I had almost forgotten this milestone as I sat next to a cozy fire in one of my favorite new restaurants as the snow fell outside. It was the perfect evening involving Moroccan pork sliders, fried cauliflower and warm pumpkin bread pudding, delicious cocktails and good company. But I mean seriously. A fireplace with a real fire with a snowstorm. It wasn’t until they had cleared our dinner plates and I was admiring the perfection of the evening that I remembered that hey, it was January 28th!
Guys, yesterday was my three year Coloradoversary! I moved to Boulder THREE YEARS AGO. That just blows my mind. It feels like I have been here FOREVER but it also feels like I just got here. I can still remember walking down Pearl with Doni and exclaiming over and over and over again about how we couldn’t believe we lived here. To this day, I still can’t get over how beautiful it is. It really is the most beautiful place I’ve ever lived in.
I look back over the past three years and how do you even recap it? Colorado has been many things. It was just what I needed after NYC, a rehab of sorts. It’s been frustrating and lonely, tons of fun with a lot of adventure. It’s definitely been a rocky road since I started but it’s been worth it. If anything, Colorado has been a surprise. When I moved here three years ago I had no idea what to expect. I had never even stepped foot in Colorado before driving across the country and I had no idea if it would work out. I didn’t even give myself the time to think of all the what ifs, the fears…in one month from deciding I was going to move, I set off across the country and didn’t look back. It worked out in the best ways possible.
I started off being unemployed for the first six months; the day I got a job offer was the day that my bank account hit $0. I certainly made good use of my time spent unemployed and you’d never guess anyone actually worked here with the amount of people out and about during the middle of the day on a Wednesday. One of my father’s gifts to me after I moved out here was a book of Boulder hikes. Kind of essential when you live in one of the most outdoorsy places. Within two weeks of moving here, Doni and I drove up Flagstaff Mountain and went on an eight mile hike in snow, ice, and without much acclimation to the altitude. I will never forget our lying on the side of the mountain around mile 6, dying.
I’ve gotten much better about the hiking thing. I still get winded going up hills but now I avoid them if they have ice on them. I’ve also learned that under no circumstances am I going to go on a date with a guy that involves hiking unless we’ve gone on more than at least five dates. I don’t think anyone needs to see my fear of heights that soon off the bat.
I’ve settled nicely into life here. I have happy hours almost weekly, brunches on the weekends and I try to get out at least once a weekend to take a hike, even if it’s just a walk around the reservoir. I volunteer at the Humane Society walking the dogs (I call it dog therapy–I’m not sure who gets more out of it, me or the dogs), I’ve taken up a snobbery regarding good local craft beer, have discovered my love of cooking, and I think snow is the most magical thing here. Speaking of weather, you can’t beat winters here. The weather is fantastic and while it’s a tad bipolar, I can handle 60+ degree days at the end of January, even if the next day it snows like crazy.
It’s been three years. A lot is about to change in my life this year and while I get frustrated with living here, with the people and with the fact that I’m not as outdoorsy as anyone else here, I still love my little home. It really is a beautiful place. And I wouldn’t have picked anywhere else to spend the last three years.
Happy Coloradoversary, self!
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Jessica
