A 48 Hour Whirlwind

Lets start from the beginning. In order to do that we need to back up 48 hours. That's right, 48 hours. Not weeks, not a month, or something in between like I always pictured this happening. Two days.

Nathan was on a golf trip this weekend and set to return Sunday evening. Sunday morning I wake up to a text that saying, "We need to talk." Since we are newly married I knew he wasn't breaking up with me (as that text is often assumed) and I knew it was going to be some kind of news about a deal. However, in the past few months there has been a lot of "news" about deals, and lots of "talks" that we needed to have about various places. But every other discussion in the past few months has fallen through in some form or another. Something in my gut told me that this one was going to be different, but I still tried to remain calm and not get my hopes up. 

In the next few hours that passed we learned the details of an offer made by a team in Luxembourg. By the time Nathan got home there was not much left to discuss. We were apprehensive about a few things, but we learned (through a not so fun experience) that if you hesitate, the opportunity can disappear very quickly. So we accepted! Only one not so minor detail - they wanted him there ASAP. 

Nathan arrived back home around 3:30 Sunday evening. The team asked if he could leave tomorrow (Monday). He told them that was not enough time to even gather his belongings and get to the airport, much less say goodbye to his family, so they insisted on Tuesday. 

Needless to say the following 24 hours were a complete whirlwind of errand running, laundry, research, and packing. Imagine all the things you do and how much time it takes to prepare for a trip. Now imagine how much more you do for an international trip. Now imagine going on a 7 month international trip and knowing that once you arrive they don't make anything your size, so if you need it you better have it. 

Somehow we managed to pull it off. Nathan's life was condensed into 2 very large suitcases. He was able to spend time with his family, say goodbye to most of my family members, and squeeze in one last date with me. 

This afternoon, almost 48 hours exactly from Nathan deciding to accept the offer, he was on a plane departing from Houston to Luxembourg.

This opportunity is something we have been hoping and praying so hard for. I know that we are extremely lucky to have the chance to live this crazy lifestyle. However, that made it no easier to drop my husband off at international departures today. But instead of moping around in his shirt and easing my pain with french fries and chocolate ALL day, I decided to fill everyone in on whats going on! There are so many of you that we would have loved to tell our exciting news to personally, but honestly, our heads are still spinning.

I will be joining him in Luxembourg very shortly. I have to hang back to wrap up a few things, and gather anything he left behind. We also have to figure out my very complicated visa situation. We thought all of that would be easier now that we are married, but (surprise!) it is still very confusing and difficult to figure out. Plus, lets be real. I think its pretty obvious there is no way I could have packed to move to Europe in 24 hours.