What?! Yeah, well, I’m nearly as surprised as everyone else, trust me. 6 months ago I was all about leaving Chicago. Then, as time went on, I realized that I love Chicago, my job is amazing (almost as much fun as I had working in Israel!), and my family and friends are here.  This is home.

It is also a really great time to buy, especially with the homebuyer’s tax credit and the low housing prices. So I bought a one bedroom condo a few miles away from the Baha’i House of Worship and Lake Michigan.

It feels good to be an independent adult.  I am so happy that I have the freedom and ability to do something like this at such a young age.

I’m currently painting, and have already run into some minor problems, but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t too bad.  Part of the process, right? When I have some more work done I’ll put up photos.  Right now it looks a little disastrous, and is a maze of ladders, paint cans, and random tools.  We managed to get the ceilings done, however, thanks to my amazing friends who came to help this weekend. (Y’all are the best.)

If anyone wants to come by in the evenings this week to help paint the walls, I’m happy to have assistance!  I’ll buy you dinner. Seriously.  There are even homemade cupcakes available.  (I’m totally ok with bribing people!)

It will be wonderful to finally have a place of my own, move in, and be home. And no, it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.

“Verily, I pray God to make thy home a center for the radiation of light and the glowing of His love in the hearts of His people. Know that in every home when God is praised and prayed to, and His Kingdom proclaimed, that home is a garden of God and a paradise of His happiness.”

(Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v1, p. 68)