Moving Downtown

Hello.

A while ago (okay, it's probably been a long while) , I told you that I would write a blog about us moving downtown. I haven't taken the time, I think because I knew this was going to be a long post.

So, keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all time. :)

To understand our move downtown , you have to understand where we have been.

When Kate and Grace were 6 weeks we packed up and moved to Chicago. It was a lot, but honestly it was all such a blur...

When we moved to Chicago, we didn't have an apartment lined up, so we lived in a hotel for about a week. The perk of living in a hotel with two itsy bitsy babies was the hotel staff felt bad for us and upgraded our room, the bad part was the rest of it.

That was a very stressful week for our family. We ended up finding a place, and it was almost too good to be true. It was in a "family friendly" Chicago neighborhood, it had a washer and dryer IN UNIT (this is a HUGE deal in Chicago) and a parking space included. Seriously, this was unheard of.

We were so revealed. Finally, we could stop living out of suitcases with two tiny babies.

Here is a photo from our days of living in a hotel :) 

Well, what people say is true. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. 

We found out that our apartment, was really out of the "family friendly" neighborhood by about a half a mile and instead smack dab in the middle of two gang territories. Awesome. 

It was a really challenging year for us. 

I had to make the choice daily that I would not live in fear, especially in my own home. 

We had a number of unfortunate events happen while we lived in that apartment. Some that I would rather just forget. 

We knew we needed to move. We so desired to stay in Chicago, but we really didn't know what that looked like after our first year back. I was pretty traumatized. 

We decided to look in a few different neighborhoods. 

We looked in Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Lakeview and many more. 

We just couldn't find a place that we really felt like we could call home. 

Every time we went downtown, Austin and I would both say that we wished we lived downtown. 

Not only would it give us a lot more time together, due to the fact Austin's commute would be about 1/4 of the time, but it would also give us security that we were so desperate for our first year back in Chicago. 

We really wanted time to find a since of normal. 

There had been so much change in our lives, and we so desperately needed normal.

We looked and looked downtown. Nothing was really fitting. 

Then, we found a place right in between Michigan Ave and the Lake. 

Again, we thought that it was just too good to be true. 

We were so hesitant. 

We decided to proceed with it and just be watching for red lights. 

We didn't see any.

And, it finally happened. We were able to move downtown.

Here is the little tiny sliver of the lake you can see from our window. 

When we moved downtown, we decided to sell our car. This was such nerve racking move for us. 

We had two one year olds at this time. What were we doing selling our car. 

I have to say, it was one of the best moves we made as a family. 

It simplified our lives in a way, you can only understand if you live in the city. 

We didn't have to worry about tickets, or being towed to the edge of hell (which happens to be on lower lower lower Wacker Drive in the city tow lot.) There was so much freedom in the simplicity of just walking for us.  

Our true desire in living in Chicago has always been not to just be tourists in the city, but residents who are concerned about our neighbors and the issues of the city. And, I think Austin and I have both come to a realization in our move, that it doesn't matter where in the city you live, there are people hurting and their is injustice taking place. People just need you to stop and ask how their day is going. 

One of my very favorite things about our building is the other people who live here. I would say over half of our building is about 75 and have lived in the building for most of their adult life. They have raised their families in this building. This building is a significant part of their life, and their is nothing that brings them as much joy as seeing Grace and Kate in the building. I have had many people tell me, seeing them is the highlight of their day. It reminds them of the time that they spent here as a young family. It is such a cool thing to bring the joy of that memory to the people in our building. 

You should see all the kisses that the girls blow and kisses that are blown back to them. 

They are basically the rock stars of the building. It's adorable, and they don't mind it one bit. 

We love our city, our neighborhood and our building. We are so thankful that we are able to live where we do and have the opportunity to engage with the people around us!