Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Never Can Say Goodbye

A bittersweet goodbye to the old, and a tentative hello to the new. 

That basically sums up the past six months. 

Last August, Brian and I moved my things down to an apartment in Portland in preparation for the beginning of my graduate program in September. Not even a couple days later, Brian's company told him to pack his things and relocate to Seattle for six months. Brian and I packed enough to live in a hotel for a couple weeks, packed the kittens into the car, and headed to Seattle. Two weeks later, we returned to Spokane to pack up furniture for Brian's new apartment and attempt to get the house ready to sit for a little while. 

Needless to say, August was a pretty chaotic month. 

While Brian settled into his new job, I spent most of September hanging out in Seattle and trying to prepare for my first quarter of graduate school. 

Then, graduate school started. Oh. My. God. That first quarter really kicked my butt, just like everyone predicted. But, I survived, and things have been going much more smoothly last quarter and the beginning of this quarter. And, since Brian's in Seattle, we see each other pretty much every weekend since it's only a three hour drive as opposed to a 5-6 hour drive. 

Overall, everything really worked out for the best. Brian's in a much better position on this new project, so much so that they want to keep him on indefinitely! This is good news, since the job market for engineers in Seattle is significantly better than in Spokane. I'll also have more opportunities when I join him there after I'm done with my program. 

Oh, and I can't forget the most exciting thing that's happened: Brian bought a condo in West Seattle! After finding out that his job was pretty much permanent, we realized the mortgage on a condo would be less than if he were to rent. So I spent my winter break scouring the internet for condos and by chance found this awesome 2 bed, 2 bath condo for a steal! Ultimately, Brian jumped in and took a risk acquiring a second property, but we both think that it was well worth the risk. Especially since the day he closed on it the condo appraised at 20k over what he purchased it for! 

In sum, things are going really well for both of us and I'm excited for everything to come!