dreamboat anniversary.

This past Saturday, December 27th, marked my one year anniversary of living in Steamboat!  Anyone who is anyone (aka anyone who has read this blog for longer than a month) knows I love me a reason to celebrate a milestone while dissecting and reflecting the shit out of it!  Readyyyyyyyyandgo!

::steamboat was looking insanely beautiful this past sunday while we were out cross country skiing!::

When we moved to Steamboat I truly had no expectations of what things would be like here.  This can be attributed to my job interview + job offer + accepting the job + moving to Steamboat all happening within a week's time.  After not working for 13 months (freedom....yay!  empty bank account....booooo!) I was thrilled at the chance of having a steady job + income again.  I didn't give myself time to fret (read: obsess) over moving to a new city without knowing anyone.  We had just wrapped up 7 months of doing that exact thing in Bremerton, so it was the mindset of "Oh, whatever - we did this once, we can do this again."  It was intimidating moving to a brand new new city twice within a year's time but it was also empowering.

I moved to Steamboat a few days before I started work to begin the process of getting to know the city as a newbie local.  I had the weekend all to myself which I remember being so relaxing and nourishing (that is until I got food poisoning Sunday night and spent the entire evening before my first day of work in the bathroom sicker than a damn dog.)  As all things do, it took some time to get into a good routine.  Hunter was still working in Denver and Bob was spending a lot of time up at Snowy so the first few weeks, I spent a lot of time by myself.  I paid a lot of attention to the free events around town that I found listed in the newspaper and attended as many as I could.  I would snowshoe solo every weekend and spent my evenings watching Breaking Bad with a homemade meal for 1, a hot cup of tea or a glass of wine.  It was tough knowing I was 3 hours away from our "old life" and our best friends in Denver…it was almost more painful being 3 hours away from them in Steamboat than it was being 15 hours away in Washington.  It was an adjustment for me for sure.  After about 3 weeks of work and spending a lot of time by myself, I was invited to my first happy hour with work girlfriends and after 4 weeks of work I got promoted to a different department with a brand new job title.  Ever since then - I'll admit it's been prettttty smooth sailing.

My first few months in Steamboat, I remember soaking up it's beauty and walking around starry eyed at how stunning the area was.  I really couldn't believe  that we actually lived here!  I remember witnessing the Alpine Glow for the first time, watching a plethora of wildlife meandering through town, and of course, enjoying the 5 minute or less commute to really any destination in town.

This move has given Hunter and I  so many chances to grow as a couple and to grow individually.  I do still struggle with being 3 hours away from my closest friends and family living in Denver.  I am still learning to go with the flow, embrace each friendship and most importantly to live in the moment.  I never want to lose sight of how lucky we are to have best friends where we live now and everywhere we've lived in the past.

And here we are - one year later.  Enjoying life cozied up in our little cabin just big enough for our possessions but no where near big enough for the love and laughter it holds.  We have a routine and a life that I could have never dreamed up 3 years ago when I met Hunter for the first time.  I'm proud of the simple and meaningful life we've created for ourselves.  I'm proud to do each day with Hunter at my side.

Happy Year Anniversary, Steamboat!  Thank you for being really damn good to us.