“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”-Mark Twain
Ironic that I first heard this quote at work, from my boss in an attempt to motivate our team. Little did she know that my safe harbor was in fact the very job she was encouraging me to do. I've been working at the same place for over 3 years. Living in Arizona basically my entire life (minus a year that I will explain later). I put in my 2 week notice last week. That makes this Friday my last day at Healthways, and this Sunday my first official day as a Utah resident.
Taylor and I both know what it's like to pick up and move our life to another state. Long before we met, when we were both around the age of 20, we decided to kiss Arizona good bye...
Taylor was headed to the Pacific Northwest. With his stuff thrown in a trailer, young Cooper in the passenger seat, a retirement fund check to cash in his pocket, and no particular destination in mind, he ended up in Portland. Taylor ended up staying with some old friends, making new ones, and loved every second of it. But, Long story short, he ended up coming back to Arizona for a girl. The oldest mistake in the book right?... My move was a little different. I had saved up for months, planned everything to a T. I had a uhaul rented, my family to drive up with me, and a place to stay with my brother in Utah as soon as I got there...
Even though those two trips seem polar opposite in execution, we both were feeling the same thing, freedom.
When Taylor and I first met, the fact that we had both moved to another state was something that immediately connected us. We discussed that feeling of independence we both had as we drove towards our new beginning. What it felt like to just do something we had thought about for so long. We talked about how we wouldn't go back and change a thing even if we could. We wouldn't heal the broken hearts, take back the money wasted, or any of the struggles that came along with our moves. We continued to discuss it throughout our first 3 years together and that is what leads us to today. Not just a quote I read at work, or a hope that the grass may be greener, but the desire for an adventure, the excitement of starting over, and remembering what it feels like to dream.
I'm going to try to keep this blog updated more often with the things we do in our new surroundings. We are really excited to be able to actually go outside this summer and can't wait to explore all of the beauty that Utah has to offer. We will also be close to some family and old friends of mine that I am excited to get back in touch with. This move is going to be an especially interesting experience for me since Utah is where I went to escape the monotony of Arizona the first time. I can't wait to experience it with Taylor and show him everything about that state that I fell in love with. There are a lot of misconceptions about Utah that cover up just how amazing that place is.
As if this post isn't long enough, I wanted to end it with a song. The song is called clutch by Mason Jennings. I heard Mason talking about when he wrote this song and how he was thinking about what goes through your head right before you die. When he thought about what he would want to see and feel before he died, he realized they were all memories with friends and family, he was never alone. I don't plan on dying anytime soon but I do plan on making as many of those memories as I can.
"There's so much we could do without, we could live in a dream"
