FINALLY taking time to post something (Part 1 of I don't know how many)

So... At this point, it is no secret that we absolutely SUCK at travel blogging.  These last few days have been an absolute whirlwind, but it's been one that I would not trade for the world.  From the moment Tricia got on her plane wednesday afternoon, it finally felt real.  I knew that these were the final moments of life as I knew it, before opening the beginning of a whole new chapter of life, and ever since that moment, things have been so busy that we have hardly had a single moment where it felt like we weren't moving, so this is my attempt to recount the past few days events, to the best of my recollection.

Wednesday was filled with too many feelings to count.  Tricia was on a plane, headed my way, and in the morning she would meet my friends and coworkers, and we would load up the last of my belongings, and begin our journey to the place we will call home together, at least for now.  Add in the fact that my apartment was still half-full of my belongings, and you have the makings for a cocktail of emotion.  Had it not been for the help I receieved from a few amazing friends, and the willingness of my downstairs neighbor to take some stuff off my hands, I probably would have teetered over the edge, into a mental breakdown.

Fast forward 5 hours (Only 3 of which were spent sleeping).  It is Thursday morning, and Tricia is calling from Charlotte.  Her plane is delayed, and people are already making their way to the restaurant to meet us for breakfast.  The apartment is a mess, I am exhausted, breakfast is right around the corner, I'm not sure when my girlfriend's plane is leaving, and I still haven't showered.... Might as well get this party started, so off to the airport we go!  The flight tracker shows them in the air, as I grab a diet Pepsi at the Bojangles drive-thru, and claims they are 10 minutes out.  This should get me to the airport right on time to get her off her flight, and still make it to breakfast (Although I have to text our breakfast order, since they stop serving in 15 minutes... Hope she likes french toast!).  I pull into the airport parking lot.  The flight tracker has veered several miles off the projected course, presumably to avoid weather, but the dots have stopped... In the middle of the Pee-Dee river?  Flight status: Arrived.... They wouldn't say "crashed" would they? Thankfully, 5 minutes later, the plane DID actually arrive, and I could stop worrying that my girlfriend had died in a plane crash on the first day of our life together.  Quick hug and kiss, grab the bags, and out the door we go, cruising across town.  Breakfast is nice, albeit emotional.  The friends I have made in the past few years, are truly amazing, and it will be hard to not see them on a regular basis, but I know that the bonds we have formed, can endure the distance.  Plus both California and South Carolina are LOVELY places to vacation, so it'll be alright!

The apartment is still a mess, but again, with the help of an amazing friend, we made quick work of the disaster (while I assured Tricia that the current disarray was not an indication of what to expect in the future), and we loaded the Kia to the brim.  Just to give you an idea of how packed this car is, I literally had to readjust a few things just to make room for a calender.... a CALENDAR, almost didn't fit in the car! By 4:30 we were on our way to Karla's, and for the last time, I watched the town that I have called home for the past 8 years, disappear in the rearview mirror.  I am not always a huge fan of change, but the hand that I was holding as we drove away, reassured me that there are far better things ahead, and that the life that is waiting for me, is finally the one I have been searching for all along. 

To be continued...