Alright ladies and gents. We're old hat at this now. We've done it three times already, and this time we don't have a U-Haul or any cats. This should be a breeze.
DFW still has no Canadian customs forms. I just do not understand how that keeps happening. Oh well. We were prepared this time and made sure we grabbed one before getting in the line to talk to a customs agent. We even had pens at hand to fill it out! Many an inexperienced traveler around us were inquiring about forms as they approached the agents. Not us! Oh no! We were prepared!
We actually went through customs pretty successfully. We told them that we had funds, Max's acceptance letter, our marriage license, and a place to live. They quickly shuffled us toward immigration to fill out our paperwork.
We had to collect all of our luggage before entering the immigration office. But, you couldn't bring the cart with all of your luggage into the office. You had to be very trusting and leave it in a big hoard outside near the general population. This was not an easy thing for me. We had a lot of precious gifts and valuable items in our suitcases! Who would be watching them while we waited in more long lines to fill out our paperwork!?!!!?
Once we made it to the front of the line, we presented our papers and requests to the immigration agent. He quickly took everything to ask another agent a question. Once he came back to our window, he informed us that a study permit does not automatically grant a spousal work permit. What? WHAT?! The agents at the land border informed us we would have no problems getting my work permit once we had our marriage license! This is ridiculous!
So much for smooth sailing.
He told me that I might be eligible for an open work permit, but that my best shot was probably through a company filing for me. Great. That takes me back to square one on the job hunt.
Welp. It's not like we can start a fight with the immigration agent.
You win this round, immigration.
Showing posts with label the move. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the move. Show all posts
Friday, August 15, 2014
Friday, August 8, 2014
Bed, Bath & Too Much Beyond
We were blessed to receive many gifts over the course of our engagement and wedding. This blessing posed a problem.
How to get everything back to Vancouver?
We didn't have our address when we registered, and later, Bed, Bath & Beyond wouldn't let us put in a Canadian address. This meant all gifts, big and small, went to my parents' house in Texas.
We didn't even have enough luggage, much less enough money to pay for the checked bags, to get everything home with us when we flew.
Max's mom suggested a plan: Return everything in Dallas and repurchase in Vancouver.
This seemed like a great idea!
I, however, wanted to double check with BBB up in Vancouver to make sure this plan would work. Max insisted that it would be fine but courteously agreed to make the 30 minute trek with me to the store in North Vancouver just to ask them if they thought this was the way to go. After wrong turns and tons of traffic, we finally made it. The fabulously friendly folks at the registry counter assured us that everything would run smoothly within the first two minutes of our being there. It was nuts. I could feel the "I told you so" burning into my skull. Oh well. At least we know it will work and now we have a plan in place.
Lots of place settings and guest towels later, we were back in Vancouver with our merchandise return cards (essentially cash for BBB) and gift cards. We arrived at the store around 1 pm. We went straight back to the wedding registry section to get a printed copy of our registry so we would know what they had in the store.
Now, I wouldn't say that I've ever had a negative interaction with BBB employees, but the folks at the North Vancouver location were above and beyond in the friendliness and helpfulness departments. It was overwhelming at times. They also had what I found to be a remarkably high number of employees working at 1 pm on a regular old Wednesday afternoon...
We were surrounded. Two nice ladies helped us print the registry and get us started. They then made a store-wide radio announcement that we were in the building, so all the employees would be on the lookout for us to offer their utmost assistance.
This was getting really real.
We found all 6 of our red place settings, but they didn't have enough of our green so we ordered all 6 of those. Since we chose all of our serving pieces in the gorgeous chocolate color, but this location wasn't carrying any of the chocolate, all of them were ordered. They also didn't have our silverware, so that's ordered. They had a different brand of serving utensils, but they were still excellent quality, so we grabbed those instead of the ones we had registered for. We found towels and sheets and KitchenAid Stand Mixer accessories galore. The actual mixer had to be ordered since they didn't have the yellow we wanted.
We sprung for a new counter top grill! It has removable grill platters that are dishwasher safe (YES!!!!!!) and they reverse to be a griddle. It also opens flat so both the top and bottom panels can be used for cooking. That's one of our favorite new buys.
We couldn't go home without getting something for the kittens, so we got them a cool new toy. It required 3 C batteries. What?! What needs C batteries? And 3?! That's such an awkward number of batteries. They only come in even packaging!! Why would you ruin everything and request that I provide you with an odd number of batteries?!!?!! WHY?!?!! We also don't currently have any C batteries... We're working on it...
We filled a couple of carts. Every time we were just starting to think that we should find a new one, a helpful employee was there with a brand new cart, offering to take our full one up to the front for when we check out. Unbelievable! It was a great adventure!
We wound up with some things off of my "As Seen On TV" list!! XD We got a sticky buddy and a scrub daddy! They're both pretty great, and Max is an incredible guy who loves all the quirky parts about me.
Nicole was the gal on the wedding registry end who was helping us throughout the day. She was looking up items to see if they had them in a local warehouse. She suggested cool items she thought we might like. She was the best. Then she brought us to Elise to check out. She brought us to Elise because she was also the best. These are just the facts.
The thing you need to know now is that two of my best girls are named Nicole and Elise. They're sisters who I've known since we were in preschool!! I found it just absolutely hilarious that we wound up with a Nicole and Elise to walk us through the checkout process.
One of our amazing guests gifted us a 20% off your entire purchase coupon. This blew Elise away. Lots of things, that day, blew Elise away. She had this adorable gasp that we heard again and again as we went through the check out process.
The first thing that happened was the order purchase of the items they didn't have in the store. Nicole had compiled the list and printed a sheet with all the bar-codes listed on it. Elise appreciated this, but still gasped at the sight of it. She scanned all of them in and we used the first merchandise credit card on that order. Then I brought up the 20% off coupon (I was under the incorrect assumption that the order from the warehouse and the checkout of items in the store were two different purchases, meaning we could only use the coupon on one of them). Elise gasped her adorable gasp and Nicole excitedly informed her that it's a new coupon BBB is offering. They quickly decided that it would apply to everything we ordered/bought that day. Poor Elise now had to re-scan all the items to do a return, apply the discount, and then scan all of them once more! There were many gasps.
Then we started in on the items we had in our three carts. The four of us now worked as an assembly team! Max removed items from the carts and handed them to me, I found the bar code on each item and presented them to Elise, Elise scanned them and handed them to Nicole, Nicole bagged all the items and put them back in the carts. We were very well oiled!
As we moved through our merchandise credit and our gift cards, Elise began to tell us she was really going to miss the time we spent together. We said our goodbyes as we hauled the carts over to the elevator. After we got it all into the back of the car, we remembered the car-elevator-hallway-apartment process through which all things must enter our home...
It only took us 5 trips. Not bad.
How to get everything back to Vancouver?
We didn't have our address when we registered, and later, Bed, Bath & Beyond wouldn't let us put in a Canadian address. This meant all gifts, big and small, went to my parents' house in Texas.
We didn't even have enough luggage, much less enough money to pay for the checked bags, to get everything home with us when we flew.
Max's mom suggested a plan: Return everything in Dallas and repurchase in Vancouver.
This seemed like a great idea!
I, however, wanted to double check with BBB up in Vancouver to make sure this plan would work. Max insisted that it would be fine but courteously agreed to make the 30 minute trek with me to the store in North Vancouver just to ask them if they thought this was the way to go. After wrong turns and tons of traffic, we finally made it. The fabulously friendly folks at the registry counter assured us that everything would run smoothly within the first two minutes of our being there. It was nuts. I could feel the "I told you so" burning into my skull. Oh well. At least we know it will work and now we have a plan in place.
Lots of place settings and guest towels later, we were back in Vancouver with our merchandise return cards (essentially cash for BBB) and gift cards. We arrived at the store around 1 pm. We went straight back to the wedding registry section to get a printed copy of our registry so we would know what they had in the store.
Now, I wouldn't say that I've ever had a negative interaction with BBB employees, but the folks at the North Vancouver location were above and beyond in the friendliness and helpfulness departments. It was overwhelming at times. They also had what I found to be a remarkably high number of employees working at 1 pm on a regular old Wednesday afternoon...
We were surrounded. Two nice ladies helped us print the registry and get us started. They then made a store-wide radio announcement that we were in the building, so all the employees would be on the lookout for us to offer their utmost assistance.
This was getting really real.
We found all 6 of our red place settings, but they didn't have enough of our green so we ordered all 6 of those. Since we chose all of our serving pieces in the gorgeous chocolate color, but this location wasn't carrying any of the chocolate, all of them were ordered. They also didn't have our silverware, so that's ordered. They had a different brand of serving utensils, but they were still excellent quality, so we grabbed those instead of the ones we had registered for. We found towels and sheets and KitchenAid Stand Mixer accessories galore. The actual mixer had to be ordered since they didn't have the yellow we wanted.
We sprung for a new counter top grill! It has removable grill platters that are dishwasher safe (YES!!!!!!) and they reverse to be a griddle. It also opens flat so both the top and bottom panels can be used for cooking. That's one of our favorite new buys.
We couldn't go home without getting something for the kittens, so we got them a cool new toy. It required 3 C batteries. What?! What needs C batteries? And 3?! That's such an awkward number of batteries. They only come in even packaging!! Why would you ruin everything and request that I provide you with an odd number of batteries?!!?!! WHY?!?!! We also don't currently have any C batteries... We're working on it...
We filled a couple of carts. Every time we were just starting to think that we should find a new one, a helpful employee was there with a brand new cart, offering to take our full one up to the front for when we check out. Unbelievable! It was a great adventure!
We wound up with some things off of my "As Seen On TV" list!! XD We got a sticky buddy and a scrub daddy! They're both pretty great, and Max is an incredible guy who loves all the quirky parts about me.
Nicole was the gal on the wedding registry end who was helping us throughout the day. She was looking up items to see if they had them in a local warehouse. She suggested cool items she thought we might like. She was the best. Then she brought us to Elise to check out. She brought us to Elise because she was also the best. These are just the facts.
The thing you need to know now is that two of my best girls are named Nicole and Elise. They're sisters who I've known since we were in preschool!! I found it just absolutely hilarious that we wound up with a Nicole and Elise to walk us through the checkout process.
One of our amazing guests gifted us a 20% off your entire purchase coupon. This blew Elise away. Lots of things, that day, blew Elise away. She had this adorable gasp that we heard again and again as we went through the check out process.
The first thing that happened was the order purchase of the items they didn't have in the store. Nicole had compiled the list and printed a sheet with all the bar-codes listed on it. Elise appreciated this, but still gasped at the sight of it. She scanned all of them in and we used the first merchandise credit card on that order. Then I brought up the 20% off coupon (I was under the incorrect assumption that the order from the warehouse and the checkout of items in the store were two different purchases, meaning we could only use the coupon on one of them). Elise gasped her adorable gasp and Nicole excitedly informed her that it's a new coupon BBB is offering. They quickly decided that it would apply to everything we ordered/bought that day. Poor Elise now had to re-scan all the items to do a return, apply the discount, and then scan all of them once more! There were many gasps.
Then we started in on the items we had in our three carts. The four of us now worked as an assembly team! Max removed items from the carts and handed them to me, I found the bar code on each item and presented them to Elise, Elise scanned them and handed them to Nicole, Nicole bagged all the items and put them back in the carts. We were very well oiled!
As we moved through our merchandise credit and our gift cards, Elise began to tell us she was really going to miss the time we spent together. We said our goodbyes as we hauled the carts over to the elevator. After we got it all into the back of the car, we remembered the car-elevator-hallway-apartment process through which all things must enter our home...
It only took us 5 trips. Not bad.
Monday, June 23, 2014
Cats on a plane
Don't ever travel with cats if you can help it.
American Airlines only allows 5 pets in the cabin on any given flight. So call ahead to reserve carry on slots for your pets. Also, make sure you read the airline's rules and regulations on the type of crate you can bring. It must be carry-on size because it has to go under the seat in front of you. Most airlines also require that it be a hard-sided case, but that really depends.
For international travel, we had to provide documentation for both cats that they are healthy and vaccinated. These documents had to be dated no more than 10 days before travel. For us, this meant my mom had to wrangle the cats to the vet the Friday before we flew. That was an adventure. We walked away with two documents for both cats, one showing their most recent rabies vaccine date and one that was a general health document with some identifying measures (weight, age, gender, breed, color, etc.) provided by the examining veterinarian.
Ok, so you have your airline tickets, the reservation for your carry-on pets, and the proper documents for said little creatures. What on earth comes next?
You show up REALLY early for your flight.
In the day of online everything, you can NOT check in online if you are traveling with animals. You must check in at the airport. Then you have to fill out additional paperwork with the airline to pay for the animal, confirm that you are traveling with an animal, and verify that you have all of the health documents in order. Then you get your boarding pass.
CHECK ALL OF YOUR OTHER LUGGAGE. Cats may only weigh 6-12 lbs and you might be a professional weight lifter, but you have to carry that animal and the crate and your regular carry-on bag (ladies, I'm talking to you about our 20 lb every day purses) through security and to your gate and in line to get on the plane and in line trying to get to your specific seat and at the other airport when you deplane and then have to go find a vehicle. It's not worth it. If that hasn't convinced you, here's another tidbit - you are already making an enemy out of every other person on your flight by having an animal with you. Having additional luggage to rally and contain will only make this situation worse. Just don't do it Check everything. Even at an airline where you have to pay for it. Check your bags. Just. Please.
Alright. We've checked in and you handed off all your luggage to the airline. Make your way to the security gate. You need to be prepared for this. The security folks will be mildly prepared. You need to be more prepared than they are. They will spot you with your animal and ask you how you want to handle this. What they mean - the crate has to go through the x-ray machine. Your pet SHOULD NOT go through the x-ray machine. If you have a calm dog, you can probably just hold them while the empty crate goes through the machine. For cats, this is not an option. Even the calmest cat has an elevated nervous system while at an airport. Before you get to the airport, put a harness on your cat. I don't care if your cat will put up a fight, just do it. It's for their own protection, and they won't have to wear it for very long. Carry a leash to attach to the harness when you have to remove them from the crate. It'll be better if they're on a leash than just have a collar on if they freak out and wiggle out of your arms.
Tell the kind folks that you would like a private room while they run the crate. Our friendly TSA agents asked why we wanted the private room and why we couldn't just hold the cats. I told him they would probably be fine but that it would be better for their stress levels if we had a private room and that we really weren't sure how they were going to react. Turns out the guy on duty is allergic to cats so he just didn't want to be in a closed room with two of them. But he finally ushered us back to the room. We lifted each cat out, and they absolutely clung to us! Neither of them wanted anything to do with the rest of the room. Then they were each more excited than I've ever seen them to escape back into their crates.
We made it through security. Excellent. That was the tough part. Proceed to your gate as normal. Contrary to my beliefs, you do not get priority boarding if flying with an animal. Wait until your boarding group is called. Or, since you checked all of your bags (right?) you can just wait until the very end to board since you'll only need the space under the seat in front of you.
Hopefully your cats will remain calm on the flight. Ours didn't ever seem to sleep, but they remained blessedly quiet. We checked on them frequently and were always met with anxious eyes trying to figure out when they would be free.
Customs was the tricky part for us. DFW was out of Canadian customs forms, so we were not provided any on the flight. This meant we had to wait through the whole customs line until we were at the very front, then grab a form and try to fill it out without causing too much hold up. As a result of this, I scanned all the questions. The large declaration question starting with "foods, produce, nuts, berries..." goes on for several more lines to eventually contain "animals." I missed the animals part. I marked no. The customs agent was not impressed. Thankfully, she went easy on us. We clearly weren't trying to sneak them in and we had all the proper documents, which convinced her to use her beautiful mercy and allow us into the country.
We had discussed taking the train back to the apartment, but opted for a taxi in the moment since we'd all had a long day. It was definitely a very wise decision. Because then we were home. Safely. Thank goodness.
American Airlines only allows 5 pets in the cabin on any given flight. So call ahead to reserve carry on slots for your pets. Also, make sure you read the airline's rules and regulations on the type of crate you can bring. It must be carry-on size because it has to go under the seat in front of you. Most airlines also require that it be a hard-sided case, but that really depends.
For international travel, we had to provide documentation for both cats that they are healthy and vaccinated. These documents had to be dated no more than 10 days before travel. For us, this meant my mom had to wrangle the cats to the vet the Friday before we flew. That was an adventure. We walked away with two documents for both cats, one showing their most recent rabies vaccine date and one that was a general health document with some identifying measures (weight, age, gender, breed, color, etc.) provided by the examining veterinarian.
Ok, so you have your airline tickets, the reservation for your carry-on pets, and the proper documents for said little creatures. What on earth comes next?
You show up REALLY early for your flight.
In the day of online everything, you can NOT check in online if you are traveling with animals. You must check in at the airport. Then you have to fill out additional paperwork with the airline to pay for the animal, confirm that you are traveling with an animal, and verify that you have all of the health documents in order. Then you get your boarding pass.
CHECK ALL OF YOUR OTHER LUGGAGE. Cats may only weigh 6-12 lbs and you might be a professional weight lifter, but you have to carry that animal and the crate and your regular carry-on bag (ladies, I'm talking to you about our 20 lb every day purses) through security and to your gate and in line to get on the plane and in line trying to get to your specific seat and at the other airport when you deplane and then have to go find a vehicle. It's not worth it. If that hasn't convinced you, here's another tidbit - you are already making an enemy out of every other person on your flight by having an animal with you. Having additional luggage to rally and contain will only make this situation worse. Just don't do it Check everything. Even at an airline where you have to pay for it. Check your bags. Just. Please.
Alright. We've checked in and you handed off all your luggage to the airline. Make your way to the security gate. You need to be prepared for this. The security folks will be mildly prepared. You need to be more prepared than they are. They will spot you with your animal and ask you how you want to handle this. What they mean - the crate has to go through the x-ray machine. Your pet SHOULD NOT go through the x-ray machine. If you have a calm dog, you can probably just hold them while the empty crate goes through the machine. For cats, this is not an option. Even the calmest cat has an elevated nervous system while at an airport. Before you get to the airport, put a harness on your cat. I don't care if your cat will put up a fight, just do it. It's for their own protection, and they won't have to wear it for very long. Carry a leash to attach to the harness when you have to remove them from the crate. It'll be better if they're on a leash than just have a collar on if they freak out and wiggle out of your arms.
Tell the kind folks that you would like a private room while they run the crate. Our friendly TSA agents asked why we wanted the private room and why we couldn't just hold the cats. I told him they would probably be fine but that it would be better for their stress levels if we had a private room and that we really weren't sure how they were going to react. Turns out the guy on duty is allergic to cats so he just didn't want to be in a closed room with two of them. But he finally ushered us back to the room. We lifted each cat out, and they absolutely clung to us! Neither of them wanted anything to do with the rest of the room. Then they were each more excited than I've ever seen them to escape back into their crates.
We made it through security. Excellent. That was the tough part. Proceed to your gate as normal. Contrary to my beliefs, you do not get priority boarding if flying with an animal. Wait until your boarding group is called. Or, since you checked all of your bags (right?) you can just wait until the very end to board since you'll only need the space under the seat in front of you.
Hopefully your cats will remain calm on the flight. Ours didn't ever seem to sleep, but they remained blessedly quiet. We checked on them frequently and were always met with anxious eyes trying to figure out when they would be free.
Customs was the tricky part for us. DFW was out of Canadian customs forms, so we were not provided any on the flight. This meant we had to wait through the whole customs line until we were at the very front, then grab a form and try to fill it out without causing too much hold up. As a result of this, I scanned all the questions. The large declaration question starting with "foods, produce, nuts, berries..." goes on for several more lines to eventually contain "animals." I missed the animals part. I marked no. The customs agent was not impressed. Thankfully, she went easy on us. We clearly weren't trying to sneak them in and we had all the proper documents, which convinced her to use her beautiful mercy and allow us into the country.
We had discussed taking the train back to the apartment, but opted for a taxi in the moment since we'd all had a long day. It was definitely a very wise decision. Because then we were home. Safely. Thank goodness.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Thank goodness for elevators
We moved in!!! We moved in to the place! We got to the apartment and moved everything in and we're here and it's the best!!!!
Customs was a hell of an adventure! We had to speak to the booth officer about the two vehicles and our purpose in Canada. Then we had to park and go into the actual border office to file for our paperwork. My dad had some mild disagreement with the customs officer, so his bag was pulled from the car and searched while Max and I discussed our paperwork with another officer. The goal was to file for a student permit for Max, and get my work permit from that paperwork. We were worried it would be too early for his student documents since his program doesn't start until September, but were going to give it a try anyway. Since we'll be exiting and reentering the country several times between now and then, refiling for paperwork won't be too much of an issue.
Turns out our worries came to pass, and since we didn't have any documentation of a common law marriage, we were both issued a visitors permit. In August when we reenter after the wedding, he'll be able to get his student permit and then I'll hopefully either have a promise of a job, but I'll get my work permit either way with our marriage license.
With our paperwork in tow, we proceeded through the border and into southern Vancouver!!! It's unimaginably gorgeous and the air is amazing! The weather should top out around 85 degrees F, which is just insane to two Texas natives. There's still folks in the city who think a 90 degree day is unbearable. We wound our way along highway 99 through the southern suburbs of the city. There are rivers and ocean views and mountains on the border. So far it seems like the perfect city!
We navigated our way to the apartment building, we're in a set of four that all open on a courtyard with entrances to our underground parking. We're steps from one of the rail stations. The train system is TransLink, with multiple stops just downtown, several of them in reasonable walking distance from the place. There's Starbucks, Tim Hortons, grocery stores, London Drug, and amazing restaurants all in a 10 minute radius!!!
We talked to the concierge about where to park our car and the U-Haul while we waited for the movers and Jake to arrive. Jake arrived from VFS really quickly and walked us up to the place. The views are to die for. We face east across the city and can see all the way to the mountains. We have floor to ceiling windows along the whole wall with several window sections that open to let in the air. There's no central air since the city is usually so cool. It made for a warm afternoon of moving. We unpacked Max's car and brought everything upstairs. Jake left to go back to classes. The movers weren't coming until later, so the rest of us went out for lunch. There was a cute place called Moxie's just across the street so we headed there.
Hurried on our way back so we wouldn't miss the movers. Of course, we did miss the movers. The initial booking with the movers was from noon to three. We found out we had to book the freight elevator, which could only be done from nine to noon or from one to four. Since we would still be in border crossing at nine, we opted for the one to four slot. When I called the movers back, they assured me that they had adjusted the reservation and would be at the apartment at one pm to move us in. Yet I had voice mails to tell me they arrived at noon, waited for an hour, and left. :| ... Through a series of phone calls which went better than I could have ever imagined, we were told the movers would be back in 10 minutes and that we would still have three hours. The elevator, however, was still only reserved until four pm.
Those movers who showed up were powerful wizards wielding only the most impressive skills. We had to station ourselves across the tower, dads helping to unload the U-Haul, Max operating the elevator to get the movers up and down, and myself in the apartment to direct the boxes and furniture. It was almost 1:45 when we started, so everyone was on a time crunch. The apartment was slightly smaller than I had anticipated, so there was some delicate negotiating of furniture which needed to happen. The boxes quickly filled up every single inch of space. The queen bed we took from Max's parents barely squeezed into the main bedroom. Thankfully we still had room for our nice dressers and a floor lamp on the far side of the bed.
Couches. Oh boy. We have two couches now, one a full-sized, and one an odd shaped love seat. The smaller couch belongs to my dad's family. It was his mom's, and then he took it after he left home, and then he gifted it to me when I got my first apartment. I had it recovered in a darling blue and white plaid. It looks like a wimpy little couch. Many a friend has tried to lift it. Yet it is a pure beast. It's made of solid steel (ok, solid wood) and has the most framing I've ever seen in a couch. It isn't a hideaway bed, but might as well have been since it weighs so much. The movers handled this one beautifully. They brought it up first, however, which means it had to stand on end in the corner of the living room so they could bring the other couch and the rest of the living room furniture in. This brings us to the other couch. It's eight feet long with a tall back and deep seating. Our walls are about 8 1/2 feet tall... Then you take door frames, entry hallways, and light fixtures into account. We were all whispering silent prayers that this couch would magically appear in the apartment. The movers made it into the elevator with the couch. The movers made it all the way down the hallway with the couch. The movers needed us to disassemble the automatic closing latch on the door. Then the incredibly talented pair of movers from heaven brought that couch into the apartment and placed it in the living room like the true champions they are. It was a beautiful thing to witness.
The security guard came around at 4:00 pm on the dot. We had the last mattress in the elevator, and the only other piece was the big dresser. Thankfully he let us hurry up with the dresser while he did the ending inspection of the hallway to make sure we hadn't put holes into any of the walls.
It was a long day. That I know for sure. When the movers left, we all sat down on different parts of furniture and released a synchronized exhale. We had made it. We had arrived and unpacked and everything fit in the apartment. We didn't know how to get back to the front door through the forest of boxes, but at least all those boxes were in the confines of the apartment.
After everyone regained consciousness, we regretfully resigned to the fact that we still had a few obligations. We mustered up the energy and made our way downstairs. We had to return the darned U-Haul and then find some type of food. The U-Haul return location was just outside of downtown, so it didn't take too long. We said goodbye to Genghis and hurried into the car where seats that have suspension and doors that actually close. We managed to find a really good pizza place a few blocks away. Fatih's pizza is right in the middle of several other pizza places but smelled the best! They sell pizza by the HUGE slice. Two slices and a drink for only $4.50, which is one of the cheapest places we've seen around so far. The pizza was excellent and we sat outside on the patio to enjoy the breeze and the views.
It's been a good day.
Customs was a hell of an adventure! We had to speak to the booth officer about the two vehicles and our purpose in Canada. Then we had to park and go into the actual border office to file for our paperwork. My dad had some mild disagreement with the customs officer, so his bag was pulled from the car and searched while Max and I discussed our paperwork with another officer. The goal was to file for a student permit for Max, and get my work permit from that paperwork. We were worried it would be too early for his student documents since his program doesn't start until September, but were going to give it a try anyway. Since we'll be exiting and reentering the country several times between now and then, refiling for paperwork won't be too much of an issue.
Turns out our worries came to pass, and since we didn't have any documentation of a common law marriage, we were both issued a visitors permit. In August when we reenter after the wedding, he'll be able to get his student permit and then I'll hopefully either have a promise of a job, but I'll get my work permit either way with our marriage license.
With our paperwork in tow, we proceeded through the border and into southern Vancouver!!! It's unimaginably gorgeous and the air is amazing! The weather should top out around 85 degrees F, which is just insane to two Texas natives. There's still folks in the city who think a 90 degree day is unbearable. We wound our way along highway 99 through the southern suburbs of the city. There are rivers and ocean views and mountains on the border. So far it seems like the perfect city!
We navigated our way to the apartment building, we're in a set of four that all open on a courtyard with entrances to our underground parking. We're steps from one of the rail stations. The train system is TransLink, with multiple stops just downtown, several of them in reasonable walking distance from the place. There's Starbucks, Tim Hortons, grocery stores, London Drug, and amazing restaurants all in a 10 minute radius!!!
We talked to the concierge about where to park our car and the U-Haul while we waited for the movers and Jake to arrive. Jake arrived from VFS really quickly and walked us up to the place. The views are to die for. We face east across the city and can see all the way to the mountains. We have floor to ceiling windows along the whole wall with several window sections that open to let in the air. There's no central air since the city is usually so cool. It made for a warm afternoon of moving. We unpacked Max's car and brought everything upstairs. Jake left to go back to classes. The movers weren't coming until later, so the rest of us went out for lunch. There was a cute place called Moxie's just across the street so we headed there.
Hurried on our way back so we wouldn't miss the movers. Of course, we did miss the movers. The initial booking with the movers was from noon to three. We found out we had to book the freight elevator, which could only be done from nine to noon or from one to four. Since we would still be in border crossing at nine, we opted for the one to four slot. When I called the movers back, they assured me that they had adjusted the reservation and would be at the apartment at one pm to move us in. Yet I had voice mails to tell me they arrived at noon, waited for an hour, and left. :| ... Through a series of phone calls which went better than I could have ever imagined, we were told the movers would be back in 10 minutes and that we would still have three hours. The elevator, however, was still only reserved until four pm.
Those movers who showed up were powerful wizards wielding only the most impressive skills. We had to station ourselves across the tower, dads helping to unload the U-Haul, Max operating the elevator to get the movers up and down, and myself in the apartment to direct the boxes and furniture. It was almost 1:45 when we started, so everyone was on a time crunch. The apartment was slightly smaller than I had anticipated, so there was some delicate negotiating of furniture which needed to happen. The boxes quickly filled up every single inch of space. The queen bed we took from Max's parents barely squeezed into the main bedroom. Thankfully we still had room for our nice dressers and a floor lamp on the far side of the bed.
Couches. Oh boy. We have two couches now, one a full-sized, and one an odd shaped love seat. The smaller couch belongs to my dad's family. It was his mom's, and then he took it after he left home, and then he gifted it to me when I got my first apartment. I had it recovered in a darling blue and white plaid. It looks like a wimpy little couch. Many a friend has tried to lift it. Yet it is a pure beast. It's made of solid steel (ok, solid wood) and has the most framing I've ever seen in a couch. It isn't a hideaway bed, but might as well have been since it weighs so much. The movers handled this one beautifully. They brought it up first, however, which means it had to stand on end in the corner of the living room so they could bring the other couch and the rest of the living room furniture in. This brings us to the other couch. It's eight feet long with a tall back and deep seating. Our walls are about 8 1/2 feet tall... Then you take door frames, entry hallways, and light fixtures into account. We were all whispering silent prayers that this couch would magically appear in the apartment. The movers made it into the elevator with the couch. The movers made it all the way down the hallway with the couch. The movers needed us to disassemble the automatic closing latch on the door. Then the incredibly talented pair of movers from heaven brought that couch into the apartment and placed it in the living room like the true champions they are. It was a beautiful thing to witness.
The security guard came around at 4:00 pm on the dot. We had the last mattress in the elevator, and the only other piece was the big dresser. Thankfully he let us hurry up with the dresser while he did the ending inspection of the hallway to make sure we hadn't put holes into any of the walls.
It was a long day. That I know for sure. When the movers left, we all sat down on different parts of furniture and released a synchronized exhale. We had made it. We had arrived and unpacked and everything fit in the apartment. We didn't know how to get back to the front door through the forest of boxes, but at least all those boxes were in the confines of the apartment.
After everyone regained consciousness, we regretfully resigned to the fact that we still had a few obligations. We mustered up the energy and made our way downstairs. We had to return the darned U-Haul and then find some type of food. The U-Haul return location was just outside of downtown, so it didn't take too long. We said goodbye to Genghis and hurried into the car where seats that have suspension and doors that actually close. We managed to find a really good pizza place a few blocks away. Fatih's pizza is right in the middle of several other pizza places but smelled the best! They sell pizza by the HUGE slice. Two slices and a drink for only $4.50, which is one of the cheapest places we've seen around so far. The pizza was excellent and we sat outside on the patio to enjoy the breeze and the views.
It's been a good day.
LAST DAY OF DRIVING
OHMYGOSH WE'RE SO CLOSE AND WE'RE GOING TO BE IN VANCOUVER AND I CAN'T WAIT IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!
It was a good day of driving. We hit the end of the Rockies and then the Cascades, but the Cascades are much less trying.
We thought we were driving through Seattle when we came out on the other side of the Cascades.... The extreme lack of a Space Needle should have been a bigger hint. Then wen looked at a map, and realized we were moving through Bellevue, not Seattle...
That's ok, it was still pretty.
Speaking of which, the hotel we're staying in tonight is AMAZING!!! We're staying in the Springhill Suites in Bellingham, Washington. It's only about 30 minutes south of the border which makes tomorrow the easiest driving day so far. The hotel has a desk area, a rain shower head, beautiful beds and an amazing breakfast spread!!
The anxiousness I had the day we left had evaporated. We're so close now it's finally becoming real. The sheer excitement of starting a new chapter has overwhelmed all my other senses. We're moving to another country to start out on this grand adventure. Max is chasing his dream, which is an unbelievable thing to witness. I'm so proud of him for having the courage to make this happen. He didn't let anything stand in his way to get here, just blazed on ahead toward this incredible goal. I'm going to sort out the job I want and rock my way through a company. We'll get married and become a whole new little family. We'll get to know the amazing city of Vancouver and fall madly in love with it.
I can't wait.
Across Wyoming and Montana
So close and yet still so far. This was the longest day of driving, which put us well across the country and much closer to Vancouver. It's still only Tuesday, with two more days to go, but we're well into the Rockies!
It was a rough day, though. Up and down the mountain slopes with an overstuffed U-Haul and a packed car with two bicycles mounted on the back. 10 1/2 hours of drive time, broken up with stops for food and gas made everyone a little grumpy. We left Rapid City at 8 am and didn't arrive in Missoula until after 10 pm.
At least Montana and Wyoming are beautiful states! The sky was bright and blue, stretched as far as the eye can see. There were gorgeous rivers, waterfalls, and fields of farming. We switched around this day. I got to drive the truck, which was quite an experience!
At least Montana and Wyoming are beautiful states! The sky was bright and blue, stretched as far as the eye can see. There were gorgeous rivers, waterfalls, and fields of farming. We switched around this day. I got to drive the truck, which was quite an experience!
We're so close! Only 8 hours of driving tomorrow, and then crossing the border on Thursday!!!!
To Rapid City!!
First real day of driving! We made it to St. Joseph's without any problem last night. The roads had been a little rainy, but nothing we couldn't handle. Max and I took the car and the dads took the trailer.
Today was longer. Max and Norm went in the truck and I was in the car with my dad. I slept through a good part of it.
We stopped in Sioux Falls for lunch, then pressed on. We didn't hardly notice passing through Omaha. We went around the east, on the Iowa side. We were in Iowa for a lot of the day. Moving on I-29 was slower than on I-90. After lunch, we took off across South Dakota.
That's a rough trip. South Dakota really is just a wasteland. The black hills are sort of cool... Nothing really overshadows the massive emptiness.
There's... that's.... really it....
Today was longer. Max and Norm went in the truck and I was in the car with my dad. I slept through a good part of it.
We stopped in Sioux Falls for lunch, then pressed on. We didn't hardly notice passing through Omaha. We went around the east, on the Iowa side. We were in Iowa for a lot of the day. Moving on I-29 was slower than on I-90. After lunch, we took off across South Dakota.
That's a rough trip. South Dakota really is just a wasteland. The black hills are sort of cool... Nothing really overshadows the massive emptiness.
There's... that's.... really it....
Monday, May 19, 2014
Extreme Tetris
We moved out of the Tulsa apartment on Sunday, May 11th, 2014.
Family started showing up around 8:30. Max's parents brought bagels and the U-Haul. My mom came for the kittens. She helped us wrangle them, gave hugs, and then said goodbye. The movers showed up exactly at 9 am, which was incredible. There were now 12 people in and out of the 750 square foot apartment. This was... a few...
Max's brothers and mom stayed largely downstairs at the picnic table between two of the buildings. The two dads helped carry some things and tie down the additions into the U-Haul. The two movers were absolutely incredible! They packed that truck from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. When they first arrived, I asked if they though everything would fit. They were unsure and didn't want to make any promises. The Burgess clan had reserved an additional 5' x 8' trailer for us just in case things got out of control.
The first thing the movers had to do was unload everything that came up from Frisco. This included a couch, two headboard sets, a queen mattress set, a bookshelf, a box with some goodies in it, a lamp stand, and a reclining chair in two pieces. Then there was everything Max and I already owned. Which is a lot. I mean, a ton of stuff.
Three hours went by of running up and down the stairs, trying to make sure we packed everything, trying not to freak out when we had to repack another area of the truck. For me there were a few really tough moments.
We bought a big scratching post for our kittens when we brought Amelia home. She loved the hell out of it. Loki also went crazy for it. They loved racing up and down the thing, chasing each other off and playing king of the hill. It's the only scratching post we have that Amelia will use. It's been a huge part of their home. It wouldn't fit in the truck. It took up too much space that we needed for boxes and other things. Everyone started to say that we should just leave it in a dumpster instead of taking it. As a kid who moved around a lot, I know the value of always having a bit of home with you. I wanted this to be the anchor piece for the kittens. Something familiar to have in the new city. It broke my heart to take it out of the truck. Thankfully, my parents were able to take it to their house, so it's not gone at least. It's still tough on me that I wasn't able to bring that along for them.
At the very end, seeing the completely empty apartment freaked me out. I had spent so much time down in the trenches of planning the move that the actual fact of leaving the country hadn't sunk in yet. Now all of our stuff was packed and there was nothing we could do to stop it. All of our friends were gone, we only know a single person in Vancouver, and I've never even been to the city. I'd wanted out of Tulsa for a long time, but now it was real and I was in full on panic. I know we are doing the right thing. It's just tough to leave everything you know behind.
Everything fit in the U-haul. By some miracle of miracles, we didn't need the 5' x 8'. Max's car was more loaded than I would have preferred, but I think the drive will still go fine. We'll just have to walk to dinners or send two people out to bring food back.
Here goes nothing.
Family started showing up around 8:30. Max's parents brought bagels and the U-Haul. My mom came for the kittens. She helped us wrangle them, gave hugs, and then said goodbye. The movers showed up exactly at 9 am, which was incredible. There were now 12 people in and out of the 750 square foot apartment. This was... a few...
Max's brothers and mom stayed largely downstairs at the picnic table between two of the buildings. The two dads helped carry some things and tie down the additions into the U-Haul. The two movers were absolutely incredible! They packed that truck from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. When they first arrived, I asked if they though everything would fit. They were unsure and didn't want to make any promises. The Burgess clan had reserved an additional 5' x 8' trailer for us just in case things got out of control.
The first thing the movers had to do was unload everything that came up from Frisco. This included a couch, two headboard sets, a queen mattress set, a bookshelf, a box with some goodies in it, a lamp stand, and a reclining chair in two pieces. Then there was everything Max and I already owned. Which is a lot. I mean, a ton of stuff.
Three hours went by of running up and down the stairs, trying to make sure we packed everything, trying not to freak out when we had to repack another area of the truck. For me there were a few really tough moments.
We bought a big scratching post for our kittens when we brought Amelia home. She loved the hell out of it. Loki also went crazy for it. They loved racing up and down the thing, chasing each other off and playing king of the hill. It's the only scratching post we have that Amelia will use. It's been a huge part of their home. It wouldn't fit in the truck. It took up too much space that we needed for boxes and other things. Everyone started to say that we should just leave it in a dumpster instead of taking it. As a kid who moved around a lot, I know the value of always having a bit of home with you. I wanted this to be the anchor piece for the kittens. Something familiar to have in the new city. It broke my heart to take it out of the truck. Thankfully, my parents were able to take it to their house, so it's not gone at least. It's still tough on me that I wasn't able to bring that along for them.
At the very end, seeing the completely empty apartment freaked me out. I had spent so much time down in the trenches of planning the move that the actual fact of leaving the country hadn't sunk in yet. Now all of our stuff was packed and there was nothing we could do to stop it. All of our friends were gone, we only know a single person in Vancouver, and I've never even been to the city. I'd wanted out of Tulsa for a long time, but now it was real and I was in full on panic. I know we are doing the right thing. It's just tough to leave everything you know behind.
Everything fit in the U-haul. By some miracle of miracles, we didn't need the 5' x 8'. Max's car was more loaded than I would have preferred, but I think the drive will still go fine. We'll just have to walk to dinners or send two people out to bring food back.
Here goes nothing.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Then the party started
After the graduation ceremony, we had to meet up with our family. This was the trickiest part of the day. They released the graduates in no semblance of order. We bled onto the plaza outside of the stadium, some people doing that incredible thing where they stop in the doorway because, hell, they've made it mostly outside. We'd made plans with our friends to meet in the lobby of the music building, which is just far enough away to be out of the chaos, but close enough to not make older relatives super cranky. We'd of course forgotten about our own families though.
Girls with no pockets begin producing phones, hats, jackets, banners. I mean, I know where a girl with no pockets stores her carry on items, but some of these were extreme! I had nothing to produce but a cell phone, and I'd requested Max store it in his actual pockets since guys really got the better end of that exchange. I had messages from parents directing me down to the base of the gym. Great! I knew exactly where that was! Getting there was the tricky part. Fighting through streams and hoards of families, winding up in a lot of family photos, pissing off lots of grandmas. All in a days work, really. But it certainly is tough work.
Eventually we spotted our family and made quick work of shoving people out of the way to get there. Parents were snapping pictures and shouting about "now this relative, no not your uncle, your cousin." My parents were hosting an "open house" lunch/party for the two of us. It started at 1 pm, and since I'd believed the ceremony would be done by 10:30, I was mildly overwhelmed to think of all the goodbyes I now had to cram into the time between noon and 1! We traipsed over to the bell tower once again for some pictures ringing the bell in our full regalia. Then it was back over to the music building to get the group shots with those who we spent most of the last four years with. Thankfully everyone was still there! We did photo after photo and hug after hug.
There's really no accurate way to describe the feeling of graduating college and leaving all your friends. You feel elated because the four years of hard work are finally over and you're (hopefully) starting a grand new adventure in your life, be it job, more school, or a travelling adventure. Fear, because of the exact same reason. This is the first time you'll really have to fend for yourself. Sure, sure, you were "on your own" in college. But there was a cafeteria, very few, if any, bills. You were even with all of your friends, so you were all "on your own" together. It's the last time in your life where you will be surrounded by people who are in the same season of life as you. That shit's scary. Then you have to walk away from these great friends you made. Goodbyes are never easy, especially with friendships made so quickly and so meaningful.
Once we wrapped up the goodbyes, Max and I headed to a local hotel to meet up with our families. The parents were throwing us a party/open house sort of deal. They'd booked one of the big rooms, ordered from Rib Crib, and decorated like nobody's business. Ross and Britelle brought their families, which made it even better! Charlie compiled a slideshow of tiny Maxwell and I from pictures provided by the moms. Sadly, the hotel lied about it's technology, so we viewed it on his laptop instead of projecting it. Still it blew our socks off! They'll continue to search for and add the most embarrassing pictures to have at the wedding, which will be amazing.
After the lunch was over, Max and I headed back to the apartment. His brothers went with him, and I brought Julie back with me. Everybody met our delightful kittens! Loki is finally bigger than Amelia! She topped out around 8 1/2 lbs and Loki finally made it up to about 11 1/2! The funniest part was that Max and I had no idea he was so big until the vet weighed him! It was nice for the kittens to get to meet everyone before we moved.
I had dinner with my dad's family. I took them downtown to Elote for some puffy tacos! Then we went over to Mod's for gelato. It was really great to spend some time with dad's family. They haven't all been together since Matthew's funeral, so it was amazing to gather on a positive note.
When I got back with Max's brothers, they were at El Guapo's wrapping up dinner. We wandered around looking for a calm place for drinks, but wound up just back at the hotel to play some Avalon.
Having such a joyous celebration with family and friends was just what I needed. It's been a lot of heart break for a while, it was time for an uptake. This is a new chapter of our life. A new beginning. A huge adventure. Let's get the party started.
Once we wrapped up the goodbyes, Max and I headed to a local hotel to meet up with our families. The parents were throwing us a party/open house sort of deal. They'd booked one of the big rooms, ordered from Rib Crib, and decorated like nobody's business. Ross and Britelle brought their families, which made it even better! Charlie compiled a slideshow of tiny Maxwell and I from pictures provided by the moms. Sadly, the hotel lied about it's technology, so we viewed it on his laptop instead of projecting it. Still it blew our socks off! They'll continue to search for and add the most embarrassing pictures to have at the wedding, which will be amazing.
After the lunch was over, Max and I headed back to the apartment. His brothers went with him, and I brought Julie back with me. Everybody met our delightful kittens! Loki is finally bigger than Amelia! She topped out around 8 1/2 lbs and Loki finally made it up to about 11 1/2! The funniest part was that Max and I had no idea he was so big until the vet weighed him! It was nice for the kittens to get to meet everyone before we moved.
I had dinner with my dad's family. I took them downtown to Elote for some puffy tacos! Then we went over to Mod's for gelato. It was really great to spend some time with dad's family. They haven't all been together since Matthew's funeral, so it was amazing to gather on a positive note.
When I got back with Max's brothers, they were at El Guapo's wrapping up dinner. We wandered around looking for a calm place for drinks, but wound up just back at the hotel to play some Avalon.
Having such a joyous celebration with family and friends was just what I needed. It's been a lot of heart break for a while, it was time for an uptake. This is a new chapter of our life. A new beginning. A huge adventure. Let's get the party started.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Ooooooo Friday
Kind of a long day. Max's parents came into town last night, and mine where heading into town later in the afternoon.
Carol and Norm messaged me to ask if they could come help pack. All I had left was the kitchen, but it still seemed drastically overwhelming. Plus I had 8 am lunch with an old friend and then 10 am workout with Britelle, so I was a little tight on time. Breakfast was amazing! It's so great to have good moments with great friends. Carol and Norm showed up just as I got back from downtown. They packed like champions, finding the odds and slightly bigger ends that didn't have a home box yet (our printer...).
Workout was really good. I've thoroughly enjoyed having gym time 3 days a week. I've never been an athletic person, but working out with a partner in a directed manner specifically for my body has been amazing. It was sadly our last workout. There were no actual tears, but we got to pick the exercises! We did bench presses, and I pressed 65 lbs! Then we did sled work outside for the first time. We did just regular drags with about 60 lbs on them, then backwards jump/pull things which are impractical to describe without visuals. The final thing we did was flip the largest tire in the gym!! It weighs 263 lbs and we each flipped it 6 times on our own!
Max was back from a quasi-final when I got home. His parents had finished packing up the kitchen, which was a huge relief for me. It gave us time to relax a little before things got too crazy.
My parents, Matt and Bev, showed up with my Aunt around 3. They spent some time with us and the kittens. We all looked through the engagement pictures we had taken the weekend before. Then they went out to their hotel.
Max was having dinner with his family at 5:30, and mine was doing dinner at 7. Thankfully, Max and I were not intended to be at each dinner.
My mom's family and dad's family met up at Ruby Tuesday's for a graduation dinner. I split the table, with my mom's to the left and dad's to the right. Aunt Lydia, Aunt Michal, Uncle David, Aunt Rhonda, Grandmother, and Grandfather were all there, as well as my Uncle Mark and Aunt Peg and Aunt Kim and Uncle Ed. My parents gave me a beautiful diploma frame and my class ring! Jostens messed up on the rings for the entire school, putting the wrong stone in the middle. It's supposed to be a deeper sapphire, but they put in a light blue stone. I also accidentally filled out the form wrong, asking for "MS" on the side instead of "BS!" So we'll see if I can get it redone correctly... Hopefully more to come on that later!!
The best gift of the night was from Dad. He gave me a leather portfolio with "ICDI" embossed on the front. When I was little, that was my mantra - "Daddy, I can do it." It was just what I needed. A reminder and vote of confidence from my father that I can do anything I set my mind to. I'm starting to get a little anxious about moving to Vancouver, and this was a great reminder of the courage I had as a small child.
I had to leave that dinner early in order to meet Max's Nana for dessert. It was a blessing to meet her as she will not be able to attend the wedding. It was also Hillary's birthday! So our cake was a combination celebration! The most exciting part is that Hillary and Charlie are expecting a little girl!! She's due a couple weeks after the wedding, so hopefully everything will go smoothly and the baby will be on time!!
Carol and Norm messaged me to ask if they could come help pack. All I had left was the kitchen, but it still seemed drastically overwhelming. Plus I had 8 am lunch with an old friend and then 10 am workout with Britelle, so I was a little tight on time. Breakfast was amazing! It's so great to have good moments with great friends. Carol and Norm showed up just as I got back from downtown. They packed like champions, finding the odds and slightly bigger ends that didn't have a home box yet (our printer...).
Workout was really good. I've thoroughly enjoyed having gym time 3 days a week. I've never been an athletic person, but working out with a partner in a directed manner specifically for my body has been amazing. It was sadly our last workout. There were no actual tears, but we got to pick the exercises! We did bench presses, and I pressed 65 lbs! Then we did sled work outside for the first time. We did just regular drags with about 60 lbs on them, then backwards jump/pull things which are impractical to describe without visuals. The final thing we did was flip the largest tire in the gym!! It weighs 263 lbs and we each flipped it 6 times on our own!
Max was back from a quasi-final when I got home. His parents had finished packing up the kitchen, which was a huge relief for me. It gave us time to relax a little before things got too crazy.
My parents, Matt and Bev, showed up with my Aunt around 3. They spent some time with us and the kittens. We all looked through the engagement pictures we had taken the weekend before. Then they went out to their hotel.
Max was having dinner with his family at 5:30, and mine was doing dinner at 7. Thankfully, Max and I were not intended to be at each dinner.
My mom's family and dad's family met up at Ruby Tuesday's for a graduation dinner. I split the table, with my mom's to the left and dad's to the right. Aunt Lydia, Aunt Michal, Uncle David, Aunt Rhonda, Grandmother, and Grandfather were all there, as well as my Uncle Mark and Aunt Peg and Aunt Kim and Uncle Ed. My parents gave me a beautiful diploma frame and my class ring! Jostens messed up on the rings for the entire school, putting the wrong stone in the middle. It's supposed to be a deeper sapphire, but they put in a light blue stone. I also accidentally filled out the form wrong, asking for "MS" on the side instead of "BS!" So we'll see if I can get it redone correctly... Hopefully more to come on that later!!
The best gift of the night was from Dad. He gave me a leather portfolio with "ICDI" embossed on the front. When I was little, that was my mantra - "Daddy, I can do it." It was just what I needed. A reminder and vote of confidence from my father that I can do anything I set my mind to. I'm starting to get a little anxious about moving to Vancouver, and this was a great reminder of the courage I had as a small child.
I had to leave that dinner early in order to meet Max's Nana for dessert. It was a blessing to meet her as she will not be able to attend the wedding. It was also Hillary's birthday! So our cake was a combination celebration! The most exciting part is that Hillary and Charlie are expecting a little girl!! She's due a couple weeks after the wedding, so hopefully everything will go smoothly and the baby will be on time!!
And on Wesnesday, they rested
I’ve gotten a ton of packing done. The projects are wrapping up and family won’t be here for a couple more days. Today is for relaxing. It’s for my Hulu queue and by cats. I’m really going to miss them. They’re going to stay with my mom in Dallas for a couple of weeks while we drive up to Vancouver. Then we’ll fly them up after our friends’ wedding at the end of May.
Countdown
There are four days left until graduation. It’s been quite the semester for Max and me.
To start everything off, Max was told that all of his band credits did not actually contribute to his hour count for his degree. Every music ensemble is listed as a one hour credit course. This includes fall marching band, spring concert band as well as orchestra and jazz band both semesters. The rule for the ENS College is that only three of these one-hour music classes may count toward your degree. Admittedly, this is stated in very fine print in the course listing book printed every two years, and has been since before we enrolled for the first time. Yet no one had brought this rule to Max’s attention until he filed for a grad check. This meant he was 8 credit hours short of a diploma. He scrambled and got two three-hour independent studies together with the music department during the spring semester. But there are still two hours he has to finish from off-campus this summer with the head of the CS department.
Then there was our Compiler Construction project. I’ve already spent way too much time covering that, and you can read more about it here.
We still had finals and papers and group projects. Computer Science kids do not work well on group work together. There is a key distinction between everyone collaborating on solutions to individual assignments and everyone trying to work simultaneously on one single project. The difference is no one touches your code on individual assignments. They can straighten out an issue in their code and then show you how they did it, then you can modify yours based off of that. On group projects, you are dealing with different coding styles, personalities, and work ethics. I had a team whose prime coding hours were 2 to 6 am. Those are my prime sleeping hours. So I’d wake up every morning to see that they’d redone some of my work or completely changed a methodology. Not the easiest thing to do.
Now we’re packing like mad. We have graduation on Saturday, May 10th, at 9 am. We have to be checked out of our apartment by 3 pm on Sunday the 11th, so that doesn’t allow much packing/relaxation time this weekend. Plus we have oodles of family coming into town. Most of my mom’s family, all of my dad’s, and all of Max’s. It’s going to be chaotic.
I’m really excited right now. We have our apartment ready to go, our passports in order, our U-Haul truck booked, and all our hotel reservations for the four day trip up there. Here’s the plan on that front:
Sunday, May 11th: Pack up the U-Haul and head north to St. Joseph, MO. It’ll only be about a 5 hour drive for the first day. Easy roads and good weather.
Monday, May 12th: Drive northwest from St. Joseph to get to Rapid City, SD. This might be a tougher day. It’ll be about 9 hours behind the wheel, but the plains can get pretty windy. At least there’s no mountains yet.
Tuesday, May 13th: Continue northwest all the way up to Missoula, MT. It’ll be the longest, toughest day. 10 ½ hours of drive time, plus stops for food and gas. We’ll also be knee deep in the Rocky Mountains. No easy feat for a U-Haul.
Wednesday, May 14th: Last real day of driving! Go due west and then north from Missoula to Bellingham, WA. It’s the closest city to the border that’s still really a city. Plus it’s only an 8 ½ hour drive. Still some mountains, both the Rockies and the Cascades, but not nearly as bad as Tuesday.
Thursday, May 15th: Crossing the border! We’ll hit the border first thing in the morning. I’m not anticipating any troubles at the border, but we want a decent time buffer just in case. We won’t have to unpack the U-Haul, which will make things easier. Then on into the city and the apartment!!!! We have movers coming at 1 pm to take everything up to the 30th floor!!
God does laugh at the best laid plans, so we’ll see how everything goes. Since all of that is as well prepared as it can possibly be, the goal now is to finish the packing! I wanted to start three weeks ago, but thankfully Maxwell talked me out of it!
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