Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Next stop, America….

I know I only posted an hour or two ago, but I feel I should do a final post from Russia. Ryan and I are all checked in for our one way flight to America. We fly Moscow to Houston, then to New Orleans. And, I am very thankful I will be flying business, it will make this final, long flight so much nicer. Ryan and I will be able to toast our time in Russia together, with mimosas.  Considering what we are about do to, I am actually pretty calm. I must be saving all my happy dances for when my toes are on American soil.

A final blog post from Russia would not be complete without a few pictures. Some of the last pictures taken.


Last night in the apartment.

Last picture in Moscow. 

Taken before Macy left for her travels.  
The woman that came to get Macy from our apartment, took Macy for a final walk along the sea.
She sent us this picture. Macy is currently in Frankfurt awaiting her flight to Houston. Thursday she will be driven from Houston to our house.  
The next couple days will be very busy, travel, house closing, furniture deliveries, and starting our next adventure in Louisiana. Good bye Russia, it's been fun. Next stop, America!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Finally...

After three years of working on this project, I was finally able to see (in person) a portion of the work being done. Our last day in Novorossiysk, after the movers left, and after Macy was off to the airport, Ryan took me on a tour of the tank farm. I am very happy we were able to fit in a visit. Seeing the tank farm in person was incredible, the pictures do no justice for the massive size of the tanks, and magnitude of construction being done.

I thought the view of the mountains and hills was pretty. 

A good comparison, find the man walking on the base. 

The new tanks being built are brownish color (no paint yet), existing tanks are whitish. 

The machinery looks like toys in comparison to the base size of the tank.  The first new tank which will receive oil is on far left.






Monday, May 26, 2014

Farewell...

Saying goodbye is always the hardest. We have been surrounded by so many supportive people. The past three years, we have built friendships that make it extremely hard to say goodbye. We know we will see many of them in the future, but for others, there is no certainty.

Ryan's office hosted a very nice party in order to say farewell, and wish us luck on our next assignment. We also had a dinner hosted by the other Chevron families to celebrate our time together.


The incredible cake. It is of a scuba diver (Ryan), with the pipeline running around the cake.
The top translates to "bon voyage" 



Ryan with his grill set, a gift from the office. 

Our drivers for the past three years, Vitaly and Sergey.
The gave us a model car to remind us of them. 


Ryan's final moments at his desk. 
A picture of the tank farm construction, and the new buoy that was added off shore.
Before our farewell dinner with the Chevron families. 

We could not leave without a farewell cork launching out the balcony window.
The Didier's taught us this tradition. 
Farewell toast.
The Didier's found a box of Oreos for sale at the nearby grocery store.
Only appropriate they would finally start selling Oreos the week we leave. 

We said farewell to all our stuff today. The moving company finished packing. 
It was also farewell to Macy, today.
See you in America, sweet girl. 
I do not think it has fully hit, all the changes that are happening to us this week. We seem to be so busy with everything, and our minds are on overload. We have said goodbye to so many wonderful people. It is difficult to be so excited for the next adventure, but sad to see the current adventure end. Tonight is our last night in our apartment, tomorrow we fly to Moscow. My countdown started about 5 weeks ago, and I was so excited for this day to come, now that it is here, it seems unreal. Tomorrow we leave.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

It's Moving Day...

The moving company's slogan is "We make it easy" I do not have to pack anything, so yes, that makes it easy, but they do not address the stress issue. It's no surprise I like to have control, and when it comes to sitting back and watching someone else pack my belongings, it's stressful. I am constantly reminding myself that it's ok, they will do a good job, and everything will be fine.

Ryan had the perfect solution, he sent me out, he told me to leave, go to the gym. I was gone for a couple hours, and when I returned, a lot had been packed, I did not have to sit and watch the process. I am also typing this blog in "real time" the movers are still here, they have finished with the smaller items, and are now working on the larger pieces. The more I can keep myself occupied, the better.

I took pictures of the apartment pre-movers, and a few shots during the packing process.

We were told that at least one of the movers would speak English. I figured hello, would be the extent of the English, I was correct. Luckily, I planned ahead, and had things organized so with very few words, I could explain what needed to be packed. 

She knew something was up.

I put all of our things into a few areas. The kitchen was above, this is our second bedroom. 

Our Master bedroom has all our luggage that will go with us on the plane. The door has been shut to this room all day, no movers allowed. Perfect plan, because I don't have to worry about them accidentally packing something I need. 

Front closet was our designated air shipment items. We get an air shipment, and sea shipment. The air arrives sooner, we were told 3-4 weeks, and the sea takes upwards of 8-10 weeks. Last time, they had a designated box for air, and I helped cram it as full as possible. This time, it seems everything was boxed just the same as the sea shipment, so who knows what will arrive by air. It will be a surprise!

Our Master Closet. I would have thought with all our suitcases packed, we would have less clothes to send in the shipment, but that was not the case. 

I was checking the front parking lot for the moving truck when I took this picture. Little did I know that it was already parked around the corner. 

Let the boxing begin. I sat at the kitchen table, Macy was on high alert. 

The amount of boxes has more than quadrupled since this photo was taken. We now have a nice maze built through out the apartment. 

No need to worry Macy, they will not put you in a box. 

Stressed puppy. The tape dispensers are so loud. 

Did someone just pick up my food bowl? 


All boxes will stay in the apartment tonight. Tomorrow morning, they will return and load everything into the truck. Tomorrow afternoon, the woman will arrive to pick up Macy. I don't even know how I am going to handle that.


Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Just when you think...

Just when you think you have everything figured out, you realize you do not.
Just when you think you are a good puppy mom, you realize you may not.

This realization developed a couple weeks ago, when we began our initial relocation process. If you did not guess from my introduction, the realization revolved around Macy's relocation. Included in our relocation package is compensation for using a pet relocation service. We ignored the offer since we moved from Houston to Russia with Macy flying (as cargo) on our airplane. Macy has also travelled from Russia to Chicago, and back on an airplane, no pet relocation service needed. I am very, very thankful Ryan took the time to look into the pet relocation service, to satisfy his curiosity. His research, brought the realization that I may not be as awesome of a puppy mom as I believed.

The pet relocation service asked for Macy's measurements, and the measurements of her kennel. Macy's kennel is TOO SMALL (by a lot) for her. For any readers jumping to conclusions, it is NOT because she is too fat (yes, she is "well built"), but she is too tall, and long for her kennel. Since we had no idea where we would be able to purchase an airline approved kennel in Novorossiysk, it looked like our only option was the pet relocation service. In my defense, she is never put in her kennel, she chooses to go in there for naps, but otherwise she has her designated chair in the living room. 

When we originally moved to Russia, Macy was only a couple months old, we had no idea how big she would be, so we purchased a huge kennel for her,  much too large, and as a result it made traveling in airports very difficult. I will admit, I knocked her off the luggage cart once, or twice (twice). Both times occurred at Moscow's airport, it did not matter how busy the airport was, as soon as a dog kennel falls off a cart, hitting the floor, EVERYONE goes silent, turns, and glares at you. Does anyone offer to help? No.  But most importantly, Macy was not hurt in either incident. I was tired of the the difficulties with the huge kennel, so the last time (two years ago), when Macy was back in the States, I bought her a smaller kennel, one that was actually for her size (which I thought she was full grown). Well, I am relieved to know that her weight gain the past two years was not simply fat, but she has grown in size. She now needs that bigger kennel. 

A couple pictures of Macy in her kennel. When you really pay attention, her head does seem to not fit in the kennel, and she can barely stand. I just thought she preferred to have her head outside the kennel, snuggling with her blanket. 



The pet relocation service will provide the correct size travel for Macy's travel. It sounds like the service is actually very nice. A representative will fly to Novorossiysk to pick up Macy, fly her to Moscow. She will spend the night in Moscow with the woman that comes to pick her up. We also learned that this woman was in charge of relocating many of the Sochi stray dogs that were adopted by American and European athletes. The next day she will fly from Moscow to Frankfurt, where there is a pet hotel. She will spend the night in the hotel. The next day she will fly from Frankfurt to Houston, where a woman will pick her up from the airplane in an air conditioned van (this is very important). Macy will spend the night with this woman. The next day, the woman will drive (this is very important) Macy from Houston to our house in Louisiana. Literal, door to door service. I do not have to worry about battling the veterinary offices in Novorossiysk for her international paperwork, I do not have to battle the airports with a dog kennel, I do not have to battle customs when we land in America. 

The kennel size was not our only obstacle. Just when you think, you have it all figured out, you do not. 

We were left with no other option for Macy's travel when we learned:
*Singapore airlines, the airline we are flying from Moscow to Houston does not accept dogs as checked baggage. We already knew this, and were researching other airlines, when we discovered the following: 
*Houston and New Orleans airports do not accept animals as checked baggage during the months May-September, too hot. The important reason the relocation service personally collects Macy directly from the airplane into an air conditioned van. 
*Flights to New Orleans tend to be on Express Jets, or smaller airplanes, planes smaller than a 747 do not take pets of Macy's size as checked baggage because the cargo area of those planes are too small to accommodate Macy's kennel size. The important reason the relocation service drives Macy from Houston to our house. 

I wrote a novel for this post, congratulations if you read this far. Here are a few more pictures of Macy. We are trying to teach her to leave her treat on her nose until we tell it is ok for her to eat it. Main obstacle, her eyes go cross trying to stare at the treat, causing her head to wobble, and the treat falls to the ground. 
Intense focus. 

Treat on face, eyes cross, head wobbles, treat begins to fall. 

Oh no, it bounced under the furniture. 

My paws do not fit, please get the treat for me. 

And to finish, nap time with Ryan. 
No need for a kennel when you have human snuggle buddies. 

Did I mention, we have TWO WEEKS until we are on a plane, flying to America. Insert smile, and happy dance. A couple updates on the house, our awesome master shower is now complete, and the beautiful wood floors have been installed! I believe the only thing left is the lawn and landscaping. On my to-do list this week is to call the mailbox company, and order our subdivision specific mailbox.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

We went fishing...

True story. Last Sunday, Ryan and I, along with a few Russian friends from the office, enjoyed a day on the Black Sea, fishing.

Maybe it's because we are in our last month of life in Russia, but Ryan and I both tried a new, very Russian experience. After three years of living within walking distance of the Black Sea, Ryan finally jumped in, and swam in the Black Sea. I passed on that experience. After three years of living in Russia, where it is very common to eat whole, fried fish (small ones, about 3 inches long), I finally gave in to peer pressure (I told the ladies they had to remove the heads for me) and ate one, actually two. Ryan passed on that experience.








Making my fish face while I carry the bucket of fish. 


Ryan caught a fish!

Proof I actually fished. 

I caught one! 

Posing with my fish, keeping a safe distance.
I successfully went the entire day without touching a fish, besides the two fried fish I ate.

One of these fish is not like the others.
Leave it to me to catch the weird fish.

Before he jumped off the boat. 

And after.


Today marks the three week point. In three weeks, at the this time, Ryan and I will be on a plane, flying to America. Things are moving along with our house, we now have a driveway! I have ordered blinds and shutters for the house. Ryan is being awesome, and dealing with all the moving logistics, mortgage, home insurance, and everything else I have no desire to deal with. But, I did successfully complete our inventory lists. If we continue to move every few years, inventories are something I am going to have to get use to. Luckily, I am not a pack rat, and am pretty organized. To anyone reading this that wants to become more organized and de-clutter. Inventory everything in your house.