As of Saturday, October 17^th, my boyfriend Chad and I became official residents of the beautiful state of Colorado!

Our decision to leave our homes in Northwest Arkansas came as a bit of a shock to our friends and families – well, perhaps not the biggest shock to my loved ones given that I’m known to make critical life decisions like this at the spur of a moment – but we’ve gotten resounding support from everyone back home.

If I had to break things down to an actual timeline, I would say our decision, subsequent planning, and the move itself all took place in about a month. We both made the decision to leave our jobs at a local craft brewery sometime in September, and quickly went about getting jobs and an apartment in Boulder so we could head out there by the end of October.

Right out the gate, Chad got an awesome job at Oskar Blues Brewing Company in Longmont where he’s going to help them brew and distribute their beer (a lot like his old job at Bentonville Brewing Company), and I’m working at the Whole Foods near our home until I find a full-time job.

Job searching aside, I’d be lying if I said our move to Boulder was motivated by professional reasons. In reality, we both have long-term love affairs with the mountains and the outdoors (Chad’s really into mountain biking and I love snowboarding and rock climbing). Not to mention we really got an appetite for all the outdoor potential here after taking a week-long road trip through southern Colorado and climbing our first 14er – Mount Sneffels.

We both knew that multiple week-long trips to Colorado throughout the year weren’t feasible with our current work-life situations, and after the opportunity presented itself to look for new work, we both jumped at the chance to start new jobs in Boulder, Colorado.

Boulder really is the perfect place for us. We both have friends and family in Boulder and the Denver area, the Flat Irons are visible from our patio, and we’re minutes from great hiking, mountain biking, and climbing.

In the next few months I know it’s going to be quite the adjustment living away from my family. I’ve always been really close with my parents and siblings, and it hasn’t quite sunk in that I’m not going to see my brother and sister every day – so that’s the only downside to this decision. But like me, they all love Colorado and we share relatives in the Denver area, so I know I’ll see lots of them in the future.

All that being said, here’s to new adventures – both the professional and the outdoor kind! Oh, and if any of you guys live in and around Boulder and need a climbing partner or a friend to go snowboarding with, hit me up!