Mid-February back in 2009, we were faced with a decision: stay in Perry with all the same-o-same, or brave the adventure of Summer Sales and move to Colorado. Being the adventurous lovers we are, we chose the latter. My good friend “Matty” Matt Fleming hooked us up with the pest control company he used to work for. We planned and prepared for the move (we were only taking what could fit in our car and the rest was staying behind in a storage bay, so there was a lot to do as far as deciding what to take and what to leave), but we did still manage to squeeze in some fun those last couple months. It has been a crazy journey over the years, but that is the one thing I depend on to remain constant and it has made all the difference.
We went to Logan to see some of my Snow College buddies. I LOVE these people SO much! Niels Palmer on the left end (a friend from Ascension Show Choir my second year at Snow) is now married to Sarah Walton Palmer (my “roomie roomie” from my first year at Snow and probably one of the best friends I have ever had!) who was serving a mission in France at the time I knew Niels. They both ended up attending Utah State, falling in love and are currently enjoying their happily ever after, I am sure. Turns out a LOT of Snow graduates attend Utah State (yet another way I broke the mold), but I was SO glad that I got to reminisce and laugh and visit and catch up with so many of my friends and also that Ben got to meet them and vice versa. Let me tell you-I have some awesome memories with some wonderful people in my life during my two years at Snow. Western Swing, Institute Dances, Denny’s Runs, plays, being in a band, show choir, hikes, water fights, karaoke, and many MANY more! When your college town only has one stop light and doubles in population when school is in session you learn to get creative and it was always oh so much fun!
Re-capping those months would not be complete without a few random pictures of me, courtesy of Ben. Luckily, I got smarter and started catching on in time to pose and goof off with him. Hey, if you can’t beat em’, join em’-something having 6 little brothers has taught me.
The gifts from my fans for the closing night of Beauty and the Beast, including the ones from my “#1 fan” Ben, although that title was borrowed to him for that night by my sweet Grandpa Durfee, who has been my #1 fan since I first started my stage performing career at ripe old age of three.
Ben and I giving in for one of our fast food cravings at Wendy’s. Can’t beat hot, crunchy, salty fries dipped in a cold, smooth, sweet frosty-especially a certain time of the month, which Ben has deemed as the week I get to indulge in all of my cravings (he is awesome like that). He says I need to have something to look forward to during those oh-so-fun days, and trust me I definitely do look forward to that part!
This was the night I met Ben’s sister Donna, his brother Matt also came up to visit, so I invited them both to my parent’s for a BBQ. It is what we Ahlstrom’s do. We LOVE our food and love sharing it with awesome company even more!
While working at the wood shop together, Ben and I would often times pack a lunch and sit in our car while blasting the music, visiting and stuffing our faces on our lunch break, that is when our bosses did not treat us to lunch on the town-which was often. We were pretty spoiled in our working days at that wood shop. They are, to this day, our favorite people we have ever worked for.
There was a lot of packing, cleaning, organizing and preparing over those months so here is a little peak at the not-so-fun things we made fun during that time. We have been through so much unknown over the past 4 years and although it has not always been easy, my “safe place” has remained constant in my Ben.
All that stuff to the left, was staying in Utah, and although it was hard leaving so much behind, I had a nice strong man to love me to help out and make it all better.
I may or may not have ruined a part of the wall in the moving process, but my handy man was to the rescue-3rd grade style! Trust me, you would be surprised what those little purple glue sticks are capable of.
Lucky for me, Ben still loved me and I was given a full pardon for the damage done.
We had one last hoorah with our hometown besties before making the 10 hour drive to our new home with our car packed-as full as we could get it-with our few belongings we were taking with us. It was SO much fun and we may have overstayed our welcome at the Riverdale Chili’s, but it was the perfect way to say goodbye-over good food and laughter.
And we were OFF! Excited for the journey that would await us in Denver…little did we know just how big of a life-altering adventure it would be.
My home is wherever this man is.
Hello Denver!
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