I’ve been sitting on this written blog post for about 8 months. But Cody wouldn’t let me post it. Now, after almost a year of back and forth, I understand his hesitation in us sharing about this awesome adventure before we even had a contract on the table.
By now, most people know about our move to Germany but for the longest time, not a soul knew besides Cody, myself, a couple of my close friends, and a few of Cody’s work people.
But, for those of you who don’t know about our move to Germany or are wanting to stay up to date with us while we are gone, this is the spot to come! Really the whole purpose of this post is to share with you how Germany all happened and why it holds such a special place in our hearts!
I still remember the day that Cody came home from his first “big work trip.” We had been dating all of about two and a half months when he announced to me that he would be traveling to Germany for a week. Munich, Germany- to be exact.
I had two emotions running through me when he told me about his upcoming trip. The first was “dang- he must be legit if he is traveling to GERMANY for WORK!” The coolest place I get to travel with my job is to the farm…
Then my worry started setting in. Because that’s what I do. Worry about everything. Thanks, Mom!
Anyways, he went to Germany. We agreed to have his Dad take him to the airport and then I would pick him up after his flight back. I had spent the last few days with my family at the lake house cause the school year had just wrapped up. I grabbed dinner with my family at the little Italian restaurant in Canyon Lake before making the trek to Austin to pick up my new beau.
I picked him up and we headed back to his house in San Marcos. Once he unpacked a bit, showered, and got situated, he told me he had something for me. He first gave me a little German lion- cause of my love of all things lions and ADPi- shout out to him for being observant! It’s a tiny little lion key chain wearing a German hat and liderhousen. Then he handed me a shot glass- which at the time is what I collected everywhere I went.
And here’s what I’ll never forget. He told me that he knew I collected those items from places I had been, but that he promised to take me back there one day to get my own shot glass. I remember thinking “wow…that’s serious.” But also thinking how fun it would be to travel to Germany with this new, cute guy.
How crazy is it that God weaves little nuggets into our story that we don’t even know about?!?
When Cody told me he promised to take me back, we both expected it to be a week long work trip with maybe an extra week tacked on for travel.
But God had bigger things planned for us. Three years later, He is taking us back, just in a way we never imagined.
A dream of ours has always been to live overseas. This dream started, for me, back in college. Cody started dreaming about this when he heard about the option of an international assignment through his job. After things started getting serious between us, the dream of moving overseas started becoming a topic of discussion every few months. Just a “hey, wouldn’t it be cool if….” or “I hope one day we get to….”.
But now that dream is becoming a reality! Cody has been offered an international assignment in Regensburg, Germany. A place that has been on our hearts since a few months into our relationship.
Cody has been in conversations with his people, and Germany’s people, for the better part of this last year. (I credit part of that to me because about every month I pestered him “Have you talked to HR yet?”)
We have really been talking about this move since before we were even engaged- and he has been talking to his company since before we were engaged. But once we tied the knot, we started getting serious about it. We knew that if we wanted this to happen, it would need to happen sooner rather than later.
In November the ball started rolling with meetings with people at his company. Everyone was eager to make this happen for him, but it just seemed like the all the doors were closed pretty quickly. By mid February we had kind of given up on it and just stopped talking about it as frequently.
We prayed about it. A lot. We knew that if it was meant to happen, it would, and if not that God had something better in store for us. So, we just waited.
In mid March Cody had meetings with some Germans who were in town for a business trip. One meeting in particular was with a man whom Cody has worked with pretty closely for the past year or so. And then, out of no where, there were two or three offers on the table. Go figure!
Cody won’t tell you this, but I think it’s worth mentioning that the final man he met with actually created a job to get Cody over to Germany and on his team. When Cody told him he was interested, this guy told him not to take any offers till Cody heard back from him. Within three weeks Cody had a verbal offer!
But then, as quick as stuff started happening, it all stopped again. Cody was offered the job in March, and until the first week of August, not much happened. In fact, there was even talk of the assignment being canceled or shortened due to a restructuring in the company.
It’s been a whirlwind to say the least.
On August 6th, (1 year and 1 day after saying “I do”) Cody received an official offer for a 2 year contract in Regensburg, Germany.
At this point, all of the “go aheads” have been given. Everyone has “checked off” this move. The contracts have been signed. We are SO thrilled. We are so excited for this opportunity, for the adventure in store for us, for the traveling we will get to do. So, so thrilled. And I feel beyond lucky that God would allow this to be the next chapter for our marriage.
Over the past couple of monts, we have had the joy of telling people about our big move. It has really been so fun to watch jaws drop and see eyes turn huge because we really didn’t talk to many people about it as it was happening. But, within the past month we have gotten the same questions over and over again. So I figured if you are reading this, you might be wondering the same things.
When do you move?
Cody’s start date is October 1st. We will likely move the last week of September. Although, I would prefer a couple weeks to move and get situated before him starting a new job… But apparently it doesn’t work like that! The company will fly us out beforehand to get acquainted with the town, find an apartment, meet his new coworkers, etc.
What are you doing with Milo and Scout?
Taking them with us! This has really been my only fear in this whole process. But I did some research, found a podcast (of course) that lead me to an Austin based pet relocation company. We plan on using them to help us move the dogs for us. Yes, they fly cargo. Yes, it is scary. No, it’s not dangerous.
The pups will stay here for about a month, while we get situated and late October, my parents will drop them off at IAH and we will see them in Germany!
How do your parents feel about this?
They are all really excited for us. Everyone thinks it’s a great opportunity. And Karen has only sent one text message saying that we can’t go. So I’d call that a win!
What is Cody’s job?
Something to do with solving problems with plants all around the world… IDK, ask him.
How long will y’all be there for?
Cody has signed a two year contract, with the option to extend depending on how it goes. After that we can choose to stay there, be transferred elsewhere, or move back home.
What will you do with your house and cars?
Rent both houses. Cars, probably keep my car here with my parents and sell Cody’s truck.
What about all your stuff?
They will give us a pod to ship over whatever we can fit in there! But, we have decided we want to take the cash they will give us and use that to furnish our German home. Besides, I doubt much of our stuff will fit in our new tiny home. SO…GARAGE SALE!
Kelly, are you going to work?
Yes, and no. No, I don’t plan on having a typical job. I don’t plan on teaching, at least not right away. My passion for the past two years has been my blog, The Simply Organized Teacher. In the last few months I have started to have a lot of growth and have even started making some money on it (!!!). I have felt, for a while now, like I needed to devote all of my time and attention to it so that I can really start seeing the growth and making the money I want to make. With Cody’s new job, and the company paying us a living and transportation allowance, I feel like this is the perfect time for me to step out in faith and do this full time. So yes, I will be working. If you know me, you know I cannot sit still. But no, I won’t be teaching. At least not in the beginning.
And of course, last, but not least…
Will y’all have kids over there?
If it happens, it will be Cody’s fault. No plan of babies in Germany.
We are so, so, SO excited about this opportunity. This whole process has felt like this weird dream that isn’t really going to happen. But now that things are moving, the freak out process has begun. I am grateful for a patient husband, a willing family, anxiety meds, and a wise counselor for supporting me through this.
Since Cody got the offer back in early April, I have made it very clear that wherever we live in Germany must have two bedrooms. It is super important to me that we have visitors coming to stay with us. I realize that a trip overseas like that can be pricey. But, if we can open up our home to you, see an old friend, and give you a free place to rest while you travel the EU- hit us up! We (I…Cody is just being forced at this point) want to be that for you!
My hope is to blog consistently about our Germany adventure. This blog is how I plan to keep all of our friends and family up to date back home while we are gone. If you want to get new blogs and updates on the Jacksons to your inbox, click below and sign up!
We love you. We can’t wait to share this with you!
Until next time,
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