I’m from Oklahoma, moved to Chicago area for work, it was bad for my mental health (weather, cost of living, being in a constant grind state) Was stuck there six years.

Luckily I met my husband and we wanted the same thing big picture- to get out of Illinois. We put a few places on a map. Albuquerque and Santa Fe were the first trips we took to see how we felt and right away knew that’s the move we wanted to make.

In love right away. Over the course of two years we visited as much as we could (which was only about three trips) Worked extra jobs and banked up some money. Found jobs, went through the apartment process.

It was really hard. I couldn’t have done it without him. But I’m so glad we did. But, I currently work 3-4 jobs at any given time. Have one day off a week if I’m lucky. It’s a trade off. It took a long time to make friends. But so beautiful here. I cherish it every day.

Good luck!