It's getting real...

Having a little bit of a  breakdown this morning.  The reality of me leaving is setting in and while I am super excited it's also bittersweet.  Today I am getting together with friends to say "see you later".

I get to have lunch with a friend who has helped me so much along the way with my walk with the Lord and I am forever grateful for her friendship.  She took me in when I needed a place to stay and has prayed for Mark and I probably more than I have prayed for us myself.

Then it's on to visit another friend and her kids.  This chic.  Talk about being a friend.  She and I have been friends for over 10 years (WHATT??).  She is truly one of a kind and I am not sure how I would have made it without her.  Also instrumental in my journey with my Faith, she and her husband will likely never know how inspirational they have been to us.  Their babies are the sweetest on the planet and I cannot wait to see them.  Also, she is going to become the new owner of the plants that I got from my brother's funeral.  It means the world to me that she is taking them and I know will take great care of them.

Dinner time has me meeting with two of the loudest, most fun and zany band mom friends a girl could have.  We met years ago when our kids were all in band and have seen a lot together.  One of them has seen me cry over camping, and the other was my roomie for years on band trips. These ladies are so special to me and saying goodbye is going to suck.

Tomorrow I am saying "later" to my best friend of 25 years.  Talk about going through it all with someone.  She is truly my soulmate and gets me like no one else ever has, or ever will.  I am sure that is scary for her. :)   There is just no words to say how much I love her!

Finally, at some point I will see Andrew and spend some time with him.   Honestly, I cannot even write about him right  now because I do not want to think about what not seeing him all the time is going to do to me, or to him.  He is my mini me only cuter, way smarter, funnier and more loving. More on that later I am sure but I am already crying to hard to think about my departure from him.

Adam left for work this morning and as he does every day, he gives me a hug and a kiss.  Today it hit me that today and tomorrow will be the last days that ever happens.  In my life.  My "baby" is going to be in an apartment , on his own next week and these last few days we are here are likely the last days I will be sharing a roof with him.   To say I am proud of the young man that he is would be an understatement.   I know he is going to do great things.  It's just so hard to let him go be a grown up.  I will miss him to depths I cannot describe.

I would like to say that I know none of these are final goodbyes, but honestly, no one can predict what the future holds.  My heart hurts right now and today will be tough, but I am happy to get to see so many special people in one day.

I saw a thing on Facebook the other day that said " If I died today, would you be happy with the last conversation we had?"   Think about that.  I know that over the next few days I am going to make sure my conversations matter.   You should do the same.

Ok, have to go dry my tears and get ready for my day. Can't have puffy eyes for the selfies I will be taking today with my peeps!

 Thanks for reading.

Talk to you soon.

 

Happy Anniversary to us!

Seven years ago today we got married!  It was such a wonderful day, despite the storm that hit right at the time we were supposed to be outside!  We wrote our own vows, got married at our home and shared the day with our loving family and friends.  We are so blessed to have the love of one another!

Here is how this all started..

The back story.. Six months ago, Mark mentioned in passing something about me being a full time passenger in the truck with him as he traveled across the country as an over the road truck driver.  I did not pay him any mind.  Actually that's not true, I did.  I thought he was nuts.  But then a few weeks later he mentioned it again and I paid a little more attention.  In reality, I became obsessed with the idea. Should I?  Shouldn't I?  Could I handle it?  Could I handle him 24/7?  More likely, could he handle me 24/7?  Would I be bored?  Would I love it?  Most importantly, where would I pee in the middle of the night?  I mean come on, I've got priorities.  So a week or so later, I brought it up to him again, and again, and again.  I probably asked him 67 times if he was serious and if it was something he really thought we could do.  He assured me that he really wanted me to come along, and really thought it would be fun.  A great new chapter in our already wild life story.

 I talked to the boys, my sister, my friends and my mom.  Some of them thought I should jump at the chance, others were a little more wary.   Adam was moving off campus in August and would have a year round lease, so this would likely be his last summer at home. Tyler is married and living in Colorado, Griffin is somewhere out there doing his thing and  Andrew is working and living his adult life so it seemed only natural that it was time for Mark and I to be Mark and Kathy things instead of parents to boys things.  All the boys were off living their best lives, why shouldn't we?

In the end, I decided to go for it.  Let the obsessive planning and panic commence.

I spent countless hours googling information on living as a "homeless trucking family" and how to organize a big rig.  I have made list upon list about suggestions of what to bring, what not to waste space on and what you simply must have.  I have an Amazon Wish List, two planners full of lists, websites bookmarked, and pins galore on Pinterest.  I felt ready on paper.  My daddy always told me " it all looks good on paper" and in this case he was super correct!

What I was NOT ready for was trying to decide what goes with me, what goes to Adam, what goes to storage and what gets donated  I have been working on packing up the house for two months.  It's made a little easier by the fact that Adam is getting 98% of what is in the house for his new apartment.  Trying to decide what clothing I need to bring versus what I WANT to bring is hard.  Bringing only necessary make up was harder.  But seriously, so far the hardest part has been deciding on the nail polish that will travel with us.  I have a very large (over 250 bottles) collection of nail polish and I really love to do my nails.  How was I supposed to narrow it down to a transportable amount??  I finally did get it down to about 35-40 colors and every time I look at it, my heart palpitates a little bit.  :)

So, here we are 11 days out from taking the first mile of the new chapter of our lives and I am so excited!  Nervous too, but very excited.

I will be blogging about our adventures, learning to cook in the truck with my little "kitchen", braving truck stop showers and every thing else that life on the road has to offer.  Hope you will come along for the ride.

Until later.

#homeiswherethetruckis