Bye, Austin. See ya, wouldn't want to be ya.

Well, we're a little (only six hours or so!) late leaving Austin today.  The house is packed up, for the most part, though there are probably still several hours of work left to do.  I'm notoriously bad at estimating time.

We've been here five years - long enough for the town to finally begin feeling like home.  Behind us we leave good friends and, for the most part, good memories; but it's definitely time to get a move on. 

This was our first house out of college, and the first one we lived in as a married couple.  It's a strange feeling, closing a chapter of life like this, but since what we're moving on to is Florence, Italy, I'm not feeling too too much pain.

(aerial view of Florence from the top of the duomo)

I liked it in Austin, but wow am I excited to be moving to a place that has seasons. 

(cheese at the mercato centrale, florence)

There may not be any posts here for several weeks - we have some in the pipeline that need a little tweaking, so while those may go up, we likely won't have any major updates until after August 21st, the day we (hopefully) move into our apartment in Italy. 

(at the mercato centrale, florence)

I won't lie to you - this doesn't even seem real.  It was a dream for so long, that even after we started planning the move in earnest, there was a large part of me that still didn't think it would happen.

Of course, I can't get too worked up yet, as we still don't have our visas... we're going to the consulate in Houston tomorrow to see what's up.

I know moving to Italy is likely to cause us a mite of culture shock, but you have to get shocked out of your routine every once in a while to remain alive, I think.

Goodbye, Austin; hello, Florence!

Comments

I can't sleep and decided to get on the internet per usual. I had not cried yet about "ya'll" leaving, but after looking at your last blog suddenly the tears came. I will miss you both so much and will never find people to enjoy food and wine with the way we enjoyed it with you guys. Sorry to get mushy on ya, but it's late and the sadness is kicking in. You both were a big part of the cultivation of "Mike and Susie". I hope that somehow and some way you end up at our wedding. I know it isn't necessarily realistic, but it would mean the world to me and I am sure Mike as well. I'm never good with goodbyes so I am saying it now...I love you both more than you know and you better come back. Have a great time and I know Logan will love school...I bet he'll end up being the damn valedictorian (how do you say that in Italian?). Damn genius, you too Rachel McSmarty. You better keep in touch through G-mail or something. Also...you know we have like one friend now. Leheup. Which is not to say we don't love the guy, but he put bread on my food. Haha....look I made some jokes and stopped crying. That's a start.

Love,

Susie a.k.a. "the fetching Miss. Q"

[Boots in the Oven]

Aw, Sooz! I just saw your comment. We'll miss you guys too... we have October '07 completely blocked off at this point (you wouldn't believe how many engagements we've already had to turn down for that month. Ha.). I am also not good with forced goodbyes, so I will just say we need to remember it's always good to have a friend in every port. Stay healthy and sane, and don't let LeHeup put any more bread on your food!

(and come visit us, you crazy f**ks.)

girlie