t ^3 (t cubed)

Today I realized how blessed I am. In three weeks I will be relocating from North Carolina to the UAE to teach middle school math. I begin this journey back in January 2015. Prior to winter break whenever anyone asked me "What do you want to be?" my response was always in a dreamy tone.....because I knew it would never happen....."If I had the money Id like to travel the world and home school my children." Ironically that is what we are going to be doing this year. I am a single mother of three children. My oldest daughter is a sophomore in college! She will remain in school while her siblings and I travel to the UAE. I guess you are wondering what made me decided to uproot my children and move on the other side of the world. Well honestly I just got tired of the limitations. The hustle and bustle of barely earning a living wage while working two jobs and completing my doctorate/dissertation burned me out.

I decided that if I was going to work this hard then I should at least be somewhere pleasing to the eye. The first country I researched was the Cayman Island's their application process was complicated and required a face to face interview in the UK. There was no way I could afford that so I quickly considered other options.

Over half priced wings at the Wooden Nickel Pub (check them out if your ever in the area) my son and I hatched out plan to move to China! During subsequent Tuesday nights (my daughter was at basketball practice) we discovered that China was not the place for us and we expanded our search. Initially the middle east was not on our radar but after conducting research at the local library and information interviews with friends and community members we realized that this was an awesome opportunity. So I applied!

My timeline follows:

Completed my application 1/7/15
Scheduled phone interview 1/12/15
Attended the SKYPE in person interview 2/3/15
Got my offer letter 2/9/15
Received my VERY first passport 2/28/15

Submitted Authenticated documents and color scan of my passport 3/20/15

Got notification that my application was submitted for Visa 3/24/15
Received my approval from the School Board for an unpaid leave of absence 4/29/15
WAITED 4/29/15-7/13/2015

Attended pre departure webinar
Sold my stuff
Went to a few going away parties
Dinner with my teacher friends

My mom threw a going away party for me

Next I moved in with my sister in Hawaii to wait for my ticket to AUH 6/29/15

My first attempt at packing....this was way too much stuff so I have cut back and will share the second attempt when we fly out...we flew from CTL to HNL!