It is Official...we are moving England!

Rory and I are moving to England!   


Since things are moving quickly now I decided to start a blog to update our family and friends of what is happening. So I guess I should at the beginning because many of you are wondering how this move came about.  Well, it all started with our trip to England (Ireland and Paris) last September.  We were in England to visit Rory's family and celebrate his grandmother's 90th birthday. Throughout our trip, we were both surprised by how much we loved England. My only other experience with England was a whirlwind spring break tour during my sophomore year of high school.  My memories of England were cold, grey and fuzzy.  Not fuzzy because of time, but because I lost my contact (I'd lost the other before the trip) in Stratford Upon Avon.  Those who know me truly appreciate how blind I was without contacts. I mean, I couldn't even see the eye chart, let alone the big E on the eye chart.  I digress.   


By the end of our trip, Rory suggested that he apply to jobs in England when we returned to the US.  As I thought about moving abroad, I questioned whether I could walk away from the home we just purchased (and saved for years to get), my job as a civil litigator, or Rory's in house position as a patent attorney.  Not to mention our friends and family!  This wasn't the first time Rory suggested moving abroad. It was something we briefly discussed after I finished law school.  I'd always scoffed at the idea because I couldn't walk away from a legal career that I had just started.  Besides, at that point the economy was horrible and we were both lucky to even have jobs.  Yet three years later, I reflected on all the reasons that held me back before, but as I was sipping wine in a Paris cafe I just could not think of a single reason why he couldn't just apply to a job. 


For the rest of our trip, we spent our free time day dreaming of what it would be like to leave our jobs, family, and friends to live and travel in Europe. However, once we returned home, our little day dream seemed to quickly disappear as the reality of taking two weeks off from work (I know, what sane attorney would take two weeks off!) quickly consumed us.   


A few weeks after our trip I returned home to find Rory on the computer.  When I asked  what he was doing, he explained that he had a frustrating day at work (not uncommon) and he was applying to jobs in England. I guess the look of shock on my face prompted him to say, "you said it was ok."  It was one thing to day dream about leaving our lives, but to actually take steps toward doing it was another!  Rory was particularly excited about one job he applied to. It was US pharmaceutical company seeking a U.S. patent attorney with a Chemistry background to work in England.  After reading job description I agreed that the position would be perfect for Rory. He had been trying to break into the pharmaceutical industry for some time, so why not roll the dice and see what would happen? 


As luck, or fate, would have it the job he found on the internet was exactly what he wanted to do.  After 7 months of interviews and waiting, and interviews and waiting, Rory was offered the position with the pharmaceutical company.   


Some of the details... I say "some" as many details of the move are still being worked out.  Rory will be working in Abingdon, which is 10 minutes from Oxford. Oxford is west of London and located here: 

Rory starts his position on May 9th. After one week in England he will be sent to Cambridge for four weeks of training.  At this point, we are not sure where we are going to live as this is an ongoing debate.  There is city life in Oxford (Vanessa's preference) or country life in Abingdon (Rory's preference).  Thankfully, since we will be in corporate housing for 8 weeks, we will have some time to figure this out.   


Yes we are taking our dogs (Rusty and Scotty) with us. The drama with moving pets abroad will surely be a topic of future posts. 

I am hopeful this blog will be a way of keeping our family and friends (maybe others?) updated with the status of our move, the transition of living in a foreign country, my job hunt, and of course our travels across Europe!