First Three Days in Chicago

We are here in Chicago!

We didn't get off until about 2:30 pm Tuesday, so we only made it to Cheyenne, WY (We were really trying to make it through to Nebraska, but alas, no). We got to Cheyenne at about 10 pm, but we drove around for an HOUR trying to find a hotel with an open room. Who even goes to Cheyenne? It is this small town in the middle of nowhere. We were there on a Tuesday night. Why were the rooms all full? That seriously irked me. We finally got a room at a Motel 6, but as they had no more non-smoking rooms, we were in a smoking room. Yuck. I hate smokers.

We left at about 7 am from Cheyenne. Our little Sentra-plus-UHaul didn't move all that fast, but we tried to keep going around 70 mph. We got to Des Moines around 8 pm Wednesday, and thankfully I have some Andelin cousins--Rhett & Kristol & kids--there for med school. Kristol, of course, had great food prepared for us. It was great seeing them and visiting.

Thursday we left Des Moines at 9 am. We drove straight through to Chicago--it took us about 7 hours. There was some hassle with checking in to the housing office, signing the contracts, getting our keys/parking pass, etc., but we got that all done and began moving in to #905 Piccadilly a little after 4. We didn't have any moving help (the EQ in our new ward was going to help us, but there were some communication problems and we never heard back from them if they were going to meet us and where), so Dan and I did it all ourselves. Good thing I have such strong muscles. Luckily, we were able to leave Violet with Dan's old friend (and my new friend) Mardee while we unloaded our trailer. She also fed us a great dinner that night.

Since we arrived, we have been primarily focused on getting furniture for our apartment. We saved a lot of money by not getting a moving truck, so we have been spending those savings on furniture. I absolutely love shopping for furniture. It is fills me with...can I use this word?...glee. And gladness and joy. We got a few things from Craig's List--kitchen table/4 chairs, a small dresser, a couch--and the rest at Ikea. We were there for about FIVE HOURS on Friday, but it was fun and we got some really cool stuff. I will post some pictures later when I get a bit more unpacked and organized. It took forever driving to and from everywhere to get the furniture because the traffic here is HORRENDOUS. I know it is that way in every big city, but this weekend has been even worse than normal because some of the highways flooded from all the rain (it has been raining non-stop since we got here). We would have utilized Craig's List a bit more, but it is too much trouble driving everywhere (it took us like 3 hours to get our little dresser and 4 hours to get our couch).

Our apartment is nice and big, but the floor is about the ugliest old brown linoleum that I think was ever created. The whole apartment is covered in that monstrosity. No carpet or tile or anything. Just this yuck from probably the 1950s. We are doing our best to cover it up.

The main thing we still lack is a place to sleep. A bed and a crib. Right now we are all three on an air mattress, which wouldn't be that bad if it didn't have a hole somewhere. The mattress lasts for about four hours before it deflates. We wake up from the uncomfortable hard linoleum and pump it up again in the middle of the night. So, our primary objective tomorrow is to get a bed and save our backs from the hard hard floor.

So, all in all, we are happy, healthy, and terrific.