From the Motor City to the Windy City

Six hours in a truck.

Six hours in a truck pulling a trailer.

Funny how my whole life can fit in an 5 x 8 U-haul. Yet, it does. And my life and I were cruising from Detroit to Chicago to start...what was I starting?

I'm quickly learning that adulthood does not have the nice neat deadlines of student-life. There are no hard and fast expectations, no tried and true structure, no guidance whatsoever. There is no four-year plan. This is life. Sure, now I have freedom: the freedom to pursue my career goals, to take on personally fulfilling projects, to decide what my next choices will be without the limitations of school schedules or assignment obligations. And the idea of being free to work, travel, and live as I had envisioned I could in college is still alive and well--I know I can get to that point eventually. But the vastness that is choice and potential is overwhelming until you find a little foothold in reality you can work with.

So, here's my foot...smack dab in the middle of Chicago's door jamb.

But before I could get my career-starting shoes even so much as scuffed, I had to get myself to Chicago. 

Being a Zink means you inherit many different qualities, like the distinguished Zink nose, the cringe-worthy Zink sense of humor, but most importantly, you inherit a great big group of people willing to help you however they can. This last one came in handy when the clan found out I was moving to Chicago. Not one, not two, but a whopping total of eight family members all signed on to the road-trip.

The Moving Crew

Mostly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we all set out for Chicago in two cars early on a Saturday morning. And quite frankly, the first third of the trip went off without a hitch. That is, until we tried to cross out of Michigan. As we approached the Indiana state border, my home state suddenly decided to bestow on me a very Michigan-esque going-away gift: a random sleet storm. That's right. Last week of September, still as warm and breezy as can be, and a sudden slushing surrounds our cars and provides a thin sheet of ice for our driving pleasure. Luckily, it only lasted 20 minutes or so before the sun poked its head out of the clouds and dried everything up again. Leave it to my home state to throw in one last stunt of crazy Michigan-weather before I change zip codes. It was pretty smooth sailing until we were an hour outside of Chicago when our second car picked up a nail somewhere and got a flat tire. Because the truck and trailer were leading the way, we pulled over into the Skyway's McDonald's to wait for my other relatives. But this was no ordinary McDonald's. It was a mere wedge of parking lot and restaurant perched between on-coming traffic in both directions--not exactly an ideal location for a Ford F-150 and a U-Haul. Yet there we parked, most likely infuriating ever single driver to come within 5 feet of our vehicle blocking half the drive. But luckily, the flat was fixed quickly and we were on our way again. After battling the infamous Chicago traffic...

I couldn't believe the sheer volume of cars on the road.  I thought London would have
prepared me for the busy-ness, but I was wrong!  Chicago is much more congested!

...we finally pulled onto my new home street. This is when my eight family members really came in handy. We unloaded and unpacked essentials in only a couple of hours. By all other moving accounts, I couldn't have asked for a better transition.

Ta Da!  All done!

That evening, we went out for some Chicago pizza--it only seemed appropriate--and the following morning, most of my aunts and uncles returned to Michigan for their own jobs. My immediate family stayed with me an extra day and we did a bit of the tourist scene at Shedd Aquarium, then later when just my Mom was still in the city, we further unpacked my studio and scouted out the nearby shops. By the end of my first week, I was very much settled into my apartment and ready to start work at my internship.

So, what am I starting exactly? Well, I'm not quite sure there is a label for this stage of life. But I do know that I am starting something that I can put a lot of my "sole" into.