Packing for the Foreign Service- "It's Our Move..."

Today was my last day of work- very sad. It doesn't feel like a last day, and I even forgot to turn in my work keys, so I'll be back. Haha. We had a happy hour for Elliott (a colleague of mine who is also heading out this week) and I...of course I forgot to take photos at the happy hour with other people, but here are a few from my last day.

Taking down my name placard

My sad looking, empty office- ready for Otha, the new advisor (I couldn't find a "before"photo, but if I do, I'll post it). 

Aside from preparing for my last days at work, the past few weeks, I have also been preparing for the move from Boulder to DC (and Jamaica).

Luckily, we do get quite a bit of support from the State Department. They will pack, move, and store all of our stuff (for the most part), so most of my work thus far has been sorting and purging. They gave us a booklet called "It's Your Move" that outlined the policies, recommendations, and how the whole packout process works. Hopefully I did everything correctly!!

The State Department divides our stuff into a few different categories that I had to sort things:

1. UAB (Unaccompanied Baggage)- these are things that we want more quickly upon arrival to our destination (at this time, to DC, but we'll do this again for Jamaica). Adam was allowed 250 lbs. to send to DC, which arrived about 3 weeks after he had moved there. Those items were things he wanted in DC, such as the Kitchenaid, blender, rice cooker, and Fall/Winter clothes. I get 200 lbs. of UAB, of which I hope to ship our pots/pans, knives, some shoes and clothing, hangers, some short-term scrapbooking items, a shredder, and a few other miscellaneous things. I'm worried I've gone over the 200 lbs, even though it doesn't look like much.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. HHE (Household Effects)- these are the things that we want either stored in DC or shipped to Jamaica. This includes things like furniture, linens & towels, kitchen goods, and in my case...way too much scrapbooking and crafting supplies. The challenge for me was that I needed to sort based on what we want for Jamaica but temporarily stored while we are in DC, and stuff that we want to store in the US while we are overseas. I've tried to group them as best as possible, but I am sure we'll end up having to do some minor sorting once more before we leave. I don't know where all this junk came from!
   
   
   
   
   Stuff going to storage (not Jamaica). Mostly scrapbook albums and camping/winter gear
   
   
   
   The majority of our junk that will be heading to Jamaica- too much stuff. We really need to cut it down some more.
   
   
   The State Department permits us to pack, ship, and store up to 18,000 lbs of HHE, but we are definitely not anywhere near that since we don't have furniture and are coming from a 2 bedroom apartment (versus others who might be moving from a 4 bedroom household). Of that 18,000 lbs maximum, we are permitted to ship 7,200 lbs of the HHE to Jamaica (I am anticipating we are well below that, even though I think we have a ton of junk- any guesses what our number will be?)- this does not include our car, which they will also ship.
3. Checked baggage (or in my case, baggage for my trunk since I'm driving)- I have a small amount of stuff that I am taking with me in the car on my drive to DC. That's right- I'm driving to DC so that we can have our car out there. I'm bringing clothes to last me about a few weeks, our important files, a laptop/laptop bag, my camera bag, and a box of food- because I simply can't throw food away. 

The movers arrive on Thursday morning, I hope to have the apartment cleaned up by Friday morning/afternoon, Mom and Dad fly in on Saturday, and we hit the road on Sunday! Another nice thing about the State Department- since they will have shipped off all my stuff including my bed,  I'll be staying in a hotel in Boulder from Thursday-Sunday. Less worries on my end!

Can't believe it is already time to head out! Not sure I'm ready to bid CU Boulder and Colorado farewell!

We are having a....

....baby girl!! I am not sure what the second photo is of, but apparently it was how they could tell. Right now the heartbeat is 154, and the baby weighs an estimated 10 oz!

The baby was all curled up in a ball so her feet were up by her face and they had a hard time getting the measurements needed for radiology and the doctors. Everything is looking normal other than my placenta is currently low-lying, so they said they'll have to check it later on in the pregnancy to make sure it isn't blocking the cervix. Hopefully as my uterus expands, the placenta will move up along with it.

I finally got my first set up maternity pants this past week- I was wearing dresses and a belly-band to wrap around my non-maternity unbuttoned pants, but finally decided that it would be more comfortable to at least have one set of jeans, shorts, and work slacks.

In terms of how I have been feeling- the first trimester I was tired a lot and had a week where I felt a little queasy and a week where I had bad heartburn. Otherwise, everything has been going well. I do have a hard time sleeping through the night- mostly because I wake up needing to use the restroom or feeling incredibly dehydrated.

A busy week with lots of big news! I fly out to DC tomorrow to see Adam!!

Flag Day!!

And we are headed to...

Kingston, Jamaica!!

Today was the Flag Ceremony Day where all the specialists in training found out their posts! Adam was guessing over the past week that we would end up with Jamaica and he was right! He shared that it seems everyone was very happy with their post assignment!

I was at work awaiting Adam's text since I couldn't be there in person (I hope he got some photos), and as soon as I got it, I was sharing with everyone else, including family, friends, and co-workers who were also waiting in anticipation for the news today!

As I look into more information about Kingston, Jamaica, it looks like it will be the perfect first post for us. Close and affordable enough for family and friends to come visit (and get to know little baby D in his/her first few years of life), a new cultural experience (we've never been to Jamaica), plenty of beautiful outdoor things to do in the area, and a smaller embassy where Adam might have more responsibilities. 

Get excited! And start planning for your visit! 

The List!

Last week Adam received the list of available posts that we could be sent to. There are 13 Information Management Specialists in his training group, and there are 13 posts on the list- one post for each IMS. We were surprised to see that there were no posts on the list from Latin America and the Middle East, and only a few posts from Asia. I think we were expecting a little mix of every region.

Over the past week, Adam and I discussed the list, and he was able to meet with his Career Development Officer to discuss what he was looking for and her recommendations. Ultimately, what we were looking for was health & safety for a newborn and a good work environment for Adam (he wants to be challenged, have responsibilities, and learn a lot on the job). Of course, Adam also mentioned that he wouldn't mind a place that was not cold & gray!

I don't know if I can share the list here, but I think it's probably ok to mention the top three on the list that Adam submitted:

1. Shanghai, China
2. Kingston, Jamaica
3. Suva, Fiji 

Ultimately, wherever we end up is where we are supposed to be, so we don't have any set expectations and I think we will be happy and excited for wherever our first post will be!

I've been asking Adam to take photos and share them with me, but so far he hasn't taken any yet! 

Our Next Adventure...

Obviously I haven't been great about keeping up the blog, but I promise it will get better!

Over the past couple of years, we have been living in Boulder, CO. Adam was working on his MS in Telecommunications while I was working as an academic advisor for first year and open option (undeclared) students at CU Boulder.

Adam started exploring job options last year  (doing a few internships with Boeing and Power Engineers, as well as working on campus). He decided to apply for an Information Management Specialist position with the Department of State last Fall and made it through the oral assessment, and security & medical clearance process. Not too long after he graduated, he received his invitation to attend the 130th Specialist Class Training in Washington DC starting July 15th, and he accepted! I thought I'd answer a few questions that we've been getting about what is coming up next for us now that Adam is officially in DC!!

What is the Department of State?
The Department of State is the US government's foreign affairs agency- it maintains diplomatic relations, oversees the US embassies & consulates in over 256 locations, and is led by the Secretary of State.

What is a Foreign Service Specialist, and what will Adam's job be?
There are a couple paths for those wanting to work in the Foreign Service. One is as a Foreign Service Officer (career tracks within that are working as Consular Officers, Economic Officers, Management Officers, Political Officers, and Public Diplomacy). The other is as a Foreign Service Specialist. Specialists work in functional areas to support the needs of the Foreign Service. These include facilities specialists, medical specialists, and in Adam's case, in information technology.

Adam will be training as an Information Management Specialist- his role will be to manage and operate the IT infrastructure- this includes computer networks, the telecommunications network, and radio, telephone and mail communication.

How long is Adam's training, and what will Emily be doing throughout this time?
Adam's training is several months, starting July 15th. I'm staying in Boulder until early September for work, but then I'll be joining Adam in Washington DC. I might try and find some volunteer opportunities in DC (NASPA and several other higher education organizations/associations are out there- maybe they'll let me hang around for a few months!), but I probably won't be looking to work since we are there for such a short time. We expect we'll be there until January or February 2014.

What happens after training? When do you find out where you go?
After Adam's training, we will be heading to a post overseas. This upcoming week, Adam will be receiving a list of options for potential locations. He will be working with a Career Development Officer to share preferences but at this point, we have no idea where we'll go! On July 30th, there will be a Flag Day Ceremony in which everyone finds out their site placement. I heard that family and friends are allowed to attend, but alas I'll be at work! However, as soon as we hear any news, we'll update you all here!! I don't know the exact selection process- Adam will find out more details over the next few weeks.

How often do you move?
Essentially, employees of the Foreign Service move approximately every 2-4 years. Where we go depends on the needs of the Foreign Service, and while Adam does have some ability to share preferences, we have to be willing to go anywhere. There are some hardship posts where family members are not permitted to accompany the employee. Hopefully we won't have to experience that, at least not anytime soon!

What will Emily do in terms of work/career? 
I am along for the ride, a little bit. Of course, I hope that I can continue working in higher education and with students, but it will depend a lot on where we end up and what the opportunities are. As many of you might know by now (maybe you got here from our announcement video), we are also expecting our first little one! As a result, I will probably be adjusting to life with a baby, at least for our first post. I have no doubt that I'll find ways to keep myself busy in other ways too. There are opportunities to work as a spouse for the Foreign Service, as well as possible opportunities to work/volunteer with other organizations. We'll see what happens!

I think those are the main questions we've been getting so far! I'll keep you posted! I'm currently sitting in our apartment in Boulder, while Adam is on a plane to DC as we speak. He starts training tomorrow and I'm going to ask him to send me some pix to share!

Our Announcement Video