born in the summer of his twenty-seventh year

Most of my blog posts as of late have been about how I feel about something -- these somethings usually being books or music. So hopefully you'll humor me and forgive my selfishness if I dedicate this particular blogging to an update on my life.

I suppose it's OK to get a little personal every now and then.

As I'm sure most of you already know, I moved to Colorado about two weeks ago. Colorado Springs to be exact. And I won't lie, it hasn't been as great as I thought it would be. Nevertheless, I'm still optimistic about it; obviously you can't base a move on its first two weeks.

Reasons why I should love Colorado Springs:

I like my job. This is, after all, the reason I'm here. I'm working for a company called GVNW, Inc., a consulting firm that works exclusively with telecommunications companies (i.e., telephone, Internet). Technically, this is only a temporary position for the summer; if they like me enough they'll most likely hire me. I'm not necessarily counting on that but I am hoping it happens. Currently they have me working on an audit project. Any details beyond that will probably confuse/bore you. So far, I enjoy the work, and the people I work with are great.

A hike in the mountains? Nope. My very own backyard! (Notice the wood pile in the bottom right-hand corner.) These fellas were kind enough to pause for photo before darting into the neighbor's yard.

I grew up here. My family moved from SLC to Colorado Springs when I was but an infant and we stayed there till I had aged six years. In other words, I was just young enough to not really remember the city itself. However, some of my fondest memories of Colorado Springs do include: eating poisonous berries when I was only two because my brother told me I would turn into a robot and see Jesus if I did (he got the see Jesus part right -- thank goodness for stomach pumps); going to the mall almost every Saturday as a family to buy Star Wars action figures; and having naked mud fights with my brothers in the family garden.





That blur of lights in the background is my 'hood.






Necessities. Two record stores and a multitude of thrift shops. OK, these aren't necessities but they are nice. Colorado Springs is just big enough to have all the things I like in a city but not so big that it's overrun and crowded. And for that big city feel, and hopefully a plentitude of great concerts, Denver is only an hour away.



Kind of an odd spot for a fire hydrant, but what do I know about firefighting?





A basketball team that's still in the playoffs. Here's hoping the Nuggets win tonight. When I was a kid my favorite basketball player was Dikembe Mutumbo, who started out with Nuggets. I even have his jersey from those days, and I sport it occasionally when I go running.




A ghost? No! Just me, too lazy to sit through a ten second exposure!




The Rockies. The mountains, not the baseball team. When you look at Colorado Springs from atop a hill you instantly think the city is much smaller than it really is because instead of buildings you see trees. The high elevation makes the temperature perfect for summertime running. Awesome parks, hiking, and other outdoor amusements are just minutes away.

I have a friend. Yes, a friend. I look forward to making more of these. Thankfully, there are two singles wards here and they're both pretty good-sized.

See, there are plenty of reasons why I should love Colorado Springs. But, having reasons to love something is very sadly not the same thing as actually loving it.

In reality, Colorado Springs has been quite good to me and I'm doing my best to not take it for granted. Sometimes I just forget how great I have it; maybe being here is an opportunity for me to not let that happen again.


P.S. Colorado Springs is 11 hours from Mesa and 10.5 hours from Rexburg. And we do have an airport. In case you were wondering.