huge announcement: casacaudill is going expat!

I've been itching to make this announcement public for weeks now, so here it is ...

WE'RE MOVING TO IRELAND.

Alan is transferring from his company's SF office to their office just outside of Dublin, and we're looking at being over there sometime in August.









So, how did this all come about?

The plans started out as a "what if?" question one night when we got to talking about our five year plan. We have known for a long time that we wanted to leave the Bay Area and were looking to move to either Portland or Cleveland. When things went south with my job around this time last year, Portland was taken off the table as it no longer made sense for us to be there. We'd talk late into the night about how awesome it would be to one day move to Europe, and we'd list all of the places that sounded intriguing to us in order of preference. London, Dublin, Edinburgh were all in the top 10.

Then, one day Alan came home and mentioned that a guy in his office was transferring to Dublin and it was one of those, "wow, that's so cool for him" type of conversations. It didn't even occur to us that first day that it would be an option for us. Then, as Alan's job began to morph and his responsibilities in working on international projects became more pronounced, we had an epiphany moment.

He talked with a co-worker he went to college with who was high up in the organization and he told Alan that it would be doable. That was in September 2014. Since then there have been organizational changes, including Alan having two new bosses and his friend leaving the company, but we got word last week that the expat deal had been approved. The paperwork is being finalized now and unless something goes incredibly sideways it's happening.

This is really happening.

This is truly a dream come true for us, and I can't tell you how thankful I am that Alan works for a company that not only values his contributions as much as they do, but also who looks out for his desires and helps make them happen. It's a rare sort of organization that will work with an employee on something of this magnitude. Yes, it makes sense for them from a business perspective but they're making it happen because they value him and they know that something like this ensures a ton of employee satisfaction. It's a win-win for everyone involved.

So ... the countdown begins.

#FlashbackFriday: Washington DC

Yesterday I showed you pictures of DC's spectacular cherry blossoms in full bloom thanks to my best friend Heather. To keep the theme going, today I'm posting pictures from our trip there in January 2013. I feel like it's been far too long since we last visited and that I may need to rectify that soon.











































Obviously the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials are the grandest along the tidal basin, but there's something quietly exquisite about the FDR memorial that I just love. And of course, there's Eleanor, standing solemnly off on her own, one of our nation's first female politicians, a pioneer for the rights of women, races, and the lower classes. It speaks to a simpler time in our country, to be sure, but also to the ideals that we should try our hardest to uphold in our world today. I could say so many political things here, but I don't think that's what you all come to this blog for (if you do, let me know and I'll let her rip!), but suffice it to say, she paved the way for those strong, ambitious women we see today.

Washington D.C.'s Cherry Blossoms

It's been awhile since we last visited Washington D.C., especially since several of our good friends live in the immediate vicinity. A couple of years ago - January 2013, to be exact - Alan had to fly out for a week of work meetings, and because at the time I also had business in the area, I joined him. The hotel we stayed at turned out to be 1/2 mile from one of my company's offices and ... next door to my best friend's condo. It was a great week! While there we spent some time visiting with all of our friends, and on one of the days we even walked the tidal basin, much to my poor old knees' chagrin. Because it was winter, it was pretty barren at the time, but we had a beautifully sunny and cold day so it was glorious.

Fast forward to this year and my best friend shared her pictures of a tidal basin walk during the peak of cherry blossom season and they are BEAUTIFUL. Are y'all familiar with D.C.'s blossoms and what a draw they are? There's even a whole festival devoted to them.

Japan gave 3,020 cherry blossom trees as a gift to the United States in 1912 to celebrate the nations' then-growing friendship, replacing an earlier gift of 2000 trees which had to be destroyed due to disease in 1910. These trees were planted in Sakura Park in Manhattan and line the shore of the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. The first two original trees were planted by first lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda on the bank of the Tidal Basin. The gift was renewed with another 3,800 trees in 1965. In Washington, D.C. the cherry blossom trees continue to be a popular tourist attraction (and the subject of the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival) when they reach full bloom in early spring.

D.C. is a town (city!) that I *love* wholeheartedly. I know it's morally corrupt and the traffic is horrible and there are thousands of things to hate about it, and I probably would if I lived there, but visiting? I love visiting. I think I see a trip in our future.

Anyhow, enjoy her pictures. I certainly have (especially since it means I can consume the splendour of the beauty of it all without (1) having to do so with that many people milling about me (holy crowds!), and (2) exacerbate my poor allergies.

































If the pictures of the crowds didn't give you an idea of what it was like, check out this picture of the traffic getting into DC proper.



#gridlock

An Update on Dakota

Well folks, things aren't looking so great for my sweet baby meeps. At nearly 16 years old, it seems that Dakota has reached the downward descent of her life.

 

We knew that she was getting old, yes, and that she wasn't quite as robust as she was even when she was ten years old, but since the beginning of the new year we've noticed a rapid decline in her health. She has trouble walking sometimes, she sleeps more, and she plays less, but the real indication that she might not be doing so great was her weight loss. We took her into the vet yesterday and she clocked in at only 4 pounds, 9 ounces. She's never been a huge kitty - I think at her heaviest she was only close to eight pounds - but she's lost about a pound since her visit to the vet in July 2014.

The vet discovered a growth on her gums that she thought could be a tumor, but was most concerning to her was Dakota's weight loss so she decided to do some x-rays. The first batch came in and when she took us in the back to look at them we knew things weren't as they should be. It turns out that Dakota's entire abdominal cavity was filled with gas which was pretty unusual, and her belly was completely empty of food (despite the fact that we saw her eating just the night before). There was also this big patch of grainy something showing up on the film that she couldn't identify. They decided to give my meeps some barium to see if it moved within her intestines or if it was outside the intestinal wall. One and a half hours later we were back at the vet and it turned out that the grainy mass had moved, so she ruled out any sort of blockage from it. She reiterated that the gas in Dakota's abdomen was still very troubling and that she wanted to see what the blood tests would reveal. I kind of got a little lost during the next few things she said because I was ready to cry, but basically, she hypothesized that Dakota could have intestinal lymphoma and that the treatment for it is chemo and diet change. We'll know more, of course, once the blood work comes back, but in the meantime, I can't imagine that anything good will be revealed.

She's sixteen years old and has led a really wonderful, love-filled life. Any other owners would have thrown her out by now with as much furniture and carpets as she's ruined, but despite her pretty terrible behavior, she's still my sweet little girl and I love her with all my heart and soul. We've known this day was coming - after all, she IS old - but it's still hard to know that it's coming soon. We've had her since before I graduated from college. She's been my constant companion since I started working from home over four years ago.

I just can't imagine life without her. I don't know what life looks like without her. I can't even remember what life was like before we had her.

#FlashbackFriday: Whisky Drinking in Islay

Scottish Routes just completed its first four-day whisky tour to Islay for the 2015 season, so in honor of that trip, I thought I'd post some photos of the trip we took with them in September 2013. In a word, it was magic. I'm a huge fan of peated whisky so arriving on Islay was a perfect pilgrimage for me.

Celebrating Alan's Parents' 50th Anniversary

Last night was my in-laws' 50th anniversary party and boy was it a good one! I can't tell you how thankful I am that everything turned out so great because we've been stressing over it for several months. This was definitely a labor of love between my brother-in-law M, his wife S, Alan, and me. Everything about the party was DIY with S taking on a ridiculous amount of projects for a full time attorney. On our end, we handled the save the date cards, the multimedia photo experience that Alan curated, the music that I put together (thanks WeddingChannel.com for all your great lists!), the wine selection, and the flowers that my SIL, her mom, and I did the morning of the party. J&C are spending the next few days in Napa enjoying a much deserved anniversary getaway, and meantime I'm planning one of our own because I do not lie when I say that planning a party of this magnitude is quite difficult. There's a reason we canceled our big old wedding and Berkeley and instead did a destination wedding in Maui. It's hard work!

I can't wait until they get back and I can show them all the photos of the day. Now if only I hadn't relied on an insufficient flash my pictures would have been that much better. Alas, I found a moody b&w action that I'm absolutely gaga for.