13 November 2018, by Mandy Loh

Settling down in the USA

So its been three months since our big move to the US! And phew, what an awesome adventure we’ve been having!

We’re now quite settled, and things are getting into the groove. Here are some highlights of all the fun we’ve been having:

When we first arrived, we spent the first few days in Chicago, to get over jet lag, acclimatise, and just have a little holiday as a nice start to the new chapter of our lives.

Jet lag was hard on all of us…

But after a few days of rest and relaxation, things got better. We tried our best not to take naps in the afternoon, so that we could sleep better when it was night-time.

We also made sure we were out and about during the day, walking around the city and enjoying the sunshine, so that our bodies could reset our circadian rhythm.

For the kiddos, their favourite place to run around in was this amazing Maggie Daley park, where they had a blast!

The next big milestone was moving into our new home in the suburb, Naperville.

The kids were delighted to see the house, with sooooo much space!

And oh my, the backyard! The kids absolutely loved the backyard! It was such a pleasant change from our tiny apartments in Singapore, and the kids stayed outdoors for most of the afternoon every day.

Setting up home was a fun, albeit tiring process. Multiple trips to buy stuff, hours of furniture assembly at home, and some rental furniture while waiting for our stuff to arrive in sea freight, made our new place liveable!

It was a little challenging living without most of our stuff for the first two months, but I realised something quite interesting: Kids use their imagination ALOT more when they don’t have much toys!

Settling in hasn’t been all work and no play. In fact, we have had a TON of fun in these three months! There have been so many parties and events celebrating the end of Summer/ beginning of Fall, such as:

We’re also relishing all the opportunities to do fun things outdoors that we never had a chance to try in Singapore:

Overall, its almost like an extended holiday for us, with so many new experiences and fun adventures.

However, many locals have been warning us that it gets more dreary in winter, and I’m not very sure how well we will cope with the extreme cold in the Midwest! Crossing our fingers that it’ll be ok! Wish us luck!