Our First Home

In what must be record time, we managed to select a house we both liked and have our offer for it accepted. We saw 15 houses in total, over 2 days and made our selection the same weekend.  We were fortunate enough to find a somewhat eager seller who we feel gave us a great price on our first home.  I think I may have come to terms more quickly with having a relatively large debt hanging over us than Leah may have.  We made the decision and I was ready to sign away; but (somewhat adorably) my wife phoned home for parental reassurance ;) I'm not certain if either I couldn't (and still haven't) processed the enormity of our decision or if I just take the debt business less serious. But in the end we both felt we made a great choice and hope everything goes smooth from here on in.

If everything goes according to plan we will be moving into our first house June 3.  We have done the house shopping, signed an agreement, got the bank's approval, and contacted a lawyer. We only lack the inspection Tuesday and the arrival of the closing date.  

The house is in the very back of a quite subdivision with a kitchen setup (among other things) that sold Leah and a backyard that sold me (pictured below).  I can't wait to be as loud as I want at whatever hour I want.  We have been married almost 6 years now and have not once lived in a location where we didn't share at least 1 wall.  Halo will be blasted, in addition to Psych and Battlestar Galactica being  watched at inappropriately loud volumes.  I can't wait to climb up on top of my roof one day to inspect things as if I somehow have a clue about what I am doing.

Here is a picture of the front.

Here is a picture of what has me excited.

France

Not surprisingly, Leah and I went to France several times since we were living so close.  What is surprising is how agreeable we found the country.  (Disclaimer: I cannot speak for Paris.  I have heard a lot of negative things from people I trust on this issue who have told me the rest of France isn't like Paris.)  What  I can speak for is Evian-les-Bain.  We have been there multiple times.  It is only about a 30 minute ferry ride across lake Geneva from Lausanne.  It is a bit of a tourist town with many seasonal shops but we still enjoy it.  Though this may come as blasphemy to many of my friends especially those from the midwest, Evian reminds me of the US.

One of the restaurants we like has random goofy stuff on the wall including a license plate from each of the 50 US states.  The food in general has terrific flavor, or at least flavors I am used to from the US...and something we could learn from is having an ice cream stop on almost every corner.  And to add to our enjoyment, apparently the French have found a way to keep the cost of living low.  A reasonable plate is about 15 euros which is nice compared to the 30 francs I expect to pay in Switzerland. (20 dollars vs 33 dollars)  While I haven't forgot the delicious items for sale at Texas Roadhouse or Outback for 20$ and below, Evian is provided us with delightful food affordably to hold us over.

Really the point of all of this is to say, contrary to the stereotype I had painted for me long ago in the US,  France seems to be a reasonable place.

Its across the lake in the background:

St. Patrick's Day 2013

Leah and I decided to take a weekend trip to Savannah, Georgia for St. Patrick's Day after reading on CNN that they were rated to have the 4th best celebration in the U.S.  They did not disappoint.

The majority of the people commuting in are funneled to a large parking area across the Savannah river and ferried across to River Street for the celebration.  The number of wild men and women descending on Savannah for this two day celebration is incalculable. We went early and stayed through about 2-3 p.m. after receiving our proper sunburns, seeing part of an incredibly long parade (5 hours !), and enjoying some good food and beverages.  Then it took us about 2 hours or more to get back across as the night shift moved in.  Mostly likely the highlight of the trip was witnessing a not so big girl who had clearly been at the sauce for quite a while punish a huge (2 pounds, literally) turkey leg while sitting on a curb, gripping the bone barbaric style and ripping the flesh apart with her teeth with chunks falling to her legs which didn't get swept away on any timescale I could witness as I waited next to her in line.  If only we had a picture. This is not something which will be forgotten.  The trip was several weeks ago and it gets discussed daily in our home.

After making it back to our car we took a brief tour of Savannah seeing their famous spanish moss covered oak tree lined road at Wormsloe and Bonaventure cemetery. We enjoyed the city which had a lot of character and excellent place to eat.  We hope to make it back at a time when the crowds are not so large and enjoy a normal experience there.

Position Accepted

It has been a while since my last post on here. Since the last entry, I have switched continents (and by default countries as well).  Maybe I'll fill in some of our experiences from this 8 month gap, but for this entry I'm going to focus on our big piece of news.

We have accepted an assistant professor position at the University of Mississippi starting this July.  Thankfully, the interviewing for positions went well for us and we had a few options of places to go.  After ample deliberation about where we wanted to be, we are excited to be moving to Oxford, Mississippi soon. We are both very excited about this opportunity and planting our feet for a while.

University of Mississippi Logo

We have been looking at houses recently, which I find both exciting and somewhat intimidating. (That is a lot of debt the banks are willing to hand over!) We will being going to Mississippi this weekend to look at some of the houses on our list of around 25 or so. All of these are potentially places to settle down at and begin raising a family.  Finally, living the dream :)  I am ready for the white picket fence and my 2.4 kids...or whatever it is now.

In the mean time, Leah has helped me get a website together for my group.  You can check it out at www.delcampgroup.com.  I am ready to get this group going !  I have been very fortunate to already have two members agree to join me and begin research in July. The process of gaining group members moves a lot slower for many people; so I am counting my blessings toward getting a jump start with regard to the career.  Everyone from the chemistry department has been incredibly supportive and kind to us during this process.

Leah will be opening a full time photography studio once we move.  She has been gearing up her website www.behindalens.com and watching countless courses on starting personal business in photography.  I'm excited she finally gets the opportunity to move forward with her career goals which she has near had to completely suspend while we were in Switzerland and then temporarily here in Atlanta.

In short we're moving to the south, buying rocking chairs for the front porch and I am going to punish the sweet tea like it is nobody's business.

The square at Oxford, Mississippi

The Ole Miss Campus