Hi, friends! Let’s sit down together and have a little one on one time, shall we?
In the whirlwind that is our move right now, I thought I’d take a moment to pause and provide some life updates/details. I received a ton of questions after sharing our big news last week, and I feel like things are moving at a million miles an hour, so I’m sharing a FAQ of sorts below!
What’s the plan for your move? When are you officially leaving Chicago?
This Friday, June 29, is our move out date from our current apartment. All of a sudden it’s right around the corner and I’m honestly not sure how it got here so fast!
While we’re leaving the city this week, our move in date to our new place is now Facebook-status “Complicated.” We’re excited to be renting a place that is undergoing a total renovation (read about why we’re renting vs buying here); we’ll be the first tenants, and can’t wait to make it our own! But, the only downfall is the construction itself. You know how that goes! Right now it’s a few weeks behind schedule, which we’re okay with as we’re flexible and just planning on crashing in my parent’s basement until it’s ready. (Heyyyy, Mom!) Not mad about saving a little extra money while not having to pay rent for a month, either.
So, as of now, here’s the current plan with all things moving: Load up the moving truck on Friday. Drive to Michigan and arrive Friday night. On Saturday morning, unload all of the moving truck into our new house basement. Crash at our parent’s houses for a few weeks until construction is over. What’s nice about this route, is as the inside comes together, we can start to unpack slowly! Plan to move in mid-to-late-July.
Just trying to roll with it!
Are you ready?
Nope. Ha! Not yet, at least.
So much to pack! So much to sort through. So many ducks to get into a row. Admittedly we have really procrastinated all the packing, as we felt it was equally as important to really enjoy our last few weeks in the city. So, we’ve been on a goodbye-tour of sorts. During our weekends and free time during the past few weeks, we’ve focused on playing with the girls at our favorite parks, going to the lake, having picnic dinners, celebrating Gracie’s 3rd birthday, meeting up with all our friends for dinners and wine chats, going downtown to our favorite places.
And, you know what? I’m so happy we went that route, because my heart feels so full and I feel more prepared to close this chapter of our lives knowing that we’ve lived up every single minute, even down to the last one. Stuff is just stuff. But these last few weeks are ones you don’t get back, you know?
That said, starting today, we have t-minus 2 days until we need to leave, so we’re getting to work! Though Doug and I both have full time jobs and need to prioritize work during the day, our nights from here on out are going to be late ones that are focused on organizing, packing, and getting ready for Friday. Wish us luck!
Are you getting movers?
Nope! My dad and our brothers are strapping on their super hero capes and coming to help us. We’re DIYing this move as much as we can!
How are you feeling about the move?
Honestly, right now I don’t even know. I feel like it all hasn’t really hit me yet because we’ve been so busy that I’m just trying to keep up.
I thought I was super ready and would tackle this thing with zero looking back. But the closer move-out day gets, the more I’ve found myself getting nostalgic and emotional. When I was writing our announcement post, I started crying a handful of times, which I was honestly surprised by. It made me realize that I may not have fully processed just how much I’m going to miss the city and the friends we’ve made here.
I know we’ll be back frequently, but it just feels so…final. You know?
Do Grace and Josephine understand that they’re moving? How do they feel?
Josephine has zero idea what’s going on, besides loving to play with the boxes, ha! So there’s that.
We continually talk with Grace about our move, and try to put things into terms that she’ll understand. We’ll say things like, “Gracie, we’re moving back to Michigan, and that means we’re getting a new house with a big yard for you to play in!” or, “Gracie, you get to start a brand new daycare soon and make lots of new buddies!” In pretty much every instance, she’ll smile, act excited, and then will ask to watch The Lion King. So…I think she’s feeling pretty good?!
Regardless of how they do or don’t understand now, I’m sure we have a bit of a transition ahead. “Home” in their minds means our little city apartment, close to their favorite parks, right above our neighbor who’s dog comes to say hi every morning and who feels like an Aunt to them (Anita! We’re going to miss you so much.) This is the place where both girls were brought home from the hospital when they were born. It’s where they feel most happy and where our family has grown so much together. So, to redefine that for them is going to be challenging, I’m sure.
Our game plan is to try to talk with them as openly as possible and keep trying to explain things in ways that they understand. And, of course, to let them know it’s okay to feel sad about missing their old home and daycare. I’m sure there may be some tears ahead when that realization hits, with Grace in particular. And honestly that’s the part that I’m most worried about with this whole move. I know it’s unavoidable, but I still feel so bad.
How is Doug feeling about it all?
Doug is one of those guys who takes things in absolute stride. He’s very action/solution oriented, is a total go-getter, and things don’t seem to faze him much. So, as soon as we made the decision to move back, he switched gears into “Get it done” mode to make it happen, and has been in that mode since. I know I gush about him all the time, but it’s because he’s worth gushing over; I’m just so lucky to have him as a partner.
That’s a long way of saying, he’s doing great. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still going to miss the city and all our friends here. Like me, I’m honestly not sure if it’s all truly registered for him yet.
In many ways I feel like our biggest adjustment period is ahead, not right now as we’re in the thick of the move itself.
Enough with the emotions! Are you keeping your stuff?
Yes and no.
Some rooms, like Josephine’s bohemian-style nursery, are going to be packed up and basically kept the same as we move into our new place. Hers is an example of a room that we were able to style and plan for, and that we purchased things that we saw us (and her) leveraging long term.
Others, like our living room, are basically a collection of hand-me-downs that we’ve acquired throughout the years, many of which we don’t plan on bringing with us. Things like our couch, which is (actually) 30 years old and is in rough shape, or our armchair, which we bought off Craig’s List for $50 when we were just married and broke, and has so many stains on it that you can barely tell what color it is anymore.
Funny story: We offered to bring some of those furniture items to Salvation to donate them, and they turned us away, saying they didn’t want them. Laughing out loud.
Just shows you that it’s definitely time to press reset and invest in some items that are uniquely ours. And I have to tell you: I can’t wait to get decorating! Doug, on the other hand, is scared of the inner animal in me that’s about to be unleashed. RAWR. 😉
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That’s all for now! But, before I wrap this post up, I wanted to again say thank you for all the sweet congratulations messages that have been sent our way over the past week. We truly appreciate them more than you know, especially as we dive into this big change.
One of the things that was very apparent is how many of you can relate to how we’re feeling right now with this move. Turns out, this type of transition is one that lots of you have encountered, are currently going through, or have been thinking about. Your messages were so thoughtful, humbling and it truly meant so much to know that many of you can relate! I’ll try my best to keep you updated with all things throughout our move, so be sure to keep following along. (Especially on Instagram, where I share frequently via IG stories and posts!)
If there are things you’re curious about that I haven’t addressed, feel free to shoot me others via email (isntthatcharming@gmail.com) or ask them in the comments below! I’m an open book and it’s so fun to share this journey with you all. Thank you as always for reading and for being just the best. xx
1 comment
Good luck this weekend!