A new life...

Thank you to everyone who commented on my post last week.  It certainly has given me food for thought!!

I have been learning Spanish for over a year now and am now on my second year, although I am finding it very tiring working full time and being 7 months pregnant also!  It is keeping my brain ticking over and I am amazed at what I already understand and can converse with confidence (most of the time!) until people start speaking English!

We are definitely going to rent first, we won't just straight in with a mortgage in case it isn't for us and things don't work out, I think that is the most sensible option so far.  It looks like it will be another 6 months from now so i can have my daughter and get my head around that before upheaving us all to more stress and chaos!!  A huge pull for me is that my mum will be going first so i can learn from her mistakes (if any!) and take advise from her!  We are looking at a franchise option at the moment which seems like the best option but we do have a lot of research to do and need to find the right option for us.

I am definitely feeling more positive now and what ever decision we do make is for the children first and foremost, then for ourselves.  My main concern is work and I am willing to try my hand and new things and do something compleley different.  

Thank you for all your kind words of advice, it is a great comfort to know that so many compassionate people are there already and are making Spain there home!

Well, I don't really know where to start as I tend to babble so here I go...

I have always wanted to re-locate from the UK and I did manage it 8 years ago when I moved to Cork, Ireland for 3 years.  I came home after thinking I was missing out on family and friends but after nearly 6 years back in the UK, i realise I never should have returned!  The only good thing was meeting my husband and starting my family.  I have a daughter who will be 3 in January and another little girl due in December.  My 30th Birthday is fast approaching and my mum is re-locating to Spain in the early part of next year so my help will be gone!!

It was on holiday in July 07 that we decided that the Spanish lifestyle was for us and that we would set the ball rolling on finding the ideal place for us.  At first we decided on the Costa Blanca.  Over-whelmed by the beauty of Moraira, then we ventured further south to Torrevieja and thought we had found the place we wanted to be.  It was only by chance on a propery viewing trip that we ventured to the Costa Del Sol and I fell in love instantly with the beauty of it, especially 30 mins or so in land.  My heart was then set!  For us as a family it is perfectly located for jobs, schools, airports and everything else we could possibly want!  

So once my daughter is born, we can finally plan to go and start a new life, away from the doom and gloom of the UK.  I am by no means blinkered by the thought of it all being plain sailing!! I know it will be very hard and it will take everything we have to make it work, but we are determined our girls have a great upbringing and are able to enjoy their childhood without having to sit them in front of the TV as the weather is bad or for fear of them getting in with the wrong crowd!! I know everywhere has it's problems but I know you will all agree that the UK is doomed at the moment and thought of my children growing up here fills me with dread!

I am looking for advice more than anything, if anyone could pass on words of wisdom on schools, jobs, any tiny bit of information they think will help us, I would be most grateful.  I currenly work in HR but I am willing to do anything to spend more time with my girls.  My husband is a Data Processing Manager (very boring IT based job!).  I am really looking forward to hearing from other Ex-pats about their words of wisdom and experiences about moving to Spain!  Are we doing the right thing??!!