.  I know we'll get them all figured out, and then we can start fresh on the west coast.

P.S. - Everyone is welcome to visit!!