Colorado Springs

Today is Thursday, and that means it is writing prompt day! Yay! I look forward to these all week. I'm always looking for new and interesting prompts to answer. Today's prompt:

If you had the leave the city you live in, what would you find the hardest to leave behind? If you were to move to a new city, what would you do to connect with the community or feel established in the new place?

These questions hit a little close to home. Not only have I moved away from home (and away from home means to another state 650 miles away from everything I'd ever known) to begin my adult life. I grew up in Missouri, went to college in Missouri, and then moved to Colorado a week after graduation to be closer to Dan and to find work. Luckily, everything worked out for me, but there are things I miss about Missouri, such as friends, family, and football. However, I've done fine for myself in the (almost) two years that I've been out here, but knowing that I only have (just over) two more years until Dan and I get married and leave the city I now call home leaves me feeling kind of devastated... and that's to say the least.

Let's face it. I had visited Colorado Springs three times before meeting Dan. Then, I visited Colorado Springs three times during Dan's year at the USAFA Prep School before I moved out here. Needless to say, I had been dreaming of living in Colorado since I was eight years old and visited for the first time with my family as a summer vacation. Visiting again (twice) with my cross country team during high school confirmed that this is where I belong. I love the outdoors. I love the mountains. I love the atmosphere. And I love the weather. Call me crazy, but I like the cold. Hot weather does nothing for me, so I am glad that even during the summer when it would otherwise be brutally hot, there is hardly nay humidity. I don't have to deal with it anymore, and I am thankful for that.

In two years and two months, Dan will graduate from the United States Air Force Academy. Two days later, we will get married. It's everything I dream about happening quickly, but when it really comes down to it, I'm terrified. I'm not scared about getting married or starting my life with Dan. I am scared of all of the moving we will have to do while he is in the Air Force. I am a terrible packer, and I do not adjust well to change. I will be cranky, and I will protest all I can. But when it comes down to it, I will have to go along, each and every time the military says, "Pack your bags."

To get back to today's prompt, though, the thing I will miss the absolute most about Colorado Springs when we do move away (to nowhere-ville, USA, I'm sure) will be the beautiful mountains. I cannot get enough of them. I look at them in awe daily. Still. I figured they would lose their appeal after I'd been around them for a while, but I was wrong. They are so majestic and wonderful, and I can't imagine ever living in a place that does not have mountains covered in snow. When I wake up in a grumpy mood and don't want to go to work, all I have to do to feel better is look at the mountains. I realize how lucky I am to live where I do, and it puts everything into perspective. When Dan retires, I hope to move back to Colorado Springs, or at least somewhere near it. We have enjoyed so many different things together out here, and I will miss it. At least I don't have to worry about that for another two plus years!

Until tomorrow,

Janelle