Well, a lot has happened to me in the last few weeks. I went from hanging up my tool belt and becoming office manager of my own company to moving to Chicago to take a position as Vice President of another company. However, there is more to this story. You see, quite by accident, I fell madly in love with a contractor, Jon, I had known for a few years. Chicago is about three hours away from my hometown of Champaign Urbana, Illinois. One thing lead to another and he asked me to move up to Chicago and come work with him.

So what does this new life have in store for me? Well, originally Jon and I thought we would just be so into working that we would just naturally complement each other. I am strong in the things that he doesn’t do well, like paperwork and change orders, and he is a super amazing carpenter/artist, which is where I often find myself lacking. We figured that we would make a good team. Of course, we like each other a lot also; so what could go wrong?

So long story short, I bet the farm on moving up here. Well, maybe you need a little more of the story to know why it is such a huge deal. See, I met Jon online about two years ago and we always talked shop online. Then one day he needed some advice about his web site, which is what I am going to school for. I gave him my number and we started talking on the phone from time to time. Then, one day out of the blue he called me to ask for some work advice on a big project he was doing. We talked for like 3 hours. It was really that day that everything changed, yet we didn’t know the adventure we were about to embark on.

We started texting more and talking on the phone more, and realized how much we had in common. I also realized how much I liked him and how much I was interested in his work. I had never met him face to face until I had to come up here to pick up some wood. I suggested we do lunch or something. He got dead quiet on the other end of the phone, and it was then I knew he liked me. Well, the contract for the hardwood was delayed, but I still really wanted to be near this amazing guy. We talked about it, I got some things settled in my own life and packed up my clothes and my computer and took the plunge….Jon came and picked me up about 36 hours later, and I got to meet the guy who would become my soul mate.

Riding up to Chicago, we talked some, and sat in comfortable silence some, but generally felt a huge sense of relief that we were both so into each other . . . after all that time of talking on the phone and texting. The next day, Jon took me to work with him (it was a Sunday, but nothing out of the normal for either of us since we are both workaholics). I fit right in with his work and his crew. It was all so exciting. What happened next was the best thing ever though. I found out what I had long since forgotten, I love to be on the job and working in the field. My work in Champaign had gotten stale for me and it had started to feel like work. With Jon by my side, anything seemed possible again. I wanted to come up with solutions to problems and make people happy.

After that, we fell into a routine of doing everything together. We worked a lot but we played a lot too. In the first week I realized so many things about myself. For example, I used to live to work, and in the end that was ruining work for me. Now, I look at each day as a challenge instead of something I have to endure.

Jon has a whole different outlook on working. He works as much as I do, but he does it to his own schedule. For example, we don’t have an alarm clock, and we get where we are going when we get there. His work is really a lot more art, and a lot less making things look new. Scheduling is kind of out the window with him, which was always a big rigid hurdle with me and my company. Deadlines are important, but not paramount. Of course, with this goes a complete lack of paper work and all the behind the scenes stuff that makes a business run a lot more smoothly.

That is where I come in. I can do change orders and, in fact, like them because at the end of the job everyone is on the same page. I write contracts, fill out lien wavers, track job costs, schedule stuff, estimate, etc. This is of utmost importance to a business which is trying to grow bigger as the economy is coming back. We complement each other so well, it was like we were meant to be together. I really think we were meant to find each other.

Along the way though of getting to know Jon better something strange happened. After the first few days of being up here, I really started to feel at home. Right away, in a strange city, after this strange way of meeting and deciding to be together, I fell in love so deeply and unequivocally that I can’t imagine my life without him. We were sure we would have common ground on the work thing, but now work is no longer the major focus in my life. Instead of being Holly the contractor, which is how I defined myself before, I am now Holly, Jon’s woman (also a contractor) which takes a lot of the day to day stresses off of me. I no longer lay awake at night and wonder how I am going to frame something up or what the best way to lay out the tile for a bathroom is. Now I just peacefully sleep at night and wake up refreshed and ready to start my day.

So what is the whole point here? Well, the last month has been an unusual and enlightening adventure for me, and has rejuvenated my love of all things construction. However, I have also realized that I no longer define myself by what I do and have found a whole new way of life that I never really experienced before. I really feel like nothing can stop us, and nothing can touch us. We have each other. We get to do stuff that we love, and we get to be a huge success at it. What more could anyone want?