100 Miles later....

So Stacy and I have arrived and are almost all the way settled into Chicago now. We have had a busy 3 weeks here. We both have started work at our new Starbucks stores and it has been an interesting change for sure. It is different to work at such a large company that should have set standards across the board but when you go from store to store things are so very different and unique. In the Chicagoland area Starbucks instead of saying "with room" everyone calls out and says "roomy" and if a customer wants milk on top of coffee or iced coffee they call out a "non fat topper".. these are just a few of the many adjustments in our work world we have had to make so far. I really enjoy my store as awhole though the partners I work with are all awesome and everyone down here has been with Starbucks forever. I am coming up on four years and I thought I had been around a while but 4 other partners at my store have been with Starbucks for seven years or longer. Crazyiness I know. Stacy and I have also purchased new bikes. I am riding a SE Lager with a flip flop hub so I can ride single speed or fixed gear which is pretty cool. Stacy is riding some sort of Redline with a flip flop hub as well. I just crossed the 100 miles marker on my bike odometer which is crazy to think I have put that many miles on it in less than the three weeks that I have owned it. Everyone here bikes and it is awesome to see them all out riding around. Our dogs have finally adjusted as well. We pretty much had to re potty train the both of them so the first few days were "messy". Josh and Josie are quickly making friends though there is a chow downstairs named Max that they have seemed to take a liking too. Stacy and I have made some friends too. We met a couple at church last week named Jeff and Melissa and at school I met this awesome Canadian (I hope Theresa is reading this) named Michael and his wife Brittany. The three of us walked around down town yesterday afternoon and I got a fist-bump from a homeless dude in a wheel chair that wanted to race me on my bike. It was pretty awesome. Anyways I will post some pictures soon. Sorry for the long delay in posting. Pray for me as I start actual class tomorrow 18 credits here I come.

Thanks for Reading.

The Hobans

LOOSE ENDS

It has definitely hit the fan. We have absolutely zero free time for ourselves and our sanity is waning because of it. It seems that every free moment of our lives is spent planning out our move or tying up the loose ends of North Carolina. It also appears there are many hidden tasks underneath the completion of a task on our list. For example we sold one of our cars (my Jeep) and we just thought we had to sell it and not think/worry about anything else. WRONG. We have to cash the check then write another check to our bank with the loan and then in turn turn our license plate into the DMV and cancel our car insurance (chaotic). We are looking forward to the end of this vicious transition to Chicago. Please keep our sanity in your thoughts and prayers. As a side note we are excited about getting some new furniture. We have been pricing couches, televisions, media-stands, you name it for our new place that we have yet to see. It should be awesome well I guess it is back to work. 

Thanks for reading 

The Hobans

Two weeks away and the excitement continues to build. This week has a somber mood to it though as we have started saying our goodbyes to friends which quite literally might be the last time we'll see them. Life journeys on to new relationships to shape us and challenge us in new ways I guess. Stacy has begun to become obsessed with selling our stuff on Craigslist which is awesome she has really created for herself a small business. We do look forward to the day when we no longer have to repost our items on Craigslist. We are also over staying home for an appointment with a potential buyer who does not show or have the courtesy to call and let us know of thier disinterest in our items. We are almost ready to move...physically by having most of our packing done and emotionally by saying our good byes to friends and family. Stacy and I celebrated one year of marriage this past week. Unbelievable how fast it has gone. It has been an awesome year and we are truly looking forward to the years ahead of us. We went down to Charlotte to IKEA and had dinner the other night. We found an awesome dinning room table for the apartment and maybe a sofa too. That store is so neat with all their creative ways to organize your living space. Well we are in our last couple of weeks as North Carolinians and we hope that Chicago brings us just as much fun and adventure as we found here. Thanks for Reading Guys...We'll miss Y'all.

The Hobans 

28 Days and Counting...

So much excitement this week. After what seemed like a hopeless search for an apartment, a gem appears on craigslist. Also exciting dogs are allowed. For those of you who may not know Stacy and I were accepting the fact that we may have to find a new home for our puppies Joshua and Josie. Stacy was incredibly upset at the very thought of this and seeing how important it was to here I decided it was necessary that the dogs come if possible. I am s stoked to be heading to city life I have literally spent all night tonight researching our neighborhood bars, reataraunts, churches, coffee shops etc. We are so excited for this move. The journey became really exciting for us on Wednesday when we recieved our approval for our new apartment.(pictures of it are all around)

Apart of us is really nervous because we will never see the apartment first hand until we have the keys but I guess that also adds a bit more excitement to the journey of moving to Chicago. I am really excited about going back to school. I hope my classes are awesome and interesting because I think we all know what my track record at school looks like. If a class doesn't keep my attention it rarely keeps me. AHHH I forgot also the same day we found out about the apartment we both were placed at new STARBUCKS stores in Chicago. I am very excited to move down to lowly barista while in school although I will miss the pay. Anyways I will be at a store on the corner of Greenview and some other road I forget... and Stacy if she takes it will be a few blocks away. Our stores will be in the Lakeview neighborhood/area of Chicago. I am going to miss my peeps here but it just so hard to not be excited/anxious/ and flat out ready to move on. Today was my breaking point at work. I just stopped caring, I am ready to move on. To move to CHI town and onto the next phaase of life with Stac. I can't wait until we get settled there buy some bikes ride them to the local farmers market and just explore the city. IT IS GOING TO BE CRAZY AWESOME. I will miss the mountains and the ocean...tears, but I will be living on the third coast(Lake Michigan). We'll see..anyways I hope y'all stay tuned in for the next phase because I'm sure it will be exciting and there will definitey be some stories to tell in the next coming months pray for Stacy and I as we ambark on this journey and also that we can have as awesome of a second year of marriage as our first was. Our 1 year anniversary is next week. We are going away for the weekend it should be fun. Thanks for reading.

The Hobans via Ryan

New Beginnings

I figured with all the new changes going on in Stacy and my life we needed a way to stay connected to everyone who has influenced our journey thus far in our lives. So we have entered the realm of blogging, well at least I have on our behalf (Ryan). We are stoked to have this opportunity to move back to the midwest. Even more exciting is the transition from suburbia living to the city life, no cars, public transportation, biking, groceries around the corner etc. We are also a little nervous for those very same reasons. If you are reading this blog and are the praying type, pray for us as we transition into this new world. It should be a fun journey. We still have a lot to do though, sell both cars, our bed, furniture, washer and dryer etc. We are u to the challenge though. What would we have done without the invention of Craigslist? Today alone we sold our two end table lamps and a bookcase. (For you praying types again) Please pray that we sell enough of our stuff to be able to fit everything we own in one car load that is our goal. Anyways we are excited to reconnect with friends and family alike back in the midwest. I am personally excited to be studying at Moody Bible Institute, the reason we are moving for those of you who didn't know. It should be pretty awesome doing life in the heart of a cultural center like Chicago.  We will miss it here in North Carolina the friendships and memories will not be forgotten but the excitement of making new ones lingers now (similar to the feeling of going on vacation the night before when you just can't sleep your so excited that is how these next two months will feel like I imagine).  Chicago here we come.