some big news from the balkayas

we've been working on something pretty big around here and i suppose it's time to share it here on the blog.  we are moving!  well not just moving - more like relocating, ourselves & (most of) our earthly possessions, back to the states.  i'd say this has been a long time coming, but actually the decision was made within the past three weeks, when ben applied for & accepted a position at binghamton university.  i will continue the work i'm doing now, from binghamton.

kaan's thrilled (but he doesn't have to pack)

in roughly three weeks we have been through a job application process, searched for & found a home - which we are hoping to close on within the month - contacted moving companies, received quotes, and begun packing up our home.  we plan to 'pack out' toward the end of september (send our household shipment) and depart for binghamton in mid october.  oh yeah, and we've got these two little boys who demand our constant attention (as a 2 month & 2 year old tend to).

to say it's been a whirlwind would be a major understatement!

we still have a LOT to do (continue packing & determining what will come with us in suitcases vs. get shipped & arrive in a couple of months, sell our car, close on the house, settle into that house, keep emre from freaking out about it all) & are trying not to get overwhelmed.

more importantly, we're mentally in such a state of transition i'm afraid we won't have time to properly bid our life here goodbye.  it's all so sudden, and it will be such an immense change - for all of us - to go from ankara to binghamton.  believe me, we are excited about it!  there will be so many more opportunities for the kids, a bigger house (with a lawn!), a fantastic job for ben, not to mention… WEGMANS!  but, this place has been good to us, too.  it has been 'home' for six years now.  it has provided us with incredible opportunities, amazing adventures, and life long friendships.

in the six years since i moved here i've been through so many life changes: marriage, two kids, losing my sister... that doesn't even include the ways in which living in and adapting to turkey have changed me as a person.  binghamton is familiar, but i am going home a different person than i left, and i don't know what that is going to be like.

bear with us as we work through the many emotions, ups and downs, and immense excitement we are feeling.  it's going to be a wild ride, but i know we are going to be so happy when we land on the other side.  more soon.