In June 2015, Kraft (the company David works for), was bought out by a company called 3G. This company previously bought out Heinz and Kraft Foods became Kraft Heinz. Many job cuts followed. We felt blessed that David was not a part of those cuts.
David works for the Oscar Mayer division of Kraft Heinz and in October 2015, we learned that Oscar Mayer would be moving to Chicago. We have always known that if we stay with Kraft, the road would lead back to Chicago, where their headquarters is located. We also assumed that Oscar Mayer would move to Chicago at some point, but we were not expecting it quite so soon. We were given two options. The first was to move to Chicago where David would have a job or, second, take the severance package and start looking for another job.
So, we had a decision to make. We have lived in Chicago before, and even though it is not at the top of my list of places I want to live, I know that I can find happiness wherever we move to. We just needed to figure out what was right for our family, as a whole. We were given until December 4, 2015 to make our decision. This decision weighed heavily upon us.
One difference from the last time we lived in Chicago is that 3G moved the office from the northern Chicago suburbs to downtown Chicago. We had mixed feelings about this. Having the office downtown would mean a long commute time (which, unfortunately, is the norm in Chicago). At the same time, this meant we could look at the southern Chicago suburbs, which we thought we might like.
In November, we were able to take a trip to Chicago (paid for by Kraft Heinz) to check out the area and spend some time with a realtor looking at houses. We farmed out Ryland and Porter to separate friends of ours. I am so grateful for these two families that took our kids for a weekend. I have such a hard time asking for help and this felt like such an enormous favor to ask. These two families were very quick to say yes. They are true friends!
We took Luke and Caden with us and headed to Chicago. We called ourselves "The Decision Team" as we allowed Luke and Caden to feel like they were a part of the decision making process. It felt so weird to only have two kids in the car. These two usually sit in the back, but we moved them up so we could chat with them more easily.
We spent a lot of time with an awesome realtor looking at houses and hot spots in the community. We have worked with realtors with every move and she was, by far, the best we've had. We concentrated most of our search in the city of Naperville. Everything we could ever want is found in this great city. We would never have to leave for anything, unless we wanted to. I loved it and could see myself living there. The commute, though, was less than desirable. Home prices in the Chicago area are very high, with crazy high taxes. In order to afford a home and have the lifestyle we want...meaning, some sort of a yard, a garage and big enough inside so we are not living on top of each other, also means a long commute. It was an hour and 10 minutes from the Naperville train to downtown. Once downtown, David would have to walk 20 minutes to the office. This meant we needed to live as close to that train as possible. We had no idea that almost all the homes we chose to look at were 20-30 minutes from that train! We quickly shifted gears with our realtor and chose homes within 10 minutes of the train and she was able to get us in to see them on very short notice. Bless her! She worked hard for us.
Luke and Caden loved looking at houses. They were quick to tell us what they liked and what they didn't like. It was so fun to have them with us and to hear their opinions.
David kept pushing to see homes in a particular city, which will remain un-named, within 10-15 minutes of the office. I had seen the homes online and knew I would not consent to live there, but I said we could go look. I also knew affordability was going to be an issue, even though the homes were itty bitty little boxes. When we arrived, we had trouble finding the first home and ended up parking and watching the goings on of the city. I felt sick inside and knew I would not be raising my family in that city. I knew David felt it too when he finally said, "I do not need to see any houses in this area, we will not be living here." We headed back to our hotel without seeing one home.
It was a long and tiring couple of days and many times I found myself even more grateful to the friends that took our two littles. We packed a lot in during those two days and I know Porter and Ryland would have been tired and miserable and, therefore, us too. Even Caden found himself tuckered out. He is not typically one to sleep in the car, but he did this trip.
As we drove back to Wisconsin to pick up Porter and Ryland, my head was a whirl of thoughts. Honestly, I expected to go to Chicago and have it confirmed to me that, yup, we don't want to live there. When, in fact, I realized that I could live there again. Decisions, decisions.
We told Porter we would be back to get him Sunday evening. We arrived a couple of hours earlier than expected and when we picked him up, he came to the door and was beside himself, I'm talking some serious tears going on. Inconsolable kind of tears. I thought, man, I hope he hasn't been like this the whole time. Nope, he had been an angel. My friend, Kathy, said he had been happy, super funny (they laughed a lot), he went with the flow and they loved having him. Turns, out he was crying because he didn't want us to pick him up yet! He kept telling us, mid-sob, that we were too early. Kathy, David and I could not stop laughing that this boy didn't want to go home with us! We could not coerce him to get in the car. We finally had to physically pick him up...while trying not to laugh at his hysterics (he was so done with our laughter by then). I purposely put him with a family with older children (4 kids, ages 9-16). This boy can be a bit crazy when he gets around kids his own age and I was not going to do that to one of my friends, if I could help it. I think this child loved being the "baby" of this family, the center of attention, with no pesky siblings near his age to compete with. I am so glad he had such a good time with them and did not overstay his welcome. On the way home, he asked if our whole family could move in with their family and live at their house. Oh, how I love this boy! By the time we got home, the waterworks had stopped, but he was quick to tell me, "I am still sad."
Our decision making process felt like an eternity. I went back and figured out how much time it had been from when we heard about the change to the day our decision was final, and it was 6 weeks. That was a long 6 weeks. We agonized over this decision. Our thoughts were all over the board. Some days we were 80/20 in favor of Chicago, some days we were 80/20 in favor of leaving the company, and some days we were 50/50. Some days David's thoughts were the complete opposite of my thoughts. Each time we were in favor of leaving, Kraft Heinz would offer something extra, making it very difficult to say no. They were most certainly not making it easy for us. It was a stressful time. After much prayer, so much much prayer, fasting and attending the temple our answer came. And when it came, it was very clear that we were not to take the job in Chicago. There was no denying it. It has been 3 months since that decision and we have not looked back. We have no idea what the future holds for us. We don't know where we will be living or what the job will be, but we know we made the right decision. And there is great peace in that. That is not to say there haven't been stressful moments. There have, and I am sure there will be more of those moments to come, but we know there is a plan. We don't know what that plan is, but knowing that there is one provides us with peace and comfort. I am incredibly grateful to a Father in Heaven who knows us, loves us and answers our prayers.
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| Chicago Skyline |
So, we had a decision to make. We have lived in Chicago before, and even though it is not at the top of my list of places I want to live, I know that I can find happiness wherever we move to. We just needed to figure out what was right for our family, as a whole. We were given until December 4, 2015 to make our decision. This decision weighed heavily upon us.
One difference from the last time we lived in Chicago is that 3G moved the office from the northern Chicago suburbs to downtown Chicago. We had mixed feelings about this. Having the office downtown would mean a long commute time (which, unfortunately, is the norm in Chicago). At the same time, this meant we could look at the southern Chicago suburbs, which we thought we might like.
In November, we were able to take a trip to Chicago (paid for by Kraft Heinz) to check out the area and spend some time with a realtor looking at houses. We farmed out Ryland and Porter to separate friends of ours. I am so grateful for these two families that took our kids for a weekend. I have such a hard time asking for help and this felt like such an enormous favor to ask. These two families were very quick to say yes. They are true friends!
We took Luke and Caden with us and headed to Chicago. We called ourselves "The Decision Team" as we allowed Luke and Caden to feel like they were a part of the decision making process. It felt so weird to only have two kids in the car. These two usually sit in the back, but we moved them up so we could chat with them more easily.
We stayed downtown so the boys could see what the heart of Chicago is really like.
We checked out the Chicago River and walked part of the Magnificent Mile. These two goofballs had a lot of fun downtown, but Caden did make the observation that there were "too many people." I think he was a little shocked by how many people were out walking the streets at night.
David and I turned to each other every now and then and would say, "So this is what having two kids is like" or "So this is why people only have two kids!" We didn't mean it, of course, but we had a lot of fun with these two characters. And it was nice not to have to worry about keeping track of the younger two in the crowd of people, especially the littlest one who does everything he can to resist having his hand held to cross streets and whatnot.
Chicago street music is always entertaining.
We spent a lot of time with an awesome realtor looking at houses and hot spots in the community. We have worked with realtors with every move and she was, by far, the best we've had. We concentrated most of our search in the city of Naperville. Everything we could ever want is found in this great city. We would never have to leave for anything, unless we wanted to. I loved it and could see myself living there. The commute, though, was less than desirable. Home prices in the Chicago area are very high, with crazy high taxes. In order to afford a home and have the lifestyle we want...meaning, some sort of a yard, a garage and big enough inside so we are not living on top of each other, also means a long commute. It was an hour and 10 minutes from the Naperville train to downtown. Once downtown, David would have to walk 20 minutes to the office. This meant we needed to live as close to that train as possible. We had no idea that almost all the homes we chose to look at were 20-30 minutes from that train! We quickly shifted gears with our realtor and chose homes within 10 minutes of the train and she was able to get us in to see them on very short notice. Bless her! She worked hard for us.
Luke and Caden loved looking at houses. They were quick to tell us what they liked and what they didn't like. It was so fun to have them with us and to hear their opinions.
David kept pushing to see homes in a particular city, which will remain un-named, within 10-15 minutes of the office. I had seen the homes online and knew I would not consent to live there, but I said we could go look. I also knew affordability was going to be an issue, even though the homes were itty bitty little boxes. When we arrived, we had trouble finding the first home and ended up parking and watching the goings on of the city. I felt sick inside and knew I would not be raising my family in that city. I knew David felt it too when he finally said, "I do not need to see any houses in this area, we will not be living here." We headed back to our hotel without seeing one home.
It was a long and tiring couple of days and many times I found myself even more grateful to the friends that took our two littles. We packed a lot in during those two days and I know Porter and Ryland would have been tired and miserable and, therefore, us too. Even Caden found himself tuckered out. He is not typically one to sleep in the car, but he did this trip.
As we drove back to Wisconsin to pick up Porter and Ryland, my head was a whirl of thoughts. Honestly, I expected to go to Chicago and have it confirmed to me that, yup, we don't want to live there. When, in fact, I realized that I could live there again. Decisions, decisions.
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| Naperville |
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| Naperville River Walk |
We told Porter we would be back to get him Sunday evening. We arrived a couple of hours earlier than expected and when we picked him up, he came to the door and was beside himself, I'm talking some serious tears going on. Inconsolable kind of tears. I thought, man, I hope he hasn't been like this the whole time. Nope, he had been an angel. My friend, Kathy, said he had been happy, super funny (they laughed a lot), he went with the flow and they loved having him. Turns, out he was crying because he didn't want us to pick him up yet! He kept telling us, mid-sob, that we were too early. Kathy, David and I could not stop laughing that this boy didn't want to go home with us! We could not coerce him to get in the car. We finally had to physically pick him up...while trying not to laugh at his hysterics (he was so done with our laughter by then). I purposely put him with a family with older children (4 kids, ages 9-16). This boy can be a bit crazy when he gets around kids his own age and I was not going to do that to one of my friends, if I could help it. I think this child loved being the "baby" of this family, the center of attention, with no pesky siblings near his age to compete with. I am so glad he had such a good time with them and did not overstay his welcome. On the way home, he asked if our whole family could move in with their family and live at their house. Oh, how I love this boy! By the time we got home, the waterworks had stopped, but he was quick to tell me, "I am still sad."
Our decision making process felt like an eternity. I went back and figured out how much time it had been from when we heard about the change to the day our decision was final, and it was 6 weeks. That was a long 6 weeks. We agonized over this decision. Our thoughts were all over the board. Some days we were 80/20 in favor of Chicago, some days we were 80/20 in favor of leaving the company, and some days we were 50/50. Some days David's thoughts were the complete opposite of my thoughts. Each time we were in favor of leaving, Kraft Heinz would offer something extra, making it very difficult to say no. They were most certainly not making it easy for us. It was a stressful time. After much prayer, so much much prayer, fasting and attending the temple our answer came. And when it came, it was very clear that we were not to take the job in Chicago. There was no denying it. It has been 3 months since that decision and we have not looked back. We have no idea what the future holds for us. We don't know where we will be living or what the job will be, but we know we made the right decision. And there is great peace in that. That is not to say there haven't been stressful moments. There have, and I am sure there will be more of those moments to come, but we know there is a plan. We don't know what that plan is, but knowing that there is one provides us with peace and comfort. I am incredibly grateful to a Father in Heaven who knows us, loves us and answers our prayers.
Pretty, pretty please look for jobs in Vegas!!! It is a super easy drive to Orem, the home prices reasonable and we could be neighbors!!!!!!
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