This past Sunday, after a lazy morning mostly spent in bed—family cuddles are a weekend tradition in the Nelson-George household—I saw ‘May 1’ as the date on my phone.
This meant two things: the rent for our apartment was due, and that it was our second month anniversary of us moving to Milwaukee.
We’ve been through a LOT during our short time here in the city, but I’m happy to say that this milestone feels overwhelmingly positive. We shared a hug and a smile and a “I can’t believe it’s been this long/I can’t believe it’s come so quickly” dual expression.
The lows of this adventure have been fairly brief: a fraudulent moving experience, home-sickness, stressful home-buying events in the final hours, gloomy weather, and finding out just how common car thefts and jackings are thanks to a local gang called “The Kia Boys.” Lol. I wish I was joking, but the driving situation here in Milwaukee is bleak and crazy.
Thankfully, our experiences thus-far have been far more positive overall, especially on an internal level. We’re happy and I think we’re thriving, too. It feels as though we’ve gotten comfortable with stepping outside our usual limits—we go out and explore and don’t always feel so burdened by anything outside our typical routine. It’s nice to move on the fly and embrace the mood and the vibe of the city around us.
With every day, there’s a little more grounding. We’re growing roots. Chad’s been really enjoying his new job, and I’ve been reaching out to folks and making friends. I’ve got my daily routine at Hotworx, while Wally’s been enjoying his new friends at Dogtopia’s doggy daycare. And of course: we love our river-front apartment and our new house, which we’ve been moving into slowly and thoughtfully. We will be full time there by the end of May, and we’re getting more and more excited.
In terms of true city exploration, we’ve done a lot…And we’re just getting started. We can’t get enough of the river walk, lakeshore drives, the breweries, and the hole-in-the-wall restaurants and pubs and neighborhood haunts. There is so much to do, and we feel so lucky to have incredible access: public markets, museums, shows, exhibits, events. In the past few weeks we’ve gone to a concert, a comedy show, a pub-crawl, and a dance party. I can’t wait for summer: beach days, Brewer’s games, sunshine, live music, and beer gardens await.
We did the damn thing, and now we’re living it. Two months have come and gone, and I can’t wait to see how good life continues to be.
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