The Start of Our Journey

I told you guys earlier this week that I'd post about how we came to live in Culbertson, MT. First, I'll start with the story of how I even got to Montana!

I lived in a suburb of Los Angeles until I was 9 years old. My dad had always liked traveling to Montana as a kid, and knew he would live there some day. In October of 1993 he packed up my mom, siblings and I into a moving van and we moved to a town called Corvallis in Western Montana. I went to high school there, and onto college in Bozeman, Montana. (GO CATS!!)

Hubs and I met in college, but didn't start dating until after college. He was living in Idaho at the time, and I was living in Bozeman. I moved down there with him in August of 2007 and we were engaged at the end of that month. I knew then that he wanted to move back to Culbertson eventually, and I was ok with that.

The weekend after we got engaged, it was Labor Day weekend. We drove the 1,100 miles from Idaho Falls to Culbertson so I could meet the rest of his family. We drove, and drove...and drove and drove and drove. Finally, we turned off of the Interstate. I said, "Oh, we're here!" He said, "Nope, have another 75 miles to go." What. The. Heck. It already felt like we had driven to the end of the earth, or at least the East Coast by then.

We got there, and pretty much went to bed right away since it took so long to get there. The next day (as is custom for every newcomer to the farm) Hubs took me on a tour of the land. It was very....quiet. Isolated. I drove around with him in one of the farm pickups and we parked out in the middle of the field. You can see land for miles and MILES. I started to cry. No joke. My thoughts were...THIS is what my life is going to amount to? There's NOTHING here! I'm going to waste my college education and all that money! I'll have NO friends..it's SO FAR from everything and everyone I know. There is literally NOTHING to do here. This is awful. Terrible. Horrible. I hate this. Knowing I'm going to live here someday, and waste everything I've ever done.

I talked to his mom and asked her how she liked it. She said, "It's different, but I like it. It's very peaceful." She also used to live in Southern California like I did, so she has made that transition before. I kept this in the back of my mind, but just couldn't believe that I would be living here some day.

We got married in August of 2008, and by January 2009 had talked about moving back. A great opportunity happened in February of 2009, so hubs jumped on the chance to take the job. We packed up most of our belongings, and it was agreed that I would stay in Idaho and work until I found a job in Montana. Well, that plan lasted all of like, 4 days. Hubs left and I was left with a suitcase of clothes and a futon mattress borrowed from some friends, in and empty house. That Monday after he left with our stuff, I talked to my boss. The second I sat down in her office she knew what I was going to say. She said, "I told you you wouldn't be able to make it without him!" And she was right. She was gracious enough to let me finish out the week, and I left the following weekend.

After moving here, I remember telling several of my friends, "I'm going to have to have like, 10 kids just to have something to do!" In reality, none of my thoughts were true. I found a great job that pays me more than I was making in Idaho, and it's a lot less stress. I actually LOVE living out of town and I do really enjoy it here. I find that there is PLENTY to do here...and we often run out of time to do everything we want! It took some getting used to, but I really do enjoy it. It's far from everything and when traveling it takes a LONG time to get anywhere. Things are more inconvenient sometimes, but you just have to get used to it!

So that my friends, is how we ended back in Eastern Montana! Hope you enjoyed the story :)