Snowchick-ing

My entire life I’ve lived in places that have seasons. Hot summers, breezy falls, cold winters and rainy springs. This winter will be different. I have the opportunity to make a location change and I’m not one to let opportunities pass me by. I’ll be heading down to Arizona for the next 6 months to  experience my first warm winter (and there’s a personal and professional development opportunity in there too!). People who head to warmer climates for the summer are usually called snowbirds, but apparently these folks are usually retirees and I’m too young to be called a snowbird, so a colleague quickly started calling me a ‘snow chick’.
My job is going to stay the same–except I’ll be in a different environment, seeing different people and being able to meet with teammates who I’d otherwise connect with via phone. I have a handful of friends who live in Phoenix and will be staying with one of them during my time down there (sure beats having to search for a place!). And Phoenix has more flights (and cheaper flights) for the traveler in me!

I’m almost stressed because I’m not stressed. Everything has been working out really well for me, almost too well. My management team is supportive of the move and there was minimal paperwork (aka no hoops) to making a site transfer possible. A friend volunteered herself to make the 22 hour drive with me without a second thought. I found a great storage facility (NW Self Storage) where the manager gave me a killer deal. I have amazing friends who helped me pack, willingly, with pleasure, with smiles on their faces! My movers were amazing–seriously, I almost want to move again just so I can use them again and be blown away by the service (Willamette Valley Moving, check them out!). I found a place in Arizona to live that comes furnished so all that I need are my clothes and essentials (it’s a bit of a commute, but I’m sure there’s some silver lining in that somewhere). All signs are pointing to Arizona.

So, here I am today. I’m staying a friend’s house for the week leading up to the 22 hour drive to Phoenix, Arizona. My apartment has changed from a home to an empty living space, my movers came today to haul whatever possessions I deemed important enough to store during my ‘migration’, and my official site transfer for work just went through last week. I can’t believe all of this has happened over the course of a month but I’m feeling truly fortunate blessed that the stars are aligning to make this a smooth move and for all of the support from friends and family to make all of this happen!

Still got a few things to wrap up, but it’s feeling real. And scary. And exciting.

Warm winter? Yes please. Here goes nothing!