As I’ve previously mentioned, Tim and I have lived in Chicago for practically our entire lives, and it’s more than a bit strange to be leaving our long-time home for a brand new home! It feels weird to say goodbye to people and it’s strange to go to places for (what could be) the last time.

But the nice thing about us leaving Chicago is that we’ll certainly be back. Our families live in the suburbs and we have friends in the city, so when we say goodbye to people it’s more of an ‘until we meet again’.

What I’ve learned about myself in this process it that I’m shockingly unsentimental. I guess I never realized this about myself before, but when people ask me what I’ll miss the most about Chicago (other than our community), I really have to answer, “I’m not sure… nothing?”

It’s not that I don’t love places in Chicago, because I most certainly do, it’s just that I know that I have the possibility of revisiting any place I really love. And I know that any people I want to stay in touch with, I’ll definitely stay in touch with.

I also thrive on going to new places and experiencing new things, which is one of the reasons we’re moving in the first place! In the five years that Tim and I have been together in Chicago, we’ve rarely eaten at a restaurant more than once, so even though we have our favorites we don’t have ‘regular’ favorites, if that makes sense.

In a way, that makes it easier to leave, because we know that we’ll have plenty of new places to try and love in Seattle.

The people we’ve met in Chicago, however, will be impossible to replace. The only thing that keeps me from becoming emotional when saying goodbye to so many loved ones is the knowledge that many of our friends and family will visit us in Seattle (hopefully!) and also that we’ll be back in the Midwest as early as Christmas, and we will make time to see many of our friends when we return.

Plus, in the age of social media, I feel like I can keep up with how friends are doing, even if it can be a bit impersonal at times.

So basically, my moving update is that we’ve said “until next time” to a lot of people lately. We’ve gone on double dates and to dinners and to church group meetings and to family play dates… and it’s  been a ton of fun! We still have a few days left in the Chicago area, and it’s going to be filled with family time and wrapping up last minute details… like actually moving our stuff!

Wish us luck…