From California to Colorado--First Impressions

Well People, I've done it--I have officially settled into life in Colorado.  Livin' the dream.  What a terrifying thought (and don't worry, exciting as well)!  Really, who is letting me leave a wonderful area of the best state in the Union to live, great roommates, a job that I liked on most days, being only a two hour car ride away from (almost) all of my family, and a church that I loved so dearly? 

Is that what being an adult means?  Doing crazy things like leaving a perfectly good life for the fogginess of the unknown?

Instead of being crazy and writing 30 pages on my transition, I will boil it down to a list of things that have transpired since I have been here.

1.  I cought a cold the day before we were supposed to leave, so my mom drove the entire 9 hours the first day.  I slept over half of this in the car.

2.  The second day of driving, we drove almost an hour and a half...in the wrong direction.  Nothing like an adventure!

3.  I had to ask Utah for forgiveness.  I lead most of my life assuming that it was a big ol' ugly state with nothing but dessert for miles and miles and miles.  We took Highway 50 and had a very different experience.  Utah is beautiful.

4.  We arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, and by Thursday night I was completely unpacked with photos on my walls.

5.  Living with married people is really fun.  I already knew this from living with my parents and my roommates from last year, but I think there is something special about being able to see your friends' marriage in close proximity.

6.  Matt and Amber threw me a Welcome to Colorado! party and invited a whole bunch of their friends over to meet me.  We watched the strange Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, had desserts, and played some fun group games to get over the awkwardness of meeting someone new.

7.  I've learned how to drive in Colorado.  Apparently streets are not just streets...they are highways as well. 

8.  My old roommates Skyped me earlier this week and I cried because I missed them so much.

9.  Not having a job right now is both awesome and lame at the same time.  I literally can do whatever I want, but unfortunately I am forced to think of money that I shouldn't spend if I don't have any coming in.

10.  But because of that, I have found lots of different free things to do in the Denver area.  I went to the Denver Art Museum (the DAM) this Saturday because it was free admission, and I saw a seminar given by designer Fallene Wells who was a contestant on Project Runway last summer.  True Confessions:  Project Runway is one of my all-time favorite shows and it makes me want to be a designer.

11.  Including this week and last week, I will have had a total of 5 job interviews.  Hopefully one of them pulls through.

12.  I've learned I don't want to work in a large, corporate job.  I interviewed with a gas & oil company, and walked back to my car praying that I wouldn't get a call back.  Really not my style.

13.  It's neat to look at semi-familiar things with new eyes--finding a new church in particular.  I've only been to two so far, but it feels like I'm getting a bigger picture of how God works through many many many more modes than I remembered.  Its a beautiful thing.

14.  This whole rain-in-the-summer thing is a bit wild.  I don't know what to wear.

15.  I went to church this Sunday with friends of my roommates, and they asked me to have lunch with them and hang out with them at their house afterwards.  I didn't realize how long we were sitting there and talking, and in the meantime, Amber text messaged and called me to see if I was still alive.  Upon returning home about 3 hours after I was expected, I informed her that I was "Hanging out with my new besties."  She responded by scolding me.  "What?!  They are not your new besties.  What does that make Matt and me?  Chopped liver?!"  We all got a good laugh out of that one.

16.  Even though I don't have a job yet and have very few friends, the sense of peace that I've been given has been pleasantly overwhelming.  I keep on going back to the passage in Luke 12, where Jesus is teaching about anxiety:

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on.  For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Consider the ravens:  they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouses nor barns, and yet God feeds them.   Of how much more value are you than the birds!

It's also helpful that I have been finding feathers over the past year when I have been anxious about moving.  A good and constant reminder that He is able.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Photo courtesy of  www.dailymail.co.uk.