Our journey to the Windy City...

Z and I have been talking about moving to Chicago for about a year now. We visited the city, looked at apartments, made plans, waited... it was really the main topic of all of our conversations! It seemed like it took forever, but finally, it all started coming together...

At the end of June we decided to make a trip to ChiTown to find a place to live. We knew that we were on a tight time schedule and really needed to sign a lease immediately. I was excited as we made appointments, browsed apartments, etc. But when we got there, it actually ended up being a bit of a frustrating trip! We had appointments scheduled for the entire weekend, but each one seemed to fall through in one way or another. To make matters worse, I was indecisive picky selective about where I wanted to live in the city. Looking back, I think God used this to point us in the right direction, I'm just glad Z was patient and understanding!

So our trip was drawing to a close and we didn't feel any closer to having an apartment confirmed. We were determined to sign a lease before we left, but I was determined not to settle on where we were going to live! On the day before we were supposed to leave Chicago, we met up with a wonderful agent [which we found through Craigslist, who-woulda-thought] who showed us a fabulous apartment. It was bigger than most we had seen, on the river, in the area we were hoping to be in, perfect! We knew based on how fast the housing market was moving in Chicago that we had to decide THEN. I could tell Z had the same feeling I did... we wanted that apartment! We told our agent that we would take it, hurried back to our hotel to fill out the necessary paperwork, grabbed our luggage, and jumped on the plane to head back home. 
We were super excited about the place we had found, and super anxious to hear that it was all final!

But of course it was not that easy... we got a call that the apartment was not going to be available until August, and we really needed to be in Chicago by July 1st for Z's job. I seriously started thinking maybe moving to Chicago just wasn't the plan for us at the time. But God's plan and timing is not what we think... it's so much greater!

Thankfully, our agent went out of her way to find us another, bigger apartment in the same building that was available immediately!! So without even seeing the place, we decided it was our best bet, and confirmed that we wanted the condo. And then another bombshell... we had to be there by that Friday! This was Monday... how could we pack all of our stuff, say our "see ya laters" [because it was NOT goodbye ;)], drive to Chicago, and be there in time to sign a lease on Friday morning?! I freaked out cried got to work to help Z figure out how to make it happen! In true Stokes fashion, and thanks to our wonderful families, it all worked out, last minute and all, ha! My family drove up to help us pack and Z's parents helped us drive to Chicago and move in... So thankful for our families, could not have done it without y'all! We unfortunately didn't get to say all of the "see ya laters" that we wanted to. But we'll be back soon enough for those! 

So after months of talking and planning, a crazy apartment hunting trip, a whirl-wind of packing and moving, a few tearful "see ya laters", and a very long drive, we made it to our new home! We I still have a bit of adjusting to do, and there are still a few boxes to be unpacked, but we are really enjoying our new adventure in the Windy City!

I'll post about how the apartment is coming along and our fun weekend with Z's parents soon!