Monday, May 03, 2010

Two Things...

1) We're moving to Sacramento!  Zach accepted a job at a small start-up in Sacramento, CA (about 2 hrs from here, towards the mountains).  His start date as of now is May 17th (yikes!).  Also...

2) I'm pregnant!  Baby #2 is set to arrive sometime this December.  I'm only 8 weeks, but we saw the heartbeat last week so I'm feeling fairly confident that this little bean is here to stay.  (still, crossing fingers...)

See? I told y'all we had a crapload of stuff to going on over here.  This should help explain why I haven't been blogging much lately-- it's hard to find stuff to write about when you have two HUGE major life-changing developments going on, but can't really talk much about either of them.  It also explains why I've been so tired lately, and why I look like death in any and all recent pictures (I seem to be lucking out again and escaping full-on morning sickness... but the bone-chilling, want-to-sleep-all-day exhaustion is completely kicking my butt).

The job decision was pretty tough.  It's been an emotional, exciting, frustrating, stressful past few weeks in this household.  Zach ended up getting two offers-- one in Lansing, Michigan, and the other in Sacramento.  Both start-ups, both pretty exciting opportunities. For a little while Michigan was all we had, and for that bit of time I think we were both getting excited about that possibility. East Lansing sounds like a very cute little town; it's home to Michigan State University, so would have the advantage of being a college town with a bit more excitement and diversity; Zach's potential employers were super incredibly nice; Zach's trip for the interview went really well, and had gorgeous weather to really help show off the place.  But then we started really thinking about what it would mean to live through a Michigan winter.  Five or six months of cold, little sun, and lots of snow that sticks around for weeks at a time... and I think we both started to worry a bit for our sanity.  The worst winters we've gone through were probably in Geneva, which weren't that bad, but the greyness, fog, and overall lack of sun really affected Zach's mood (I swear he's got at least a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder).  And for myself, I had some very real concerns about having a baby in December, and facing several months of near-freezing temperatures and being stuck indoors with a newborn and an active toddler.  And pretty soon we both started feeling a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs when we thought about actually moving there.

(Why yes, we are spoiled Californians.)

So when the offer from Sacramento came through, I think we both knew that's where we'd go.  Unfortunately, there's a significant difference in the quality of the offers-- Michigan (partially b/c they've had trouble getting people to move there) had a very nice offer, which combined with the much lower cost of living would have made a lot of financial stuff a lot easier.  Sacramento's offer is not quite as nice, and while cost of living is cheaper there than here in the bay area, we may end up taking a bit of a pay cut in the end.  Which kinda sucks.

Still, he has a job. One that allows us to stay in California, and enjoy the year-round good weather, beautiful landscape, fresh produce and markets, etc. We get to move closer to the mountains, which makes Zach very happy, but still are close enough to our friends in the bay, and Jenny and Andrew in San Francisco, to be able to still see them reasonably often.  And, heck, with cheaper housing we may actually be able to afford to buy a house one of these days, a prospect that was always going to be iffy in Silicon Valley.  The finances might not be perfect, but everything else is working out pretty dang nicely, and that's something to be quite grateful for.

So, onward and upward.  We're heading to Sacramento later this week to look at housing and hopefully find a place to rent.  Then we'll figure out when we can move, which may be after Zach starts work.  We'll see. It will be an adventure.   ; )

16 comments:

  1. Congrats on the baby & the job!
    During these more difficult US economic times, I'm very thankful for you folks that you had choices down there!

    Donovan is going to be such an awesome big brother!

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  2. YAY all around to you too! Congratulations on the baby - so exciting! And the job...YAY!! I can't blame you for not wanting the long winters...they do make the summers more precious and enjoyable but I would serious LOVE year round summer! Good luck!

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  3. Congrats! what great news!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  4. congratulations on both accounts! i'm glad to hear you'll be staying in california. it's an easy place to get used to. ;)

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  5. Congrats on the baby news and on the new job! You can go a bit stir crazy in the winter months! Good luck!

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  6. Jackie12:27 PM

    I'm so excited for all of you. And I think you made a wise choice. You will be closer to family and you won't have to deal with the bad winters. Win, win! If you were not raised in a cold climate it is a hard thing to get used to.

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  7. Anonymous6:14 PM

    So much good news!! Seriously, once you live in CA it's so hard to leave! You'll be close to Lake Tahoe and SF and have great weather! Keep us posted on the pregnancy!

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  8. Woohoo!!! I saw the tweet about midwives and got suspicious. I've been lax in blog reading and twitter following.

    I'm so excited for y'all!!!

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  9. Congrats!!! I guessed where you would be headed on the job correctly and as well got a bit suspicious on the kidlet too.. This will be an exciting time for sure but at least you are moving before you are further along!

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  10. GO MAMA!
    how freaking exciting!
    sac will be great!
    but OMG! BABY!
    yay!

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  11. Wow! Congratulations on both exciting events :) I am so happy for you guys!

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  12. Hip Hip Hurray!

    Awesome news on both fronts.

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  13. So cool to hear not just that you have an answer on the job front and get to stay in the sun, but that you also have baby news!! Congrats!

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  14. Congratulations to you and your family! I look forward to reading about your baby journey and all of it. I hardly ever ever comment because I usually read blogs on my iphone while I fall asleep in bed at night. Sorry about that.

    Also, wonderful news about Sacramento. I really do understand the weather thing. We live in Portland (originally from Nevada) and find it very very hard sometimes with the dark weather. I am hoping that when we move someday it will be California near the Auburn Sacramento area.

    Good luck and best wishes!

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  15. Loki: The Sequel.

    WOOT!!!

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