Today is the Day...

...We become Coloradans. 

At our hearts, we'll both always be Minnesotans and technically, I won't be a Coloradan until May, but today is moving day! We have both been waiting for this day for a long time. It was a little over 10 months ago that Al signed his reenlistment papers containing his bid for Ft. Carson. It was over 6 months ago that we received "orders" for a March report date. And the time has finally come. 

Our entire Army life (actually, only since I've been in the picture), has been at Ft. Bliss. My immersion into the culture and "the family" happened in El Paso. My first summer as an Army wife was spent tooling around Freedom Crossing in the sweltering heat, talking movies, crafts, kiddos, and whatever else came up, with Jaci and Jess. We would inevitably stop at Starbucks for iced coffees to take the edge off the hottest days. We drank wine, scrapbooked, sushi'd, and lamented our common bond stuck in this love-hate relationship with the Army. 

Al and I were able to spend time together attending free outdoor concerts, hiking in the mountains, watching dirt-track car races, swimming, eating tons of Mexican food, exploring new places, and just being together. It was the best summer of my life. With my husband, new friends and many new experiences. For those reasons, I am sad to leave. 

It is especially hard because I can't be there to give a proper good-bye.

I can't hug my gals one more time (until we meet again, of course!) I can't squeeze Andrew's cheeks and watch him laugh incessantly. I can't be there to tell Al he's loading the truck wrong and then apologize with a cold Coors Light. And I'm not there to watch our home, the post, the mountain and that lighted star on the side of it, fade into the distance as we make our way north to a whole new set of adventures. 

But it will be a new set of adventures. For that, I am grateful to this life for giving me the opportunity to live in new places and to meet new people. I am thrilled to finally have a home, with my husband, that we will share (at least semi-permanently.) I am blessed to have such a supportive group of family and friends to make this transition that much easier. 

(source - public domain)

Please keep us in your prayers over the next few days. Al has some help loading the truck in Texas, but will be driving to Colorado by himself. I fly in on Thursday to help him unload, but the timeline is a pretty small window and we are hoping everything goes smooth. ('Cause, ya know, the Army has a tendency to throw a wrench in things - not to mention that fella Murphy and his laws.)

Colorado, here we come!