Mixed Emotions

Our time in Illinois is quickly coming to an end, and I have very mixed emotions about this reality.  

3 years ago, when Devin and I were driving across the country to set up camp north of Chicago for his 4 year med school experience, we knew it was going to be temporary and that we would be moving somewhere new for residency....I just can't believe that we are actually rounding the corner of the home stretch to graduation.    

If you were to have asked me 3 years ago how I would feel about moving away form this place, I would have given you a very different answer, than what I would give today.  I have been so pleasantly surprised at how my affection for our little neck of the woods has grown in the 3 years that we've lived here.  

While Devin has 9 more months of school/rotations (graduating in June 2013), our time and life in northern Chicago will be coming to an end the 1st weekend of November, and I'm just feeling really sad about that.  Aside from the excitement of seeing the light at the end of this long med school tunnel, this place we drove into as newlyweds (married for 7 months when we arrived) has become the place where we have conquered hard things together and have welcomed our 2 little girls.  This place is where we first planted roots together, all on our own, no family closer than a 2 hour plane ride and most important, became a family.  

For therapy's sake, I want to highlight some PROs and CONs to our move quickly approaching.

PROs

1) 

From November - May, Devin only has 2 months of rotations in the Chicago area.  The other 5 months he will be out of state.  By moving out of our place in Illinois, we will be saving 7 months of rent, which can be put toward expenses that will come our way after January  

2) 

November and April's rotations are in Utah, so we will get to experience the tail end of Fall and beginning of Spring in the beautiful state of Utah again! 

3) 

The girls and I will be living with Devin's parents, which will provide me with company and support while Devin is gone for 4 months straight (Dec-March).  I did 4 months without Devin this past Jan-May, right before Claire was born, and it was hard.  It will be nice to have family (all of Devin's siblings and some of my extended family that I'm very close to) surrounding me during the next 4 months he's gone.  

4) 

This move really does mean that we are so close to putting med school behind us, and moving onto residency...that much closer to our goal.

CONs

1) 

We LOVE the little town we live in so close to Lake Michigan.  We have said so many times that we most likely will never again live in a place quite like where we live now:  

Bike trails

Beautiful mansions surrounding our little duplex

Adorable downtown equipped with an ice cream parlor and gift shops

Private beach

Miles of residential roads to go running and walking

Outdoors so beautifully landscaped and manicured with massive trees lining the sidewalks and their branches stretching out to canopy the roads. 

Beautiful park right at the end of our road, with a great playground, tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields...all nestled up against the bike path and railroad tracks.  It is so picturesque to be playing with Emily on the playground at sunset, with a wide open green field to look over, the sound of the train in the distance, Emily's face as it registers in her mind that a train is coming and then the sight of the double-decker train rushing by.  WE LOVE THE PARK at the end of our road, and spend time there every single day.

It will be so sad to say goodbye to the little town where we truly became a family.  

2)

We LOVE our church family here!  The members in our ward have been such a safety net for us in so many ways.  They have become our family here and have offered such support, physically and emotionally for us as we have gone through so much change these past 3 years.  If it weren't for our church and the people in it, we would have had such a different experience during our time in Illinois.  

3)

We LOVE living so close to a big city...CHICAGO!  We have spent a lot of time downtown over the past 3 years and have really enjoyed the culture and variety that the city offers.  It is truly such a beautiful city, and has been fun to explore.  

4)

We never would have thought we would live in Illinois, much less the Midwest.  We wouldn't have picked the Midwest on our own, but we have been so pleasantly surprised at the beauty of this place.  While we prefer mountains, the lush green scenery of Illinois and Wisconsin have been a nice change the past few years.  While I absolutely hate heat coupled with humidity, we have enjoyed having all 4 seasons.  The Fall is so gorgeous here!

We have a little more than 2 months left here, and while we have a LOT of work to do in sorting through our stuff (what to bring with us to Utah, what to store here in Illinois to move to residency come June, and what to get rid entirely) I really want to relish in this fleeting moment of living in Illinois.  This phase has been such a good one, and I never thought I would say that about medical school.  I really want to soak up the family time that Devin and I will have together and with our girls, before we go through more months of separation again.  I'm so thankful that the last 2 months here will be during my favorite season/months of the year!