backstory

Last week I received a message from a friend from high school inquiring an explanation of how we ended up in Colombia, South America.
A backstory if you will.
And I will.

When Matt finished college, he took a job with an engineering construction company and moved from Iowa to Illinois, the western burbs of Chicago.  The first two years of employment Matt participated in a training program, which involved an opportunity to build skills in all areas of the company, including engineering and construction.

{quick back back story:
 I was teaching first grade in Johnston at the time that he graduated in December 2005.  We married in January 2006 and made the decision that I would stay and finish teaching and join him in Illinois in the summer. The weight of this decision hung over us during our honeymoon and I showed up to work on Monday morning, ugly crying as I tried to decide what to do.  A very dear sweet colleague summed up my decision in one simple statement: "You can always get another teaching job, you will never get the first 6 months of your marriage back."
I stayed until March, so they could find a long term sub and made my way to join my husband in Illinois.}

 Shortly after my arrival, Matt received news that he would be moving down to Louisiana to work on a construction project that was behind schedule. This was Matt's first experience 'in the field' and it was evident that this was the work he enjoyed.

After staying in Louisiana for 4 months, we made our way back to the Chicago area for 15 months and then made a big move to Texas, so Matt could work on the construction of a project he had been engineering.

We knew that there were opportunities for travel involved in Matt's job, including international. Early on we made a commitment to make decisions together, so we could build a life with one another and not live separately based on career locations.
The opportunity to live overseas was always something we discussed, but until South America it had never really presented itself.  When work was finishing up in Texas there were a few locations that Matt was offered and we decided, together, that Colombia was the best option for us.
It's an incredible opportunity and though it has obstacles, I am delighted we made this decision.
Together.
 

As for what is next, it's a question I hear often and wish I had an appropriate response.
Is another international project an option?
Absolutely.
Could we end up in the US?
You betcha.
Do I have any idea where we will settle down?
Not a clue.

Currently we're looking at another two years in Colombia.
{welcome to the world of construction}
So we've got plenty of time to make decisions about what's next...
together.

the last supper

He had a perma-grin through dinner as he randomly giggled things like:

Cartagena...

Just a few hours...

I sat through dinner basking in the idea of comfort. My comfort in 

sitting in a familiar restaurant, my ability to read a menu, and that

 sweet sound of people enjoying their dinner all around me.

His excitement peaked when he took the time to explain

 to our server that the reason we didn't want a box for our leftovers

 was because we were flying out tomorrow morning. But he didn't stop there. 

He proceeded to tell her that we were moving to South America tomorrow. 

As she looked at us like we were absolutely crazy, I had a light bulb moment. 

Our lives are about to change. Tomorrow is our new beginning.

I know we will not return unchanged by our experiences. 

While I proceed with caution, he is jumping wholeheartedly in to this adventure.

So here's to telling strangers our story and taking a leap of faith.

And whatever tomorrow brings I know where I can find comfort.

Goodbye Michael Scott.

Goodbye USA.

manic monday.

So, it's official.
Yep, we are actually moving to Colombia.
But first, I hope everyone had an excellent Easter holiday weekend. Matt and I spent the weekend in Sargent, Texas at Sarah's aunt and uncle's bay home. We have speny many a good times with the McGuire's and the Sargent crew so it was a great way to go out. In fact, the day after we moved to Beaumont we traveled to Sargent for the McGuire annual Halloween party. So it was only right that we got out with a trip to Sargent. The only unfortunate part is.... i took 0 pictures. Actually, zero is a lie. I took this.

This, folks, is a drive-thru liquor store that doubles as a barn. Matt and I spotted this when we moved into our "new" hotel-home in Houston and found the perfect opportunity to stop by when we stocked up for our Sargent trip.

Back to the Manic Monday.
This morning Matt and I went to the Colombian consulate to turn in our documentation for visas. I brought my camera, thinking we were going to go to some elaborate beautiful building. Nah, it is an office building filled with insurance companies and a Jason's Deli business office (which totally reminded me to snag myself a Nutty Mixed Up Salad before I travel south).
We walked in....
(kinda, Matt attempted to open the double glass doors, but thought they were locked and said something like "Oh man, we can't get in until 9:00 am when they open", even though several people were already sitting inside the building. Finally some kind soul spoke up and told Matt to pull open the door. So, it wasn't locked.  Then Matt announces to the (non-English speaking) room, "Yeah, it's Monday, whadya expect?" Perfect beginning to a Manic Monday)
and several people were already seated. The consulate was reminiscent of the DMV, you pull a number while you wait. People are on phones, doing crosswords, reading papers, etc. Finally at 9 am the consulate employees open up for business and greet the pretty large crowd with a:

Hola! Buenos dias!

That's all I understood. From there, it was quite simply a blur. I glanced at the young twenty-something girl to my right, for a look of sympathy in a what the heck is going on sorta way. As I attempted to find the lost look in her eyes, she stands up and obtains some paper from the front desk that is apparently necessary to complete. This is when the panic/manic sets my brain in motion...

"Oh my goodness. This is actually what it is going to be like. I am moving to a foreign country where they SPEAK Spanish. No one is going to be standing around interpreting. I am about to become that girl, that has NO idea what is going on. I don't wanna be that girl..."

You get the point. 

So, like any other logical person, I immediately started googling Rosetta Stone. Because it is "Proven to Work. Guaranteed."

After turning in our documentation and sitting for sometime longer we were finally told to return on Thursday afternoon to obtain our visas. From there Matt went to work and I did what I do best when I begin to feel anxiously stressed. Eat chocolate and organize. 

Matt contacted the mobilization crew about our impending visas and after we finished up our final vaccinations (completely vaccinated. Hallelujah.) we received an email with our itinerary. 

We will leave the United States at 8:50 am on Friday, April 29 and arrive in Cartagena, Colombia after a short layover in Panama City, at 4:20 pm.

(Note: This means I will be in airports and in the sky during the Royal Wedding, which I completely planned on being a part of. As excited as I am to finally begin this chapter, I was looking forward toseeing that dress, LIVE. But I guess in 20 years, when they show clips of her getting out of the carriage (is she arriving in a carriage?) I can tell my daughter, "That's the day Mom & Dad got on a plane to move to Colombia". End note.)

The rest of our evening involved filling a prescription for potential traveling sickness issues, purchasing pocket English/Spanish translators, and a phone for our Magic Jack. We have a 10-digit, US, Iowa 515 area code, that we will be using to contact and receive calls from all the people we will miss so dearly.

Unfortunately, Best Buy does not carry Rosetta Stone. During my research, I found an online demo. Loved it. I was ordering fish like a local in no time. And after it was all over, I received a 100% during my tutorial. When Matt came home from work, I gave him a go at the "award winning" method.

Matt didn't get 100%. 

I think we need Rosetta Stone. 

update (or lack there of)

we're still here. at our hotel home. so, i guess what I'm trying to say is, 

Yep, we are still homeless.

Matt and I just returned from a long weekend in Vegas. Have you ever seen "The Hangover"? 

Well, we didn't end up with a tiger in our bathroom, but we were pretty surprised about that.

So, this will be a short post.

• We are still in Houston.
• We still don't know when we will be leaving for Colombia.
• We have completed the Oral Typhoid vaccine.
• Next Monday we finish all of our vaccines (only 2 more shots)

Last weekend we sampled the wine Matt blended while we were in Napa. We had previously sampled my creation while we were visiting my parents in Tennessee. Let's just say I have a long way before I move to Cali, buy a vineyard, and start making wine. I guess next time we blend our own wines I will be skipping the two tastings before, so I can actually taste the wine.

Well, in the spirit of competition Matt won the crown. It was a nice blend. We enjoyed opening it, going through the tasting process, and raising our glasses to whatever lies ahead. 

That's all folks.

 Look for a Vegas post coming soon, but first I need to detox and try to recall what happened in Vegas...

Eloise

Maybe I am totally mistaken, but you all know who Eloise is, right? 

The 6 year old childrens book character who lives in  a hotel (the Plaza to be exact).

 I kinda feel like her. 

Except I am not in New York City. And my "hotel life" is not near as exciting as Eloise's. 

But this is what the "Plaza" in my story looks like...

It's not the Plaza, but I am thankful we have some room to move about and I am not shoved in a "regular" hotel room. Frankly, I don't know that our luggage would even fit.

Matt and I traveled to Austin last weekend to visit The Fishers. It was a great weekend and I was introduced to my new  frozen yogurt obsession.

I did a horrific job of picture taking, but it was nice to just hang out with great people.

We also got to meet up with Matt's cousin, Mitch, on Monday night. Mitch lives in Colorado and we don't get to see him too often as the distance and our crazy schedules don't always align. But Mitch was in Houston for a training, so we took advantage of the opportunity and met up with him to catch up over some drinks. We have been really lucky to see so many special people before we become South Americans.

Speaking of special people...

We are about to see some more. A few months ago several of Matt's friends began planning a   destination vacation that included significant others. Shocking. I know.

Even more shocking is the destination they chose.

Las Vegas.

Matt and I have both graced Las Vegas with our presence, but we do Vegas very differently. 

There are 4 other couples going, but we were waiting to book our tickets until we knew 

where we would be. 

Well, the trip is about a week away and we still don't have an ETA to Colombia. 

So Vegas. Here we come. 

I am very excited... 

I don't think Eloise has ever been to Vegas...

Our Colombia Adventure: The Prequel .... and A Buzz

Hola.


Oh, did I confuse you? Did you think we had already escaped south. Oh, heavens no. I know, I know, I told many of you our intended date of departure was March 28, but a lot has changed since then. That's why this is the prequel.


But first, while Matt and I were in Iowa, Matt's parents showed us an article in the Des Moines Register travel section all about Colombia, specifically Cartagena. If that's not a sign...


Here is the article. 
(click on article)


We are still waiting on our visas to travel to Colombia. If you live in a foreign country for over 3 months you must obtain a visa. We became aware that our Colombia status would probably be put on hold so we had some time to get used to the idea. While we were on our Tour de Love, Matt received additional paperwork to submit and a list of vaccinations. Yep, that's right.... 

shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shot, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots

This is something that I have asked Matt about since this South American business became a reality, but I guess waiting until the last minute makes it more exciting. 
So we scheduled an appointment at the clinic while we were in Iowa. We require 7 vaccinations total (so we thought) and on that day I received 4 of them and Matt got 3.
Why not all of them? 
Oh, because apparently the only place you can get Rabies and Yellow Fever vaccinations in Iowa is at the Dept. of Health. We also require an official document stating our blood type so we had to get blood drawn (a whole vial). 
Needless to say after this, we were kinda some hot messes.



When we arrived in Houston (did i mention that is where we are currently located) we made an appointment at a clinic that specializes in overseas travel. We learned quite a bit at this office visit. 
For example, did you know that all adults should receive an additional MMR and Polio vaccination? 
I had an additional MMR done in Iowa, however since MMR is a live virus I was unable to receive the Yellow Fever vaccination as it is also a live virus and one must wait 30 days between 2 live virus vaccinations. 
Do you know where that puts my next live virus vaccination? 
April 25th.
So either I will be living in Houston until April 25th or one of my first experiences in Cartagena will be receiving  a vaccine at the medicos de officina.  
Oh, and the rabies vaccination is a series of 3 shots. We received our first, will wait one week for round 2, and then 2 weeks for round 3. 
So that too puts us at the end of April.


I guess I should back up and explain our living situation. 
Matt is working from an office in Houston so we are staying in an extended stay hotel...
so we have a kitchenette and a separate living space, but that lingering feeling of unsettledness followed us here. Thankfully we have been able to unpack so we are no longer living out of a suitcase (i guess technically we are, but this is the most settled we've been in weeks).  
Which brings me to a whole other situation...


(please note: I am completely aware that unsettledness is not a word. However, I felt like it was the best description I could give you. There are other made up words all over this blog. You may or may not be used to it yet.)


Our Luggage.

As you can probably imagine, or maybe not, packing your life in suitcases and preparing to move somewhere you have never been poses a problem for someone as indecisive as myself, which basically means The McQuinns gotta lotta luggage.


From Texas to Tennessee to Chicago to Iowa, we traveled with 9-10 pieces of luggage. As you are aware you can check 2 pieces of luggage per individual and carry on two. 
Obviously this was an issue.
By the time we packed to leave Iowa we had 10 pieces, some of them on the heavy side. We packed them up in Matt's dad's truck and headed to the airport (in the wee hours of the morn). We stopped by the curbside check-in and the kind curbside man immediately inquired how many people we had traveling.


Our response: 


"2"


Kind curbside check-in man gave us a look. But we are getting used to that look. We see it almost every time we share our moving plans.
After weighing each individual piece of luggage, several of our bags were labeled with an orange tag that read HEAVY. 
Our kind curbside check-in friend guided us over to the check-in kiosk to pay our fees (we were checking 6 pieces of luggage, obviously we had some fees). The airplane folk explained that they did not accept any piece of luggage over 70lbs.
Well we had 2 LARGE suitcases that were over 70 lbs. 
We switched our checked luggage from 6 bags to 7 as my brilliant husband pulled out an additional bag he had stowed in one of the HEAVY marked bags. Our kind curbside check-in friend spoke with the airline and they did not charge us for the additional piece. Then we began the process of switching items out of the overweight bag into our 7th bag and all was well. 
But our luggage experience doesn't end there.


After we boarded our flight to Houston we realized we had been sitting on the runway for a while. The pilot came over the loudspeaker...

Good Morning Folks, this is your captain speaking

We are all set to take-off however it seems we are having some

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION

issues with the baggage.

So we're going to give our maintenance some time to get it worked out

and will be taking off shortly.

Thanks for your patience.

Obviously he was speaking to us. And I verified that when we arrived in Houston and there were 4 people total at the baggage claim for our flight. Matt and I were 2 of them.

And guess what? This story may not be over as we get to do it all again on an international flight! YAY!

Bet you're wondering what that buzz is all about in the title. No, I did not compose this entry while under the influence.

Remember that brilliant husband of mine, the one who thought far enough ahead to pack an extra bag just in case. Well, he can be a little stubborn. And sometimes, he just plain doesn't want to listen to me. So since we moved to Texas he has been getting his hair cut at these cheap SportClips and SuperCuts spots. I have told him over and over and over that he should just find a salon. But no, that would take planning. And imagine the fact that they could schedule you another appointment before you leave so you aren't shaggily running around to find somewhere to go the next time you need a trim. 

Well, I think the stubborn one learned his lesson.

Slightly reminiscent of "The Situation"

But I would say this predicament, also known as our current lifestyle is a bit of a "situation". So it's fitting.

Have a wonderful weekend. 

location, location, location

Good Evening.

I am blogging from a brand new spot. 

That's right.

885 East Drive is no longer the place I call home. I had a lot of mixed emotions about this moving experience and even started a blog post last week all about my feelings.

 But I have to be honest. This weekend, while we were moving out... I didn't feel sad. I just wanted it to be over (ie: moving sucks). Today I went over there to let Bella play in her backyard one more time, 

before it officially becomes the residence of a nice new family and I felt like I was in someone else's home (maybe because I basically was?)

. The house felt completely different empty. What made it our home, wasn't there anymore. 

It was the perfect first house for us. 

But we are on to new adventures.

That new adventure includes a move to....

(drumroll please)

Cartagena, Colombia

We are very excited for this next chapter. 

We have lots of questions and some curiosities about what this next chapter will truly look like. 

But most of all we are looking forward to being in this adventure together.

(please get your passports situated, as some visits are going to be necessary)

Hopefully I will be able to share some of those details and answers to my questions soon. It's a little chaotic preparing to move out of the country. Each time I take the time to think, I come up with another random question or an item to add to the to do list. 

And that to do list is currently staring me in the face, reminding me that I will need to deal with each individual item in the near future as well as those tasks that come to me in my sleep tonight. 

So, as they say in Colombia....

Buenos Noches