The call that started it all....

On November 22, 2012 while we were celebrating Thanksgiving with our family, Phillip realized that he had a few missed calls from his agent Scott, as well as a few text messages that read "call me ASAP". He thought it was odd so he called back without trying to get his hopes up too soon. Could this be the call we've been waiting for?

Sure enough, Scott answered and informed Phillip that a team in Sweden had just lost their shooter and may be looking at signing Phil. He gave him few details other than an approximate salary and team expectations. From there it was a 4 day waiting game. On Monday, Scott informed Phil that he was still waiting on details, then BAM on Tuesday morning he called and said, "you're hired" and you ship out Friday morning!  WHAT? Friday? That's in 3 days!!! Talk about a fast move. We had to scrammble to find warm clothes since it was obvious his sweats and jackets wouldn't be enough in the bitter Swedish cold, pack and start the good-bye process :(  There were so many loose ends to tie up as well, but I guess that's what your wife is for, right? We had a going away dinner on Wednesday night with our closest family members then back to preparing we went.  I know I wasn't ready to say good-bye, even if it was just going to be for a couple of weeks, but staying busy helped me keep my focus off saying good-bye.

On Friday November 30 at 8:15am Phillip departed the Albuquerque International Sunport :(   It was a tough morning. I was sending my husband off to an unknown place, and even if he wasn't scared, I was! Jayden didn't quite understand why mommy was crying when we were saying good-bye, but he knew something was out of the ordinary. And just like that, he was gone.

I didn't hear from Phil for over 24 hours. He landed at midnight our time that night, but it was already 12:00pm in Stockholm and he still had a two and half hour drive to Orebro.  Once he arrived he had a lot to do, and calling his wife wasn't as easy as dialing a number on a cell phone...that no longer worked. 

For days on end, we talked very minimally (due to time difference and limited wifi access) via Skype and email.  This caused a lot of frustration and is what caused me to move up my moving date from Decmber 27 to December 16. I missed my husband :(  Being pregnant and super emotional sure didn't help. 

So let the madness of moving to a new country within a week begin!  I had so much to do once I officailly decided on a date to leave! Starting with telling my supervisor, LOL! Then I had to shop, shop, shop and find a way to pack A LOT of stuff in two normal sized suitcases.  Then I HAD to have a birthday party for my sweet Jayden's 2nd birthday.  He loves to sing "Happy Birthday" so I couldn't allow for him to not experience everyone singing it to him. Lots to do in so little time but with the help of my amazing family, I got it all done. We celebrated his birthday, had a small Christmas, got cleaned up and groomed.. And on the morning of December 16, 2012 we were off!