On The Road Again
Pics of the Day ~ My Favorite Picture of Ethan so far and Becca in the tub with a Popcycle! ~
Ok … I really cannot keep it all inside anymore. Blogging and keeping “secrets” is totally hard to do!
Here is the deal.
More than anything, J & I wanted to return our family back to Canada. J applied for all the academic positions that were posted in Canada this year, but due to a lot of qualified competition, it did not pan out.
In the meantime, J being the uber provider that he is, starting looking at alternatives without giving up on the ultimate goal of a position in Canada at a university. Through a series of events (it is so who you know not always what you know), J began pursuing a second post-doctoral position in Los Alamos.
There is a National Lab, located in Los Alamos. Most famous for *~gasp~* the development of the atomic bomb, many moons ago. Now a days it is not geared towards the mass destruction of our planet, instead the lab is a great facility for researchers.
As you know J, jetted over to New Mexico the days proceeding the birth of our son. The interview was a success! Well not “officially”. We have to wait for American government approval (since we are Canadian there is an up to 45 day waiting period for said approval) before receiving an “official” offer from the Lab.
Yet, J has been awarded a Fellowship Award that would enhance his standing at the National Lab, as well as (now this is to the best of my understanding, the world of Chemistry is friking confusing at the best of times) award him extra funding to attend Chemistry conferences, books and educational materials. His future “unofficially as of yet”, boss has submitted applications for not only this Fellowship but another that would place him in even better standing. I am not sure how much this makes sense to the non-science people. Fellowships=Good Reputation and great for J’s resume in the future.
J is very excited about the the work/research at the lab. That is very important to me. My husband’s work happiness is why we have sacrificed a “normal” life and have left our beautiful country. Los Alamos is a very small town. J is moving us from the hub of the universe to a 1 Starbucks town. No Target, one grocery store … small town. There appears to be a yarn shop there (phew!) and Sante Fe is a mere 3/4 hour drive away (I drive that knit every week in bad traffic! hehe).
We are not totally sure when we are hitting the open road, however it appears as though late June, early July is when we leave. I have not given this move a lot of thought. I kept saying I was going to have the baby first then deal with moving. Now we are going to wait for an official offer before I am going to get in a tizzy. However, J being awarded a Fellowship through the lab, and his future boss going to all this effort for him … things are looking pretty positive.
This life is never dull. I am going to miss my friends here so very much. My intention is to cram in as much time with them as humanly possible until we leave. We are also going to have Becca’s 3rd early so she can enjoy it with her friends. UGH … I want to go, start the new chapter in our lives … but leaving is always so hard to do … starting over … ugh. I’ll talk kids next time … it felt good to share this 
Awesome! Congrats to J! That might be a nice change for you from the crazy California life.
That’s amazing!!!! So very happy for you all!!! New Mexico could be a nice change of pace… new things to discover, new places to explore. Plus, lower cost of living!
How exciting!!! Moving and leaving your friends will be stressful but it sounds like a great opportunity for J and you will no doubt settle in quickly! I was reading your projcted date to leave and thought “wow that is soon” and then I thought “but man, I am leaving even sooner than that.. really need to get my butt in gear!” I have been thinking that I would get Joey`s birthday party out of the way, then I will focus on moving and you were putting off thinking about it (and rightfully so) until Ethan was born! Your reason seems alot more valid than mine!!!
No Target?! You are some kind of dedicated.
Endings and beginings are happy and sad but also filled with great promise and hope for the future. With the internet and mail order in a small town the world comes to you. You’ll find your niche there like you have in California and I look forward to sharing it with you here in Australia.
aha! So is that why you’ve been ignoring my question the last few times I posted asking when J would hear anything about the NM interview/job?! LOL Congrats to J! That is awsome! I know you both really wanted to go back to Canada, and I’m sorry that didn’t work out for you guys…but it sounds like this will be great for Js career! and hey! Hopefully we’ll be able to meet up … I think Kayla and Becca would totally hit it off and have a blast together! We live in a small town too with no target and no starbucks!
we MUST get together BEFORE you go anywhere. DJ and I will make the trip to come and see you!!!!!!! i’m free until June~
Pick a date, email me! I wanna see you guys in person 
:)
Change is always so exciting! Good luck.
Congrats! I look forward to hearing about all your New Mexico adventures.
When you start to consider Canada again, please think about Alberta. There are lots of research opportunities in Edmonton (Alberta Research Council etc.) and the UofA is always expanding. Plus that’s where we want to move back to… Hint hint!
You sound overjoyed! I am so happy for you too…Sounds like a great opportunity for J! He is one smart fella huh?
New Mexico is some beautiful land…I can’t wait to hear all about those adventures…
Hey, congrats to J! New Mexico is filled with exciting things to discover, and the people are wonderful. The pics are adorable!
Oh, congrats to J and your family! I lived in Albuquerque for 2 years and it was pretty fun. I traveled to Santa Fe a lot for work and that’s a fun town with lots of artsy shops and such. I think you guys will enjoy Los Alamos and Sante Fe! And I’m trying to think….I believe Santa Fe has a Target, if not Albuquerque does and Albuquerque is only 45 minutes from Santa Fe.
Well that all sounds very exciting and scary all wrapped up in 1. Your J must be one heck of a smarty good for him!!
I am so excited for you! I live in a one Starbucks town and can pretty much walk to wherever I absolutely need to go. I think you will love it. These kinds of towns tend to be very child oriented. Change is so exciting and you have a beautiful attitude toward life!
Sounds exciting! I’m sure you will make loads of new friends quickly!
I have no idea about science stuff, but it sounds exciting! Hope it all goes well and maybe you guys can get back up to Canada in the future!
Wow! That is some news. I hope that you will be able to return to Canada at some point in the not to distant future… but at least you will have lots of adventures along the way.
Moving sounds exciting and scary all in one. We want to move in late June/Early July too, to the East coast but I’m terrified of being away from family. We would be a minimum of 8 hours away from ALL friends and family. But I’m sure you know the feeling. How do you deal with it all? How do you get through it? Maybe this will convince me that it really is time to pack up and leave.
Oh BTW, enter my Fruity Cheerios giveaway if you get a chance!
Yay! That sounds like such a great opportunity!
Moving is so totally fun and so very frightening at the same time. A friend of mine was hoping to get back to Canada last year but settled for Wisconsin (it got her more north then she was!). One Starbucks wouldn’t be so bad for me - but no Target! Yikes!
Oh and Sante Fe is beautiful, I love the southwest though.