May 17

Exactly one year ago today.... on May 17th.... everything in our lives changed.

On May 17, 2011, AJ and I came to visit Boston for the first time.  

We were coming to see what Boston was all about and to check out the Boston University campus! 

I remember it was a really foggy, cold, rainy day in Boston. 

We could only see the runway 10 seconds before landing because it was so foggy. 

My first impression was that I didn't really like it in Boston very much... looking back I realize it was because I was incredibly tired since we had flown from Italy and had just spent three weeks in Europe and because the weather was awful.  

I remember standing in an empty classroom with AJ in the BU law tower, looking out over the Charles River, and having such a strong feeling that this is where we were supposed to be. 

I fought that feeling for many months! 

The crazy thing was that AJ had the exact same feeling.

After leaving the law tower, AJ and I took a walk up the street and stopped at Chipotle to get dinner.  

At Chipotle is where I broke down and started to cry.  

I remember not even caring who was looking at me. 

I was absolutely terrified of moving all the way across the country to this place that seemed so foreign to me and where we knew nobody!!

It hit me pretty hard at that moment. 

I distinctly remember the words, "Be faithful" repeating over in my mind.

  

Over the next few months leading up to our move to Boston, it was difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that we were actually moving all the way across the country. 

One evening in August, AJ and I were driving back from having dinner with some friends and an overwhelming feeling came over me that everything was going to be okay. 

It seems like such a trivial thing, but that feeling gave me so much strength in a time when strength was much-needed.  

I almost get emotional when I think about how far I've come since one year ago.  

It's definitely empowering to do something completely out of your comfort zone and to see how everything works out in the long run.

Today, I am a true lover of Boston and New England! 

It's such an amazing and significant place to me now.

It's actually kind of ironic... AJ got his Massachusetts state license today and I mentioned to him how funny I thought it was that exactly one year since our visit he is now a true "Bay Stater." 

(P.S. That's what people in Massachusetts are called--similar to how people from Utah are referred to as Utahns :o))