Goodbyes

Well we have been in Alabama now for a little over 2 weeks.  We had quite the adventure on our road trip getting here and just tried to make the best of the opportunity that we had.  But for this story lets start at the beginning...

Chris' and my intentions were to leave Saturday morning on 4/3/2010 but it took a little longer than we anticipated to pack up our whole house and prepare it for our real estate agent and a possible renter.  That day was hectic and stressful and my emotions were all over the place.  I had mentally prepared myself that this day would eventually come and it would be hard but it shouldn't be sad.  Yeah Chris and I were packing our lives up and moving to a completely different part of the country away from all our family members and friends but we have dreams, big dreams, and we were taking the steps that we thought were necessary in order to reach those goals and fulfill our dreams so we would never have to look back and say "what if."  You just can't be sad about something like that.  But the day that I thought I had prepared for snuck up on me faster than I ever could have expected and I suddenly found myself unprepared.  We had to say goodbye to family members and friends, and I found that with each goodbye I had to say it just kept getting harder and harder to hold back my tears.  Eventually the dam broke and it was near impossible to stop them.  Anybody that knows me knows that I grow extremely attached to worldly things.  I can place a memory with almost everything that I have and because of this it is hard for me let go of things, I always do if I have to but I still feel a pinch of sadness when I let it out of my grasp.  The last goodbye that we had to say was to our house.  It wasn't just any house but our first house.  Our house was nothing but bones when we first walked into it, but in that instant we fell head over heels in love with it.  I remember as we walked through that first time we were all by ourselves and we were planning the layout of our furniture and what Twinkee would think of the house.  We couldn't wait for it to be ours.  All of this came rushing back to me as I stood in the middle of our kitchen crying in Chris' arms.  I mean shoulders shaking and can't catch your breath kind of crying.  The reality had hit me that that could be the last time that I ever stood in that kitchen and that any day it could possibly become somebody elses home.  I know Chris felt the same way.  So we just held each other and took comfort in the fact that it would always be ours first.  After all the lights where turned off and we checked that all the doors were locked, we walked out the garage door and as Chris took my hand and asked if I was "ready for our next adventure" I knew that everything was going to be okay.  I know that it is true no matter how corny it may sound, but as long as we have each other we can make it through anything.  

The Best Birthday Ever!

I honestly don't know anybody that is more in love with their birthday than me. And oh how I love it. I turned 25 this year, and truthfully I could not have wished for a better birthday than this one.  I think that I actually have Chris convinced that a birthday week is a real thing.  The days leading up to my big day were fantastic!  Chris would volunteer to give me back rubs, he took me shopping, we went for nice walks with the dogs, went to the Spring Fair where we drooled over camp trailers, went and got soft serve ice cream (more than once), he took me antiquing at my favorite local spots, surprised me with breakfast, took me to an awesome birthday dinner, and simply made the week all about me and the things that I enjoy doing.  He makes me feel special all the time, but he really out did himself this time.  A couple weeks before my birthday he had asked if there was anything I wanted to do to celebrate.  I thought about it and for my 25th birthday I knew a regular party just wouldn't cut it, I wanted to feel like a kid again.  I said my birthday wish was to have a Roller Skating party with all of our family and friends.  And surprise surprise, it came true!  30 people showed up to make my birthday the best one ever.  And to make it even more memorable all but 6 of them skated!  It was such a blast.  I didn't have many pictures taken, it was more important for me to just be in that moment with everyone, but I will happily share the ones that I do have.  

This is the only picture that I have of Chris and me on our camera.  I love it though.  My two supporters making sure I didn't fall.

Family and Friends

Trying to blow out 25 candles on two different cakes in one breath.  Nearly passed out after this.  I really wanted my other wish to come true.

People getting their skate on.

The best part of the night was when they pulled me into the center of the rink and put the spot light on me while being surrounded by family and friends who sang Happy Birthday.  My smile never left my face that whole night.  See... Best birthday ever.