We have a date - let the new life begin!

It took a bit of working around, but after a phone call to Malaysia Airlines, I managed to move 1,000 air miles to Barry's 'Enrich' account so he could book a return flight. With the taxes and surcharges, it cost around NZ$500 - still less than half the price it would normally cost for a one-way ticket from Auckland to Heathrow. He arrives in London early on Friday 25th October, just two months and twelve days after leaving UK on 13th August.

We'd like to 'publicly' acknowledge the amazing work Colin Bonos, from 'ivisas' in New Zealand, has carried out on our behalf; and for all his skilful knowledge, friendly and informative support and advice along the complex journey of gaining Barry's initial 'spousal sponsored visa'. There's another two stages to 'pass through' before he reaches the destination of 'Indefinite Leave to Remain' in UK, but we'll cross those bridges when the time comes.

On 21st September, the first of our articles, 'A Life Changing Journey', was published in the Gisborne Herald Weekender supplement. Well done Amy from NB Willow for picking up a glaring error. Can anyone else spot it (no cheating friends and family and looking at Facebook!)? The second part winged its way to Gisborne earlier today, and just needs Barry to drop into the offices (in person I suspect) some stunning photography to complement it.

Next week I'm off to Belfast for a 'More Clients, More Leads, More Sales' conference by Bernadette Doyle, a go-getting entrepreneur who I bought an online marketing package from last year and the ticket was part of the deal. So I'm taking up the opportunity of attending my first ever Life Coaching related conference/event, and staying with a beautiful friend I haven't seen for 25 years! How exciting! 

Feeling the pressure of moving hemispheres ...

So it's just seven weeks and five days before we fly away from Gisborne to the sunny (!) northern hemisphere - Barry always brings the sun with him so you can count on there being some gorgeous weather in UK from 21st March.

We always knew that sorting the vast amount of 'stuff' we have would be a challenge, and we aren't disappointed so far - in fact there's more than we ever imagined.  That's the drawback of having a decent sized house with a humongous amount of storage space underneath it.  

I sent round an initial list of belongings to a long email list of contacts, and so far we've sold one of our cars, our bike, and tons of other stuff, so it bodes well for keeping on top of it.

On Saturday we've arranged a 'garage/garden/yard' sale at our house - here's a photo of some of the stuff in our spare bedroom ready for this ...

I've already taken three large bags of clothes to the Salvation Army, and two visits to the rubbish dump with unwanted paperwork.

One of the other things we'll be doing is cataloguing and selling some of Barry's photographs - they are, as you all know, incredible works of art and deserve to have homes where people appreciate their beauty.

Coming back from a five night midwifery locum stint at Te Puia on Tuesday, Barry and I suddenly became overwhelmed at the enormity of what we're undertaking and started to panic a little.  Too late to turn back now of course - the house is sold with the settlement date of 31st January.  Those blog readers who have undertaken similar journeys to us, will recognise I'm sure, the pressure that such a big change puts on you, even when it's something you have been dreaming of for a long period of time.

This evening I came across an inspiring video which 'spoke to me', and reminded me to let go and just allow ourselves to freak out from time-to-time about the move.  We've been planning it for over two years now, and we're both sure it's what we want, but the change in the UK visa requirements have meant we must commit to five and a half years to get Barry's 'Indefinite Leave to Remain' in UK, with only limited time back in NZ to see family and friends, if we can afford to return for visits.  'The Power of Vulnerability' is a TED talk by Brene Brown - if you have about 20 minutes to spare, and want to feel more 'wholehearted', I would totally recommend you watch and absorb the wisdom she's gained through many years of research.

Once we've received the house sale money next week, we'll put the necessary funds into an account, and they have to stay there for six months before Barry can even apply for his UK visa.  Then it must be there again two and half years after when he updates/reapplies.  We've now engaged the lovely Colin at 'ivisas' to navigate us through the process, and feel confident all will happen - so long as we gather all the documentation.

Our biggest mission now is to sell Barry's business - he has a few people interested, so by the power of the law of attraction, I'm putting it out there we WILL sell it in the next couple of weeks.

Watch this space - and I'm sending it out too that one day soon we WILL be announcing we've bought a narrowboat ...