Everything in Transit

Apparently, when Cary Anne and I moved into our first place, we did it the easy way. We were able to do it in shifts, and we had a lot of help. This time was a little more strenuous-  we did it in one big jump, and we didn't have much help. 

Last Monday, we woke up, rented a truck, then went back to our place where we thought we had most of our stuff packed. Turns out, we didn't. First, we loaded the heavier furniture, like the bed and the couch, which was not easy with just the two of us. But we took frequent breaks...

As the day went on, my parents showed up to help out. As they loaded up full boxes and some of the smaller furniture, Cary Anne and I realized just how much stuff we hadn't packed. We began to throw together random boxes- our printer mixed with mismatched socks and some ipod chargers, a couple of books mixed with a frying pan and part of our vacuum cleaner. This really slowed the whole process. About a week ahead of time, we planned on driving up to Louisville to crash with our friends Chris and Hannah for the night, and though we would arrive around 7pm, but once we got the truck fully loaded and made the drive, we actually showed up around 11pm. Thankfully, they were still (kind of) awake, and we got to spend some time with them before heading off to bed. 

Our fully loaded moving truck, Vespa and all.

The next day, we drove the rest of our 5 and a half hour journey to Chicago. When we arrived, one of the maintenance workers provided us with keys to the building and to our apartment, and I pulled the truck around to the back so we could begin unloading. With basically no one to help (save our very nice neighbor, Wayne, who helped with the God-forsaken couch), moving in became a two-day process. As if things weren't bad enough with just the two of us on the job, the situation was worsened by the fact that the elevators in our building are something straight out of a horror film. A quarter of the time they don't even work, and when they do they lurch and jump, and the lights in them are constantly flickering. (However, the certificate posted inside says they were just inspected last month.)

Another stupid move on my and Cary Anne's part was the fact that we didn't label any boxes. In some ways, this was fun, because opening every box was kind of like Christmas, but for the most part it was terrible because after a sweaty day of moving, you don't want to have to go on a search for clean underwear when all you want to do is take a shower. 

Moving is exhausting

But now, five days after we started moving, things are coming together steadily. All of our stuff is in our apartment, and pictures have started to go up on the walls. (I'm sure we'll share pictures on our next post.) We've been getting to know our neighborhood by going out on walks, and yesterday we began applying for jobs at the businesses around us. Overall, we're settling in nicely.

Chicago sunset, as viewed from the window of our apartment.