ROI - Still in the red

I can't help to wonder, whether moving to Sweden was the right decision. I am quite positive that in the long term it is the right place for us to be. The main reason being: this is where we want our children to grow up! Also, it is home to me. Still, the process of getting to this place, where we see the long-term benefits of living in Sweden has been tough and is still not over.

Sure, I managed to get a job.
Sure, we managed to find a nice townhouse to rent.
Sure, we managed to fix our house up to be put on the market.
Sure, we managed to sell it.
Sure, we managed to pack and ship, sell or donate a house full of stuff.
Sure, we managed to get Lejon the paperwork needed to bring him into Sweden.
Sure, we survived the long trip here.
Sure, we found a decent, used car to buy.
Sure, we managed 3 weeks in an apartment that wasn't ours.
Sure, I started my job, working 5 days a week for the first time since William was born.
Sure, we got through moving into our townhouse and got some furniture to make us feel at home.
Sure, our crate arrived and we got unpacked.
Sure, we succeeded in getting Chris' residence permit.

All these things add up! It's been hard work! We are still exhausted! The stress of the move, will take a long time to recover from. So what did we gain, from doing all this work?

Yes, I like the snow. So does William and Lejon. Chris, not so much.
Yes, I love being able to ride a bike, and Linköping is a very bike friendly city. However, the winter isn't the best for biking.
Yes, we much prefer the food in Sweden. And the candy :)
Yes, we love being closer to my family. But it wasn't until last week my parents came to see us, and we still haven't been up north.
Yes, we love being closer to friends. But so far we have only seen a few of them, when we went to Gothenburg to visit one weekend in January. None of our friends actually live in Linköping.
Yes, we like the central location, with the proximity to Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and the continental Europe. 

I am well aware that my picture of Sweden is very idealistic and probably not realistic. Most of the benefits of living in Sweden are so far assumed positives. Whether they will come true or not, is still to be seen. But I do know, at the time being, the move hasn't paid off. We are still in the red. What we have gained from moving here, has so far not been worth the work we put in. We do not have a positive Return of Investment.

I am usually an optimistic person and this is probably a destructive way of looking at the move. All I know is we had to make a decision and go with it. We worked our asses off, without looking back and here we are. Still looking ahead. Believing one day, we will feel that the move has paid off. Hoping to add balloons to help lift our mental backpack that this move has filled with stones.