Goodbye, Chicago. We’re Moving!

I’ve written and rewritten this post about a million times. It feels strange to say goodbye to a place I wanted to love so badly, but as I’ve had to tell myself a lot lately, things work out for a reason.

Ever since high school, I knew I wanted to leave Illinois. I always said I would never move back after college, however, my boyfriend and I both got jobs in Chicago after graduation and we moved in together shortly after. Things weren’t easy right off the bat. There was the adjustment of living with each other (I’ll never put the cap on the toothpaste and he hates drying dishes), new jobs and the general WAH-BAM that is adulthood.

There was a period when I dreaded small talk with family or friends, knowing that someone would ask, “Hows the city?” When a cashier asks how your day is, yes, they are doing it to be polite, but it would be really uncomfortable if you said something like, “Awful, my pet just died.” So when people would tell us, “Oh, what a great time to live in Chicago! How fun! How great!” We’d smile, nod our heads and agree. It felt too awkward to say, “No, we’re unhappy,” and a large part of me felt like I was failing at being a young adult in a great city.

There were times where I felt comfortable but I never truly felt a sense of belonging. I think Jacob felt the same way. We were living on moments, weekend to weekend, sometimes month to month and finally it got to a point where those moments weren’t enough to sustain us. We needed a change.

After a lot of discussing and a few sleepless nights, we finally decided on…COLORADO! I’ve always loved Colorado and when Jacob got the chance to visit last summer, he fell in love too. It’s all of the things we both want in a city–sunny, colorful, active and possibly best of all, more affordable.

While we may have signed a lease without stepping foot in the building, we couldn’t be more excited. We still have a lot to figure out and considering we both hate packing and road trips, a cross-country move will surely be quite the experience.

I don’t want this to all come across as, “I hate Chicago,” I don’t hate Chicago, I actually love Chicago, but it’s just not where I want to live, and that’s ok.

We move out of our apartment at the end of this month and will have some time to vacation and relax before we make the move toward the end of August. I am so grateful for the time we spent here but am so ready to head west.

So, thank you for everything, Chicago. I’ll be back to visit, just not in the dead of winter.

Stay tuned for moving and new apartment shopping posts and videos!