Life on the Road

The decision had been made. We were moving to Colorado! The next step was putting a plan into action to make it happen. (If you missed Part 1, catch up here.) My brother had made the offer in August and in December we were back at their house for Christmas with plans for an extended stay. My brother and his family are the best. Their support, encouragement, and excitement for us helped the transition succeed. We are extremely grateful for Steve and Sarah’s friendship and for the amount of time we got to spend with our nephews. And that was the beginning of our life on the road.

the business

As I stated last time, eventually a dream requires action. If we were going to live in Colorado we were going to need money which meant re-building our business in a different state. Luckily, we have amazing California clients that we continue to serve. That was a big part of making the transition seamless. 2016 we went back and forth between California and Colorado making sure to explore some of the places in-between.

Our main goal was to rebuild our business in Colorado. We set out to attend some Colorado Bridal Shows, meet some other wedding professionals in the area, and drum up some business. We struck gold when we met a few wedding photographers and a planner that were willing to befriend us. Community is vital in our business. Otherwise it’s just Marc and I in our basement, working on our computers, dancing to Flo Rida’s “My House.” (More on that in Part 3.) Through networking, marketing, and giving away some amazing deals to our first Colorado clients the move started to seem possible.

the living arrangements

Meanwhile, back in California we had friends that moved into our house, it turned out to be a mutually beneficial situation because their lease was up and they needed something short term. Since the move now felt official, meaning we had booked a few weddings and felt overly optimistic about our odds, we decided to put our CA house on the market. Apparently Spring is the time to sell because we put our house on the market, went away for the weekend to work, and then came back and accepted an offer. We were now officially homeless.

But not really. Throughout our transition we had extended stays with my brothers family, my Aunts, and our friends Dominic and Margaret. We also “visited” some other amazing friends and family. We always felt welcomed and at home. We really learned how generous friends and family can be if you let them. We also learned that we prefer the excitement our nephews get when they see us once in awhile over the apathy they started to feel when they saw us every day!

We also saw an opportunity to live on the road for a bit. We knew we had a handful of weddings in Northern California and two of those weddings were camping style weddings. We also had a few places we had been wanting to visit before leaving California. We knew we would be back often, buy places like the Lost Coast aren’t easy to get to. We toyed with the idea of building out a van, we dreamed of a decked out sprinter, and we ended up with a rad little truck camper. We didn’t have a lot of time or money to invest in our temporary house as our eventual goal was to buy a house in Colorado. Paint, bedding, and new couch cushions and our camper was ready to roll.

the destinations

Then I found out we were pregnant. I’m not going to lie, living in a camper with no bathroom while discovering the joys of morning sickness is no picnic. Living on the road was fun. Being in Colorado one week and California the next was a dream. We also explored a lot of awesome places during that time and made trips to visit my grandparents and my Nonna. However, we were excited about the next step: Living somewhere with a bathroom. Next time on building a life!

Here are some of the places we went:

As always, thanks for stopping by. For more posts like this, check out the blog category building a life. We talk about our goals, dreams, and habits. We discuss the ways we are trying to build a life and business that we love. As creative entrepreneurs we are trying to balance following our passion with making a living. We’re also striving for continual growth and learning. It isn’t easy. Staying motivated and keeping our dreams in mind helps us keep up the hustle. If you’re in the same boat, we’d love to hear from you.

We are Marc and Brenda Bergreen, a husband and wife photography team specializing in outdoor weddings and other adventures. Capturing people in nature and the mountain lifestyle is a passion that became a dream that became a life.

We love sharing our unique style of adventure wedding photography for outdoorsy couples. We are based in Evergreen, CO and travel throughout the state as Colorado mountain wedding photographers. We also frequently travel to California and other wedding destinations to document your love in a variety of memorable settings.

Don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know how we can help! Be sure to follow us (weddings instagram & adventures instagram) and/or like us (facebook) to stay tuned.

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