Moving back to Brooklyn + other life updates

After 3 happy years in Sheboygan, we are moving back to Brooklyn. 

We moved to Sheboygan to:

1. Try something new by living in a small town
2. Start our own family

Well, we accomplished the first thing! Sheboygan is a cool spot and we made some awesome friends and memories here. Our leaving is not a knock against the ‘boyg. 

The big reason we’re leaving is that we did not have any kiddos. We’ve been on a years long journey which has involved literally everything medically possible to have a little bebe, starting with basic interventions all the way through IVF. It’s been a lot, especially on Ashley’s body.

A silver lining is that Ashley was able to figure out that she has endometriosis and adenomyosis. She had surgery to address those issues which has significantly improved her quality of life.

At some point a few months ago we just felt like it was time for a fresh start. We were in a big house with no kiddos to fill it, and we never envisioned ourselves living in the suburbs without kids.

I’m not sharing all that to get pity. My life is still amazing! But hey, it was infertility awareness week last week and I think it’s helpful to do my small part to remove the stigma around infertility by talking openly about our struggles.

Plus the housing market was/is going crazy. We realized we could sell, make a little money, and change up our trajectory. We’d been so kid focused, and it felt like time to take a step back from all that and reassess what we want out of our lives. It will be helpful to have a change of scenery as we do so. And of course, Brooklyn is awesome. 

We made some really great friends out here and it was awesome spending more time with Ashley’s family. It was also really cool living just 4 hours from my brother and his family. It’s bittersweet to leave, but it feels like the right thing to do.

Home ownership

I know everyone warns you about how much work it is to own a house, but I still feel like I need to add my voice to the chorus. When you’re not fixing big things, it’s death by papercut, with the lawn care, snow removal, and “little” updates that take a half a day because your DIY skills are stuck on suburban Los Angeles Jew mode (shoutout to our new bathroom vent fan, though.)

We made a small amount of money on the house sale because we got lucky to sell into a crazy hot market, but we easily could have taken a financial loss given how much money we sank into it. The people saying renting is always financially worse are all shilling for big real estate! Opportunity costs with your money and time are real! 

We’re excited to be renters again, though of course that has pitfalls as well. If inflation keeps going wild our rent could jump up. If the building decides to do construction we could hear jackhammers all day. If our neighbors love having 3 AM parties we either have to join them or learn to live with it.

Brooklyn

We really liked living in BK a few years ago, specifically Park Slope, so we’re going back. Unlike with previous moves there was not a long, country-wide search to determine our next spot. We know what we like at this point. 

And by what we like I mean what the dogs like. We picked a place that could be hit or miss for humans but will almost certainly be a dog paradise. We’re just here to provide them with a life of luxury.

People keep asking if the pups are going to be okay moving from a place with a big ol’ backyard to a small BK apartment. I truly think they are going to like it even more. Because they mostly don’t care about the backyard. I thought they’d want to frolic back there all day, but nah. They want to be right next to us, demanding food, love, tug of war, and walks.

And what walks they will get in Brooklyn! We currently do about 5-6 miles a day together but it’s mostly the same 3 routes over and over. Now we’ll have tons more options. And they’ll get to hang out with all the pups in Prospect Park, which from previous observations is an unlimited fount of pure doggie joy.

I feel quite confident the pups will be fine and that Oscar and Arnold will maintain their spoiled status as the undisputed kings of the house and happiest beings around.

Other life updates

So that it doesn’t feel like everything I write on my blog is about cities and moving, here’s some other stuff that’s been going on with me.

Vegan diet

I’ve been vegan for a couple years now and I’ve gotten really into animal welfare in general. I know, I know, I’m the guy who used to eat chicken feet by the pound. And I’ve probably subjected quite a few readers to horrendous smelling slow-cooked liver stews. But a switch flipped when I got my first puppy and now I’ve gone full PETA (though I try hard not to be annoying about it.) I wrote about my transition in a Quora post.

I am happy to report that I am in possibly the best shape of my life, my muscles did not disappear, and all my recent blood work came back looking great. I had a small fear that I’d end up pale, frail, and tired and I’m glad that’s not the case.

Writing

I’ve done quite a bit of that over on Quora if you want to check it out. I continue to post there because it’s satisfying when posts get a lot of views without me putting in any effort into distribution. I would like to write more on my personal blog too, though.

I also self published a book of essays on Amazon a couple years ago. I tried to make it in the style of David Sedaris, though of course I fall way short. It has 4 positive reviews on Amazon and only one of those is from my mom, so I consider that a win!

Meditation

I am way into meditation, doing about an hour a day on average. I like this guy’s guided meditations on YouTube.

Basketball

I’ve been playing a ton. I made some good friends in Wisconsin through the Kohler Company’s corporate basketball league.

I have almost stopped getting nervous before games and beating myself up after bad plays like I used to do when I was playing for a living. I am all about competing and trying your best but damn I have some unproductive, deep rooted patterns I need to break. Hence a lot of meditation, ha.

I also play in a yearly tournament up in northern Wisconsin with a bunch of guys I met in Chicago which is super fun.

Work

I have a remote sales job at a cool company called Parabol that helps meetings suck less. As someone who has been a part of way too many sucky meetings, I am happy to contribute to this mission.

What does the future hold?? 🤔

I don’t know. It’s just been drilled into me via freelance writing that a piece of writing needs a conclusion. But because I am doing this for fun I can have the satisfaction of simply saying: this is the end of the post.

Hit me up if you’ll be in NYC!