Beastmomma

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.