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| My little lovelies in their favorite Finnish t-shirts. |
When Tero got his green card last August, we were so excited. Since January of 2012 we had been filling out enormous amounts of paperwork, ordering official papers to prove almost every major event in our lives that has happened since birth, making phone calls, paying a good deal of money, etc. etc. We were contemplating moving to Denver or Seattle, but Seattle won out in the end for a variety of reasons- the main one being that it's closer to my family in Montana. The movie theater shooting in Denver during that time also contributed to the decision. Even though I had never ever imagined myself living in Seattle, so far I think we made an awesome choice!
Tero got a work transfer through his company (Accenture), which was official in October, and we then started selling almost everything we owned. We wanted a fresh start...plus, paying a large amount of money to ship furniture that we were anyways planning to replace didn't sound too wise. Piles and piles of papers were sorted through. Boxes upon boxes of toys. Shelves upon shelves of books. Cupboards and drawers full of kitchen gadgets. This was not a small task! During a few cleaning sessions, I got pretty stressed out. I am a person who likes 'stuff' and I attach sentimental value to a lot of things. How could I get rid of items that could never be replaced and items that held such powerful memories for me? The kids' baby toys and clothes, my students' letters and cards to me, Matias's artwork, books that were really good but that I would most likely not have time to read again..... Arrggghhh! Some things were moved into and out of the 'to get rid of' box several times. In total I was able to narrow it down to 15 boxes that we shipped in the mail: 3 boxes of teaching books/stuff, 3 boxes of kids' toys and books, 4 boxes of clothes, 2 boxes of photos/photo albums, and 3 boxes of miscellaneous stuff. Not bad for a family of 5, I would say. I was proud of myself, but at the same time knew that I would really be missing some of the things we wouldn't be taking with us. (The shopping phase to come after the move was going to help with that!)
The last few weeks and days were really busy with people coming to our place to buy all of the big items we were getting rid of, trying to see friends for the last time, searching for a house to rent in Seattle, more packing and more sorting. It's a good thing it was busy, because there wasn't so much time to be emotional or really realize what was happening...or to wonder if we were making the right decision. We were selling almost everything we owned and moving half-way around the world with 3 kids aged 3 and under. Crazy!!
On a sidenote, some of you might wonder why on earth we would even attempt this kind of move. Everything in Finland is so good: great and cheap health care (which is pretty important to a family with 2 preemies), winter wonderlands and beautiful summers, amazing education system, healthy food, smart people (one of whom I married), organized society where everything just works well, warm and well-built houses. When I moved to Finland I was pretty sure I would never leave. I loved it there since the moment I first stepped off the plane for the first time in 1998. But there comes a time in everyone's life that you just need a change. We went through a living nightmare when the girls were born without my family there to help and support. I spent almost 2 years feeling the walls of our tiny apartment close in on me. We needed a change. A big change. The girls are doing well now, the kids are not in school yet, plus I desperately want my kids and my extended family to get to know each other. It just seemed like a good time to at least give it a try. Oh, and being able to buy a box of macaroni and cheese for less than 5 bucks sounded pretty appealing too.
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| The last morning in our apartment. Such a weird feeling! |
We flew out of Finland on November 17. It's really strange, but right now I don't remember anything about that flight....nothing at all. I'm pretty sure the kids misbehaved at some point or there was a catastrophic mess of some sort, but I honestly don't remember. Actually I do remember feeling a bit teary when the plane was taking off, but that's it. And I do remember sitting with 3 tired kids in the baggage claim area when we arrived, waiting for Tero to get all his green card stuff sorted out in some private room. THAT was fun. :) I think I was just in some kind of zombie-like state to protect myself from feeling too overwhelmed with what we were doing.
The first few days were crazy and we were pretty tired. We were lucky enough to find a beautiful house to rent on the 2nd day we were here (after arranging about 10 house viewings). Then we spent Thanksgiving in Missoula with my mom and my brothers' families. We came back to live in our totally empty house in the beginning of December, shopped 'til we dropped (or until the kids started dropping) to try and get necessary furniture, food, cookware, etc. The first few weeks here felt like the same kind of busy crazy as the last weeks in Finland, but it was also fun. We were so excited about being here. Everything was new, everything was different, everything was exciting. After a rough few years, this was a great feeling. Plus, buying lots of new stuff is WAY more fun than getting rid of your old things. :))
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| December 2, 2012- Welcome to our new house!! |
For Christmas we were back in Montana, this time to my brother's house in Great Falls. It was probably one of my favorite Christmases of all time. I loved seeing the kids playing with their cousins (they love each other!) and just hanging out with my brother and his wife late into the night, which we haven't been able to do for years and years.
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We rang in the New Year and Matias's birthday in our new house, and since then have been busy starting all the kids' hobbies- soccer, Kindermusik (which I highly recommend!), and Finnish School. We are getting used to our new 'American' way of life. We are happy!
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| Happy Birthday, Buddy! Four is going to be fun... |
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