From the South to the Pac NW
Wow, October 29th was my last post. This is why I'm not a professional travel blogger. Or a professional blogger in general.
So much has happened since my Pacific coast cruise post. I made a couple of trips to Seattle to see Paul, he surprised me with a proposal during my trip in December. We had so much going on during the holidays - I went to him for my birthday, he came to me for Christmas, we both met in Ohio with his family for New Years. Whew - it was a long December!
As soon as the year ended, wedding plans went into full force. We both wanted to elope, but we wanted to make our families happy and have a small wedding. We made plans for the wedding, honeymoon, me moving across country, and I swear I haven't had time to blink.
My mom was finishing up chemo, so this proved to be just the distraction she needed. We found a dress in mid-December, booked a venue, DJ, cake, florist, invitations, and photographer by mid-January. The rest was pretty smooth sailing.
I had a bridal shower in early February and created wedding registries and a wedding website. Thank goodness I had some slow time at work because I was able to make guest lists, excel files, work on invitations, make a song list, and everything else while still working. I stayed late at work one night so I could submit addresses to the invitation company. Our invitations turned out beautiful thanks to a local family friend who specializes in invitations. She made the process easy and I could just pop in to her house for pick up and payment - so easy.
I packed up my condo starting in January and organized a national moving company to pick up all of my stuff at the end of February. I turned in my notice to work in February and was even homeless for a week. Not technically because I thankfully have family friends I was able to stay with during this homeless period during my last week of work.
My last day of work was on March 2nd - it was a hard transition to make because I love my team and I know that I will never have a work family quite like this one. Friends threw me a going away party, so leaving New Orleans was action-packed, fun, and tearful. I was loading up my car, cleaning my condo, and preparing for this party all at the same time and it was EXHAUSTING. Rewarding, but exhausting.
Of course, the moving company was 8 days late to pick up my things from New Orleans, but it all worked out because all of my things arrived my first weekend in Seattle.
Along with all of this chaos, I was also driving my car from Thibodaux to Issaquah. I was able to take my time and incorporate some time with family/friends because I had no rush to get to WA. I'm so grateful for family and extended family because it made a very stressful time a lot less stressful.
Let me tell you, if you've ever considered disappearing from Earth, planning a wedding/leaving a job/leaving your parents/packing up a car for a cross country drive/ unload the place you've lived for 7 years/ pack up multiple boxes with everything you own/ give away things you love because you simply do not have a place for them in your new home/ move across country/ no more career - is just about my boiling point.
Anywho, what kind of blog post would this be without pictures? I took photos in a couple of stops - Canyon, TX has the world's 2nd largest canyon at the Palo Dura State Park. I also snapped photos at a place I've already been a couple of times - Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. I'm so thankful that Paul flew into Denver and drove the 2nd half of the way. It was so nice to have company for the drive!
The next posts will be much lighter, I promise! Perhaps photos from the wedding, honeymoon to Maui, and another Alaskan cruise?!!?! So much fun is to come, so hang tight and I hope to entertain you.
So much has happened since my Pacific coast cruise post. I made a couple of trips to Seattle to see Paul, he surprised me with a proposal during my trip in December. We had so much going on during the holidays - I went to him for my birthday, he came to me for Christmas, we both met in Ohio with his family for New Years. Whew - it was a long December!
As soon as the year ended, wedding plans went into full force. We both wanted to elope, but we wanted to make our families happy and have a small wedding. We made plans for the wedding, honeymoon, me moving across country, and I swear I haven't had time to blink.
My mom was finishing up chemo, so this proved to be just the distraction she needed. We found a dress in mid-December, booked a venue, DJ, cake, florist, invitations, and photographer by mid-January. The rest was pretty smooth sailing.
I had a bridal shower in early February and created wedding registries and a wedding website. Thank goodness I had some slow time at work because I was able to make guest lists, excel files, work on invitations, make a song list, and everything else while still working. I stayed late at work one night so I could submit addresses to the invitation company. Our invitations turned out beautiful thanks to a local family friend who specializes in invitations. She made the process easy and I could just pop in to her house for pick up and payment - so easy.
I packed up my condo starting in January and organized a national moving company to pick up all of my stuff at the end of February. I turned in my notice to work in February and was even homeless for a week. Not technically because I thankfully have family friends I was able to stay with during this homeless period during my last week of work.
My last day of work was on March 2nd - it was a hard transition to make because I love my team and I know that I will never have a work family quite like this one. Friends threw me a going away party, so leaving New Orleans was action-packed, fun, and tearful. I was loading up my car, cleaning my condo, and preparing for this party all at the same time and it was EXHAUSTING. Rewarding, but exhausting.
Of course, the moving company was 8 days late to pick up my things from New Orleans, but it all worked out because all of my things arrived my first weekend in Seattle.
Along with all of this chaos, I was also driving my car from Thibodaux to Issaquah. I was able to take my time and incorporate some time with family/friends because I had no rush to get to WA. I'm so grateful for family and extended family because it made a very stressful time a lot less stressful.
Let me tell you, if you've ever considered disappearing from Earth, planning a wedding/leaving a job/leaving your parents/packing up a car for a cross country drive/ unload the place you've lived for 7 years/ pack up multiple boxes with everything you own/ give away things you love because you simply do not have a place for them in your new home/ move across country/ no more career - is just about my boiling point.
Anywho, what kind of blog post would this be without pictures? I took photos in a couple of stops - Canyon, TX has the world's 2nd largest canyon at the Palo Dura State Park. I also snapped photos at a place I've already been a couple of times - Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. I'm so thankful that Paul flew into Denver and drove the 2nd half of the way. It was so nice to have company for the drive!
Palo Dura State Park in Canyon, TX
Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, CO
The next posts will be much lighter, I promise! Perhaps photos from the wedding, honeymoon to Maui, and another Alaskan cruise?!!?! So much fun is to come, so hang tight and I hope to entertain you.
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