The Eagle has Landed

We finally landed in Auckland!  After a 13 hour plane ride, that baby was done for.  So were we.

Read on for a ton of pictures of our journey- mostly Isabelle's journey!  

Transition Phase

Adios, house!

As of Thursday, we are totally out of our house!  Finally the intensely stressful work of simultaneously packing our lives and keeping a toddler alive has passed.  No more packing, and we have family to help with the kiddo- and that leaves me feeling strange.  I'm a problem solver, and for the next few days there's no problems to solve!

Lydia and Isabelle leaving Richmond

I am, however, quite relieved, and am enjoying the time with our families.  There's been all kinds of bittersweet goodbyes, but finally the stress is giving way to excitement again.  I can't wait for the adventure before us!

All For One

Today was a very memorable day that certainly deserves a quick blog post. Today was tattoo day! 

Throughout the years Steven and I have thrown around the idea of getting tattoos, and after mentioning this to my friend Ashley and her hopping on board, we decided to finally do it! Our last big hurrah before moving. I'm so glad we did it! To put it lightly, I had MANY last minute revisions and, oof, many nerves. I couldn't be happier with our results though! 

Without further delay, a photo collage:

Mine are the elephants on top. My little tribe. Look close, the little one has a bow. 

Next is Ashley's finch. She tells this great story about her mother getting finches. Finally is Steven's MacLauchlan clan family crest. 

And here's our celebration beer afterwards!

 

Last day

This Wednesday was my last day at my job here. Man, what a weird feeling that is to leave your job, as an adult, without another one lined up. Part of me can't really accept it yet. 

I've taken care of patients at my job for the last 5 years, only missing a brief 3 months when Isabelle was born. It's going to be weird not walking into that place, bleary eyed, at 7 AM every morning. I will miss my coworkers dearly. Truthfully, it was harder telling my long time patients that I was leaving than it was telling anyone else. I will honestly miss taking care of these people and I will miss working alongside a team of doctors who have taught me so much. 

Wednesday they were sweet enough to throw be a Bon Voyage lunch. 

Shout outs to my PAR bestie/Steven's vestie, Ashley, for this mocha chocolate cake. It was from Whole Foods, so it was still healthy. 

I can't believe this chapter in my life is over. It's been a fabulous 5 years. 

Here Once was a Mighty Game Room.

As of just a few minutes ago, my game table was disassembled.  Many a good game has been had in that spare bedroom in our little house.  It was there that the WWPD Podcast began, and there that my best battle reports were photographed.  You've served me well, room.

See it when I first got it all together.

Lots of pictures of the game room in use after the break!

Packing update

I swear I've spent every waking moment the last few weeks putting my stuff in boxes. And when I sleep I spend all night dreaming of putting my stuff in boxes. It's weird to see all off our things packed tightly in boxes, stacked up against the walls in (what used to be) our living room. 

Our house is a wreck, last night we ate ramen noodles off of paper plates while sitting on the floor. I start to think, "this is my life now." Sometimes I get overwhelmed and think that this will never end. But...then I remember I'm getting on an airplane on the 25th - HOLD UP - *RECORD SCRATCH err-a-eerp* THAT'S 12 days! 

This was the state of out house last week, since this photo was taken we have added more boxes, and subtracted the kitchen table. 

Don't be jealous. 

 

The Countdown Continues

My coworker and I on our last
 trip up to DC!

DC metro panorama with coworkers

More and more stuff is getting knocked off the to do list.  14 days until the shipping company arrives, 17 days until we leave VA for good, and about 20 days till we touchdown in Auckland!  We're almost done with the forms needed for immigration (fairly in depth health history and criminal background checks), and it will be fantastic to be done with that piece.  My game room is about 75% packed up, the living room is completely dismantled, and after this weekend we won't even have a kitchen table!  We're crossing our fingers that the house will sell quickly, so send us some positive vibes.

Isabelle and Grandpa coloring

Scout A. Moose MacLauchlan-Torres

On Sunday, I had the awful experience of putting one of our dogs to sleep.  I planned to write a whole post about it, but didn't feel comfortable.  Suffice it to say, it was a bad situation, and I think we made the right choice for her.  Thanks to our good friends Jaime and Christine who had provided her a new and loving home a few weeks ago.  She was an ornery dog at the worst of times, and a sneaky diva at the best.  But she was with me every night, sitting on my lap while I painted miniatures or watched Netflix, and I am thankful I got to be with her at the end.  We will miss that little hound.  There will always be a (long, hot dog shaped) hole in our lives without her.






Here's my current top 3 list of things I am going to miss in Auckland (and would be delighted to find out are available!):
*Chipotle.  Seriously, I love that place.
*Sonic.
*Tex-Mex.

This list is heavily influenced by it being lunch time, and me not having eaten yet.  More to come!

After the break, there's a ton of pictures of Scout.

My interview on Throck of War regarding my move to Battlefront

For anyone who missed it, here's a link to my interview on Throck of War.

In other news, holy crap, the shipping company will be picking up our stuff in 22 days.  I feel like there's still so much to do!  The timing is so difficult.  Need to sell our cars before we leave the country, but we need to drive our cars until we leave the country.  All of the stress of figuring everything out has a way of sapping the excitement.  Sometimes we have to sit back and remember "Hey!  We're gonna live in New Zealand!" to stay positive.

That's enough of an update.  I'll leave you with a picture of Isabelle eating my mom's chicken and dumplings (certainly a meal I will miss!) and a lizard on our deck cause.. lizards are cool.