our new home...the story

when we started the med school application process i chose favorite schools based on where i wanted to live. when the mr. choose a school i tested it by looking up apartments. if i found some good options in a good price range it was a go. i did this for almost all of our top schools. except for northwestern. long story short northwestern was a late add. we know now that is because that's where were supposed to be but at the time neither of us considered living in chicago as an option.

spence got an interview, like so many others, and i was excited. at first i was thrilled about living in a big city but that was when other schools were in the running. fast forward to one month ago. we had a plan (or i did) that we were going to live in california. because lets be honest who doesn't want to live right on the beach. even though we had been accepted to northwestern i wasn't going to live there. i was set on my plan. turns out heavenly father didn't have the same plan. after some tears, confusion, and doubt we decided that we were meant to go to chicago. once i let that reality sink in i started getting really excited. it all seem to feel right. like it was our plan all along. 

there was (possibly still) an option of another school but to my surprise both spence and i would turn it down. we are so excited (to the point where it's almost all we talk about) to live in chicago. i wish i could have felt this way at first but i think i needed to learn a little faith, trust and patience. 

so once we officially decided that northwestern was our school it was panic mode. we made the official decision right before our cruise. then with a week without internet we were left with 3 weeks before move date. meaning 3 weeks to find an apartment. thanks to a huge blessing we met noly who became our agent.

noly sent a few options to look at on monday. that night we found our dream place. noly agreed to go see it for us the next day (because we can't afford a day off to fly out there...boo). so we put our trust in her and waited. tuesday she called me. it was perfect. but 7 others thought the same thing. we hurried and put in our application. and waited again. 

we searched for other options. some bigger, some nicer. but i couldn't get this place out of my mind. wednesday we received bad news. the place went to someone else. at this point i was done. i was tired and stressed and so sad. but we needed to find a place (before today i might add). so i found a few other options. 

that night noly called us. the contract fell through. now it was down to 5. we sent everything in again and prayed our little hearts out. this was our home and i just knew it. i couldn't imagine living anywhere else. yesterday we got the news....

we got the place!

we are now (or will be) the newest residents of cuyler in chicago's wrigleyville. we were beyond excited. it all feels just right now. i thought i would be living where the palm trees grow. looks like i'll be living where the buildings grow and the air is cold. we can't wait to move into our little place. we're paying a lot more for a lot less but we couldn't be more excited. plus we have this awesome little deck. wanna come have a bbq with us?

(there she is. and i won't even have to walk up 5 flights of stairs)

so there you have it. sometimes things don't work out like you plan. but in the end i think things are working out much better than i expected. we're packin' up and movin' out in 3 weeks. we're excited (and scared) but know it's the right thing for us. 

anybody want to come visit us in good ol' chicago come on out! we love visitors!