Well, it’s official: I am now truly a Jersey girl. I finally traded in my Colorado driver’s license for a New Jersey license. It was more than time for me to get a NJ license; I just kept putting it off. Rick has had his since about a month after we moved here. Thank you Reya, for allowing me to see that I was indeed holding on to my “old” life. I had not really even thought of it that way until you said something.

Since the 911 terrorists got their identification in New Jersey, they’ve made it harder for people to get a license. They have a system in place that requires you to have 6-points of identification. One 4-point document (such as a passport, birth certificate, marriage license) and two 1-point documents (like a driver’s license from another state, Social Security card, bank statement, etc.) It took Rick three different trys before he came up with what they needed. It was easy for me because we already knew what documentation to take.

And, our car Becky, is now registered in the state of New Jersey. We bought our car in Colorado before we moved and were cautioned by a well-meaning person that it would cost much more to put plates on here in New Jersey. So, we registered the car in Colorado to the tune of (you’re not going to believe this) $700.00!! How could NJ be more expensive than that, we pondered? We really should have checked into what it was going to cost here. We really should have. Last week it cost us $169.00 to get plates, and that was with the special scenery plates (a red-headed woodpecker). Go figure.

It’s been almost one year since we moved. In some ways it still feels like I’m on vacation. Other times I can’t remember what life was really like in Colorado. I have to admit that it felt very strange to hand over my Colorado license that I’ve been driving under for 30 years. Like a part of me was being taken away. Silly, isn’t it? It’s just a laminated piece of paper. So, I’m letting go.

Goodbye, Colorado: Hello New Jersey!