How We Got "Here"

"I don't have a career per se. I guess you could say my career is living and loving. And I do that to the utmost..."
-Dupree, from the movie, You, Me and Dupree

I'm not too sure where this spark of adventure or need to explore came from. Honestly, I'm usually quite content to be a homebody. I like showers, and warmth, TV and movies. I thoroughly  enjoy the company of friends and family. I like knowing where every store and every street is in a place, such as with my hometown of Fort Collins. I'm adaptable, but I don't always enjoy the process.

Usually what happens with a vacation is that within a few days, I become extremely uncomfortable and homesick. Typically, a 7 day vacation becomes tiresome and irritating to me after day 3. I'm getting much, much better at this, though. To backtrack, when I was 16, my parents and I moved three hours away from home. I was MISERABLE! I thought my life had ended. No more friends, no more school, no more familiar. I didn't know this new place (Colorado Springs) and I didn't want to get to know it. I longed for home. It was a shame. Colorado Springs is a really neat town, and we were only there 5 months. Why couldn't I just see it for what it was, enjoy it, and make the most of it? I did the same thing in reverse when we came home. I longed for Colorado Springs, or rather, made it out to be more amazing then it was. My problem at that point was that I always looked backwards to find happiness. Live in the moment, dude!

When David and I decided to leave my beloved Fort Collins for Sheridan, Wyoming in search of adventure, I really thought things would be different. A city of about 18,000, we were excited about a slower pace of life and simplicity while surrounded by beautiful mountains. I really wanted to enjoy the process, make new friends, see new places, explore the mountains and world offered to me in this new land. I can't explain what happened in any other way but this: I felt like I had a dark cloud of darkness constantly over my head that prevented me from doing any of the above. It seemed I couldn't make a friend to save my life. I couldn't enjoy the beauty surrounding me. My heart ached so badly for home that I actually spent several nights crying like a baby about it. Perhaps this is why I didn't make friends- nobody wants a cry baby for a friend who continually looks at the past. I hated so much of every day life, which is also a shame because Sheridan really is a neat place, offering much in the way of entertainment and amenities despite its small, isolated size. The few friends we made were awesome. I don't mean to be so negative.

Sheridan, Wyoming. We moved there in January, which probably didn't help. 

I needed to get out. Going home wasn't an option. After just 10 months of being there I considered traveling as a surgical tech and landed my first job in Llano, Texas. I was devastated- I was trying to get to a bigger city- not one with only 3000 people! Alas, I got more and more excited, and left my husband behind for three months to traverse across Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. (I should note a thing or two about David and I: we are strong, we are trusting, we are good, and this was in no way anything to do with the quality of our marriage).

Texas was awesome! I was blown away by the friendliness of the people and how quickly I made friends. I fell in love with the landscape and southern hospitality. I found a church, I found a purpose at work, and I was happy.

Llano, Texas in November-ish

When I came home, I was not happy. Of course, my husband was awesome and it was so wonderful to be together again. We had the best three or four months together before I decided I cannot make Sheridan work. I traveled again, this time to Denver, CO. I made even more friends, had even more fun, and loved my job even more. I was close to home so I could visit family a lot, too. I loved everything about being in Denver, except the not having my husband there part.

Denver, Colorado

Something about Sheridan wasn't working, and we talked at great length about it. The point is, something about life wasn't working. We shouldn't just spend our days working for two weeks of vacation per year. What's the point of all that? I know I'm sounding pretty irresponsible and perhaps bordering on lazy, but that's not it at all! I don't believe we should work so hard for 40. 50, 60 years and then retire and see the world when we are old, tired, and uncomfortable. I want to see it now, while I can hike, run, swim, and sleep in a tent without hurting. I felt like we were accomplishing nothing in Sheridan except for making a few dollars we never had time to spend. The thing I have always loved about David is his appreciation of life and making the most of his day. He's been given a second chance at life as a childhood cancer survivor and I hated to see us waste our days. He was frustrated on a few points as well, even though he had made friends and became involved in the community.

Life should be an adventure; We only get one shot at it.

So, we got excited. Let's do the things we said we would. Lets see this place and that place, and cross off the things on our list. Over several months, we started packing things and selling things and our house sold almost immediately. I landed a contract in Washington DC and when we got the news, we both jumped up and down for a few seconds. Washington DC? I honestly didn't know much about it, sadly, and from my perception would not be a nature-lover's dream. Despite that, we were determined to make the most of it and we did! We explored during the road trip places I had never been. We did the touristy stuff and the not so touristy stuff. We hiked, we walked and we did so much! The people at the hospital there were great and I learned so much from this experience of working in a larger hospital.

Washington, D.C. 

We are doing the things we want to do, and loving every moment of it. We are rich with adventure. The bucket list only grows with each bit of exposure to the world we get.