The Big Reveal

So when I last left off I left all of you in suspense of where our final destination would be. I have been debating all weekend on how to write this post. Should I reveal the big decison first and then follow up with reasons why the other locations were a no? Should I do the opposite, lay out the reasons for not choosing a place then lay the final reveal? My blog hasn't been going for that long but I bet you can guess what way I decided on, yep I am a big fan of suspense. Now I realize there is no way of me stopping you from scrolling through the boring bits and looking at our decision but I'm hoping that you don't do that.

So you ready for this? Good. Let's go.

First to get the Axe:

Yes, the beautiful Pacfic North West is a no. Oh how beautiful it is, and so far, so very far away. We just couldn't bear to be that far away from our families and friends. One of the things we wanted was to be sure of was that we could fly home easily and for a half-way decent price when we wanted to and if there were ever an emergency and we needed to get home, flying would cost a fortune and driving would take days.

Second to get the axe:

M-I-C-see ya real soon- K-E-Y: Why, because we like you! That's exactly why we chose not to live here. Orlando holds this kind of magical appeal for us, it's the little flutter and the feeling of being five years old again every time I fly into Orlando. I wasn't willing to give up that feeling. We currently live an hour from one of America's top amusement parks (heard of Cedar Point anyone?) and we are so blase about it. It's like big deal, we can go there whenever. I don't ever want to feel that way about Disney World.

Next to get the axe (sort of):

Columbus, OH

Which means the winner is:

                                   

Raleigh, NC

Now it gets complicated, I've told you two places that we are for sure not moving to in the foreseeable future. It says that we aren't going to Columbus, and that Raleigh is our final destination but that's not entirely true. In truth we are moving to both. I can see you reading this going Whaa??? but hear me out. Right now a move to NC isn't feasible, we would like to have a few months of savings built up so we can move down, get settled and then look for jobs. So for now, we are moving to Columbus where I have a larger market to look for a job. We'll stay there for a year or so, working our butts off to save up and pay off some student loans. During our time there I can get prepared for graduate school, take my GRE, get my letters of recomendations in order, so on and so forth.

So why not Columbus? While we love our families, that is really the only reason to move to Columbus. It's a great place really and we do like it there but we would like to live somewhere other than Ohio and since we aren't having kids for a while it makes sense to do something like this now. Maybe when our family starts to grow a little more we'll consider this place as a long term potential.

And why Raleigh? It's got the best of everything for both of us: near the ocean and mountains, easy access to weekend getaways, good job market, can easily fly or drive home, and a great graduate program at UNC. I'm so excited about this, I think that we made a great first big decision as newlyweds and we did a great job doing it!

Whatcha think of our plans?