Get Your Move On

This week marked five months of life, Colorado style. Much has changed since I waved goodbye to dear old Valencia. I'll briefly mention the obvious.

I went from this:



To this:



And, well, haven't missed suburbia since I left. More on that later.

For those of you in your 20's who haven't moved, start packing. I don't mean those who haven't moved ever in life, but those who haven't moved in their 20's to a place where you have to start from scratch. Okay, I didn't have to start from scratch, but close. Moving to a new place does lots of things to you, but probably the most important is the introduction to loneliness. Sounds funny, and it is, but it's necessary. You never realize how much you depend on others' opinions until you're free of them, or until you stop caring and realize what a sham that is. When Lonely is your close friend, he makes you look yourself in the eye and admit that you don't have the courage you thought you did, but he persists until you have the courage to take a step, then another. Loneliness also warns that the Hound of Heaven is nipping at our heels. When I felt alone I knew I was cornered, and that's when deep changes started to happen.

In a few short months, I've been given back different forms of all that was taken, and with a cherry on top. My spirit is revived. The analogy I use to try to describe how life feels right now is a freefall. We've all been on the Tower of Doom at our favorite amusement park. I so often feel like my life is at the point in the fall where your stomach is in your throat and you're wondering whether the ride actually takes you straight to the center of the earth. My eyes are closed and I have a death grip on the handles, but I'm loving every minute. Adventure -- it's a beautiful thing.

As it turns out, wonderful people live everywhere, not only where I came from.

I still love the city, but the mountains have their own bit to offer, and I'll take it while I can.

iChat is a lifesaver.

Old dreams I feared were dead are in fact alive and breathing.

Trail runs.

A fully stocked kitchen (and jeans that are harder to wriggle into)...

Times to cherish with dad and mom, em and jonny.

A Savior I know so much more personally now than I did five months ago.

Move. Just do it.