And so it begins....

We were warned that once the relocation process begins it may be overwhelming, having a bunch of different people contacting you, paperwork, phone calls, meetings, etc... They were right!!! Just in the past 2 weeks Chad and I have had 2 teleconference calls, booked our pre-move flights, applied for my visa, started the innoculation process, applied for the kids' passports, and met with a rental property mgmt company which we now have decided to rent our house out... Whew!!! Thankfully, we had a great mini vaca at the Dells in between to have some fun!

Chad leaves on Friday where he will be visiting Japan, China, and Kuala Lumpur for 2 weeks. I will then be flying August 14th to meet him in Shanghai where will stay for a week. This is considered our pre-move trip where we will be receiving a tour of the city, visit some schools for Rilynn, and check out a bunch of properties they have lined up for us.

There are 2 major areas in Shanghai, Puxi and Pudong, which are separated by a river. Puxi is on the "city" side, which we most likely would be in an apartment but would also be closer to 3M. Pudong is more on the "country" side, where they have villas and apartments, but would be further away from the office. We've seen a bunch of pictures, but we are really excited to see them all in person. From what we've seen, I'm sure we'll like them :) Definitely, not the hut I envisioned. LOL We will also be meeting a family from MN for dinner who have 2 girls, ages 4 and 2, who just moved to Shanghai 7 weeks ago! Thanks Angie and Jason for putting us in contact with them :)

We will then fly home to see our kiddos (thanks mom and dad) where Chad will be home for 3 weeks, and then will be gone for another 3 weeks in September.. He will be home most of October, between taking vacation and working at the St. Paul office and then we will fly out the beginning of November! Eeeeekkkkkk

Just this week I also put in my resignation at Blue Cross. I will be working part time the month of September and October 1 will be my last day. It will be sad leaving.. I really have some great co-workers!!! Hopefully, they will still all be there in 2 years when we come back. We are thinking our move date will be November 8, so that will give me 5 weeks at home before we go to try and get the house packed up. The kids will also be staying at school as long as they can before the move. They really enjoy school and all their friends and plus I'll get more done around the house :)

Ok, I must apologize this post got really long!!! I should probably learn to do more shorter posts :)

Can't wait to update in a couple weeks about our trip with lots of pictures!

My First Post

Well, the blog is finally up and running! I'm sure I will be still be editing and changing the layout a million times in the next couple of years, but here it is so far..

As most of you know our family will be relocating to Shanghai China for Chad's work this fall. We will be over there for 1-2 years. As of now we don't know the exact dates, but are thinking it will be around September/October. We are very nervous not knowing what to expect over there and sad about what we will be leaving behind us back home, but we are all starting to get very excited for our adventure!

This first post will be short and sweet, as I mostly just wanted to see how this blogging thing worked, but there will be plenty more to come starting in the next couple of months. Chad and I will be traveling to China in either July or August for a week to start house shopping and getting a tour of the area. So lots more to come!!