A Fortune Cookie Made Me Do It: The Biggest Wandering Moves To Date

I'll never forget the night my brother called me. I was in a car with some of my college buddies driving back to my hometown for a funeral of a good friend's father. The gloom of the night was intensified by the chilling North Dakota winds, blowing snow, and treacherous road conditions. It was my 23rd North Dakota winter and it would end up being my last.

Tom called while I was sitting in the backseat, thankful I wasn't the one trying to navigate the roadways. He had just purchased a house in the Phoenix area and wanted to know if I was interested in becoming one of his roommates. Based on the situation I was in at the time alone, you would think I would have jumped at the chance. The 80 degree temps he had dealt with that day were a lot more tempting than the -20 we were having.

Despite the desire to jump at the opportunity, I knew I better take a little bit of time to think it over. I had barely been out of ND in my life. A few trips to Minnesota, Montana, Canada, and a few vacations in various parts of the country was about the only extent of my travel. I have never been to Arizona and I knew my brother and his roommate and absolutely no one else. Phoenix wasn't one of the hot spots in the relocation pipeline for NDSU grads like Minneapolis, Denver, or Chicago. In addition to all of this, my brother was 5 years older so we really hadn't been all that close.

In comparison, North Dakota represented comfort. It was everything I'd ever known with everyone I'd ever known. The majority of my college friends had also been my high school friends. A large group of us moved to Fargo for school and instead of branching out to find new people to hang out with we just welcomed new people into our group. I couldn't have asked for better people in my life and I still think they are the best people I may ever know. Leaving them behind was by far the biggest fear I had about the possible move.

For weeks I bounce back and forth. Debating on whether to keep my retail job and stay in Fargo until I found a career position or take some chances. I thought about making the move to Minneapolis to be with my friends who had moved to The Cities. And of course I weighed Tom's offer which was probably the riskiest on the table. This debate carried into finals week with still no clear answer. I had finished all of my finals and went to work at my job at Menards. The debate was still heavy on my mind when I took my lunch and headed to the Chinese buffet across the street. I gorged myself in kung pao and grilled salmon and finally cracked open the fortune cookie to see:

(Not the actual fortune)

I called my brother before I left the table to let him know his new roommate would be down in a few weeks.

Moving to Arizona, ended up being one of the best choices I ever made in my life. I miss my friends and family like crazy a lot of the time, but I was never meant for North Dakota. I wasn't a hunting, fishing, snow sport lover. Plain and simple, I hated cold weather! I am a firm believer that Seasonal Affective Disorder is real, so 8 months of cold weather wasn't the best for my mental health.

After a few months of living in AZ, I was reading Facebook posts about the cold weather on a mid-October night from the Dakotans. Realizing it was in the mid-80s here, I decided to throw on my shoes and take advantage of the weather. My near 300 lb frame didn't make it very far in that night's run, but I had a new taste for the outdoors of my new climate. The running continued, the pounds came off, and I had a new appreciation for life. Although, the weight has fluctuated a bit the love of Arizona has not.

A few week's after I started running, I began to realize that I was not really loving the job I had started as my first role in AZ. I was a salesperson, selling things I didn't care about to clients I didn't care about. Don't get me wrong, I love selling a product I have a passion for and believe in. However, fluid flow products were not that product. I was frustrated in my work life when I went to lunch at Panda Express and opened a slightly more vague fortune cookie that read:

(Also not the original fortune)

I may have been stretching to find meaning on this one a little bit, but I walked into my boss's office that afternoon and told her I was going to start looking for a new job.

In the end I landed a job I have loved for 8 years now. I get to help people learn and try to better their lives. I even get to do crazy things in my educational journey, like decide at 32 years old with two business Masters degrees under my belt that I want to pursue an Information Systems masters next. Yet another fortune cookie success in my book. 

A few week's ago I was out to dinner with my girlfriend and her son. I'm sure you can all guess where this is headed:

(The actual fortune)

For the sake of this website, let's hope this one is just as good as the others.