New City, New State, New Time Zone

We've now lived in Chicago for a week and a half, and the days seem to be flying by. As you can imagine, most of our time up to this point has been defined by unpacking and applying for jobs. Finally, it looks like things are coming to a close on the unpacking front. When we first unloaded the truck and got everything from our old two bedroom apartment into our new studio, things seemed pretty overwhelming...

But slowly, box by box, our apartment started to take shape, and now it's almost completely organized. Here, I'll take you on a small tour...

This is our entry way. On the left is closet space, and on the right hang our movie posters.

As you come out of the entry way, on the left is our living room.

Just off the living room is our kitchen. And we though the amount of counter space at our old place was rough...

If you take a right out of the entry way, you'll enter our bedroom/office.

And just beyond our bedroom is more closet space and our bathroom.

So, the place is small, but we've managed to fit all of our stuff in, and it is helping us learn to humble ourselves, to realize we don't really need as much as we think.

Between unpacking sessions, we've been out hitting the pavement, looking for work. At this point we're both looking for pretty much anything, just so we can get a little revenue generated, so we've been applying anywhere and everywhere- book stores, restaurants, movie theaters, law firms, etc. We've both had some interviews, but at this point neither of us has officially been offered anything. Hopefully that will change in the coming week.

Luckily, we've been able to take the occasional break from unpacking and applying to get out and actually enjoy the city. Over the past week and a half, we've been to several free comedy shows (bet you can guess whose idea that was), and we've also made a trip into downtown (where the Christmas lights are already starting to show up), and we've even taken a walk along the coast of Lake Michigan near our place (despite the temperature being in the the low 40's).

We're basically tourists.

We're looking forward to really getting into the swing of the Chicago life, whatever that may hold for us. And we just hope it's exciting enough to keep our lives interesting and to keep you guys reading!

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.

Officially Unemployed

This week, Cary Anne and I each became officially unemployed. Here, we'll break down our thoughts on the matter separately.


First, Cary Anne: 
Its not the first time I’ve been unemployed. I was unemployed just before and after Spencer and I got married, but it feels like such a bigger deal now then it was then, probably because Spencer is going to be unemployed at the same time I am and, in case you haven’t noticed, NOBODY is getting hired these days. Call us stupid, but we’re actually quitting our jobs in this economy and spending a boat load of money moving to a brand new city (that I’ve never even visited before in my entire life!) I feel like I should be scared. But I’m not, not really anyway. A few weeks ago I was absolutely terrified that we were doing this, but now I’m more excited than anything else.


I’ve been though four jobs in the past year. Some were good, some mediocre. I will definitely miss the people more than the jobs. The mall was brief and rather unreliable, but I had fun and discovered how much I would love to make clothes! The call center… well, it was a call center. I met some great people and didn’t always hate being on the phone, but it was just so…full of regulations (to put it kindly).

My favorite job of the past year was definitely working part time at the library. I LOVE the library. I read so much! Mainly when I was supposed to be shelving the books as opposed to browsing through them, but I managed to keep my browsing under control and actually get a decent number for books shelved in a night.  I loved the people: always friendly, funny, and had GREAT book recommendations! There was always great conversation to be had, whether it was about routines and products for curly hair or defining the ‘science fiction’ genre or about physics (I would elaborate here, but I never really understood what was going on in these conversations, people who work at libraries are too smart).  I had a great time every night and weekend I worked and will truly miss everybody at the Beaumont branch of LPL.


Now, me:
Yesterday, after 2 and half years, was my final day at Krispy Kreme. And it was bittersweet.


I took the job back in June of 2009 thinking it would probably just be a summer gig, but it quickly stretched into the longest stent I've ever worked in one place. What I think I liked most about the Double K is the people. Believe it or not, after graduating from a small Southern Baptist college in rural Kentucky, my friend base was not very diverse. (A lot of white bread in that crowd.) Working at Krispy Kreme, I've become friends with people of different ages, and races, and backgrounds, and Wing Feast on Sunday Afternoons (where a bunch of us from Krispy Kreme gather at Buffalo Wild Wings) has become one of the favorite parts of my week.


While working at a fast food joint can be extremely tiring and frustrating (which I've written about over on my comedy blog and even wrote a stand-up routine about), some of favorite memories are also from my time at the doughnut shop.

Over the past several months my manager, Clayton (the guy up in the boxes on the right), has been trying to scare me into staying. (Believe it or not, hard-working, reliable people aren't always easy to come by in the fast food business.) He keeps saying that Cary Anne and I won't be able to find work, that we'll end up on the street, and that he'll have to come save us when he takes his vacation in December. I think he's joking (for the most part), but it definitely is a real fear. I'm leaving steady work at KK and I even turning down an offer to come back to work at Geno's (a formal shop here in town that I worked at during prom season and loved) to move to Chicago. It's a big gamble, and hopefully it pays off.