oinge: New Kids on the Block

It's hard to believe, but we actually made it! We. Are. In. Seattle!! And what's more amazing is that no one got arrested by immigration and we didn't lose any of our seven checked bags in the process! I know what some of you may be thinking... arrested?! seven checked bags?!?! But if you had any idea of what our international travel track record has been like this past year and/or have ever had to move your entire life cross hemispheres, you'd think of this as nothing short of a minor miracle too.

So we've been here for about two and a half weeks now and I have to apologize for the extended radio silence around here in the meantime. To say that we've been through a lot both mentally and physically since we arrived is kind of an understatement. As T only had the first week off from work, we wasted no time with kicking our housing hunt into hyper drive. In the meantime, as we found ourselves looking at 4 to 5 apts a day all across Seattle, it became apparent to us that a car would be imperative to our housing hunt (among other things). So what do we do? We start shopping for a car in addition to our housing search... as if finding a house wasn't enough of a challenge by itself.

It's right about now that I came to fully understand why moving between countries is so difficult. Normally when you move, you're just moving your old stuff into a new home that you've found. When you move between countries, you're moving your entire life... so it's not just the house you have to find, but everything else... like a new cell phone plan, a new car, and new health insurance just for starters.

Speaking of health insurance, by now, the stresses of moving were now starting to take it's toll on me in the form of a mysterious little "sore" that exploded into a blistery rash across my face. A frantic trip to the Immediate Clinic in Ballard, revealed that I had come down with a case of the shingles. Seriously, shingles?!?! T and I have often described ourselves as "old and boring" thirty somethings going on 60 but it was a little disturbing how much of this was becoming true. At any rate, with the help of some awesome prescription drugs, I'm slowly making a comeback.

Despite my health taking hit, we did manage to buy a car and sign a lease on a house in the end so it wasn't all for naught. These days, I've just been taking my time nursing myself back to health and enjoying our surroundings. Seattle truly is a city of neighborhoods... most of which we've found to be insanely hip and friendly. As far as we can tell, mix Brooklyn with Berkeley together, flush out the pretension with a healthy does of rain and you've got Seattle. For now, we're based in a temporary studio in Phinney Ridge until we move into our new home on April 1. Our new place is in University District (which I've heard is just as nice) but I'm worried that by then, it'll already be hard to tear ourselves away from Phinney Ridge, which we're coming to love more and more with each passing day. And here's a couple reasons why...