3320 North Leavitt #1, October 2006-June 2010

Well, after a long time of knowing it was going to happen and waiting for it to happen, the BIG move finally happened, and it was a lot bigger than we expected. It took a whole village to get all of our stuff packed and on the truck...after 4 long and lovely years at 3320 N Leavitt, we had accumulated a LOT of stuff, and our apartment seemed unwilling to relinquish it. Every time we thought we were making headway, we turned a corner and found MORE. We couldn't have done it without the help of Gram (the cleaning machine), Grandpa Mark and Grandma Bev, Uncle James and Auntie Ali, AND the family next door. From creative last-minute packing to hamburger grilling to Lily duty, everyone was awesome! After what seemed like the longest long weekend of our lives (what a way to spend Memorial Day!), the movers finally drove away with our stuff and it was time to say goodbye. There were tears all around--although we always knew that we wouldn't stay in Chicago forever, it didn't make leaving any easier. There are so many things (and so many wonderful people) that we are going to miss. No more Duke walks through Roscoe Village with Starbucks and the BOB, no more CTA commutes or cab rides, no more weekend trips to Valpo or Culver, no more sushi delivery, no more Cubs games, no more Packer games at Will's, no more glimpses of the skyline while going about our day. But there are also things we won't miss, and we know we have a lot to look forward to. Our ceiling is no longer someone else's floor, our bathroom doors actually close, we are more than 3 feet from the house next to us, our walls are not covered in 15 layers of paint, there are no sirens or car alarms going off at all hours, and we don't have to share coin laundry with a guy who never wears a shirt. But I think of our Chicago house like I think of an old friend--you don't love everything about it, but you wouldn't change anything. It wasn't perfect, but it was perfect for us. Even though it wasn't even technically ours, it was our first real HOME, the place where we went from being a couple to being a family, and we will always remember it with love. We can only hope that it will remember us as well.