Yes, it's true - we're moving to England!

For the second time in my life I will be living in jolly England*. I've taken a post-doctoral research position at the University of Exeter. I'm really excited about the work and who I'll be working with, and Chris and I are excited about the adventure of living abroad for a while.

Details are still fuzzy because the University was on break last week (random week-long breaks in February are a good sign). I've been told I can start working from Colorado and move a few weeks later. Which is good because we have A TON to do before moving, not least of which is sell (or rent) our home and my car, and find a home for our cats, and sell/give away about 90% of our things (since the new job isn't paying relocation, we're only bringing the essentials and stocking up on the rest at Ikea once we get there). I also have a few papers I'd like to get submitted from my PhD and other loose ends to tie up with my research. My desk at work still looks like I live there, so maybe one day I will tidy up my office, too. Oh, and the position lasts until the end of 2013 - but that is about all I know!!

I'm not sure what type of visa I'll have yet, but we're hoping that Chris can work too if he wants. We sent off for Emmaline's passport the other day. Both Chris and I had to be present - I guess they don't want one parent taking a baby out of the country without the other's knowledge. That's a sad situation :(. Anyway, the hardest part was getting a good photo of her. Here's a montage of all the pictures Chris took. I adore some of the faces she is making. She looks downright evil in one of them - not a very convincing passport photo. Anyway, I'll try to keep the blog up-to-date as this adventure unfolds (although I will have to change the name once we move)!

* The first time was right after college, when my best friend Kristi and I spent 4-1/2 months in Oxford working at Starbucks.

Update

A lot has happened in the past two weeks, and more excitement is around the corner. In chronological order:

- I had a phone interview for a job in Exeter, England but haven't heard back so I'm losing hope for that one.
- I went to Urbana-Champaign to visit the atmospheric science department for a potential post-doc. While there, I found out I got the NASA post-doc fellowship I applied for, to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (LA). And Chris got invited for an interview for a job in Boulder.
- We had a relaxing weekend at home and threw a low-key baby shower for some friends.
- Our cat Nora had surgery to remove a mass of rubberbands in her stomach.
- I got invited for an interview at Scripps Oceanic Institute in San Diego.
- I came to Pasadena for two days to meet the people I would be working with.
- Emmaline began to crawl!
- I met Chris' aunt, uncle, and cousins for the first time (after 8 years of marriage!), although I've met one of his cousins Mary before. We watched old home videos of Chris wearing short shorts with suspenders when he was 8 :)

Now I'm spending the weekend in Pasadena with a friend, and heading to San Diego on Sunday for the interview at Scripps. I'm sad to be away from home for another six days. Chris and I will probably decide on our next step soon - depending on how each of our upcoming interviews go. Life has been very interesting lately, but I will be happy when we know what we're doing next.