The BIG move

Finally back here to document our big move to California. This is probably the biggest decision of our life, I think second to the decision to marry each other, which by the way is the best decision of my life. I am so blessed to have SH and Xue with me to go through these life adventures together. So the story started at LinkedIn where a facebook recruiter contacted SH months ago. That night, we had a serious talk about the potential relocation. If you know us well enough, we usually jumped at opportunities like this, but this is just too huge a decision to say yes immediately. We were excited about SH's opportunity to work in Facebook and the chance for our little family to stay abroad, but there were so much considerations like our parents and families who are in SG, my career, my passions and am I ready to give them, can I cope with taking care of the family full time on my own, is California a good environment for Xue, safety, finances etc.

After the long talk, we decided we will give it a shot. We know we are going to regret it if we say no to this. I remembered telling Shuhong to do his best and if he gets the offer, we are going to support him all the way and relocate together. He made it through all the rounds of interviews and I can't tell you how much respect (and a lot of love) I have for him. No, it hasn't been a bit smooth and rosy since his career switch. I see him spending sleepless nights after sleepless nights, weekends after weekends, learning everything from scratch. Along the way, he met so many rejections and he picked himself up every time. To relocate the whole family to a foreign land is such a stressful responsibility too and to top it up, the move has't been easy. We are entirely on our own with no friends here and trying to figure out every step. It was the toughest during the first month where we were still adapting to the new environment, setting up the house, Shuhong juggling between his new job and making sure Xue and I are ok at home. Things are definitely easier now as we settle down and get used to our new life here. The toughest has yet to come, but no matter what challenges lie ahead, we know we can do this together as a family.

I miss my family, friends and my job too. Giving up my career to stay home full time was tough. While packing away my makeup tools, I was really sad. Honestly, not because I have to give up this part of my life, my career and my passion for my family. The time has come for me to go fulfil other responsibilities in life and I really wouldn't trade anything else for my little family. I just miss doing makeup, miss having a job, miss hanging out with my fun bunch of ex-colleagues and looks like it's going to be a loooong break.

Fast forward to now and it's 2 months since our little family made the huge move to California. Our massive shipment finally arrived last month. It's crazy how with the addition of one little being, we have so much more stuffs with us. 47 boxes this time as compared to 20 over boxes when we, just the two of us, moved to Sweden. FINALLY, I am confident to drive around town on my own with Xue and that means I can get out of the house freely in the day time when Shuhong is at work. I was a little depressed being trapped at home. With the new found freedom, I can bring Xue to explore places, socialise and hopefully make some friends!

Cooking has become my core business here. Working to become a world class chef one day with the rate I am honing my skills in the kitchen everyday. Or maybe not. Hah. I'm still not that interested in cooking and it's just for 1) survival and because 2) it's hard to find any decent takeouts, 3) no, I don't want to eat fries and burgers everyday and 4) I'm trying to be a responsible mother and feed my son healthy food. I'm working towards making the cooking and washing up process more efficient so that I don't find myself in the kitchen all the time. Little Xue will always walk into the kitchen and ask "Mama 抱 Xue Xue?" and either I have to send him out disappointed or I have to carry him while cooking. I try to get him to help me with some simple tasks now and he's happy to help every time, so guess things will get better!

Going to check out my lemon bread in the oven and I will be back for some updates whenever I can find time! Happy Lunar New Year to all!