Leaving the Navy and Finding a New Home
Addie and I married in 2001 and since then we have lived in Japan, San Diego, Guam, Maryland and then back to San Diego where we lived until the summer of 2016 when we finally moved to Illinois, our current home-state.
After 26 years in the Navy, on October 2015 Addie decided he was going to retire from the military in the summer of 2016. That one decision led to a sequence of events that needed to take place, being “finding a job” the most important one in our list.
Knowing Addie would retire, and we would most likely have to move, the process of looking for a job, placing our San Diego home in the market and preparing to move started.
It was emotionally hard to have to say goodbye to our great friends yet again, disrupt the kids’ friendships and activities, but we knew the likelihood of finding a job for him in the San Diego area was slim. So, he set out to apply for as many jobs as he could and spent about 30-45 days flying in and out for his interviews. That also led to having me flying to scout cities and neighborhoods for our family.
At the same time, we knew the sooner we placed our home on the market, the better. So, early in 2016 we hired a real estate agent, did the minor improvements needed and before we knew it, there was a For Sale sign hanging on our front lawn. It was then that reality started to sink in.
When you are in the military, a big part of your life is determined and planned for you. For example, when you’re transferred from one “station” to another, you’re being told where you’ll live; while you have to coordinate a moving date, the moving company will be selected, provided and paid by the military; your healthcare is set, your job is defined, and there’s no room or need for negotiation, and so forth. Like it or not, there’s a wonderful sense of safety and predictability when you’re a military member and leaving it, after so many years, asks for a whole new “checklist,” and that’s what we did.
Looking for a Job & What It Entailed
Addie is a Chemical Engineer, worked in the submarine community for several years and then went to medical school; ultimately becoming a Gyn-Oncologist. As he had been in the US Navy for 26 years, he never had to look for a job as a physician and didn’t know what that would entail. With a clear deadline for when he needed to start a new job, he applied to several positions around the country and started the interviewing process about 12 months before he was to begin in his new position.
To have him ready for all those interviews and traveling, we had to get ourselves even more organized, as many times he’d just land at night, pack fresh clothes and fly early on the very next day. Not to mention that he needed a new wardrobe as until then 100% of his professional attire were his uniform and scrubs.
TIP: when leaving the service or looking for a new job, budget, and plan for the extra money to pay for these expenses. Even if traveling is paid for the hiring company/hospital, many times, you’ll take care of it up front, and they will reimburse you later. Expenses you might incur can be new clothes and shoes, transportation, lodging, and food.
As all this may be happening while you’re getting ready to sell your house when many repairs might be required, not planning for it will add to an already stressful time.
Once the interviews were over, we waited for the replies and job offers. Some of them would stand for a week, others for 15 days and there was some room for negotiation which threw us into another learning curve: hiring a lawyer who specializes in contracts for doctors. Not easy, nor cheap. And with the tight deadlines for the replies to go out, we felt the pressure.
At that time, Addie and I had been together for 15 years and lived in 5 different places. We had spent most of our Thanksgivings, Christmas, birthdays and special occasions alone, without our families, so when we realized that we would have to move yet again, we agreed that it was time to move closer to his family, who lives in the Mid-West. Two of the job interviews were in that area, and ultimately Addie decided to take the job offered in Chicago.
It was time to pack and move.
Closing my Professional Organizing Business & Starting Again
In 2010, when we were living in Maryland, I found out that my love for organizing and making life simpler was a professional activity that I could pursue full or part-time. Our kids were starting kindergarten, and I was beginning to consider what I was going to do to go back to work -I have a degree in Law and an MBA in business.
From helping a fellow mom and making a Google search, I started working as a sub-contractor to various local colleagues, joined the National Association of Professional Organizers, the Institute for Challenging Disorganization and started my professional organizing business.
Then, in 2011 we learned that we would be transferred to San Diego, but as my business was just starting, at that time I only had a handful of clients. However, in San Diego, my business grew; I was working up to five days a week, and I had several ongoing projects at a time. Once I learned that an out-of-state move was going to happen, I started to let them all know and stopped accepting new clients.
It’s never easy to close your business, even more so a successful one, and I did it with sadness.
There was a silver lining though. Around 2013 professional organizers started asking for business advice, and from there my business grew into public speaking, business consulting and online training. I also became an instructor for our National Association, started to offer consultations to expat families moving to the US, and these changes allowed me to continue to work even though we were relocating to another State.
Getting Ready To Sell & Looking For a New Home
Once Addie signed a contract with his new employer, we hired a Realtor who specialized in our neighborhood.
We walked through the house with him and made a list of repairs and furniture placement needed, and that launched the process of selling the home.
TIP: A great tip shared with me then was to hire and pay it yourself for an inspector before you place your home for sale. It will save you lots of time and headache.
When we were transferred to Guam, back in 2006, I learned to keep our lives simpler and free of clutter. Still, I went through every closet, cabinet, and box to make sure I wasn’t going to pay the movers to transport things I didn’t want to keep.
Having boys, teenagers by that time, meant we had almost no toys around the house. The kitchen and our books made up for the more substantial part of our move, and after decluttering and organizing the entire house, this is how our home went to the market.
Looking For a New Home
While working in the San Diego front, Addie was going through the process of retiring from the military and I was getting all things house-move-new school-new sports sign ups-family going on, all while going through school and sports in the San Diego because for busy moms, life doesn’t stop, right?
We had to start looking for a new home and in most cases, it is part of the process of interviewing a new hire was to have the spouse come to the city to get to know it and explore neighborhoods and look for homes.
I did that twice, once to Milwaukee and once to Chicago and I loved both cities, but of course, we had to pick one. It was time to get down to the nitty-gritty of each city, quality of schools, culture and considering two of my sisters-in-law, and one of our nephews live in Chicago, of course, that job offer made great sense. We finally had our final choice and started looking for a home.
To make a long story short, we ended up deciding to rent a house for the first year in the village of Glenview, a small city of 64,000 on the North Shore of Chicagoland. We were afraid we’d get stuck with a home in a place we didn’t like and decided it would be better to feel and explore the area first. It was the best decision and after 8 months, with the help of Barry Newman, our amazing Real Estate agent, we ended up finding a great home, for a great price and moved again in April 2017.
As always, the schools and proximity to work were the ultimate factors, and I can tell you, I was happy to finally have a final decision and a home to live in! 😀
A Cross-Country Road Car Trip
By June 2016 we had sold our home and decided to make a cross-country road car trip with the boys and Tuff, our new Yorkie puppy.
TIP: don’t get a new dog right before a move. It will make the job of keeping your house clean and ready to show to potential buyers much harder.
It was awesome! The US is a gorgeous country with so many amazing places and such diverse geography and people. We loved seeing so many beautiful places, crossing through States but most of all, spending time together.
We took our time on the road and enjoyed places on the way to Missouri, where we’d visit my mother and sister-in-law.
The boys stayed for a week with her, while Addie and I came to receive the move and do the unpacking. Here we are happy as bugs, enjoying our first dinner in our new town.
Chicago – A New Place and a Different Life Experience
Even though I have lived in the US for sixteen years, I had never lived in such an exciting city like Chicago. Living in Maryland we were very close to D.C. and I loved it but Chicago is different and now, passed the “trauma” of my first IL winter -a whole new blog post on overcoming winter blues!, I can say I love living here.
Our kids are thriving, made new friends, engaged in sports and the schools are absolutely incredible; we spend a lot more time with family and I’m happy to see the boys enjoying the loving connection of being close to cousins, aunts, and grandma; I am thriving and my online business is growing, I made new friends and have new clients, I connected with a large group of expats and we get together often, I joined a club and became healthier, all while Addie is happy with his work, colleagues and patients, got back into his running routine (currently on a 2017 challenge to run 40 miles a week!) and we are enjoying more time together.
Getting here was a long road for all of us filled with stress, sadness for saying goodbye to decade-old friends but also with great learning and with a spirit of embracing the new and making it work in the best way. I guess that’s what life in the Navy taught us and I’m immensely grateful for that.
Next, I’ll be sharing our new house and the loving work of making it a home.
