The Decision of All Decisions

My End of the Story -- Carrie 

The Decision

It all began right before Thanksgiving 2011. No this is not some fantasy novel in which I find that I have magical powers, or use a closet to travel between alternate realities. John and I had been in Boston for almost two years. We loved the outdoor activities and art scene available to us in the Northeast, but knew Boston wasn't the place we wanted to spend the rest of our lives. I am in the midst of pursuing my Master's in Fine Arts. My program enables me to live and work wherever so long as I can travel to Vermont twice a year in order to present work to my colleagues. So as John's post-doctorate position at Boston University came to a crossroads of either begin new research projects or move on, we decided to consider the possibility of change. John came to me one night beaming with excitement. He found the perfect job! Oh yea, it was in Australia. He asked me if I thought it wise for him to apply. Could we honestly see ourselves moving around the world if he got the job? I said sure. We can do anything, right? It feels as if a minute went by. All of a sudden we were getting letters of support from family members to help our visa application process, we put everything up for sale, and began the moving process. We're moving to Australia!

Summer Plans

The decision to move to around the world was quickly followed by questions of when do we move. My school is designed such that I travel to Vermont twice a year for intensive 10-day residencies and follow it up with a six-month semester at 'home' working with someone in my area. It worked best with my school schedule that I stay in the states until after I travel to Vermont in early August (currently here!). In addition to that, prior to knowing about Australia, I had promised one of my dearest friends from college, that I would be in her wedding in September 2012. John also wanted to spend a bit of time with family prior to moving around the world. We decided that John would make the trip and begin work on July 30th and I would follow him in early September. Our move from Boston happened in late May. Our plan was to stay with our parents, me in Illinois and John in Michigan, for the summer. We drove to Illinois, went to a wedding and then began our summer excursions. Here are some pictures from the last two months...

This is a photo form before we left Boston. While this didn't seem to fit into my above writing, it is still exciting and important to note... John and I got engaged this spring!! While we didn't plan to match our outfits on this wonderful day (the above photo is just after he asked me to marry him), we do intend to coordinate the rest of our lives in order to be together.

Right after getting to Illinois with our moving truck, John and I went to my cousin's wedding.

A photo from my sister, Kelly's surprise 30th birthday party. All of her close friends came in for a weekend winery tour in St. Louis, MO. Girls only! John did not join us.

John and I took a trip to Yosemite with his parents. It was a wonderful week of hanging out, hiking, and rock climbing.

We are about to climb in Yosemite!

John surprised me and made my engagement ring out of Rosewood. I made him one too. I think the rings are a perfect indicator for who we are as individuals, and they are beautiful.

The beginning of our first big climb in Yosemite. 1,000 ft later, we were tired!

One more Yosemite photo!

After Yosemite, John and I went our separate ways for a while, visiting families and such. We were fortunate enough to keep crossing paths. In a few days time, however, John will be making the trip to Sydney and I will stay behind for another month and a half. It will be exciting to hear his stories and anticipate joining him in our new home, Australia!

More to come soon. Cheers, Carrie.