Our year in Denver: a timeline

This week marks the one-year anniversary since we drove into Denver for the first time (February 16). It was 60 degrees and sunny and we drove through town with our windows down, our car packed full of stuff, looking for an affordable hotel to stay at while we hunted for an apartment. We ended up at a Red Lion and started looking at rentals that same day.

Two days later we went to visit our house (February 18). I had seen it online while checking out real estate listings before we moved, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I wanted to see it in person so that I could find all its flaws and forget about it. Instead, I loved it. We both did. But we knew it was insane to buy a house the week we arrived in town, before we knew if we would even like it here. So we went back to the Red Lion.

The next day we moved into our apartment (February 19). The moving truck arrived the next day with the rest of our stuff (February 20). We had upgraded from a one-bedroom apartment in DC to a three-bedroom in order to accommodate both of our new working-from-home situations. That weekend we went out and bought a desk for Torsten's office, because until then we only owned one desk (February 21).

That week we also made appointments to "interview" Montana and one other dog at the prison program (February 23). They didn't have an opening for a few weeks. I thought I was going to die with anticipation waiting for those few weeks. (The feeling kind of reminds me of how I feel now, actually, about waiting to have a baby.) We both wanted a dog so badly that when we stopped at PetSmart to buy some supplies like a leash and dishes, we seriously considered adopting a very cute cattle dog they had on site that day (February 22). But we knew it made more sense to wait and make a more rational decision about a dog that would be a good fit for us, so we left without adopting anybody.

A few weeks later we went to the prison (March 5). We met Montana in the parking lot. We met the other dog too. They were both so sweet, we had trouble deciding. But we knew from the personality profiles that Montana would be a great fit for us, so we went with our logic and picked her. They took her away to wash her and get her ready for our "go-home" class, and we got our visitor passes and checked into the prison. Two hours later, we watched in her final class with an inmate handler, so delicate, so graceful, so cautious. I cried, and Torsten and I both fell in love with her. She wasn't just the logical decision; in that moment, she became the emotional decision as well. She came home with us the same day.

Two weeks after that, knowing by then that Denver was the place for us and unable to get the house out of our minds, we went back to look at it again (March 14). We made an offer the same day. The next day we took Montana for a hike in the foothills, her first with us, and got a call from our realtor on our drive home that our offer had been accepted.

A couple weeks after that I attended a seminar and a follow-up appointment with my surgeon (April 2). At the follow-up appointment, we set the date for my lap-band surgery.

A couple weeks after that, we closed on our house (April 16). We moved in that weekend, during a snowstorm (April 19). And we both seriously plan to never, ever move again. No, really. Never. We went from a two-room apartment to an eight-room house in the space of two months. No more upgrading is required.

A month later, I had my lap-band surgery (May 14). I came home the same day and spent many days sleeping with an ice pack on my abdomen and eating basically nothing. I lost 20 pounds in those first few weeks.

After that the dates become fuzzier. Our lives became more routine. There's been hiking and gym-going and cooking and sleeping and working and traveling. There's been mountains and decorating and planning and visits to the dog park and farmer's markets and snowstorms. There's been new friends and lunches out and parties and visits from friends and family. There's been fires in the fireplaces and new furniture and lazy weekends and doggy baths in the backyard. There's been over 70 pounds lost and wedding photos framed and hung and money earned and money spent. There's been a job quit and a company started. There's been cuddling and laughing and barking and yes, whining (mostly, but not entirely, on the dog's part).

In short, it's been awesome. It's been the life we were seeking, the life that we've found. It's been exactly what we were hoping for and a million things that we never would have expected. It's been full and rich and awesome and wonderful and scary and overwhelming and fantastic.

It's been a hell of a year.