Sixteen months and some days ago I moved from my native land of busy streets, a hipster downtown area and an unlimited amout of places to go every morning for my daily coffee. I moved to a place where the streets are a little slower (and sometimes shared with horses carrying a wagon), where the lifestyle is a little slower, and where the only place to get a pre-made coffee that tastes any good is Tim Hortons. A taste that was acquired over time, but not so much loved as my precious Dunkin' Dounuts that I left four hours behind.

Upon receipt of the news that I was leaving my hometown I received a wide range of reactions, from "Good for you, it's about time you do something for yourself" to "You're moving where? What are you going to do all the way up there?", to the more popular, "Aren't potatoes a big thing up there?". While the answer is yes, potatoes are a huge thing up here, there was no stopping me from making this move that, at the time, I didn't know would change my life.

I was greeted with smiles from my boyfriends family and friends, a community of people ready to help me thrive here and fit in. I was scared at first. Most people here speak a different language half the time and I wasn't sure I could fit in. I struggled to find a job that I could work at enough to support myself, I struggled to make friends and find meaningful connections. I fell into a sad place for the first few months as I lived day to day trying to find my place in a new space, with new people, new places, and a new language. A new culture, so different from the one I was used too. I thought about turning around and going home to where things were "normal". I missed my family and my best friends. But, I'm so glad I stayed.

Over the course of the next couple months I secured a full time job, I began meeting people. I started to come out of the shell I built around myself to protect myself from the unknown of this new place. I started focusing more on me than ever before and, even though I didn't know it at the time, I began to thrive. I applied to go to school again, this time for something I knew would push my limits. When I began school that fall, I realized that I enjoyed it, and I might be really good at it. Things were starting to fall into place. I was starting to discover who I was, and what I wanted. I started to realize that friends and family were routing for me, near and far. More than ever before.

While I was focusing so much on me, I was afraid that the very reason I moved to this small town in the middle of nowhere might have been slipping away. He was busy too, always working, coaching, or off riding his mountain bike. Regardless, I couldn't help but think that the amount of selfishness I was exuding was pushing him away. "Had I really become so selfish?", I would often think to myself. He would always say he understood and he was so proud of me, but I was still unsure. Until one day late in September.

We hiked Mount Katahdin, just the two of us. He had done it before, but for me this was the first time. I was nervous, but so excited. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. The temperature was perfect for an early morning hike. Our backpacks were filled with water pouches, first aid supplies and an abundance of snacks. We hit the trails and the rest was history. At the top of the mountain he dropped to one knee, and he asked me to be his wife. I realized in that moment that I wasn't being selfish. I was becoming the kind of person that someone like him could fall in love with. Someone motivated. Someone driven. Someone who knew who they wanted to be.

Moving to this small town in the middle of nowhere changed my life in a big way.

I began to realize what things in life were worth fighting for, what friendships were real, how to stand on my own two feet, the person I wanted to be, and who the person was that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. There are some incredible people here that have done nothing but support me and cheer me on, and I have the incredible people at home who still cheer me on just as much, if not more than they did when I was there. This is the place I will settle down in, where I learned so much about myself and where we will raise our children together.

I am blessed to have family here and family back home. Every instance of their presence has helped me become who I am today. Thank you for your support and your love.

Sometimes stepping outside your comfort zone, outside of what you have always known, will change your life.