India Update

So we're starting to get closer and closer to our move.  When is that?  We still don't know.  We do know that it takes an insane amount of passport photos to apply for visas so we're VERY thankful that there are people handling all this for us.  My stress level is starting to escalate so I try not to think about everything we have to accomplish in the near future.  Let's see what's been happening.......

The dogs...
Last weekend, Stewart made three phone calls to the Continental Pet Hotline to make sure that we have everything in order.  We knew that the dogs were going to have to be kenneled which is fine.  Bella was crate trained as a puppy and loves her kennel.  Seriously, she chooses to sleep in it if the door is left open.  And since Bella already has one, it meant we only had to buy one for Scout.  He doesn't love them like Bella does but he has flown in them before.  So after a couple of phone calls, we found out that for international flights, the dogs have to be in the next size up kennel.  Great.  That means two new kennels.....and one of them has to be massive for Scout.  Stewart scoured the internet and we headed to PetSmart to check out their stock.  Luckily, they had ones big enough for Scout so we bought it and headed home.  Both the dogs are kind of at the cut off for their heights meaning they could go either way with the kennels.  We weren't sure if the kennel we bought would end up being for Scout or Bella.  So we put it together and coaxed Scout into it.  The dogs have to have 3" clearance above their heads.  Luckily, Scout had that much!  I went back to PetSmart yesterday and picked up one size smaller for Bella.  It's still in the back of the Xterra because we honestly don't have any room for it in our house.  Scout's kennel is massive.  Stewart and Bella fit in it together!  Scout
probably would have fit in there too if he liked it more.  So we currently have this kennel sitting in our living room.

Moving....
We finally started taking apart our two guest bedrooms so that we can clear one out for everything that's going to India.  I thought this would be pretty easy until I emptied the dresser in there and realized I had no where to put the stuff ....because it goes in the dresser.  Same with the two nightstands and set of storage drawers.  So our house is turning into empty furniture and piles of items.  This is honestly driving me crazy.  I like to have things put away.  I like to have things in their place.  Not in piles.  I'm thinking about getting boxes and helping out the movers.

Housing....
Our most recent item that we have completed is our housing application.  Basically, we fill out a questionnaire for the Embassy housing office.... who is in our family, do we have dogs, what's our preference for where we live.  The Embassy has several options broken up into four categories: on the compound, closest to the compound, further out, and then the furthest out.  Each of these categories have 2-4 neighborhoods or "colonies" as they're called.  There are no pictures but there are descriptions.  So you read through and pick out which one is your preference.  Then you return the questionnaire, and they try to meet your preference but you end up with whatever housing is available.  This is one area that Stewart and I struggled with.  There are pros and cons to living on the compound and off plus we've never been there and we don't know what the areas look like.  If you asked us last week, we would have said that our preference was to live on the compound.  It's walking distance to work, dog friendly, and close to many American amenities (plus the running group is there!).  But after reading through the descriptions, we decided to opt for one of the colonies furthest away from the compound.  We're only going to live there once, so why not experience the culture?  We'll be able to go to the compound for any of our needs but it'll be so much fun to just walk down the street to the Indian markets and restaurants.  We're still not holding our breath on getting this and will be happy with wherever we end up.  I think the dogs will play a big part in where we live because some of these places might not allow them.

We're slowly moving closer to the big move, and we're starting to get excited about what our life will be like over there.