We’re only a few days away from reaching two full months as Chicago residents, and it still feels surreal. Sometimes I forget I live in Illinois — I’ll spot the corner of my driver’s license in my wallet while waiting in line and do a double take. The time change has thrown me off more than once; I once scheduled a work call for EST before remembering Chicago is in Central Time.
Gardens at The Art Institute
These past eight weeks have flown by. Part of me feels like we’ve lived here a long time; the other part still expects we’ll return to DC in a few months. Yet it’s real: we will be living in Chicago for the next five years. Our apartment is settled, we’ve explored much of the city, and a steady routine has taken root. It hasn’t been perfect — about a week into the move I had a small identity crisis. Being away from close friends and family, combined with the whirlwind of the past year — residency match anticipation, planning a wedding, an adventurous honeymoon, and then packing and moving — left me feeling a bit unmoored. There were no big events on the horizon to distract me, and that felt strange.
June didn’t help; it was reportedly the wettest June in almost a century for Chicago, and the persistent rain and cloudy days made the adjustment harder. Thankfully, life has settled, and I finally feel like I can focus again. That’s a welcome relief.
