So, I guess we should start from the beginning here, shouldn’t we? I guess this adventure all started to unravel in late Summer/early Fall 2014, when David got a LinkedIn message from a recruiter from Google. Yes, Google, like that giant company that runs the search engine, along with a zillion other super lucrative and successful side businesses. He had received several of these messages throughout the past year or so, and we had even considered, on two separate occasions, moving to Houston and Vermont (cannot tell you how glad we are to not be living there in this winter-from-hell). Neither of those opportunities turned out to be what we saw as our “next step” for various reasons. We had been trucking along with our happy little life in Round Rock, going to work at our jobs, coming home to our baby dog in our cute house that we had worked hard to make into our first home. Despite the fertility treatments that had been unsuccessful for going on two years, and the frustration and disappointment that came along with that (a whole other post for a later date), life was peachy keen. So, this message from the Google recruiter was not something out of the ordinary, except that this was actually a really big deal. And the kicker? The position was in New York City. GULP. And that part was pretty much non-negotiable. As in, we would have to move to NYC in order for him to take the position. DOUBLE GULP.

So, we casually talked about it, as he had his first phone screening with the recruiter. And we talked about it some more when she pushed him on to the next round of interviews. And then on to the next. And then it started to get really real.

I remember being in Ft. Worth for the weekend for the TCU Homecoming game, and we were texting about it. (David stayed home that weekend.) I know I said something really mature when he asked me how I felt about it all…I’m sure my response was something like “Whatever.” It was really scary to think about leaving Texas, and all of my friends and family there. Leaving everything I knew and loved best, and moving to one of the largest cities in the entire world. My go-to response to things that worry/scare/intimidate me is just like an ostrich. Put your head in the sand and pretend that nothing is going on. So, that’s what I did.

But I also remember taking time to actually think about what it would be like for us to move. Both my oldest sister and my college best friend moved away from home (across the country) when they first got married, and they both will swear that it was the best thing that could have happened for their marriages. Depending on one another completely, because you don’t know a soul, exploring a new place together and having new adventures with one another…it didn’t sound all bad. I kept thinking that if this job was in Charlotte or Atlanta or Nashville, that there would be no question about whether this was the “right choice” for us. Those cities are so similar to Austin: in the South, with their Targets and Nordstroms and 3 bedroom houses and highways where you can DRIVE A CAR. I could definitely make it in those places. But NYC? That’s a whole ‘nother story. The City is huge and busy and loud and intimidating. It’s dangerous and scary and unknown. There is a serious lack of Targets. And that freaked me out. A LOT. I am sure that David knew all of that, being that we had been together for 6ish years at that point. He had been to the City several times on business, so he knew what it was like. I hadn’t been since I was 16 – a birthday trip with my best friend and her parents, during which, it was much more important to notice the clothes at Express or the shoes at Nine West, than what the City was really like. David knew it was important for us to go to NYC together to see if we could “hack it.” (My words, not his.) He was very upfront with all of the Googlers (yes, that’s what they call themselves) about this fact, so we were not surprised when they offered to fly us up for a weekend in late October to see the Google office and see NYC. OF COURSE, all of the people we met at Google were so friendly and warm. OF COURSE, the weather was perfection the whole weekend (mid-60s and sunny). And OF COURSE, we had the best time exploring, seeing the sights and eating delicious food. We rode the subway, took taxis and Ubers. We walked and walked and walked, and never ran into one hiccup or rude person. It was charming and lovely and wonderful and all of the other positive connotative adjectives that exist in the world. I was sold. I could see us living there. I knew David wouldn’t steer us wrong, and I knew an opportunity like this for his career would probably not come along again. I trusted that he would take care of us and that we would be ok, no matter what. The offer came right before we left for our weekend trip, and after a week or so of negotiations, David was officially a Googler. It was exciting and terrifying, and we were well aware that we had just made a huge life decision – for better or worse. But, we were doing it together, and that was all that mattered. With deep breaths and deep faith, we began our new adventure in New York City.

A few photos from our trip to visit in October…

On the plane on the way to NYC! Been up since 3am…yippeeeeee.

The view from our hotel room at The Gem Hotel, in Chelsea.  That’s the Empire State Building peeking out there in the back.

Walking to the Google offices from our hotel…crazy mix of excitement and trepidation at this point.

There it is! We got a tour and met all of the team that David would be working with. No pictures allowed inside, but it was really mind-blowing. I mean, FREE FOOD ALL THE TIME? Who does that for their employees? We were super impressed with it all.

Sight seeing the following day…Upper West Side brownstones. Love.

Visiting Central Park for the first time. This is the fountain at the Bethesda Terrace.

Me and the fountain! (and my saggy pants – what’s up with that?)

David and the fountain and his pigeon friend.

Park selfie outtake. One of my favorite pics of us ever. I think this is about the time when we first realized that we were going to do this, and we were starting to get really excited. 

Beautiful, beautiful day in the Park

More pretty Park.

UWS selfie, after a few drinks at The Boathouse on the lake in Central Park.

Being silly on the High Line

Dinner in Brooklyn with James and Alaina, who were getting married a week after this! James works for a company that Dell used to work with, and that’s how David met him. We love them! Oh, and they also have a Boston Terrier who is a crazy-person, just like Nelly, so we definitely bonded over that.

German Biergarten after dinner in Brooklyn. Delicious grapefruit beers.

30 Rock drive-by. Although we did get lost for 15 minutes trying to get from the train stop in the basement out a door (any door!) that wasn’t blocked off. Had to stop for Starbucks, it got so dire. Of course, there was one inside 30 Rock.

The Freedom Tower/One World Trade Center was awe inspiring. I still get chills seeing it tower (literally) over all the other buildings in the skyline.