To Do List

We're moving to Italy! Yahoo!

Wait, what? How the heck am I supposed to move my family to a foreign country? Where do you even start?
Well, here's what I have discovered in the last 2 months.

We knew the move was going to happen quickly, so Ryan and I decided our first order of business was to get out of our house. We were lucky enough to be renting our home, so by about January 15th, we decided to move out of our rental by the end of the month. Why move out so quickly? One, we didn't know exactly when Ryan would start working in Rome, two, I didn't want to end up having to move by myself, and three, there was no point in paying another month of rent.
Then started the process of going through everything in the house. We lived in a 5 bedroom, 2500sq ft house, so you can imagine all the STUFF hiding in drawers and closets and rooms. Too much stuff.
At this same time we found out that we would only be taking with us what bags we checked on the airplane.  We could take 2-3 bags per person - giving us about 18 bags total. Yikes. How do you pack your whole family in 18 bags? Get rid of most of it. That was the answer I came to.
We talked about having a garage sale.  Ryan DESPISES garage sales and begged me not to do one. I wanted to give my stuff to people who I knew would use it and benefit from getting free stuff (we can all benefit from free stuff, right?!). The solution was to set up my front room like a garage sale and I opened it up to my friends and family to come in and take whatever they wanted. Some people asked me, "How can you just give away all your stuff?" It was actually quite liberating. It was so freeing to get rid of stuff I didn't NEED. We did keep stuff- and filled a whole storage unit with our keepsakes and things worth keeping. But I'm of the mindset that I gain more by giving. Plus, somethings were not worth the price of taking more bags on the airplane, or putting in storage for 3 years. I also got rid of pretty much everything in my pantry. I love food, so I think parting with my canned fruit and big Costco bags of flour, sugar and oats was harder than clothes or household stuff. But it's just stuff, and stuff comes and goes.
Everything that didn't get taken by friends and family was donated to The Salvation Army. I put it out in my yard and scheduled a truck to come get it. Way easier than a garage sale.
Once that was all done, I just had to decide what was going to storage and what was coming with us to my parents house and then on to Italy. Looking back now, I wish I had had a bit more insight at this point. I've already had to re-buy lots of stuff that I didn't think I'd need, or packed up into storage. For example- measuring cups and spoons. Italy is metric my friends. No such thing as a teaspoon. And after visiting there- there is no such thing as Walmart, Target and the Dollar Store to just go pick these things up at. Oh well.
Next - the move to my parents house. I need to pause and thank my parents for letting us live with them. Their house was nice, quiet and clean before we arrived. Not only do they put up our messy-ness but also the constant need and want of attention from the kids. (I know they secretly love it, but we do wear them out!!)
After moving all of us to my parents and putting everything else in storage, it was time to clean the house we were renting and get it ready to turn over to the landlord. That was a TON of work, and I couldn't have done it without the help of my friends and family. When we finally turned the keys over and drove away for the last time, I couldn't help but cry. We really loved that house and I was planning on staying there for years. I wanted to stay there until we were ready to move into our "live here for the next 30 years" house. It was a great neighborhood, location and ward. Plus, for me- I identify with my home. ( I think most women do) and we had officially stepped into 'limbo land'. No real home, nothing that was "our space". Little did I know we'd be there for 2 months.
On February 6th, Ryan and I took a week trip to Rome to find housing, visit the jobsite and hopefully get more clarity as to what we needed to do and what to expect. We had high hopes of a 'vacation getaway' for the 2 of us, but it was nothing like that. We got there on Saturday, but our luggage did not. It was patiently waiting for us in New York. Luckily we each packed one change of clothes in our carry on, and thank heavens I packed my makeup! Sunday we went to church and thanks to Ariane Woods and Caroline Fenn, Ryan and I had adequate attire for church.
A little side note about the LDS church in Rome. There are 2 wards that meet at the same time (one starting 30 minutes before the other) in an old bank that was converted to an LDS meetinghouse. The Primary kids from age 3-12 all meet in the same room for the full 2 hours of primary, but do get to enjoy snacks- even on Fast Sunday! The other meetings are the same as you'd find in any LDS church. Sunday School, Relief Society, Priesthood and Sacrament meeting. We were lucky enough to have American missionaries serving there who translated for us. In Sacrament Meeting, one of the Elder missionaries translates into a microphone and all the English speakers wear little earpiece headphones to listen to the meeting. I loved it. The Spirit was there, and I could feel the members love of the Gospel and Jesus Christ. I did feel a strong desire to learn Italian quickly, as I can't have a calling, bear my testimony, serve or share until I can do it in Italian. I'm working on it. Language is not my thing- but I'm trying!
Monday through Thursday we spend looking at apartments. We did not do this alone. We had a translator , Stephano, setting up our appointments, taking us to them and translating everything for us. By the end of the week, we were basically best friends with Stephano.
Apartment hunting. You need to understand that there is no such thing as a house in Rome. Non existent. Everyone lives in apartments. Also, Rome is OLD. Apartments are OLD. Granted, most of them have been remodeled and perhaps updated, but that doesn't change the layout of the apartment. Some we looked at were just weird. Most are small. Especially the kitchen. I don't understand it, but we Americans love our big open kitchens. In Italy, its as big as a walk in closet. And the fridge! Tiny. So needless to say, we looked at a lot of apartments trying to find one that would work for 4 small kids. We did not want to go home without finding an apartment. We wouldn't have another chance and would have to rely on someone else to just get us something. We did find a brand new apartment that was close to the jobsite, but it was SMALL. No living area. We thought- this is as good as it's going to get. Then Thursday we had one last apartment to look at. We walked in and instantly knew this is what we wanted. It was a great layout, lots of living space, 3 balconies, and had been recently updated. It has a big open community yard, a swimming pool and a tennis court. It is off a private drive, backs up to national protected land and has a parking garage. It's perfect. We loved it. So, now what?
Renting an apartment in Italy is similar to process of buying a house in the US. Friday we spent 3 hours in the realtors office signing the "proposal". Basically making an offer to the owner of the house. It was a big fiasco getting them a "deposit" because we do not have an Italian bank account and figuring out how we would pay rent. Our only option was a bank wire transfer.
Next on the "To Do List", meet with the lawyers in Rome to start the work Visa process. We are STILL working on this. It is a nightmare. Everyone we talk to has a different answer, and I'm not even sure anyone know the exact process for doing it. Ryan is technically hired under the Architect for the job, VCBO, and this a position they have never had someone hired under. If he were an employee- they know exactly how to do that. But hes not. He's an independent contractor, so it a whole new ball game for everyone. VCBO is in Salt Lake City and so the Italian consulate they work with is in  San Fransisco. We live in Mesa, and our Italian consulate is in Los Angeles. The question we are still figuring out is, do we go through San Francisco because our "employer" is in Utah, or do we go to LA because our business is based in Arizona. Ryan met with an Italian Console in Phoenix last week, and we feel like we are maybe headed in the right direction. And just so you know- we still don't know if I have to file for my own Visa, or if I can fall under Ryan's. But don't worry- we've paid lots of money to have 'certified' xerox copies of our marriage license and the kids birth certificates, only to pay more money to have the right International Seal put on it. Moses. Did I loose you? I haven't even given you all the details of how much run around we've done to get what little information we have.
Back to our Rome trip. After meeting with lawyers, we had one night left in Rome. We stopped in at St. Peter's square outside the Vatican (couldn't go inside because by the time we got to sight see everything was closed), had gelato, dinner, saw the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, more gelato and last the Piazza Navona. So no, we did not sight see much while we were there. But I was totally ok with it. That's not why we were there and knowing that I will be living there and can see that stuff anytime- made it easier.
A few other things we did while we were in Rome. Went to the mall multiple times. Checked out IKEA in hopes of finding some furnishings for our apartment, went to the cell phone store to figure out how the heck to have a working cell phone there and visited their big grocery store - Ashauns. It is comparable to a Walmart. I wanted to see what I could and could not buy in Italy. For the most part- you can get "American food" - it's just really expensive. A very small jar of peanut butter is $6. There is no corn syrup, american cheese, and everything comes in very small amounts. Except Nutella. You can buy that by the bucket.
We also visited the school the kids will be attending. It's called the American Overseas School of Rome. Its a private American school, and everything is in English. They will learn Italian, just like you have Art and PE. The principal told us that they will learn more Italian on the playground than in the classroom. There are kids from all over the world at this school, but Italian is the common language- so thats what the kids speak most. It's a great school and very comparable to the school they are in now. I admit, I am still very sad to pull them out of Archway Arete here. Its a phenomenal school. But AOSR is great, and they will learn things there that they could never learn here.
I think that just about sums up our trip in Rome. On our way home we made a list of everything that needed to be done before we could move. Over the last 6 weeks, every time I cross of one thing, I add 3 more.

Here's some things we've done:
  
- Passports. Before we left for Rome we started the process of getting kids passports. I won't go into all the details, but lets just say we experienced the government at its finest, and had to take all 6 of us TWICE to get the process complete. Since Ryan and I both already had passports, we traveled to Rome on those. Now, our passports expire in a year, so when we got home, we had to renew them. Lets just say we were not as efficient in the  renewing of our passports and had to take a day to drive to Tucson to go to the consulate there. I wont even tell you how much it costs to get 6 expedited passports. 

- Kids. Kate needed to have her annual eye exam, and of course, got a new prescription. One more trip to Costco to get new glasses. Charly and JR needed shots- and since we didn't have medical insurance, I took them to the county to get free shots. Everyone told us we needed to see the pediatrician before we left, so I paid $300 to have the Dr. tell me they were healthy and gave me absolutely no advice for living in a foreign country. Oh, and then Charly had a birthday, so she was old enough to get more booster shots. Back to the county for free shots. I also have done a ton of shopping for them. Clark's Sunday shoes just magically got too small, Charly needed jammies, Kate needed new boots and shorts. Kate and Clark wear uniforms to school now, so I really have not bought them 'regular clothes', so they are in need of just about everything. Plus, I have no idea where to go shopping in Rome- and I figure it's probably cheaper here- so might as well stock up on a few essentials. 

Kate and Clark also needed to get their braces off. They were approaching the year mark to take them off anyways, so we had lots of appointments to get as much done as possible before they took them off, and then to get retainers after they were off. 

- School. I've spent lots of hours at the computer filling out applications for the new school and scanning and emailing all the needed documents. I have a book for Kate and Clark that I have all their teachers sign, so I made sure to get that done before we left. 

- Shopping. After finding out what I could and could not get in Italy- I've made lots of trips to Walmart and Costco to stock up on stuff. For instance- they dont have Old Spice deodorant in Italy, and thats the only one Ryan likes- so I bought 8 sticks of deodorant. There is no such thing as Mexican food in Italy, so I got dried pinto and black beans, green chilis, and chipoltle peppers. I also got peanut butter, cocoa powder, corn syrup, ranch, oats, ibuprofen, kids medicine, make- up, crasins, nuts and snack foods that the kids eat (fishies, fruit leather, go-go squeeze). Now, I don't plan on trying to re-create my American diet in Rome, in fact, I'm quite excited to adopt the Italian cuisine. But I did want a few things that make it feel 'at home' and to ease the transition. Everything is going to be so different, so having some familiar foods, hopefully, will help. Plus, it'll be fun every once in a while to have a "mexican' dinner. 

I also bought a years supply of contacts, contact solution, toothpaste, and for me, HAIR STUFF. I bought stuff for me to color my hair, and my favorite shampoo, conditioner, dry shampoo and styling products. Not that I wont be able to find some of that stuff there- I'm just so used to buying it whole sale, paying full price in a salon is maddening. 

- IKEA. Ryan and I took a day to go to IKEA and pick out stuff for our apartment. IKEA is really the only place to buy home furnishings in Rome. Again, no Target or Walmart. After spending the morning picking out couches, beds, dressers, a desk, kitchen table and other odds and ends, I spend the afternoon on the 'IKEA Italy' website looking up product codes for the store in Rome. I also had to get on the 'Media World' (aka Best Buy of Italy) to find a TV, washer/dryer, mixer, blender, microwave and other household electronics.

- Sell our cars. We sold our Yukon XL about 2 weeks ago and Ryan's truck goes up this weekend. 

- Electronics. We bought Ryan a work laptop and us an iPad. Then last week, my phone started dying, of course, and Ryan bought me a new iPhone. I was so mad at him. He's needed a new phone for a long time, but has been putting up with it. My phone stopped picking up the touch screen, and when it did that - I couldn't do anything. Texting became rather annoying. 

- Health Insurance. I wont bore you with the details on this one- suffice it to say- we tried multiple times to get health insurance through Healthcare.gov , and finally went with an international policy. Ryan got to bite the bullet for this one and spent a whole day on the phone with the insurance broker and then on the computer filling out the documents to get us signed up.

I'm sure I could keep going and going, but this post is dragging on, and it's already taken me 3 days to finish it! Basically all the things that you say ' I really should get that done', or 'It'd be really nice to do this', but never get around to it - I did in the last 6 weeks. On top of laundry, homework, dinner and all the other things that moms do on a daily basis. 

Now that we are down to the last week, the last and biggest "to do" of all - PACK. Remember those 15-18 bags? I've got to fit all that stuff in them and make sure they don't weigh more than 50 lbs. 

So how did I do it all?  Two words. 


DIET COKE.