The History and Prelude

It was in early September of 2010 when Ann came home from work one night and casually asked if we would consider her doing an international assignment in London for 2 years.  Let me first tell you that as of the night before and basically since late summer, we were taking all necessary steps to have a baby.  This was our plan and we were incredibly excited to start a family.  Since we are not getting any younger, we thought that we should probably get started if Ann was going to be the fashionable, middle age octomom that she has been dreaming of since she was a little girl in Fond du Lac;)  Anyway, that night consisted of some very serious discussions about our options as well as our plans.  Having a family will always be the most important and special thing in our lives, but this opportunity was just too fantastic to pass on.  That put everything in motion and our lives have been crazy, but so exciting, since.  Professionally for Ann, this was also an awesome opportunity for her to take her career to the next level, albeit through a lot of work.  It has also been so much fun to hear Ann talk about how unimagineable it is for her to be asked to do such an important job for her company as well as ponder the ability of her Fondy umbilical cord to reach across the Atlantic!!!  Unfortunately, to use a cliche, it is very bittersweet for us.  Most of our history together has been in Minneapolis, and that is where some of our really good friends are.  We love our house there and we have just gotten it to the point where we are absolutely enjoying it.  For me professionally, I love working for Target, and I knew that I would have to inevitably resign.  That is hard because I love the team that I am on and the direction that my career has been progressing.  I have come to realize though that being Ann's personal travel and relo assistant has incredibly promising advantages and if I must be a stay at home husband (a.k.a football hooligan and pub conisseur), well someone has to make sacrifices, and why not me.  With all seriousness and joking aside, however, the decision was still easy.  The chance for us to live in another country was exactly what we have always dreamed of.  
I am going to spare you all of the logistical details, but our lives the last 2 months have really just consisted of planning and preparing.  We are trying to sell our house in Minneapolis.  We are finding the documentation part of the visa process to be trying.  Ann was not fully on board with my stay at home husband option, so I am trying to network and find a job in London.  As I type this first entry though, I am actually sitting at a computer in London.  We arrived last Saturday for our flat hunting trip.  What has seemed so surreal for the last 2 months has now become a reality.  We have placed 3 verbal offers on 3 great flats that we found in Kensington/Gloucester area.  We will be within a few steps of a Tube station as well as only a block or two from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.  We will have 2 bedrooms, so guests are welcome and highly encouraged.  It has been an incredbile week.  We were fortunate enough to be treated to personal tours of all the fun nieghborhoods around London and we saw somewhere around 20 different flats.  I think that we had prepared ourselves for incredibly small and expensive places, and yes, they are still expensive, but we are getting more space than we imagined.  I have also had a job interview this week and am going back for a 2nd interview tomorrow.  Life can honestly not get much better.

I do have to make mention of the one person/animal who will be going through the greatest change due to our decision making, and that is Jack.  Sadly, Jack will not be accompanying us on our UK journey.  We really wanted to bring him, as he has been by my side for the last 6 years through all of my moves and changes, but the quarantine process is too much and our lifestyle here will be too transient.  Jack does not know it yet, but he will be a guest at Hotel Knapp in St. Louis.  Honestly, I am just hoping that he will want to leave when we come back.  There is not an animal in the world that is treated as much like royalty as those within the Knapp household.  Thanks mom and dad for taking your only grandson!!!
  
To finish this first blog, Ann and I just want to say thanks to all of our family and friends for being so supportive.  We are so excited for this journey, and while we will be geographically further, you all will be with us as we expereince this next phase in our lives.  Please know that you will always have a place to stay in London.