Leaving the states behind

It is hard to believe that over three months have passed since my last post. I had hoped to keep posting to remember the chaos and the emotion of all the changes, but the best of intentions aren't always followed!

I did remember to write on my flight leaving the US. I used the back of a card that my dear friend had given me as I left the gate to board the plane:

5/19/09:
I am sitting here on the plane and I still don't believe I am actually leaving the country to live in a foreign land. I am experiencing a rush of emotion - excitement to see Tyson, sadness for leaving my friends and family, and some fear of the unknown.

Today has not felt at all like my birthday. Everything for the past three months has been like a dream. Giving up all of my posessions was scary and freeing all at the same time. You don't realize what a slave we are to "stuff" until you have to pack it all in four suitcases and give the rest away and only store favorites that cannot be replaced.

We moved out of the townhouse at the beginning of March while I was still in school and working (thankfully) part-time, the day after our bachlelor/ bachlorette party and the weekend before our wedding. Note to self: don't do that again! Thankfully all of our friends and family rallied and were able to come support us for our wedding with just five weeks notice! The day could not have been more perfect. Even the weather cooperated at a perfect sunny 72 degrees even though it had snowed the weekend before and there was four inches of snow on the ground at the B&B on Wednesday before the wedding! I feel so blessed for all that my friends and family did to make the day so perfect.

Tyson left exactly a week after we were married and I was so thankful to be so busy that missing him didn't kill me. Nights were the most difficult and I found it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, but I managed to go to South America, graduate with my MBA, watch my sister get married, sell my car, visit friends and family (although I didn't get to do as much as I had hoped or had planned), and did another round of purging to finally be sitting in seat 10B on Delta's first class non-stop to Dubai on my birthday.

Who knows what the next two years will have in store for Tyson and I. I only hope that this adventure makes us stronger together and we get to see parts of the world that might not have been possible before.

The last three months have been a blur, but I am ready for the next chapter of my life with Tyson to begin. I am lucky to have my found my soulmate and someone who has the same adventurous spirit as me. I only wish I was as cool about it as he always is. Luckily, the woman in 10A and the man in 11B know my story and aren't bothered by the woman in 10B with tears streaming down her face.