My adventure to the mile high city

This is a long one, folks. And I apologize if it doesn't flow very well.. I wrote this posting in about 3 sittings (one of which I was watching a terrible show called Jail. Never watch it.)

After a super long brief hiatus, I am back to report some new happenings in my life. I believe when  left off with my last post, I was on day 3 of my 30 day challenge.. oops! Those who know me well know I get super pumped about awesome ideas but as soon I hit a roadblock or two, I get discouraged and just quit. Many years ago someone called me out on this character fault (in not the gentlest of manners) and I took it pretty hard. I didn't want to admit that when things get hard I tend to give up. Didn't want to face the fact that someone could see a flaw in me that, until then, I hadn't noticed in myself. Months later, afte the initial bitterness of the comment wore off, it drove me to push past initial obstacles, forks in the road, and minor failures and keep working hard toward larger successes. I transferred schools because I was unhappy where I began college, worked full time and saved up to buy myself a car, went back to school and endured a very critical and time-consuming program in Interior Design and then ran 2 half marathons! There are definitely many, many people who have accomplished greater, and far more awesome feats, but for me, those are great. They are enough to remind myself that, though my default is to give up when I hit an obstacle, that is the most crucial time to keep pushing myself. 

All of that to say, I am embarrassed that I only made it to day 3 of my 30 day challenge. Oh and to introduce some new happenings in my life.

Moving on.

For about the last year or so, I have had this strong pull to go explore on an adventure of sorts. I entertained the idea of moving to Chicago, have half-heartedly searched for interior design jobs in various cities around the US, and applied for Teach for America. Though my heart belongs in Spokane, WA, something was pushing me to get out for a while and see where I'd end up. It's a strange feeling to have an urge to leave home. I've tried explaining it to some of the people I am closest with, but if you've never felt the very tangible ache to try something else somewhere else, it's pretty impossible to describe. It's strange and it's unsettling to feel like what is so comfortable isn't quite the right spot anymore. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it or where to begin my first step but I knew that, at least very temporarily, I needed to take a risk. 

And so, while doing some damage on Craigslist, Indeed, Simply Hired, talking to dozens of people, making a few phone calls, and praying a whole lot, somewhere along the way Denver, CO rose above all other cities and felt "the most right". I don't have a solid answer for how I decided upon this particular city. I guess I simply just did. It has a lot of opportunity to further my career in design, it has an awesome outdoorsy lifestyle, it has a very appealing energy, and the neighborhood where I live feels very similar to my neighborhood in Spokane. Oh, and everyone and their mom has a dog. Heaven.

Spokane

Denver

Did I even move?

Seriously, I am telling you my neighborhood looks so similar to the PNW 

(Is Colorado considered part of the PNW? I don't even know. It should be.) 

So, once I decided to take the plunge, move, and see where the wind would take me down here for a while, my awesome friends and family threw me a going away party at my parent's house! It looked 

a little something like this: 

It was a great night filled with friends so dear to my heart and made me feel so loved! 

The following week I spent a ridiculously fun day at Silverwood theme park with this guy:

 (and lost my ID for the 2nd time in two weeks)

and one of the most fun nights out in Spokane with these kids:

As the move-date creeped up closer and closer I almost backed out of moving dozens of times because I was so afraid of leaving the people I love, not having a job, and being totally out of my comfort zone. There were many tearful breakdowns, a lot of tough goodbyes, and so much stress (thank you parents and Sean for knowing how to stop the tears). But once August 23rd and I finally met, I stuffed my little Honda Accord full of everything I own and my older brother, said goodbye to my family and beagle, and was off. 

18 hours of driving, too much Pandora comedy, lots of singing, a few bugs, learning about the family winery, and a Dominos pizza later, my brother Ryan and I made it to Denver. Whew. 

sneak peek of my very, very bare room:

I've been here for 4 weeks now and have a few stories up my sleeve, but I'll save those for another post on another day. In fact, this post was SUPPOSED to be about my new j-o-b but that'll have to wait until tomorrow since this turned into a novel! 

Stay tuned! it's a gem of a job :)