2,438 Miles

It feels taboo and inconsiderate to publish anything other than confessions on a Wednesday, but I know you'll understand when you realize that this post is about the 2,438 mile road trip to my new home with the love of my life. 

Eight days ago I woke up with an overwhelming sense of happiness. That morning I realized that it was zero sleeps until my long distance boyfriend was coming to Portland with a one-way ticket and was prepared to drive us away to my new home. It was also the last day eve at my dream company and it was a terrifying leap of faith into the distance.  Literally.

Packing up the essentials for my first three weeks and many goodbyes with my family meant that I left work on my final day without looking back, not even to see that swoosh I long ago wanted tattooed on my body. Not even to leave from my favorite waterfall exit. Not even to drink the Kool-aid once more. My sights were set on spending my last hours in Portland with the ones I love who love me back unconditionally. 

The planned route was simple enough. Portland to Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City to Denver. Denver all the way through Kansas and Missouri to St. Louis. St. Louis to Memphis. Home. This journey on the map was 2,400 miles not accounting for the actual addresses of the hotels and houses we stopped at along the way. 

I've known it all along, but I want to tell you that life with this man is fun. The hours, the miles, the money and the achy muscles were all worth the incredible memories we'll have of this start of our lives together. We kept the trip exciting with wagers on slug bugs we'd see, cuss words out of our mouths and money we'd spend. We gave kisses for yellow cars and pets for long stretches of road. We laughed hysterically over my inexperience with pumping gas, driving long distance, depositing money at a bank and just life in general that I haven't been exposed to. 

We sighed repeatedly over the wow-this-is-really-happening euphoria we both felt the entire trip. 

These sillies along with an amazing stay with Marisa and Noah in Denver, a few thousand bugs splattered on my car, two tumbleweeds bouncing along the interstate, a booming fireworks display, a Cardinals win, some real Southern dining and zero speeding tickets made this adventure an incredible start of our lives together.

Since I've been here, I've been a busy bear. I became a member at the local gym, have taken advantage of free barre classes at a brand new studio, found a Trader Joe's impostor called Sprouts Farmer's Market that I'm going to love, replaced my iPhone after a broken screen along the way, broke a window with a dart (I'm not allowed to throw from the kitchen anymore), washed my dirty car and started making the apartment a beautiful space where we can create more wonderful memories. 

Maybe the greatest thing since I've been here was the long FaceTime with my parents on our first night. Not only was it great to see them and hear their voices, but it was heartwarming to finally be on the same side of the FaceTime screen. 

I've only begun exploring but I think I'm going to fall in love with my new home.