Hello from Chicago!  My husband, Adam, and I are finally living in the Windy City.  We moved into our apartment a little over a week ago and have settled in these past few days.  We have really enjoyed getting to explore our new neighborhood and learn where everything is.  Every morning we head out to the Chicago Lakefront Trail and ride up and down enjoying the beaches and parks all along the way.  The city has so much to offer us and we are very excited to take full advantage.

This move was the most stressful move for me that we’ve ever done.  All our other moves were of a smaller scale, as in we would just move down the street or at least within the same town. We didn’t have to rent a truck, figure out a new city, leave our job, or worry about where to run outside (ok, that last one is just me!).  I admitted to Adam yesterday as we were walking around outside, that while I was ok with moving for his new job, I had been absolutely terrified to move to Chicago.  I was afraid that I would hate everything about city living.  All the people, cramped spaces, a smaller apartment, a grocery store I didn’t know, unfamiliar streets, higher cost on everything, and no concrete job position for me.  I was truly worried that I was not made to live in a more urban area and that I would quickly isolate myself with my cat in my apartment.  I knew in my head that moving here was the best decision for us, but I just couldn’t convince my heart that was true.

This wasn’t even totally full yet. Thank goodness Adam is a Tetris champ!

One of my biggest problems is that I tend to internalize my stress and worries instead of sharing them.  I bottle up my feelings and soldier on because I feel like that is what I should do.  No one needs to carry the burden of my problems other than me.  Of course that is ridiculous.  No one can keep all of their problems to themselves without breaking under the pressure at some point.  By keeping all my worries to myself, I negatively impacted my health.  I developed a cold a few days before our move and I am still getting over it.  A few weeks before the move, my knee started to hurt so bad that I could no longer run on it.  I still have not been able to run, and I am trying my hardest to rest and let it heal.  During the actual move, I lost my appetite and didn’t eat the same healthy meals that I normally make and I also didn’t drink as much water as I normally do.  All of these things added up to me feeling crummy and that is not how you want to feel when you have to move.  I felt weak and could barely help Adam move and load our boxes.  I felt exhausted during the day and wanted nothing more than to take long naps all day.  Even my face started to break out.  Health wise, I was pretty much a wreck.

Bedroom. Haven’t done much to this room other than put our stuff in it. We’ll get to it soon….

If you go back and read my other posts about moving, you’ll probably notice a similar theme.  I start to stress, keep it to myself, and my health turns into a mess.  Why can’t I seem to get my act together and why do I keep telling you about it?  I am not perfect, far from it, in fact.  Even though I enjoy being healthy and do my best to do all the things I know make me feel and look my best, I still fail from time to time.  I know that many of you feel that becoming healthier is really hard and you get frustrated when you fail.  I am the same way.  I am slowly learning though that being healthy isn’t about being perfect 100% of the time.

It’s ok to fail or not do something as well as you had hoped.  It isn’t how you fail that defines your health, it’s how you deal with the fallout.  Rather than wallow in your shortcomings and quit, pick yourself up and get right back in the game.  Use that experience to help shape your healthy journey in a positive way.  Learn from your mistakes and when the same obstacle arises next time you will be able to overcome it.  I am getting better at being ok with my imperfections and knowing that my overall health is more important that the tiny little things I do everyday.  As long as you are working towards being healthy and the majority of your choices and decisions are good ones, I promise you that your health will be just fine.  One setback every now and then is not going to totally derail all the hard work you have done.

Tiny kitchen, but I make it work!

While I am hoping that I won’t have to move for a long time (I would love to live in an apartment for more than one leasing period!), I know that this move has taught me so much for the next one.  I am also happy to say that I absolutely LOVE living in Chicago.  All my fears and doubts are gone and I am relishing living in a new area.  It is exactly what Adam and I needed to continue to grow in our lives and in our relationship.  We had gotten all that we could from our previous area and it was time to move on.  Now big things are in store for the next chapter of our life and I can not wait to get started!

Shot of the living room/office and the dining room. This is where most of our attention has been focused for the time being!