The logistics to make this move happen have been a bit overwhelming. Certain things were very easy to accomplish, but others have been a freaking nightmare. This is a quick recap of the challenges of moving to Guam.
Shipping my car was covered with my relocation. Great! But I had to get a letter from my lien holder stating they approved the shipment to Guam. My car loan is with CDC Federal Credit Union so I didn't think it would be an issue to get a letter. Nope. They wouldn't authorize shipping my car so we got to pay off the loan and buy my car a few years early. Thanks, CDC Federal Credit Union. Once the loan was paid off, I needed to get the title asap. There was a bit of scrambling to get that in time to keep my January 29 pick up date. You can't have any chips or cracks in your windshield, so I had to get that fixed. It wasn't a big deal, but trying to squeeze in the appointment was pretty challenging. The night before my car was scheduled to get picked up the age gauge stopped working. Are you kidding me? I was supposed to have 1/4 tank or less. I put in 2 gallons and the add fuel light was still flashing. Ugh! I called the shipping company and explained the situation and they said it was find. Phew! My car was picked up on January 29 and we'll see it in Guam some time in February.
Once we were out of our house, we stayed at Spragueland for 2 weeks. I can't thank my parents enough for taking us in and feeding us for our last 14 days in Phoenix. We had so much crap with us, we took over the music room and at times, the kitchen as well. It was so much fun to spend time with them. They were sad to say goodbye to me and Jonathan, but I think they may have been more sad to lose Henry has a roommate. Henry loved Spragueland. He had a blast playing with Coco, getting treats from my Dad, sprinting in and out of the doggy door and digging (sorry about that, Mom and Dad). Henry loved laying on the fire wall ledge and keeping watch of the yard. The bar is raised pretty high for our Guam backyard.
Shipping my car was covered with my relocation. Great! But I had to get a letter from my lien holder stating they approved the shipment to Guam. My car loan is with CDC Federal Credit Union so I didn't think it would be an issue to get a letter. Nope. They wouldn't authorize shipping my car so we got to pay off the loan and buy my car a few years early. Thanks, CDC Federal Credit Union. Once the loan was paid off, I needed to get the title asap. There was a bit of scrambling to get that in time to keep my January 29 pick up date. You can't have any chips or cracks in your windshield, so I had to get that fixed. It wasn't a big deal, but trying to squeeze in the appointment was pretty challenging. The night before my car was scheduled to get picked up the age gauge stopped working. Are you kidding me? I was supposed to have 1/4 tank or less. I put in 2 gallons and the add fuel light was still flashing. Ugh! I called the shipping company and explained the situation and they said it was find. Phew! My car was picked up on January 29 and we'll see it in Guam some time in February.
AT&T... After many failed attempts, I was never able to unlock my phone to use it in Guam. This seems absolutely ridiculous to me. We are not under contract (it ended in Dec) and the phone is paid off. Now, I get to buy a new phone in Guam. When we move back to the US mainland, AT&T will be hard pressed to have us as customers again.
USPS Mail Hold and Forwarding was such a problem it is absurd. We didn't want to forward our mail to my parent's house because we feared it would never stop. (They still get mail from our mail forward when we moved to Phx 4 years ago.) According the website, a mail hold and then a forward would be perfect for us. We scheduled the mail hold from Feb 1 - 13 and said we would pick up whatever had accumulated on the 5th and the rest on the 13th. It's really cute we thought that would work. Jonathan went to two post office locations to try to get the mail on the 5th. The first location (that is closer to our house) didn't have held mail for our neighborhood and he was instructed to go to a different location. When he arrived at the second location, it didn't open for another hour. He got to kill some time in the parking lot waiting for it to open. The second location should have had the mail, but it was just released to be delivered. What? It should not be delivered. We selected the option to pick up the mail, not have it delivered. The USPS worker tried calling the carrier (who was not the usual carrier, great.) on 2 different numbers and couldn't reach her. Jonathan was instructed to head to our old neighborhood and try to find the carrier. You've got to be kidding me. It is 2016 and the best option to get our mail is to chase a USPS mail truck? Okay... Jonathan drove to our neighborhood and was prepared to comb the streets looking for the mail truck. (I wish I had a picture or video of Jonathan looking for the mail truck.) Fortunately, he spotted the mail carrier across the street from our house with our mail in her hand. Jonathan was able to get the mail before she put it in the mail slot. Yeah! We were able to get the rest of the held mail on the 13th. We'll see if the forward to a PO Box in Guam works...
Packing and moving out household items was also part of the relocation. Thank goodness! This was no small task. It took a 3 person crew 2 days to pack and load our stuff into wood crates. Dirks was the local company who handled the packing and they were great. I highly recommend this company. Our little house was busting at the seams with boxes! Henry was a little freaked out by all of the packing and boxes. I don't blame him.
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| A toast to the empty and clean house |
Once we were out of our house, we stayed at Spragueland for 2 weeks. I can't thank my parents enough for taking us in and feeding us for our last 14 days in Phoenix. We had so much crap with us, we took over the music room and at times, the kitchen as well. It was so much fun to spend time with them. They were sad to say goodbye to me and Jonathan, but I think they may have been more sad to lose Henry has a roommate. Henry loved Spragueland. He had a blast playing with Coco, getting treats from my Dad, sprinting in and out of the doggy door and digging (sorry about that, Mom and Dad). Henry loved laying on the fire wall ledge and keeping watch of the yard. The bar is raised pretty high for our Guam backyard.
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| Coco loved Henry's bed. I think she was in it more than Henry. |
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| A little bubbly and pizza at Spraguland to celebrate moving out of our house |
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