My first visit to the Yampa Valley was in July 2007.

I will never forget descending Rabbit Ears Pass, rounding the last major switchback and seeing the lush, green and vibrant valley unfurl in front of me.

It was in that moment I committed to eventually calling that beautiful landscape my home.

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That quest took 14 years to achieve. The process of aligning employment and housing proved challenging, as it has for so many others. Ultimately, it was Moffat County where I would land and grow new roots.

As I came and went over the years leading to my relocation, a broad appreciation for “the valley” developed within me. Of course, I was drawn to the featherweight snow, the extensive and growing network of hiking and biking trails, as well as fly fishing, hunting and rafting.

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Moffat County, with all its intricacies and nuances, quickly felt like home.

Having grown up on a quasi-farm in a small dairy farming community in the “mountains” of New York, I often joked that my relocation to Colorado meant the mountains got bigger, and the cows changed color and purpose.

When I moved to Craig, I felt the same gritty determination I had experienced in Monte Vista, Colorado, and in Meridale, New York. It felt like home — more so than the hustle and bustle of Steamboat Springs, the first community I became familiar with in “the valley.”

The course of life carried me from the Moffat County School District to the Hayden Valley School District, where I still work to this day, teaching the hormonally-crazed and emotionally-vibrant students at Hayden Middle School.

In spring 2022, I sought additional employment, and a job posting in the Steamboat Pilot & Today caught my eye. Fate led me to a role as a freelance writer for the Steamboat Pilot, the Craig Press and their subsidiary publications.

Two years of covering events throughout the valley and telling the stories of the people and movements that make the area awesome and unique only stoked my desire to write.

Despite my satisfaction with freelancing, I wanted to have deeper, and more positive, impact directly on Craig and the area that surrounds it.

After deep consideration and the professional hospitality of Bonnie Stewart, John Chalstrom and the recently departed Eli Pace, I decided to join the Steamboat Pilot and Craig Press as a part-time employee, retiring my hat as a freelance writer.

The decision ultimately came down to one thing — community.

The Yampa Valley as a whole, but particularly Moffat County, is a community in the midst of transitions. Whether it’s the looming changes in our economy or the increasing arrival of new faces, there is no denying that change is occurring.

I witnessed something similar when I lived in New York, watching dairy farms shutter as properties were subdivided and lush fields transformed into primary and secondary homes for newcomers, mostly from “the city.”

I was honored to be asked to come on board, but my excitement now lies in highlighting the positive aspects and people within our Moffat County community. We may bicker about US 40 traffic, a recreation center or the long-awaited arrival of Sonic in Craig, but we are a community bonded by the fact that, like so many before us, we’ve forged a home in a place that demands strength, resilience and fortitude.

There will be stories that must be covered — good or bad. That is, after all, the job of a journalist.

That said, it is my utmost hope and solemn dedication to ensure that the goodness and light of Moffat County are recognized and celebrated. From the students in our schools to the seniors who have spent a lifetime here, stories that embody the true meaning of what it means to be an American are not scarce. To the contrary, they are threads that join us together into a common fabric.

And that collective fabric, which we all contribute to and create together, is what posterity will measure us by.