Getting to Belgium

My Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you know, I was reluctant at first to join Facebook for many different reasons: I already was on MySpace, I'm leery of sharing my personal information on the Internet, I didn't see its value, etc. Now, I'm a huge fan of Facebook because of the connectivity I now have with all of my wonderful friends and family, whether they are 10 miles away or 1,000. Now, we are the ones thousands of miles away from you. I don't know much about blogs, have definitely never written one myself, and really have no idea what I'm doing. But, I want to share with you our adventures as we explore Belgium and the surrounding areas during our 4-year stay while Adam works at the NATO Programming Centre. This will also serve as a record for me to look back on and reminisce about our Belgium adventure long after we're gone.

With that said, let me tell you a little about how we got here!

Adam took a job in February 2009 with the 367th Training Support Squadron at Hill AFB. It was promised to be a four-year controlled tour, meaning we could not ask to leave and the Air Force could not make us leave before the four years were up. Ha! Military guarantees being what they are, new leadership came in and removed these controlled codes from the profiles of the guys in Adam's shop, including his. That left us in a very uncomfortable place, though well-known to many military families. Our future was undetermined. Would the Air Force make us leave Hill in the next couple months? Would we spend the next couple years in Utah wondering if the Air Force would make us leave Hill in the next couple months (several of our friends have lived this way for 7 years!)? We had just bought a house in May 2007 at the height of the market before everything crashed in 2008-09. We weren't sunk on our house, but we didn't have any equity in it either, even after Adam put several thousand dollars of work and materials into finishing the basement.

Adam and I sat down and looked at our situation. We didn't want to live in limbo, but we didn't want the Air Force sending us somewhere we weren't too excited to go. So, Adam went looking at the listings for special assignments to see what he could find. There were three positions open and available to him: two in Germany, one in Belgium. He applied for all three. The day he called me telling me he got the Belgium job, I was jumping up and down, screaming, laughing, crying, and so elated I just didn't even know what to do with myself (all while still on the phone with him! =) We were moving to Belgium!

...Or so we thought. The next few months are a blur of anxiety, anger, and frustration as we scrambled about gathering medical records and doctor's letters trying to prove to some less than understanding (I'm being very nice) powers-that-be that my two prematurely born children and my liver-transplanted self were stable enough and healthy enough to make this move and not strain the overseas health care budgets. Long story short, we made it work that the whole family could go over.

Now, the big decisions have been made: we're moving, and we'll try to sell the house (or at least rent it out). Adam drove the van--my van, my very dependable vehicle that I always have filled with whatever I might need while toting around myself and my kids--to the port of Los Angeles on April 10th. We won't see it again until sometime mid-May through early-June. The Mustang served as the family car for a week and a half. Wow. Two-door sports cars were never made for running errands with two kids in car seats. And, we are definitely a two-car family! But, we managed! =)

We made one last long trip up to Idaho April 15-24. My good friend Heather took Shasta for us while we were gone. We packed up a Budget truck with everything we wanted to keep but couldn't take with us (and baby stuff from our kids to pass on to our sisters' kids). The trip was long, but never long enough to see everyone and feel like we've fully reconnected before heading back. Leaving Idaho is always hard for us; this time was worse. We knew we would not be back for 16 months (if we come back any earlier, it will be far worse because that will mean someone we love will be gone). Each time I got sad thinking about leaving, whether it be Idaho or my home and friends in Utah, I would remind myself of what fantastic adventures we'll have and the amazing opportunity this will be for our children.

We returned to Utah on Sunday, April 24th. It was Easter, and also my birthday. We will be forever grateful for Jerry and Julie lending us the Granny car for this return trip and remaining days in Utah. I can't imagine what that trip would have been like in the Mustang, or how we would have moved around trash and luggage with it. With our departure scheduled for Sunday, May 1, only a week away, we spent the next few days scrambling about, dividing our stuff into unaccompanied baggage, items to be sold, items to be trashed, items to be shipped. The movers came, boxed up the house, put it all in crates on a big semi, and took it away. My house was empty. I surprised myself by not being upset. With everything gone, it really wasn't even mine anymore. It was getting hard not having our animals, though. We cleaned the carpets in early April and relegated them to the basement to keep the floors clean and hair-free. Then Shasta stayed with Heather during our Idaho visit and up through the day we left Utah to keep her comfortable instead of being boxed while all the movers were coming and going and while we were in TLF (temporary lodging facility).

We spent the last couple days in Utah cleaning up the house, living in TLF, catching one last movie (Hoodwinked Too!), and saying good-bye to dear friends. We met a lot of great people during our 7 years in Utah, and it was hard to leave them behind. My friend Anne is a realtor; she's helping us sell our house. Michelle loaned us her car and let us print stuff off her computer. Tiffany watched our kids for a day. Heather watched Shasta, hauled her around for us, and took away some stuff we couldn't in the Granny car. Everyone else offered their help and support whenever they could. Thank you all for helping us through those last few days, for enduring my frantic phone calls, for being there when we really needed you!

When you're moving, something's bound to go wrong. Thankfully, Adam is so good at all this logistical stuff. (The moving office was very often less than helpful, even though their job is to help servicemen through the mess of moving. But, whatever...) He took care of the passports, flights, and so much more that I'm not even aware of. I don't know how he does it, but he does. And for that, I am so grateful! The biggest glitch came about because of the animals. No one told us, and in our early research we did not learn by ourselves, that animals being imported into Belgium require an import license and processing fee of 41Euro each. In his last minute research on Tuesday before we left, Adam finds this out. He gets to work printing forms, filling them out, trying to fax them to the proper authorities. It's supposed to take 10 days to get these licenses. We don't have 10 days! What are we supposed to do with the animals?! Take them with us? There will be a fine, probably animal detainment until we get the licenses. Leave them in Utah? Someone has to take them in Utah for another week, Jerry and Julie will pick them up, the vet has to clear them again ($140 more we don't have!), the USDA has to clear them again ($70!), and they have to go to Spokane and fly as cargo (mega extra $$$!). We talk it over and decide to just take them with us. Delta won't have a problem flying them over. We have evidence that we tried to rectify the situation. We've done everything else right regarding the animals. We'll take them with us, and hope for the best.

So, the car is shipped. The crates soon will be. Our bags are packed. The animals are coming with us. We are ready to go! This leads us up to the day of our departure, which is a story for another post... Ta ta!