Big news...

Keep reading to find out what this means...(source)

Happy Friday Everyone! I can't believe this is going to be my 18th post for this month already, look at me just blogging up a storm! Actually, the more into blogging I get, the more I enjoy it. It gives me a creative outlet and it also allows me to take part in an amazing community of people with so many great things to share. I love discovering new blogs and I am constantly being inspired by other bloggers. When I started this blog last year, my plan was for it to mainly be a way to keep family and friends up to date on what was going on with Cam and I, as I knew that we'd be moving out of Michigan later in the year. However, the more fun I'm having with blogging, I'd really like to broaden my horizons and reach a wider audience. So, if any of my fellow bloggers out there have any suggestions on what help them build a larger following, I'd love any advice that you have to share!

However, no matter how my blog may grow, it's original intent is still there, and that's to keep our family and friends up to date on what's happening in our life. We're approaching our two year wedding anniversary next month and I can't believe how time flies! I love that this blog gives me a way to chronicle all that God is continuing to do in our lives. I feel like my husband and I have had a pretty crazy but amazing last three and half years together. We started dating in college, got engaged in college, planned our wedding, graduated from college, got married, I got a new job, we moved into an apartment in Ann Arbor, Cam started grad school, we traveled, Cam finished grad school, we took an amazing 6 week trip to Europe, we moved down to Greenville, SC, Cam started his job, I found a new job, we got a dog, and we've continued to travel and explore all that the South has to offer. Sometimes I feel like I don't sit back on reflect on everything often enough because when I really stop to think about all the amazing things that have happened in such a short period of time, it's like wow! It's been an incredible journey so far, and I love that this blog gives me an outlet to share all that we're going through.

So, without much further ado, on to the real point of this post. While I was thinking that 2011 was going to be much less chaotic than 2010...it looks like I was wrong...because the Graybeals are moving again! And while I didn't expect to be making the same announcement I made last May again so soon, I am excited to share the news that at the end of next month we will be packing up and moving across the country to Boulder, Colorado! (Just like Michael Scott!)

I was going to put up a scenic picture of the Rocky Mountains, but when this stamp of Buster Baxter from Arthur came up on my Google Image search, I just had to use it...did anyone read these books/watch this show when they were little? Good times...and totally random I know. (Source)

Well, excited may be too strong a word, because while I am really looking forward to going to Colorado, this move is definitely bittersweet. I have absolutely loved living in Greenville, South Carolina. First of all, I just love the South in general, I love the food, I love the preppy colorful fashions, and I just love the lifestyle. Second, I really do love Greenville. It's a great city with a lot to offer, it's really well-positioned within the Southeast, and it's been a joy living here. Last but not least, what's really going to make this move so difficult is leaving all the wonderful people that we've met here. I feel so fortunate to have serendipitously stumbled upon a career in recruiting, and I absolutely love the people I work with now. I'm really going to miss being with them every day, and then in addition to the great group of people that I work with, we've just met so many nice people down here in Greenville that it really makes it tough to leave. But I know that some of these friendships I've formed will be lasting and I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone even after I leave the Upstate, so this blog will definitely be an important tool to help me do that. (Also, look forward to lots of posts about the South in the next month because I want to try to recap some of our favorite things we've discovered in the past year!)

Even though it's only been a year, I will always feel as though I'm an honorary South Carolinian (Source)

So as sad as I am to leave Greenville, I'm also extremely excited about what's to come. Cam and I have never been to Colorado before, but I've heard so many great things about how absolutely gorgeous it is. And it's nice because it's located exactly halfway in between Oregon and Michigan. That means it will be much easier to fly home and see Cam's family, as opposed to the 5+ hour time it takes now, because it's only a 2 hr flight to both Oregon and Michigan. I know that going from the South to the West is going to be somewhat of a culture shock, but I'm looking forward to the experience. As I may have mentioned (about 23012321 times) I love the South. However, I'm looking forward to the more active, healthy, and eco-friendly lifestyle we're about to encounter in Boulder, and I'm hoping my future blog posts will reflect some positive changes!


So I just realized I didn't clarify why we are moving. Right now, Cam is in a rotational program at work and was given the opportunity to do a six-month rotation in Colorado, and we both jumped at the chance, as it's a part of the country that we've both always wanted to go to. He is actually going to be working in Longmont, CO which is just north of Boulder, and we're actually going to be living in southwest Longmont, which is about 15-20 minutes from Boulder. (But I'm telling people we're moving to Boulder because no one knows where Longmont is!) We'll be just under an hour from Denver, and I'm so excited to explore this part of the country! Our movers are set to come pack up our apartment in less than a month and then we'll be making the trek from Greenville at the end of June.

However, because Cam is still in a rotational program, that means that we may very well only be living in Colorado for six months, and then moving somewhere else at the beginning of 2012. Thinking about moving again so soon is a really stressful thought, so I'm really just trying to focus on the present and not get bogged down thinking about what may or may not happen down the road. I really look at Cam and my life together as one big adventure and I feel so fortunate that we are getting these opportunities in our twenties to live in such wonderful locations. I can't worry about the future, and I know that everything will work out like it's supposed to, just like it has for the past 24 years :) I plan to continue using this blog to document our crazy, blessed life, and I know that it is going to become an even more important tool to keeping in touch with family and friends all over the country as we take this next step. As I mentioned earlier, I look forward to my blogging being influenced by this transition, because I think that life changes like this really help us to grow as people. I will always be a Midwestern Michigan girl at heart, a lover of all things Southern, and I'm excited to see how my time in Colorado will continue to shape me, and most of all I hope that you will continue to join me on this journey! :)

Colorado here we come! (Source)