We moved! We left everything our relationship has ever known and jumped into a new chapter of our lives. Traded in the big city for a small Pennsylvania town. A downtown Chicago high rise with a giant private terrace for a house in the forest with a creek and 12 acres. Are we fucking nuts? Or simply ready for change? I’m still not sure.

We’ve always lightly chatted about eventually leaving Chicago, so it’s not like it’s a total surprise. But I think we talked about it so often that it maybe became more of a story than an actual future plan. And then one day, almost out of the blue (how we do most our big life decisions) we met with a realtor, updated our kitchen and bath, and listed our condo on the market. We were under contract 6 days later. It all happened within a matter of weeks really and I don’t think it’s even totally registered yet.

I don’t believe we would’ve left our home of 9 years as fast as we did if we hadn’t found a house that just spoke to us. It was the second place we looked at and it was pretty immediate that we knew we were going to live there. I’m typically the impulsive one in the relationship and Ben is much more practical. So I was surprised when after our first viewing, before we even left the house, <and without talking to me!> Ben looked at our realtor and said, “I think we like it, how do we go forward from here?” There’s just so much about this that’s too funny. Like first, when did my city boy decide that he was ready for country living? Was mowing the lawn and dragging trash bins to the road every Tuesday secretly one of his dreams? Maybe. Secondly, the house needed (and still does) work. It’s not minor little things either. A new roof, a basement that takes on water, a few structural issues, you know.. the norm.. all came with the house. And still, we were interested. So interested that we started the process of selling our condo and trading in our lives for something else. Something totally new.

The purchase of our PA house was contingent on selling our condo in Chicago. For those of you who haven’t experienced that joy, I should mention that selling and buying at the same time is the absolute WORST. The amount of stress I was feeling was astronomical. People can be awful and you really have zero control, which is difficult if you prefer having a handle on things. Throughout the entire process, in addition to being stressed, we were both extremely excited and sad. And by the end of it, we were quite numb. Our new house came back with evidence of lead and radon during inspection, whereas our condo’s *first* buyer decided to not look into their finances before making us an offer. Needless to say, it was an experience. However, each person I chose to complain to over our three month experience all assured me, “thats what buying a house feels like.” Haha, so apparently, our process actually went pretty smoothly with the exception of normal hiccups, I suppose.

Bucks County, PA wasn’t completely random. Although, if you know us, you wouldn’t be surprised if it was. We moved back to my hometown-ish. And although it’s beautiful, I never thought in a thousand years I would move back. As a teenager, I was desperate to get out of this area. Small town charm is something adults appreciate- and apparently, I became an adult some time recently. It’s weird how you start to see things differently the older you get. The strangest part about moving back to your hometown though is probably the part where you bring your husband. Not only has Ben has never lived in a rural setting before, he has never had a septic tank or a driveway that would need plowing after a snowfall. Nor has he lived in a place that does not have one food delivery option and driving 30 minutes anywhere is the norm. And oddly, he was- and still is- all about it. Definitely more than I was initially, which was both interesting and terrifying. I kept torturing myself with horrible thoughts- “what if he hates it?- it’ll be all my fault.-Or what if he hates AND I LIKE IT?!- even worse! OMG.” We weren’t just starting a new chapter of our lives together, we were starting a new phase in a place that I had ties- a place where I had great memories and awful memories and if something went wrong, it could potentially further change the way I felt about my hometown. A lot of overthinking and unnecessary scenarios obviously overtook my thoughts. But honestly, what kept bringing me back to those good vibes was the fact that nothing has to be forever. If it’s not for us, we can leave.

April 6th, 2019, we packed up a 26 foot uhaul in downtown Chicago, hitched the Honda Civic onto the back and inched our way out of the city. PA bound! We’ve been in our new house for 3 weeks now and all I can say is that all those torturous scenarios I played out for 2 months were such a waste of energy. That boy is thriving and so is our marriage. I guess being scared of change is normal, but it’s definitely nice to be past it.

Here’s to change and learning new things! I’ll be adding more photos of the house and future projects along the way :)