How Does One Get from the Cornfields to the Top of a Mountain? YOU are the one Who’ll Decide Where to Go and Grow.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go...” — Dr. Seuss 

Good morning, how are you? Tuesday is a good day; we just had a fantastic start to our week; today is filled with talking to strangers, being creative, living with a Queen. We took Parker Van Halen for a walk, and as we walked, I thought, “how did I get here?”

I was born in Muncie, IN, and grew up at 224 N. Main Street in Beautiful Parker City, Indiana. My parents still live in that home. I lived there until college; in my first year of college, I lived in the dorms and then moved to a house off-campus we lovingly called Dead Ed’s. After graduate school, I got married, and we bought our first home for $12,500. The home was a two-bedroom and had a nice garage. Within a few months of purchasing, we purchased another house down the road for $6500.00

We renovated both, sold both for $70,000.00, and bought our dream home in the country for $47,500.00 4 acres, a large barn, an old country home. It was home until my divorce in 2009.  That was where my kids were raised, a lot of memories in that house. 

Our commercial real estate firm bought a lovely two-story commercial building with a fantastic loft above some office space after my divorce. That was home for five years; we built a walkout rooftop deck and used it as an entertainment spot for corporate and community events. I split time with my Queen in Carmel IN those years before we decided to buy a home in downtown Indianapolis. 

We bought a home in an up-and-coming neighborhood in June of 14; it needed some work; we took the original house down to the studs, replaced about a third of the foundation, and working with one of our clients, my Queen designed a great space. My Queen sold her Carmel house, and we moved downtown in December of 16. We still own that home today; it is two bedrooms with a carriage house. We live there while back in Indiana and plan to VRBO it beginning in June. It’s walkable to downtown; it will be a corporate rental for some of the larger corporations in town.

I convinced my Queen to travel with me to CO one week a month to develop some business in the west for our midwestern firm. I had found CO on vacation and fell in love. The blue skies, the mountains, and the people, the people of CO, were magical. I was fortunate to meet some community leaders; they took a shine to us and helped find us a company to buy. We began leasing a duplex by the football stadium in a rougher part of town. We lived there until purchasing our downtown condominium in Denver. It is centrally located, we can get anywhere quickly, we are close to the arts district, many great food options, and live music.  

After two years of living in the condo, my Queen and I decided we wanted to live in the mountains. We found a home in Conifer, CO, the view was amazing, but the inside needed updating. We move into our mountain home in July of 2018. Before the pandemic, we were still living in the condo during the week but would hang out at the mountain house during the weekends. We treated our mountain home as one would a lake house in Indiana.

But then a pandemic happened, and we found ourselves stuck on top of the mountain. Our COVID family consisted of me, my Queen, our kid, her boyfriend, and her boyfriends sister, who had just joined our firm. That was our COVID family for 60 days, and it proved we could live on top of our mountain when in CO.

During COVID, we decided we would officially move out of the condo and live full-time west of Denver. In June of last year, all of our belongings were moved to our mountain home, and Bay took over the condo living with our daughter. Before COVID, we were flying weekly from our CO homes to our Indy home. Looking back, that did not make much sense, but that was our life for four years. We decided to live two months out west and one month in the Midwest.

The other major factor that allowed us to live in the mountains was the shift from in person meetings to virtual. I no longer had encounters in Denver that started at 7:00 a.m. and ended at 7:00 p.m. I could now work from the comfort of our mountain home. But remember the house was dated; we had a great time in the Brady Bunch-inspired home, but one day our general contractor friend was visiting, and we asked what a remodel would cost. He pitched a number that was less than we thought it would be and began the process of updating our dream home. 

We moved back to IN on December 1st of 2020 and lived in our Indy home until February 18th. We no longer fly, during COVID, we got a pup, PVHT, and we now take three days to move from home to home, enjoying the journey. We arrived at a new home, stunning really; I think this will be our chosen place for the next five years. I see a beach property in the future, but that is later; for now, we will enjoy living at 8232 feet, entertaining our friends from IN and CO, hosting multiple events each year to bring like-minded people together to create a better society.

I’ve never shared my journey, it’s far from over, but I’m in a good place these days. I’m getting married to my Queen in 4 days, I can’t express my heart’s happiness, and I can sense my Queen’s excitement as well. We are set to get 12 inches of snow; we will have a small ceremony, I’m guessing in the snow, but celebrating in our new kitchen. That is my journey, and I wonder about yours. Do you have a story to share, and if so, pen it and share it.  

I’m blessed, a little lucky, and used my midwestern work ethic to live my dream life. I hope you are living your dream life, and if not, why not? Remember, YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go!

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go...”

— Dr. Seuss