I moved to Colorado nearly five years ago. When people as “why” I always respond with “for the mountains”. When we first discussed moving out to Colorado the plan was to live in the mountains…but that quickly became unrealistic thanks to the cost of living, lack of jobs and our personal expectations for our lives. Luckily, Denver was a solid second best option for us. Since we made that move a LOT has changed in our lives and if you told 2011 Heidi that she’d be living like 2015 Heidi is actually living she’d probably crawl into bed with a bowl of ice cream and cry. This isn’t what I expected for myself…but I love it. A lot.

Seriously, I am really enjoying my life for everything that it is [and is not] right now. It may have taken my five years and it may only last 6 months but I am officially living in the mountains. It’s nothing like the life I left behind in Wisconsin nor the life we worked to create when we first moved to Colorado…it’s very different. But it’s perfect for where I’m at right now and I think it’s a really good stepping stone to where I’m headed, even though I’m not sure where that is.

IMG_20151221_162931

I am living in Summit County, the home of Breckenridge, Keystone, ABasin, Loveland, Silverthorne, Frisco and Dillon…resort + mountain towns that get insanely overcrowded during the holidays. I’ve invited myself into the home of a friend who is far more tolerant of my crazy than I will ever deserve. He has been allowing me to store all my gear here since I moved into my car last May and is now putting up with my chatty self as well. He’s even given me permission to get worms…for composting under the kitchen sink! They come next week, I’m legitimately giddy about them. It’s the little things in life!

Oh, and he has a dog, Max, who I’m pretty sure accepts me as one of the cool kids. He’ll pass out on top of me while we watch Drunk History and has this thing for jumping on my bed so he can stare out the window. I’ll never be a dog person but I like this one…it’s hilarious to make him chase snowballs into three feet of powdery snow on our evening walks. I’m not mean for being entertained if he seems to enjoy it as much as I do, right?!

How did I end up in the mountains? With a lot of luck, really. While I was in Switzerland I decided to put out some feelers for jobs, should I decide to return to the States for the winter season. A few phone interviews later I had agreed to go back to what I know best…hospitality. I have about 8 years of experience working behind the front desk of various hotels and I’m really quite good at it. I’m patient with stupid people, sassy with the fun guests and creative enough to make things happen for the non-planners that show up during the holidays without any transportation plans. Sure, it makes my brain bleed and my eyes roll but I truly enjoy it, usually.

Unfortunately my job making the day of needy tourists combined with my ongoing job at Ibotta has me working 60+ hours each with leaving very little free time for hours upon hours of fun in the mountain snow. It’s not the fairy tale #mountaingirl life I may have imagined years ago but it’s the price I pay for skipping out of full time work for three months while living in Europe…a price I’ll happily pay as I plot my next venture away from “responsible adulthood”. Plus, I really like being busy, it gives all of my time purpose and value, something it was starting to lose when I had all the time in the world to do whatever I wanted. And…the mountains are just outside my door, literally!

...a great trail for marathon training, except for the part where it’s a 1.5 mile climb back up home…

At the moment there isn’t much I’d change about my life. I’m happy, there isn’t much more I could want for myself. Well, maybe I’d wish for heated sidewalks so this marathon training thing was less deadly but at the moment that isn’t a huge concern for me as I haven’t really turned a single step this month…luckily the Pittsburgh Marathon’s official kick off event isn’t until January 9th. I’ll start training then…and I fully expect everyone to be astonished when I hate my life for 26.2 miles in May. #poorlifedecisions


3 Comments

Krystyna · December 30, 2021 at 3:19 am

Haha just take the bus up when you are done your run… that’s what I did when I was there b/c the altitude was killing me!! And WOW is this what Silverthorne looks like in the winter??

    Heidi Nicole · December 30, 2021 at 8:07 am

    I think I need to start coordinating my runs with the bus…I like the downhill running part! 🙂

    And yes…you need to come visit in the winter, the snow has been insane this year! Poor Max has to go swimming to get the snowballs, I’ll have to post video — it’s hilarious!

Krystyna · December 30, 2021 at 3:20 am

Also - I miss everyone!! Robb and Max and you and the giant bean bag (Jeremy too I guess)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0