Yes. I took a blogging vacation. My loving husband tried to fill in for me, so I appreciate that. Sorry if you were confused by the last post with the sudden change in writing style. It wasn't me. haha. Anywho...
I had a really really REALLY hard time leaving Canada. I didn't want to blog because I didn't want to acknowledge that I was leaving my home, the place where I was raised, forever. The thought of making my home somewhere else was entirely too overwhelming for me. I realized that I would still be going back to Edmonton for visits, but thinking that I would probably never LIVE there again was the cause of many many tears. The thought of being with my husband again was definitely exciting, but I think I almost forgot what it was like. That made moving even harder.
But I tried to be tough, and made it through the packing (I LOATHE packing), the multiple goodbyes, and the hardest goodbye of all with my parents. I love that my relationship with them grew as I stayed with them these past few months, but that just made it that much more difficult for all of us. And to top it off, I felt like the most evil person for taking their grandson away from them. They both love him SOOO much..
Needless to say, my attitude was more on what I was losing and less on what I was gaining. I'm thankful that my parents, the rest of my family and my friends understood that I was doing the right thing by going to be with my husband. We all agreed though with how much it sucked that joining my husband meant being so far away, especially considering that my whole family is all in Edmonton. With the exception of one aunt and two cousins, I'm the only one who's ventured out. The understanding of my loved ones made it a little easier for me to move on.
The morning I left was pretty rough. I've said goodbye to my parents before, but this one was different. I'm not coming back to stay. They were both crying, and I was crying, and it was just not a happy experience. I drove out of the driveway and I didn't wanna look back. I think that would have made things even harder.
So the giant exodus began...
I drove to Calgary, and stopped at their new shopping center, Cross Iron Mills, to feed Warren. He slept the whole way there, so I was pretty lucky. I found the nursing area in that mall, which was insane! It was a room with at least 8 rocking chairs, two changing stations, a microwave, and a big TV playing the Treehouse channel. haha. I wanted to make sure Warren was getting enough attention throughout this road trip because the poor guy would be stuck in the back of the car facing away from me in his carseat for the next three days. So I made sure to play with him at every stop I made and hope that I tuckered him out enough to sleep through the next stretch. It worked relatively well. I think the fact that Warren is such an amazing baby added to how successful we were at travelling together.
Once I was done feeding him, I made a pit stop at Peter's Drive-In. I probably won't be going there anytime soon, so I binged and got two cheeseburgers and a banana-oreo milkshake.
Next stop was Lethbridge. I wasn't so successful at finding such an amazing nursing area there. I went to a mall, but just ended up feeding him in a fitting room in The Bay (department store). I also stocked up on my Canadian Olympic Team swag. I got myself a Canada t-shirt and new gloves, and I got Warren a super adorable Canada track suit. It's still a little big, but babies grow. haha.
After that, I crossed the border. For the first time in two years, I crossed the border without being interrogated. I had all my immigration papers so all I had to do was go inside the building and wait for them to process some papers and stamp my passport. Once they did that, I again had no luck finding a nursing area, so I just fed him in the waiting area. That nursing cover is probably the best investment I have ever made. I'm just glad I crossed the border in the evening. I was the only one there.
The last leg of the day was to Great Falls, MT. Nothing to see there. haha. I checked into a hotel and got a room with a King size bed. What I learned about King size beds is that they're too big because when I put Warren in the middle of it, I couldn't reach him without crawling onto the bed myself. haha.
The next day of travelling was BORING. I was driving through Montana and Wyoming. Nuff said. I really just wanted to go the rest of the way that day, but Warren definitely let me know it was time to stop when we did. I made it to Casper, WY on the second day.
The last day was the shortest day of travelling at six hours. I made one stop in Cheyenne, WY. From there, you just have to drive through Ft Collins and Denver, then it's a 45 minute to Colorado Springs. It was the Denver part that was the hardest. I ended up getting there at around 3:00 and it was already full on rush hour traffic. Stop and go for a whole hour. Warren doesn't like stop and go. He just likes go because he sleeps. As soon as you stop, he wakes up, and that's just not always the happiest experience for him or I. So the whole hour it took me to drive through Denver, I was trying to calm Warren, keep his soother in his mouth, and pay attention to traffic. Ugh... It's an experience I would rather never repeat. Actually... This whole road trip doesn't ever need to happen again.
I made it though. An hour late, but I made it to my husband and my new home.
He was so happy to see us both. Warren didn't show any signs that he recognized his dad, but they were only together for a week after he was born. It didn't take long for Warren to become reacquainted with his Daddy.
So now I'm here. Colorado Springs is where I call home. I have so much more to talk about but there's so much to say that I'm just gonna spread it all out.
I love being with my husband. He makes me so happy. Despite leaving my family back home, my own family is once again together, and that's how it should be.
