Opportunity knocks. Do I answer?

I've never really been outside of Iowa. I mean, sure, I have a lengthy list of travel experience: Illinois, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Colorado, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Germany, Luxembourg, France...Nicaragua in a week, Virginia in June. So yeah, I've been "out" of Iowa, but I haven't really "lived" outside of Iowa. The trips have all been a weekend, week, or couple of weeks, but living and visiting are definitely two very different concepts.

Fortunately, opportunity's knocking for this Midwestern, non-farm girl from the middle of nowhere. I'm currently in Illinois with my family, not to celebrate the birth of our Savior, but to celebrate the 87 years of life Grandpa lived after he passed away early in the morning last week Thursday. My first experience losing someone this close to me, the feelings, emotions, and happenings are worthy of a whole new blog post...to be posted later. However, one thing is for sure. Preparing for a funeral can be awkward. My dad's siblings have flown in to stay with my grandma, so we have had plenty of time to sit around and talk. On Saturday evening, soon after we finally arrived in Illinois, Mom, Dad's sister, Grandma, and I were sitting around the living room discussing my future when Dad's older sister, Aunt Cheryl, suddenly became interested in my summer plans.

"Do you have a job this summer, Kristin?" she curiously demanded. When I answered that I would probably just work at the pool again and maybe get a job at my college but that I wasn't really sure, she quickly blurted out that Colorado had many great job opportunities. In addition, she offered me her condo in Boulder for the entire summer, as her daughter (my cousin) who lives in it during school would be in Chile for the summer. Whew! What an offer! I, a girl who has never lived out of Northwest Iowa, could live in a big city...by myself! I texted my best friend--who LOVES Colorado and has camped there many times--and she seemed very interested. My cousin was willing to suggest jobs for us, and we would only need to pay for gas, food, and laundry. Plus, I could finally get some experience living semi-"on my own," since my college is 20 minutes away from home and my mom still does my laundry.

So now I have an AWESOME opportunity. But...it's also a dilemma. My brother graduates in May, I have three friends getting married this summer--one in May, one in June, and one in July. The friend getting married in June is one of my best friends, and I could never imagine missing her wedding. My mom's in the midst of planning a vacation to Virginia Beach to visit her sister and family in the middle of June--I love beaches, not to mention my cousins. I'm sure there are more conflicts that I'm forgetting, but I just can't decide. I could most likely make the wedding, if I drove back or didn't head to Colorado until after the first week of June, but I might miss a free trip to VA and time with my cousins, along with other friend's weddings. But Colorado...GORGEOUS Colorado...

Ah. Decisions. I hate them. Enough said.