One year it has been, and we'd gladly do it all again.

On this day one year ago, William and I were cozy in a double room at the Polaris Hotel and counting the days until we could move in to the house nearby that we’d rented. It was an easy decision since it was the only house available near the schools we wanted and wasn’t on a busy street. I wouldn’t get to pick up the house keys and actually see it until August 1st, and just three hours before Rafa, the guys and dogs were going to be arriving in full U-hauls.

Our Austin house had already sold so Rafa and the boys had been staying at an AirBnB in Hyde Park with the dogs for the last couple weeks. All of our belongings were stuffed into a couple of storage units waiting to be loaded up into two U-hauls and taken to Colorado Springs. It was exhausting work moving ourselves in the middle of the hot Texas summer! Rafa insisted on that:/  It’s surreal to think about all of that now. My husband, half of our kids, our three dogs and just about everything we own were caravanning 849 miles up the interstate relocating  to another state and into a house we hadn’t even seen yet. In my heart I knew that everything would work out because it always does. Rafa and I have been navigating life, taking risks, making big decisions and facing challenges together for nearly 30 years. Moving to Austin 10 years ago was one of them and it was the best thing we could have done for our family. I love that our kids grew up there! The timing was right to start the next chapter.

I cried when I entered the rental house for the first time. My family would be there soon and there was no time to fix it. The appliances were in bad shape, the entire house needed painting, it wasn’t clean, the back “yard” was more like a narrow gravel path. It looked so much better in the photos! We got it all worked out fairly quickly and were able to focus on setting up life in Colorado.

The first three months were spent settling in, exploring and learning. Honestly I felt overwhelmed and homesick most of the time. Texas isn’t very far away but Colorado feels a world away culturally and socially—particularly the differences between living in Austin and Colorado Springs. It has been an adjustment for sure. 

It’s been a whole year now and we have acclimated quite a bit. I know my way around the city and learned it’s essential to check the weather several times a day since it could suddenly start hailing at any moment. Our first winter was a mild one but we still got to do lots of snow- related things like shoveling the driveway and scraping ice and snow from our windshields. We appreciate the majestic mountain views and access to natural beauty all around us. It’s inspiring every day and we try to take advantage of it as much as we can. I have never questioned if we did the right thing by leaving Texas and moving here. Texas will always be home, but here in Colorado we have a much better quality of life. All six of us are healthier and making our own progress towards goals and the future. There have been amazing opportunities, teachers, new friends and the best community support we could ask for. We are incredibly grateful for all of it and our ability to make this move.

We bought a house on a little acreage just north of Colorado Springs.  I have 32 aspen trees and I never imagined I’d ever have aspens with their shimmering leaves and vibrant fall splendor. Now we actually have to worry about bears being attracted to our bird feeders and hanging them too close to the house. The dogs are running on grass and barking at the neighborhood deer who are amusingly unbothered. Life is calm, serene and peaceful. Living at the foothills of the North Range definitely has its benefits. We are 10 minutes from the mountains, three different lakes, the Santa Fe Trail and countless trails to hike, bike and explore. The summer temperatures are cooler best of all....no mosquitos! After the chaos of the last few years parenting teens with disabilities and losing sleep over their education, future opportunities and care…the stress of the Eanes ISD special education lawsuit, the overwhelming corruption and hate we are bombarded with daily in the national, state and community news and politics….serenity is a foreign but welcome feeling. We are happy here and looking forward to year two of being Coloradoans.