Happy Holidays to our friends and family! We’ve made a lot of big changes this year and it’s been quite an adventure for us.
After nearly a decade of life as Chicagoans, we made the decision to sell our condo and move to Milwaukee. Chicago will forever hold such a special place in our hearts – it is where we met, married, and bought our first home, but after a long year of self-reflection, we were ready for a house, a yard, and a change.
We sold our condo in the spring and put nearly all of our belongings and furniture in storage. With only our suitcases (and a healthy prescription of anti-anxiety meds for the cat) we hit the road as nomads for the summer. We spent 2 months driving around the south/southeastern parts of the country, drinking our way through the bourbon trail in Kentucky and hiking our way through Shenandoah National Park and Great Smoky Mountain National park. We even chronicled our travels on this blog, so feel free to read through the posts for more detail!
In the fall, we made our way back to the Midwest to visit family, continue our annual Michigan State tailgate tradition (Go Green!), and begin our house hunt in Milwaukee. We were lucky to find our perfect home in a few weeks and moved in November. We are settling nicely into our new home, have made a million trips to Home Depot, and are having a great time planning out future house projects. Don is most excited to resume his brewing hobby with all our new space and Alissa is excited to start a garden in our new yard.
We were lucky to spend Thanksgiving in California with the Hartman side of the family this year. We spent lots of time catching up with family, playing cars and trains with our nephew Drew, coaxing smiles and giggles out of our niece Maddie, and enjoying the wonderful weather.
Our cat, Maeby, (who we’ve lovingly nicknamed “adventure cat”) joined us on our summer travels and turned 10 this year! She is still a Grinch, but she does love our new home and the return of her favorite napping spots (couch and bed) where she spends 90% of her time these days.
We’re so grateful this year and every year for each other, our friends, and family.
Wishing you and yours a healthy, safe, and cheerful holiday.
Alissa, Don, and (begrudgingly) Maeby
