The Story – Part 8

This brings us to the present. We are waiting for our temporary visa applications to be approved and in the meantime, we’re working on getting ready for the big move. We really can’t take much with us, so our first priority is to set aside what we do want to take, as that should take the least amount of time. Once we do that, we need to work on selling everything else. In fact, we’ve already sold a bunch since we lived at our last house. We had a few garage sales before we moved to Brooksville and were able to condense a lot of our belongings that way. We’ve donated a good chunk of our items, too. Now it’s time to sell the rest of our stuff and whatever is left, donate to the local thrift shop. Or take a ride to the dump, I have no problem getting rid of things that probably belonged in the garbage ages ago.

We’ve been extra busy these days seeing friends and family and saying goodbye to those closest to us. Its bittersweet. On the one hand, we’re seeing people left and right. We haven’t been this social since…college. It’s really a lot of fun. But it’s also sad when it gets to the point in the visit where you have to say goodbye, because we aren’t sure when we are going to see everyone again. We will come back to visit, we promise, but the airfare is expensive and we won’t be visiting very often, or very soon for that matter. One thing we’ve learned throughout this process is how many good friends we have, no matter the distance. We do feel very loved by those who have taken their time to come hangout with us before we leave. Of course it’s impossible to see everyone before we leave, so we hold no grudges if anyone wasn’t able to see us before our departure. Life happens, and we get it. We see you, and we love you the same.

I am going to use this blog to keep you in the loop on our journey. I know for the last few months I’d been rather silent on social media. It was for a good reason, and that reason is that I was completely focused on everything we had going on. When something big is going on, especially something that can generate a lot of opinions, I tend to back off from the “noise” (the noise being opinions, comments, advice–above and beyond what I’ve sought out myself, etc.) so that I can achieve the task at hand with the least amount of distraction possible. I also didn’t want to risk things going South and then having to explain it to everyone. But I think that’s normal, most people do wait a long time to announce big news. But here I am, ready to share our journey with you. And ready to embark in this exciting new chapter in the Cullum family life.