Our family has been through a lot of change during this adventure. We wondered what we would miss about our previous life’s setup. We’ve missed family and friends, but nobody wants to read about sappy crap like that!

So, here are some of the top things we DO NOT miss…

• Working – We mean not at all. Not once have we thought – gee… I sure do miss putting a Powerpoint presentation
  together. Or, we wish we could dial into a conference call right now – at 4 AM.

• Shaving – Ok, this one is for me (Travis). I took advantage of “No Shave November” and grew a beard for the first time in my life. I always had to put my best corporate face forward – now I haven’t shaved in about 6 weeks. Why bother!?!

• Our “Stuff” – It has been 8 months since we moved out of our home in Highland Park and left most of our stuff behind. And, we just don’t miss it… not one bit. The only piece of furniture we own now is a couch we bought off of Craigslist. Now ski gear… that’s a different story… lots of that!

• Malls – We have to admit, we have done a good amount of shopping, but it’s mostly online. Partly because we’ve lived on an island and in a mountain town this whole time. Going to the mall used to be a weekly occurance. Sometimes to shop, other times to let the kids play at the “treehouse” – it was awful and we don’t miss it.

• Traffic – We aren’t even talking about downtown Chicago traffic – we purposely lived close to the office to avoid such a thing. We’ve both realized that living in a small town that life is less congested and that’s how we like it.

• Homeownership – Now we will eventually get our own place to call home again, but the break from being responsible for the maintenance and up-keep that come along with homeownership has been nice.

• Dressing Up – Truth be told, I interviewed for a job about a month ago (just to polish up my skills). The worst part wasn’t the interview questions. It was putting on dress pants and a button down shirt. We now live our days in comfortable, casual clothes and it just feels right! It’s called “Colorado casual”!

• Bad Weather – When we first moved here we were outside almost everyday hiking and exploring our new town in glorious sunshine – with no humidity.  Now, it may be cold and snowy right now, but it is almost always sunny when the snow isn’t coming down.  And, of course, we have lots of snowy activities right outside our door.

• Mosquitoes – The unofficial “bird” of the midwest doesn’t live here and we couldn’t be happier about it!