Coming to America - Back from Scotland

We've moved lots of times, but this particular move proved to be the most complicated of them all thanks to COVID.  All the things we thought we knew went out the window in these strange times and what we thought would be the usual 30 day turnaround on a relocation turned into nearly half a year before we finally found a place to call home.  

The first issue concerned packing.  Normally we would have a definitive time line on when our belongings would reach us on the other end.  Due to slowed ocean freight movements and rigorous inspection and sanitation processes, they were not able to give us an estimation on when we might have possession of our things back in the US.  So, we packed our suitcases as best we could.  What we didn't know at time is that the contents of these suitcases would be all we would have for nearly 5 months.  That information would have most definitely caused adjustments to my selection process, but hindsight is 20/20. 

Next, the normal journey home would have looked similar to our arrival, with a non-stop international flight directly from Edinburgh to New York.  Due to COVID, nearly all commercial travel across the Atlantic was suspended and flights were very limited and constantly getting canceled!  Since it does take some time to coordinator moving companies and freight carriers, we had two planned flight itineraries canceled prior to our actual departure.  Within the final week we were able to coordinate a plan that resulted in an extra-long return journey where we flew from Edinburgh to London, with an overnight stay at the hotel inside Hearthrow for an early morning departure.  

Home Sweet Home the British Version

After a long and agonizing 6 months, Brenna finished 6th grade and we finally made the final transition of our move to Scotland where we joined Jacob.  Life in Britain is starkly different than the life we knew in Texas.  When we moved to Canada things were different, of course, but it was more of a quirky new way of doing the same old things.  That is not the case here.  Even the simplest of tasks seem to be done in a completely different manner.  Laundry, grocery shopping, and driving (oh my, driving!) have all become much more complicated.  Because my unit is a washer/dryer combo (as in, it washes and drys in the same tub, not separately) it takes on average 6 hours to complete one load of laundry.  I walk a lot or take the bus.  I generally only drive to and from Brenna’s school.  The school is less than five miles from our house, yet it takes me an hour round trip every morning for drop off and usually longer every afternoon for pick-up.   The streets are extremely narrow and there are lots of hills and curves.  Bicycles and bus stops use the same lanes as motor vehicles, and pedestrians seem to be darting across streets everywhere!  Since the average speed is 30 mph it takes forever to go only a short distance and then when you’ve reached your destination, there’s no where to park, because in a old city like Edinburgh space comes at premium and no one is willing to waste it on a parking lot.  Fortunately, there’s a bus stop just a few steps from our house.  Buses are abundant and frequent and change for “bus money” has become a priority.  

Food has been another issue in this relocation.  I certainly can’t complain about the classic British dishes served up here.  The fish and chips are delicious and I’ve even managed to fit some haggis into my culinary adventures, although I could do without baked beans and black pudding on my breakfast plate.  But I miss Chick-fil-A, Popeye’s, and TexMex!  The comfort foods we love are nowhere to be found and neither are the ingredients.  I desperately miss Rotel tomatoes and Colby jack cheese and just this week a store clerk actually laughed at me when I asked him where to find the cornmeal.  What’s Grandmaw’s chicken pie without cornbread!

Communicating has proved challenging at times.  Just for me really, because Jacob and Brenna seem to get along just fine.  I have a much thinker accent than either of them and unfortunately my southern English does not always interpret well here.  Brenna is constantly stepping in for me at checkout stands and restaurants to relay my requests.  On the flip side, the Scottish accents can be very thick and there’s also Gaelic words mixed in.  Couple that with all the British slang phrases that I don’t understand and I frequently find myself wondering if we really are all speaking the same language! 

We live in a village just outside the city center.  We were very fortunate and found a peaceful little place on the Water of Leith (we’d say river) that backs up to the Pentland Hills.  The house is named The Aspect.  It's such a lovely location.  The house is actually below the street, so if you're looking from street level you'll only see a small parking area for our cars.  You take a few steps down to our front door.  Our little hill gives isolation and serenity from the busy street above.  Every morning I wake up to the view of fluffy sheep grazing over rolling hills of green pastures.  Our garden (or backyard, as we would call it) is filled with beautiful blooming flowers and bushes.  Since I don't have a green thumb, I hope they survive our stay here. 

While there's clearly been lots of changes, it's been an amazing experience so far.  Castles are plentiful and the landscape is beautiful.  We've got lots of travel planned and Brenna is excited to start school.

Coming Home!

As we approached the end of 2016, we patiently waited for insight into our next assignment.  Our work visa was set to expire on March 1st.  One of two things would need to happen at the start of 2017.  Either we would apply for an extension to our visa in order to stay in the country or we would be reassigned to another job and a move would happen.  While I enjoyed my time in Canada very much, I did not anticipate staying for longer than our original three-year visa.  Just before the Christmas holidays, the company made a request that we extend our visa, and suddenly I was faced with the possibility of continuing in Canada for another significant amount of time.  I was a little disappointed.  I had thought that we would be heading back down south.  But, I was thankful for the positive aspects.  We had a fantastic group of friends in Canada and Brenna enjoyed her time at Sarnia Christian School.  

Just after the first of the year, we began working on the paperwork for our visa extension.  I settled into the mindset that we were here for another long haul and then something unexpected happened.  In early February we found out that Jacob was being transferred to Houston.

The move plan was uncertain.  Jacob's effective date was April 1st, which complicated a school move.  Most schools in Houston finished in late May, so it didn't seem reasonable to transfer to a new school for only 6 weeks.  But our school in Canada continued until the very end of June, which we couldn't wait around that long for.  Jacob's schedule also complicated things, as we weren't able to get away for a housing hunting trip until the end of March.  Mom and Dad came up and kept Brenna while Jacob and I flew to Houston for a quick house hunting trip.  After a few days and some hard decisions we ended up buying a house that wasn't finished and wouldn't be complete until August.  That really threw a wrench into our plans.  

Canada, eh!

Oh my, where to begin?  Way back in October we received our first indication that a job transfer was in our future, expected sometime in early 2014.  Based on several factors, we initially thought we would be headed east to Baton Rouge.  So, for 4 months I searched the Baton Rouge real estate and researched schools with the anticipation that we would finish out Brenna's first grade year in Louisiana.  Christmas came and went with no further word on the new assignment.  Just when we were beginning to think that things may be slipping into the summer (which would have made for an easier move) we got the call.  Well, I got the call after Jacob got "the talk"!  The first day of February we got a big surprise!  We found out that the South would longer be our home!  Jacob was transferred to Imperial Oil in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada!  In 2013 ExxonMobil obtained 70 percent ownership of Imperial Oil and it falls under ExxonMobil's international trade name Esso.  Jacob was appointed as the Operation Manager of the Imperial Oil Chemical Plant effective March 1st!!!

And then our world was turned upside down!

To be honest, my initial reaction wasn't great!  All of you know I'm a planner and Canada was no where in my plan!  But, God knows better than I do, and oh boy did He have a plan for us!  After I had time to let the reality of the situation set in, I had no doubts that He was putting us where we needed to be, but this has been a practice of faith.  Between Jacob and me, the oil and gas industry has taken us from Mississippi to Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, and Texas.  But, this would be our first time out of the Southeast United States and the culture that we knew.

When we moved to Houston, Brenna wasn't even 2 years old and still very much a baby.  That move had no impact on her.  We've always been very honest with her about the fact that one day we would have to move.  With Jacob's job, movement is inevitable and while its not the kind of life he or I knew as children, it's the life we have.  When we broke the news to Brenna, of course her initial reaction was no better than mine!  LOL!  Can't really blame her for that!  But after talking things through she quickly picked up a positive attitude about the change.  Her biggest concern was leaving behind her friends.  We've grown so close to our "extended" family in Houston and I knew saying goodbye would be hard for both her and us.  But, we tried our best to look ahead to the new exciting changes that were coming.  Brenna has never seen snow and her favorite place is the beach.  Sarnia provides the best of both worlds for her.  Sarnia is located on one of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron.  So summers will be spent at the beach and obviously our winters will provide plenty of snow!  We even stopped in for a hockey game at Memorial City so Brenna could see the new (to us) sport of hockey.

Initially, there wasn't much we could do until Jacob's Visa was approved, so the first few weeks after we found out were spent preparing for the move.  It was a crazy race to purge the house of all unnecessary things.  The old saying is true, everything is bigger in Texas, especially the houses!  I knew that a portion of our stuff would have to be stored while we were away in Canada and that we would likely be downsizing.  After giving away, donating, and selling a ton of stuff, it was all to make room for a new bulky winter wardrobe!  My shopping suddenly included snow boots, snow pants, parkas, and insulating base layers!  Most of our winter clothes are now rated for 40 below!  And its a good thing too, because when the Visa was finally approved Jacob and I paid our first visit to Canada.  It was very cold and snowy!  It was a hectic week, but we manage to find a house and a school and get the basics set up for our permanent return in a few weeks.