Inaugural Post

This inaugural post is exciting as it marks the start of Book 1 in PM and Slim's Overseas Adventures.

Yesterday, PM and I flew to Washington, D.C. to begin our new life. However, PM's journey to becoming an FSO began quite awhile ago. I won't go into details about all of the initial steps, but I will give a brief rundown of the process and it's timing since I have been involved.

June 2012- Written Test
July 2011- Personal Narratives
January 2013- Oral Assessment
February 2013- Security and Medical Clearance
June 2013- 2nd Candidacy Written Test again (you can have multiple candidacies at one time)
July 2013- 2nd Candidacy Personal Narratives
November 2013- Language Exam (Macedonian)
November 27, 2013- Acceptance

As you can see, even just this process has been long and this is only the shorthand mention of the major checkpoints.

PM was lucky enough to find our about his acceptance to the January 2014 A-100 training class during our epic return journey from Peace Corps. Since arriving back in America, there has been lots to do to get ready, including purchasing new clothes and shoes, completing our first pack out, and submitting all the paperwork.

Pack out went really well. Because neither one of us has much stuff, we had it pretty easy. We brought as much of my stuff from Minnesota as we could in two checked bags and even adding some of that to the piles of PM's stuff, there was room in the UAB (unaccompanied air baggage- this will arrive in DC in 2-6 weeks and will be what we have to live with while PM is in training) and certainly ample room in the HHE (household effects- this will all be placed in a storage locker in the DC area and we will have limited access to it).

We flew to DC yesterday to have a bit of time to adjust before PM starts work on Monday. We will be staying at a friend's apartment until we move into our own place tomorrow. Housing is provided during training, which makes it possible for me to join PM and search for a job here. I have two second round interviews lined up for the upcoming weeks, and hopefully something will work out. I get to attend a training for spouses and members of the household this coming week to learn about my role in this career and the services that I am entitled to.

So far, so good!