Official Release – Returning to Chicago

We can now ‘officially’ release our news – we are moving back to Chicago!  There are many details to coodinate and all of them will be dealt with accordingly but for the moment, we are embracing our decision to move back.  Christine and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time out here in California.  And as a couple, it has been wonderful and brought us closer together.  But as a family, we need more than just the constant sunshine!

We’ve experienced more in the past 9 months than in the previous 9 years of our relationship (how about that for a thought – 9 years together!  But I do still own baseball hats that are older than our relationship; just throwing that out there.).  We pushed each other to move beyond our comfort zones, to experience new cultures, and to make new friends.  We hiked, bought in bulk, and learned the importance of having a dream and not letting anyone stand in your way of achieving it.  We bought gas north of $5/gallon, experienced a new definition of highway congestion, and traveled the PCH to San Fran leading to some of the most breath-taking views we’ll ever see.  We stretched and breathed our way into being small business owners; expanding our appreciation for a more peaceful and harmonious existance with the world that we are apart of.  We ate and drank with actors, expanded our definition of liberal politics, and learned that sometimes even government can’t print enough money to pay its bills.  We surfed with the dolphins, experienced the instability of the ground below our feet, and the smell of campfires as the annual ‘fire season’ engulfed the surrounding areas.  We ate too little and drank too much at parties, walked countless miles hand-in-hand along the beach gawking as the sun slowly fell off the page, and finally remembered to carry our camera at all times to document what can’t be captured in words alone.  And all of these experiences are a mere drop in the proverbial bucket when we were blessed with becoming parents!

They say everything changes when you have a child.  And while this is true, and words can’t really express this to people who have yet to experience it, its not nearly as monumental as being a father (or mother)! Nothing.  Nothing will prepare you for the shift that you will immediately make the moment your recognize that it is no longer about you.  When it happens is completely up to the individual but, for me, it happened the very second that I held his hand.  Only moments into this world and he had already moved mountains as he plugged a void that I hadn’t even recognized that I had.  He’s reminded me that life is about living and embracing the details – and to do so with passion and commitment.  That failure is a state, the same as success – both of which are always temporary.  That laughing can cure any ailment and is best shared with someone else.  And that you can never hug someone you love too much.

We don’t know where this next stage of our journey will take us but we know that this decision is what feels right.  We traveled 2000 miles in search of something and we found him.  Rather, he found us and allowed us the opportunity to find ourselves.  Now we are going to bring him back to be with a city we love and spent 7 years calling home.

No one said life was easy – nor should it be!  But we are going back to the start – to rebuild.  Utilizing the lessons that we have learned and having faith in ourselves and each other that we are capable of so much more.  To have the strength to follow our heart and trust in our decisions.  To remember that decisions are as permanent as we want them to be.  And to recognize that the situation that we are in is a direct result of the actions that we took.  This experience has been the best decision that we have ever made and we are eternally grateful for having the courage to have lived it.

Stay tuned for all the details!