Beastmomma

Today, Partner and I spent a full day in Yellowstone.  We drove to various nice spots including the Canyon, Artists Way, and Yellowstone Lake.  Along the way, we were on major wildlife lookout.  Partner wanted to see a bear very badly.   We saw a lot of bison, pelicans, and deer.   We missed one of our turns and ended up in a traffic jam.  I was driving and nearly jumped out of my seat when I heard Partner squeal, "A black bear is right over there."  He immediately rolled down the window and started taking pictures.   We got a few good ones, but my favorite quote was when he proudly declared, "I got the bear's ass."

I was struck (again) with the beauty of the park.  We saw more geysers, mountains, and forest.  Two of the places we stopped today had the word Artist in them.  You can certainly imagine an artistic genuis painting vibrant colors.  Also, my nerdiness got affirmed.  At several points I made references to Lord of the Rings, Wizard of Oz, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, various music videos, and Hindi songs.  I think that I may also have referenced some Shakespeare and other literature.  In my defense several points in the Yellowstone National Park could be settings for awesome stories.

I think that I still have an after marriage glow.  It feels pretty good to be able to refer to my husband as my PARTNER instead of partner to-be (PTB).  From what I have heard and witnessed, marriage is certainly a grand adventure.  After a 18 hour day, we spent our wedding night devouring chocolate covered strawberries and then ordering a pizza which we ate on the rose covered bed.  In all the excitement, we had not had very much to eat.  The next morning, my partner whispered some sweet nothings to me.  Instead of responding in a romantic manner, I started coughing rather violently.  I ended up getting a really bad cough and fever.  He joined me by having a sore throat. 

We had planned to open the wedding presents at my parents place the next day.  However, I could barely function.  Instead, we rested so that we could make our flight to Seattle.  We then spent the next ten days of our marriage packing up my apartment.  I knew that my life was going to change when I got married, but I did not expect to have to defend my sentimental attachment to stuff so early to my life partner.  Fortunately, I purged a lot, kept some, and we still said, "I love you" when I turned in my keys.

During that week in Seattle, I was trying to process leaving the city.  I will be honest in saying that I hated law school.  It was not a place that nurtured my best self nor did it cultivate a sense of goodness in me.  However, I met some incredible people whose presence in my life makes me a better person.  All the miserable parts of law school were worth the chance to encounter these lovely folks.   On the other hand, I certainly had a sense of going on a different path than a lot of the friends I made in law school.  Even though law school was not so good, I will still think of Seattle as the place I truly fell in love with my partner.  I got engaged at the Seattle airport and the city was home base while I planned the wedding.

Dude sweetly organized a party for the folks who could not attend the wedding.  While I enjoyed seeing everyone, I was struck with how my law school friends lives are now consumed with preparing for the bar.  Whereas I am now in the middle of a transition that is taking me clear across the country.

Of course, I knew that leaving some folks would make my heart ache no matter what.  When people become part of your routine, leaving them is tough.  I persuaded the cleaner to come over an additional day, so that I could spend more time with him.  Victoria joined us for the final supper at Cafe Flora.  Finally, there is Dude.  My partner and I spent our final night in Seattle at his place.  Even though a lot of my Seattle experience was crap, I feel so blessed to have formed a friendship with Dude.  I met him during my first month in town and he has been in my life ever since.  After I said goodbye, I started crying.  Partner had to hold me for awhile to make me feel better.

My sadness disappaeared when we went to Pike Place Market for breakfast and returned to our car to find a parking ticket.  While that experience sucked, it certainly made driving out of town easier :)

Now, I am on the road.   Partner and I stopped in Missoula, MT last night.  After one night on the road, I felt pretty exhausted.  Today, we made it to West Yellowstone.  We got here in time to do some exploring of the park.  Old Faithful took my breath away.  In fact, the whole park has pretty much rocked.  << I know that is a super lame description.  Almost every where I looked, I saw a picture perfect view.  It was as if I was going through a postcard book.  I think a road trip to unknown places which turn out different than expected is a good transition into married life.

Wow-wee--- getting married was so much fun!! Even though I thought that I was going to lose my mind at several points because of the stress, everything came together very well.   I have been trying to figure out how to document everything on the blog and as a result I have not written here for quite some time.  The task feels quite daunting because I want to find the perfect words to describe how much love and joy I felt throughout the day.  Mixed in between the goodness were several points where I felt longing to spend more time with people who have traveled to spend the day with us.  I have decided to start in the middle.  At some point, I will add more details about other events associated with the wedding. 

I got really nervous right before both weddings and later figured out that I had stage freight.  As wonderful as it is to have a room full of people you love support you, there is something daunting about having so many pairs of eyes on you. As a person who takes about a half hour to get ready, I was really surprised at having to sit still for about two hours to get my hair and make up done.   During the Sikh wedding, we walked around the holy book four times.  The bride's brothers stand up during this process to offer support for their sister.  In addition to my brother, cousin, and a few family friends, I had asked Verne and Ben to stand up.  I was so nervous, but I loved having a few moments with all of them.  During the final round, I remember thinking that my face was going to burst from smiling so much. 

My new aunts helped to get me dressed for the South Indian Hindu wedding.  One of the traditions for the region is for the bride to put jasmine flowers in my hair.  Whenever I went to Madras as a child, I would beg to purchase the bundles of jasmine flowers that were being sold on the street.  I felt like I was in heaven when my new aunts threaded the flowers into my hair!! It looked as though I had a braid of flowers and I believe that I smelled pretty darn good.   Even though my sari kept falling off (thanks to a cousin's wife who could not resist adjusting me right before I went into the ceremony) and I was worried that my in-laws would hate me forever because of my inability to wear clothes properly, I thought that I looked pretty good.  We walked around fire and incorporated the Western tradition of exchanging rings. 

During both ceremonies, I kept thinking "I am very lucky."  I also felt so happy to truly have the blessing and support of so many.    I also loved introducing people to my husband. Of course, I still cannot say that word without giggling.