Sweet Life in the City

Today has been another eventful day in the city. Before we moved from TN I was able to get Sam and Chloe into their regular doctor for their school exam and all of their records up to date and all CPS paperwork filled out. Because Emma's last physical was less than a year from when we would be moving I could not get her another check up. We got a paper from our school about some clinics that do physicals and that is what we had planned to do. Each time Jeremy and I had to go to these clinics we did not need an appointment, so I figured (even though deep down I had a bad feeling I needed an appointment) that we could do a walk-in visit. So, I went to the clinic this morning that the school recommended. It opened at 10 but I was already out so we got there about 9:45 and just waited outside. Went in at 10:00 and was told that I would need an appointment and there next one was September 12th. I know she needs to see a doctor before school starts on TUESDAY, so I head back toward our h...

Nothing says "Welcome to Chicago" like a little fender-bender, so I got my welcome today. Yesterday when I posted about how confident I was in my driving and as soon as I posted last night I felt like I had probably jinxed myself:) So this morning the kids and I dropped Jeremy off at school and I had to go back to the CPS office to finish some paperwork. I have to admit that I was pretty nervous because it is pretty close to downtown and it was the furthest I had driven in the city. I also knew that I had to park about a block away because the office does not have its parking lot next to its office. I made it safely there but as I saw the CPS parking lot I noticed that there was some congestion near the entrance. I guess the lot was full so there were several cars trying to exit while several cars were trying to enter (there was only one way to enter and exit). I was still on the road waiting and the next thing I know this car goes full force in reverse and slams into the fro...

Well we have arrived in Chicago and I have to admit we are exhausted! We knew our move would be difficult because we the moving truck we used does not bring the trailer to the side streets of Chicago because they need a place to park the truck, so Jeremy rented a U-Haul and they had to unload the one truck onto the U-Haul and then unload it again at the apartment. Jeremy called a few weeks ago and reserved the U-Haul for Friday morning. He gets a call Thursday night that the truck could not be picked up until 3:00 on Friday and the other company is not open on Saturdays, so we had to get the stuff Friday night. With the help of my dad and brother they got the one truck unloaded, but did not return to the apartment until 8:30 Friday night. Jeremy had to park the truck several blocks away and we made plans to unload it Saturday. My dad and brother came back to help and we had several people from Northwest Church come to help. Our landlord also chipped in to help:) We got everything in th...

23 When people's steps follow the Lord,  God is pleased with their ways. 24 If they stumble, they will not fall, because the Lord holds their hand. 25 I was young, and now I am old,      but I have never seen good people left helpless or their children begging for food. 26 Good people always lend freely to others, and their children are a blessing. Psalm 37:23-26 Have you ever looked at your life and wondered, "How in the world did I end up here?" Not that you are necessarily in a bad place in your life, but how did you start where you were as a kid and end up where you are in your life at the moment. I think about where I came from a lot. How did this quiet, insecure girl from St.Anne, IL end up on the verge of one of the most frightening and exciting adventures in my life. The verse above has been on my mind these past few days. As I have been living in my childhood home the past THREE WEEKS (Yikes!) I think about all the things I wanted to be when I grew up. I dream...

I cannot imagine having a better weekend! My mom and I and the kids left Friday morning and headed to Michigan for my cousin's bridal shower. We arrived at my Aunt and Uncle's house around 3:30 and visited with them for a few hours. We then headed to my other Aunt's house for supper. It is sad to say, but we had not seen this Aunt since my Paw Paw died almost 8 years ago! My oldest cousin and his family also joined us and I had not seen him since I was in college! It was so wonderful to see them and with all the negative of FB I can honestly say that without FB that visit would have never happened. It was good to share and laugh about old memories and promise to make new memories. My cousin and my aunt were very involved in our lives when we were kids. My cousin Mark was more like a brother to us than a cousin and our aunt was a teenager when my brother was born, so we were with her a lot. As we visited I could not help but think that my Grandma and Grandpa were looking dow...

I knew it had been a few days since I blogged, but I had no idea that it had been a week! I guess the truth is that most of the past week has been spent being absolutely lazy! So, there has not been much to blog about. I have not been feeling the best and I have been spending a lot of time sleeping:( We did get out Tuesday for a little while. The Chicago Bears have their training camp in my home town (well, about 15 minutes away). Jeremy took Sam on Saturday but it was warm and very crowded, so we all went Tuesday just to get out of the house for a little while. Most days the kids have stayed in their p.j.'s all day:) Jeremy and I headed to Chicago this morning again. I had to turn in all my paperwork for CPS (Chicago Public Schools) and I had an interview with the YMCA lady about the afternoon position. I will share more about that in a minute. We took Chloe with us so my mom did not have to handle all three of them at work. I know this is a shocker, but Chloe tends to get into st...

We have an apartment!!! We went to Chicago this morning and signed the lease on our new home. The owners already put in new counters and the apartment looked much nicer than our first visit. It was also a totally different atmosphere once the owner and his brother saw the kids. If you know my kids personally you know how they seem to just win people over with their cuteness:) but when you throw in the fact that the owners are also Korean it was just a sweet time. We measured rooms and windows and then went outside so we could see where we would put our trash for pick-up. On the way inside I heard the owner asked Jeremy, "Where are your children from?" When Jeremy told him "Korea" the owner turned to his brother and said "They are from Korea!" The brother replied with a smile, "I know. I know what my people look like." The owner told us that someone looked at the apartment last night and was willing to pay full price, but he trusted his gut and to...

Well it has been one week ago today that we left our TN home and headed North. I have enjoyed being with my family, but I also have to admit that I am feeling kind of homesick. I know that might sound absurd since technically I am "home". I guess since I would be staying at the most familiar place in my life that I would not experience this sadness. I think it mainly stems from the fact that I am not sleeping in my own bed and we are living out of suitcases and boxes. It has also been a little stressful keeping the kids under control since almost all of their toys are packed away on a truck somewhere in Chicago.  The sadness is also coming from the fact that PVCS students are returning to school and I miss my family and students there terribly. I am praying that they have a great school year. I worked Monday for my dad while Jeremy stayed home with the kids. I planned to work today but I had to go in to the health department to get my TB test done. I got home around 1:00 and ...

We had quite an interesting day yesterday. Jeremy and I headed to Chicago yesterday morning. Our first stop was at a medical clinic downtown so I could do my drug screening for CPS. I drank a big bottle of water on our way up to the city so I made sure I could go once I got to the clinic. When Jeremy went a few weeks ago we were in and out in about 15 minutes. Well, wouldn't you know it I had to wait forever! Well it seemed like forever when you have to go to the bathroom so bad you are starting to question if you have another set of clothes in the car!:) I finally heard my name called and I could finally go to the bathroom. After the drug screening Jeremy and I set on our exciting day of apartment hunting. I have to admit, I was totally in the honeymoon state of mind and I thought this was going to be so much fun! I was going to see all these wonderful places and it was going to be the greatest day ever(Smile). We went to the first apartment building and we met the lady who was sh...

The first leg of our journey to Chicago is complete. Tuesday morning we said our final good-byes and then headed to Illinois. Our car was loaded with all the stuff we might need for a month, three kids, a dog, and our cat, Boots. Boots has been an outside cat since we got her. She comes inside once in while and spends more time indoors during the winter, but she is an outside cat that we will be making an inside cat. She has never been on a trip before and she has never been in a carrier. It was quite a challenge getting her in the carrier. Since we have arrived at my parent's house she has been living it up in the room my mom keeps her two cats. We made it to my parent's house Tuesday evening and reality started to sit in that we would not be going back home to TN. I think Emma is having the hardest time with the beginning of this transition. When we did our prayers requests Tuesday night Emma asked for safety as we traveled back home:( I am hoping once we get a house in Chica...