But wait....it's only been 2 weeks!

8-12 weeks.  That's what the Spanish Consulate told us.  But we were in Spain, again, and we got an email from the Spanish Consulate telling us that our VISA was approved and we had 30 days to come and get it.  WHAT?

We were so excited and thrilled, but we just got back from Chicago, what happened to 8-12 weeks? We do have 30 days to get it, so it's not like we have to go back tomorrow.  Now comes the tricky part.  Once you pick up your VISA and return to the EU, you have 30 days to get your empadronamiento (basically a census) and your NEE card (like a social security card in the states - and you need that card to do anything in Spain - rent a house, get a phone, open a bank account, etc.) and show that you have accommodation set up (lease or deed) for Spain.  Since we are already living in France, we'd return there, so the clock would start immediately.

So, 3 weeks later we were back on a plane to Chicago to pick up our VISA.  Not much to report here, it went very smooth.  I didn't have any pages left in my passport and it expired in 2016, so I needed a new one.  Because of the timing I had to use an agency and get it in 2 days.  That was very easy too, we used an agency in Chicago and everything worked out great.  We went to consulate and picked up our VISA and headed back to France.  Now we'll be heading back to Spain (thank goodness it's only 3.5 hours from our house to Girona) to register and make a decision on a house.  We did give notice to our landlord here in France.  We'll be moving mid-December.....so Christmas in Spain!