Straight East Coastin'

If you have been patiently waiting to see what my big reveal this week is...

WE ARE MOVING TO CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA!!!! 

Let me back up and explain. Jake told me in December 2011 that he was thinking about pursing his doctorate. This was literally not even a month after I finished my last CPA exam.  He began researching schools and I went about my normal life. We talked about it once in a while but there was no real traction since he had missed the deadline for that year. So, we knew that he wouldn't be applying until late 2012 for a Fall 2013 start. As Jake discussed the possibility of pursuing his doctorate with other colleagues, he was asked to teach a few classes as an adjunct professor at a local university.  He taught for 3 quarters and really enjoyed it. He confirmed that getting his doctorate and becoming a professor was absolutely what he wanted to do.  

After much discussion with his mentor, he knew that he had to open up his school search to the entire US. He needed a certain kind of accreditation that no schools on the West Coast currently possess. So, we pulled out the large map (no really, we did) and started flagging where the schools were located. We even took a photo for evidence. We thought this would be a really cool thing to show our kids someday.

The world {OK, U.S.} at our fingertips

As you can see, most of the schools are concentrated in the South and East.  We further narrowed down and came up with a top 13, 10, 6 and finally 4 which he applied to.  The top 4 schools ended up being in North Carolina {2} and Virginia {2}. We found out he got an interview at one of the schools in Virginia right before Christmas 2012.  They wanted him to be there during the 2nd week in January.  He hadn't heard back from the other schools but was able to set up semi-interviews when he told them he would be in the area - thank goodness.  Plane tickets are a little pricey, especially with such little notice.  He flew into Norfolk and spent 3 days there to interview at Old Dominion before deciding it wasn't the perfect fit for him. After his interview, I could tell he was discouraged. He had an informal interview at William & Mary but determined that wasn't a fit either. As he was finishing up his trip, he drove the 5 1/2 hours from Norfolk to Charlotte where he participated in a pretty informal interview there. He took a million pictures of the campus and really got a good feel for the faculty and what it would be like there and he loved every minute of it. We heard the news he was accepted into Old Dominion and UNC Charlotte a few weeks later.  We agonizingly made the decision to go with UNC Charlotte and emailed the two programs that night so we wouldn't have to discuss it further {I think we both struggled with making the decision because it's just so HUGE. You don't want to pick the wrong city to relocate to for 3-4 years}. We had pro and con's lists, both city websites and wikipedias up on the computer and discussed the two cities for endless hours. 

Ultimately, we picked Charlotte and are so happy with our decision. Whew! I felt like I was keeping this huge secret for so long and I can finally tell someone!  We had heard really good things about North Carolina from friends and family who have been there {or live there!!}

I have started my job search and it's going really well. I have a lot of great opportunities and I am trying to stay organized and on top of everything. I am actually headed to Charlotte {for the first time} in less than a month for a job interview! Hooray! 

Our plan/timeline , as it stands right now:

July 1st - Pack up all our belongings and vehicles for shipping, move out of our amazing apartment (sad face), track said goods online (our stuff will travel almost 3,000 miles!! and take approximately 10 business days to arrive)

July 1 - 11th - stay at airbnb condo, relax, hang out, make a trip down to PDX to visit friends and family, etc

July 12th - Fly 1-way to Charlotte, move into amazing (yet to be found) apartment, start our new lives!

Hooray. Change is fun.  Don't get me wrong, we will miss our amazing friends and family dearly! But we are excited for this new chapter in our lives.