For years Colorado was one of those places we talked about. A place we visited every winter for snowboarding. The place we referred when saying “someday we’ll live there”. It was a far away place…a full 16 hour drive from home. It was the place we got married – some say its because the mountains are very “us” but having an excuse to go boarding with our closest friends may have also contributed to the Colorado wedding decision.

In 2011 Colorado became something more than just a place. It became our new home. Or at the time it became more of a chance to see what we could do all on our own. Turns out we do pretty darn good all on our own. We managed to explore the mountains, eventually find jobs and realize that we love living in a place where we are surrounded by people who think, live and love like us. Colorado is still a place, but it is our place, our home.

And enough with the poetic gushing…let’s take a quick peek at our journey to Colorado. It took a lot of time, thought and saving for us to get here but we are here now and we are in love. Seriously. I love it here. And while Chris hasn’t professed his love to Colorado as vibrantly as I have I think its safe to say he agrees.

It all started with a few winter trips out to Colorado for snowboarding – although only our most recent vacation was documented on the blog:

Our First Time…As Grown Ups!
Need…Oxygen…please?!
On Top of the World…
Vacation is Hard Work!

It was during this 2011 trip out to Colorado that we decided we were going to make the move. At the very least we were not going to sign a lease for a place in Wisconsin, we were moving. Colorado was in our sights and on our to-do list! We spent the following months searching for jobs, scoping out apartments and stashing away cash.

Come the beginning of June we officially announced our plans to walk away from our relatively solid jobs to start our move west. We didn’t have jobs lined up in Colorado but we had a cheap apartment, enough money to make it for six months and a verbal agreement with my mom for her basement should things go south.

At the end of June we made our move. We packed up what we couldn’t sell and started our 18 hour drive half way across the country to our new home. The reality was slowly setting in but for our first three months of unemployment it all felt like an extra long vacation!

Honestly, if it is at all feasible I highly recommend a bout of unemployment when you move to a new state, especially a new state you are planning on falling in love with. It was risky but it worked out great for us!

And just in case you are considering a move to Colorado – or at the very least a vacation – here are some of my “firsts” and favorites of our first year…

I found trails! {my first run in Colorado!}
The clouds of Colorado…amazing!
Panerathon 10K {first Colorado race}
Running Red Rocks

Lots of exploring slowly had us feeling smart enough to belong in our new state. We learned a lot, some times the hard way. In case you were wondering, hiking in the mountains any time after noon-ish is a horrible idea, it will storm. Not that we learned the hard way, twice, or anything like that. However, we did get smart about avalanches and spent a weekend learning about how to avoid avalanches and rescue someone if needed…

ApexEx Avalanche Training Day 1
ApexEx Avalanche Training Day 2

And if that isn’t enough Colorado fun for you I’ve made up a few pages that help catalog all the adventures, explorations and mishaps we’ve experienced during our time in Colorado…

.:biking:.
.:snowboarding:.
.:hiking:.

So there you have it, the story of our move to Colorado without jobs for the sole purpose of living near the mountains. Yes, a little crazy but luckily it has turned out great for us. If you have any questions at all please let me know, I’ll do my best to answer!