Moving to Finland: Moving across the world with a husband, toddler, dog, and all our stuff.

A number of people have told me that I need to journal or write on my blog about my experience of moving from Washington, DC to Helsinki, Finland. Yes, this is probably a good idea. Problem is, I have been really busy moving to Finland!After organizing our stuff for the millionth time, all I want to do is sit down with my bowl of ice cream and mindlessly watch (hmm, what do a I watch, it's so mindless I can't remember) HGTV.

Flying to Finland. How did we get here?

So I'm going to give a brief recap of how this went down:

2008 - 
Greg, "There are some great opportunities to work abroad when you are a manager."
Me, "Okay, that sounds awesome." (Thought Bubble: This probably won't happen)

Moving to Europe is brought up over the years and is still a possibility.

2011 - 
Our son, Sam, is born.
Greg is promoted to manager.
Greg gets sick and has his colon removed.
I'm thinking moving abroad is out of the question.

2012 - 
Greg is better and conversations start in earnest.

Sometime in the Fall -
Opportunities are discussed in the UK, Sweden, Amsterdam, and Finland.

October -
While out of town for work, Greg calls, "What do you think about Finland? It's a great opportunity!"
Me, "No." 
Me again, "It's really cold there and really far away."
Greg, "We'll buy warm stuff, it's not much colder than Syracuse."
Me, "One of the major reasons I left Syracuse was because of the cold."
Greg, "I think it will be a great opportunity and .... (lots more reasoning, that was good, he really knows how to make an argument)."
Me, "Okay, let's do it."

Greg watching SU basketball on a tiny TV.

Piles of stuff

November -
Break the news to family and friends. While everyone was happy for us, they would really rather we stay (I think they really wanted Sam to stay).

December -
Start packing stuff and organizing.

2013 -

January -
Pack stuff, sell stuff, and organize.


February -
Sell condo (I love my condo. Tears), Go to Helsinki and find an apartments (success! I think. We'll see how we like it), pack, organize, sell stuff. Paperwork, lots of paperwork.

View from new apartment

Living room in new apartment

Thursday, February 28 -
The movers arrive for a two-day packing extravaganza. We will be without most of our belongings for about 5 weeks.

Okay, so that should get us up-to-date. More to come (hopefully).

Moving to Finland Judged as a Crazy Logistical Challenge.

Word,
Nicole