In August 2015, we found out we needed to find new jobs by the end of the academic year and it flipped our entire lives upside down. We are so relieved that this process is over now. Fall 2015 was one of the most stressful times of our entire lives, especially the months of November and December. It took an unbelievable amount of organization, coordination, patience, and cooperation from everyone in our "village." Here are some "stats" on the process:
# of Grandparent child-care days: 21 days
# of school absences for Gavin: 10
# of truancy officer meetings: 2 (plus a 2-hour class)
# of applications submitted between us: 59
# of phone/skype interviews between us: 22
# of campus interviews between us: 15 (of which 6 were cancelled)
# of days Nick was gone from Nov 9-Dec 9: 15 days (5 campus interviews in 4 weeks- that's rock star status :-)
# of miles traveled between us: 25, 000 miles across all 4 time zones
# of offers between us: 6
# of offers we could not refuse: 2!!
Each offer was carefully considered and we turned down most which was really scary. We had a list of requirements that had to be met in order for us to consider an offer and most schools did not meet or couldn't meet our demands. There was ONE school that was enthusiastic, proactive, and competitive when it came to their offers and they made us an offer we could not turn down. Located in the western suburbs of Chicago, Aurora University will be our new academic home starting in August. We finally know where we are headed and it feels good to have an answer and come up with a plan.
The only downside to this offer was 1) far from family (but so were all the other possibilities) and 2) it is cold. My personal checklist went something like this;
- Tenure-track positions for both of us
- Desirable location: decent cost of living, with the amenities that I was used to (e.g. Trader Joe's, movie theaters, quality childcare, outdoor activities and "culture", etc)
-Airport nearby with reasonable flight prices to and from Orlando
Aurora met all of the criteria. I knew I could not do another "Valdosta" if it was far away from Florida. The most attractive thing about Valdosta (city) is its proximity to Florida and the only reason why I was okay moving here. However, we knew deep down that Valdosta would not be good in the long-run for our family. Thus, we are excited about the change despite being away from family.
I literally cry every time I do a search for something I want for the kids/ourselves and find it near the Geneva/Batavia area where we plan to move. For example, they are the political "blue dot" that I've wanted. At this point of the election, we need political asylum! There's also a bulk grocery store (i.e. groceries without the plastic packaging) which is important to me, they have pretty much any sport our kids would want to play through the parks and rec district in the area, they have community pools (only open for the summer season but still it's better than ZERO in Valdosta), and they have top-rated public schools. Now that we've visited the area we've seen the sense of community that is in these towns, the hospitality of the area and just overall family-orientation of these towns. It looks and feels like everything we've ever wanted. We are ready for this new adventure.
I haven't posted on this blog much because it is difficult to keep a blog up when we have no internet at home. That's right, we don't have internet. Why? Because that's another reason we hate Valdosta. We've been living without wi-fi at home for 3 months now because there are not enough ports in the area we live in. Once we move out of here and into proper 21st century civilization, I do hope to blog more often and with pictures. I don't have enough bandwidth to upload videos and pictures right now.
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