Move to Chicago

We moved to Chicago!

Back in September, a recruiter for Abbott Laboratories contacted RJ and offered him a job. He turned down their initial offer and countered with an offer we would consider moving for. They said “no”, so we didn’t think any more about it. Then, just before Thanksgiving they called him back and offered him everything he asked for and then some.    

We have moved quite a few times. This move was particularly hectic. November, December, and January are always really busy because of the holidays. On top of that, we road tripped to Ohio to visit my relatives for Thanksgiving, then spent Christmas in England with RJ’s relatives. By the time we got back from all our holiday adventures, there were just over two weeks before our move.

Photo of Rosalie, Heather, and James on the floor of our
new house! I don't even remember what Rosalie was grumpy
about, but Heather and James were all smiles. 

Between our trip to England and the three small human bosses who run my life, I decided I did not have time to pack and we would have the movers pack for us. When we move again, I will not pay for packers again. It was great to not do the task of packing in the short amount of time we had but it tripled my unpacking time. It is incredibly painful to open a kitchen box labeled, “plasticware” and not a single piece of plastic be inside. Or a bedroom box labeled, “linens” and not find a single pillowcase. As convenient as having packers are it is not worth the hassle.

The rest of the move went really well. We had our cars transported and rented a car to drive. The drive was easy and the kids did really well. We stopped halfway thought at my uncle’s house. His daughters, my cousins are just a few years older than Rosalie and Heather. They play together really well and it is so fun to see them make those cousin relationships.  

Our first night in Chicago it snowed at least 6 inches, it was pretty crazy to see the big jump between a few inches of snow shutting down Virginia for a couple of days, to twice as much snow not even phasing the Chicagoans.  

Chicago is very different from any other place I have lived, the biggest difference is how built up it is. Chicago is the third largest city in the United States, the only bigger cities being NYC and LA. We live about 40 minutes from the center of Chicago, our home in Virginia was about 40 minutes from DC. It is much busier in these Chicago suburbs than the DC burbs. We are walking distance from a lot of shops and restaurants. We are also a short walk to a train station that can take us right downtown. A 20-minute drive can take us to so many places. There is so much to explore!

I am still busy unpacking, the home we are renting was built in the early 60s. So far we really like it, but it is the polar opposite of our modern three-story townhome. There is so much stuff I think, “I had this here in the last house, where the heck do I put it now.” It is crazy how much housing preferences and architecture has changed in 60 years.

I have a lot of blog catch-up to do. We had a ton of fun in England over Christmas. And I met a ton of awesome people at a Festivus party too. I cannot wait to share!

Thanks for reading!