Windy City Seeds

We have been house hunting since early fall. We clearly have not found a home or moved. I would have made a small mention of packing up our family and buying a new home. We haven’t found anything we like out here in the ‘burbs we are in.

We haven’t always lived in the suburbs. For many years we lived in Downtown Chicago. I mean downtown too. A few blocks north of the Sears (Willis) Tower. A 5 minute walk from Michigan Ave and Millennium Park. We could see Millennium Park from our balcony. MMMM we are/were city people. Then I got pregnant and my hormones went bananas. I insisted on leaving the city. I was 12 weeks preggo when we started house shopping out in the burbs. Just to rent, to make sure we liked it. There was no need to rush, but those preggo hormones can really make you a whole other person. My husband, sweet man, went along.

He still works downtown. He owns his business but would never leave the city. He gets great talent being where he is. He also has employees coming from all over. Downtown is the easiest place for people to access. BUT with that comes a 3 hour commute each day. It it taking its toll on him. After 2 1/2 years he isn’t so happy to be doing it. He is very analytic by nature. He calculated what he spends each day doing and broke it down into how much that works out to be yearly.

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Between commuting and sleeping he spends a total of 40 days a year away from Jack and me. He hates that. He is a man that loves spending time with his family. We tend to be this little family unit that could totally get away with curling up all weekend, not leaving the house, and just hanging out together.

We have clearly had zero luck finding a home we love or could love after some new paint. It started as a passing comment, to move back downtown. But that planted a seed in both of our heads. That windy city seed has blossomed. Yesterday my husband and I went downtown to neighborhood shop. The day was perfect. No traffic going in or out of the city. A lovely time walking around a couple neighborhoods. We went out to eat. I never go out to eat because I have an intolerance to many foods and food groups. But we were starving. I gave it a shot at one of our old haunts. They have seafood, lobster and crab, which Jason knew could be prepared as plain as possible. They took my situation very seriously. They pride themselves on that the waiter explained. He even wrote down everything I said I cannot eat. I hate doing that. I never go out to eat because of it. I am not snotty or overly annoying. I always feel like a bother. He made sure I did not feel that way. It was refreshing. The one or two times I have eaten out here after my diagnosis I was treated like I was annoying. It was a fantastic time together. We left Jack at my mom and dad’s, so we were kind of on a date even.

We had a lengthy conversation over lunch. Not to mention during all of our walking. We left thinking we knew what we wanted. I miss it. God, I miss the city. I am a city girl. I just loved being there.

I know the burbs have their purpose, but the more I think of it, the more I realize how I get bored out here. I love the go go go. I can’t sit still much. Unless I am exhausted at the end of the day. I know some people hate the city but if you don’t, it is hard to leave it. I told Jason to never ever let me make big decisions when I am pregnant. Not that I plan on getting pregnant again, but still, it had to be said. We gave it a shot, the burbs, but it wasn’t the best for us. My husband can get so much more work done if we live there. He can stop home for lunches again! We would see him more!

There are museums galore! The Shedd Aquarium, The Museum of Science and Industry, The Chicago Children’s Museum, The Planetarium, and The Field Museum. There is Millennium Park, Grant Park, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Plus smaller parks. There are so many things to do. I definitely miss that. Sometimes I get bored out here. We end up going shopping just to get out of the house. While I LOVE to shop, I doubt that is as stimulating as a trip to the aquarium would be.

This decision wasn’t easy for me. I am in love with the studio I am at. I want to stay and work at it. I want to keep training under my mentor. I truly do. I  hate the idea of leaving. I still have my teacher training hours to do. I just felt so torn before we went downtown. A part of me still feels torn. After long discussions with Jason, I know that this is what is going to be best for our family. Jason works so hard. He is the type of person that works if he is awake.

So with all of that we are doing it. We are starting to look back downtown. We have a list of places we want to see. We hope to get in to see a couple this weekend. I happen to have this week off of being in class. So Saturday and Sunday are both open to searching. We have not totally shut down the idea of out here. If today our dream home pops up we will go look at it. But our overall focus has shifted.

It is crazy that this all came about. Not bad or anything, I just can’t believe it. I can’t believe we even left in the first place. I feel good though. I am happy to give this a shot.

Have you made any total life changing family decisions? Any big moves?