My Windy City

I'm baaaaack!

Back by popular demand (haha), I thought I would do something a little different and write about My Life as an Expat! My last 2 blogs have been about travel: sights, history, experiences, people, culture, etc. Although I kept it mostly as a PC online journal to myself and for others to find out Where in the World I am, I have to admit, it was stressful at times to be up to date with it... mostly because as I'm aging I am forgetting things more often, hehe, so the more on top of it I was, the more I could have it fresh in my memory and write about it.

Soo.... what you'll notice about this blog is:

1. There won't be 0398403480984320 pictures
2. I won't be writing as regularly
3. It won't be as fast moving as my other blog because I will just be in one place!

To summarize my summer in Chicago, just imagine a high speed roller coaster going up, down, to the side, backwards... over and over again. That can describe my emotions.... happy being home after a year's worth of travel, sad to be leaving it so soon, enjoying the city and friends, and doing the big job of detoxing my childhood-> adult home... a.k.a. going back in time and reliving many memories. So yes, quite the roller coaster! I did accomplish a couple of things that I really wanted: I ran a 1/2 marathon, I learned a new sport (tennis!), I competed in Tough Mudder 2011, "probably one of the world's toughest event" (which it really wasn't), did Chicago touristy things, and spent quality time with friends and family. Of course, as with life, unexpected things are always being thrown in your direction, and in my case, it was the marriage of my brother! It was a bit of a whirlwind to help him and his now wife with that (their engagement was just 2.5 months), but everything turned out great and I am super happy for my baby brother and his new awesome wife Noelle. :-) Congrats guys!

I was so busy before I left, I didn't have time to think much about my arrival here in Dubai, "once I get on that plane, I can relax and have it digest" I would tell people. Packing up my house along with myself was a HUGE task and consumed most of my remaining weeks in Chicago. Of course having said that, because of all that moving/packing/organizing, I developed major back pain, but that is a whole different story.

So then, just like a blink of an eye, there it was.... Monday, October 17th, 2011.... the date of my departure. Thankfully, my flight was at 10pm, so I had the day to take care of stuff. I woke up feeling excited and happy, "this is it! The start of a new chapter in my life!" then almost immediately (literally, didn't get out of bed yet), I felt sad to leave my beloved tempurpedic mattress, which literally, is the BEST thing that has ever happened to me. The day passed quickly, and before I knew it, my mom came by a little early, and.... that's when the breakdown happened. It just all of a sudden hit me that I'm leaving. For a long time. When I get back, if I come back (you never know!), will I even have the house? Will it be rented? Will I ever go inside it again? And if so, how different will it be? Besides some long travel journeys, I literally have ALWAYS lived in Chicago... ALWAYS had my home to go back to. Now.... who knows where life will take me? Needless to say, I was a hot mess. Especially when I was saying bye to my parents. Sniff sniff. When I did the last walk through the house, as cheesy as it sounds, I literally had a flashback of my life in the house.... sharing a room with my sister, all the people we had in/out, high school years, Thanksgiving dinners, coming home from college.... adult life after college, so much! But... then when we pulled away and headed to the airport and after I took my last breath of polluted Chicago air (I was at the airport, ya know!), then I felt ready.

Goodbye Chicago, Welcome Dubai!!!