California, here we come.

Today is the day that Alex and I bid adieu to all of his temporary training assignments from the past year and a half, and make the drive to our new home in California!

What?! I know. Crazy cray.

I just flew down to Mississippi so we could make the cross-country trek together. We'll both see our new city together for the first time and even have a few quick days to apartment hunt and find our first place together!

We'll leave this afternoon and get into Houston, Texas this evening. The next day, we drive to Austin and hang with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins for the day/night (YAY!) After Austin, we put in a long days drive to Las Cruces, New Mexico and then a possible stop in Yuma, Arizona.

I think my personal goal for this trip is going to be to listen to all of my favorite Broadway soundtracks in order all the way through, TWICE, interspersed with great covers of those same songs done by Glee. I think this trip will be a great bonding experience for Alex and I. (HA, yeah right, I don't think Alex ever forgave me after I made him listen to Officer Krupke on repeat when we were on our way into DC to see West Side Story at the National Theatre.)

ANYWAY.

Last night, Alex and I kept asking each other, "Can you believe it's actually here?" I keep thinking about the day he left Maryland. On the morning that he left, he surprised me with breakfast from my favorite upscale eatery (the Dunkin Donuts off of Route 3).

A cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese, strawberry jelly and a Boston creme doughnut, my perfect breakfast. They always say the way to  a woman's heart is through her stomach. He convinced me that he had them make the doughnut in the shape of the heart just for me. I really believed him for about 5 minutes.

Anyway, when he left, we had no idea where he would be stationed or when we'd be living in the same city again. Shoot, we weren't even engaged! Now we're about to be hitched and we're days away from picking out our new home together.

I know Alex will be thrilled to not be living out of a hotel room anymore!

The Keurig cups Alex has amassed from hotel living.

I plan on updating the blog every day of our trip so I remember everything!

I leave you now with the song California by Phantom Planet, which has been going through my mind all day. I chose the video with clips from the t.v. show the O.C.  because I'm almost sure that our life in California will be just like the rich people from on the show, especially the guy with the big eyebrows.

My Baby!

This post isn't about my actual baby (I don't have one) or the Bruster's baby that I developed over spring break, but it is kinda sappy.

You know in movies when a daughter like, gets engaged or married or has her first walk of shame, and the over emotional mother is like, "My baby's all grown up!" and then she sobs into her handkerchief?

That how I feel about myself.

My siblings and I with our beloved dog Snowy. We found her in the snow when I was in 4th grade, and she died when I was a senior in college. She was the best dog ever.

I mean, I feel like that about myself and my friends. Within a couple days of getting in engaged, 2 of my friends got engaged and one got married!

I've seen my closet friends do really amazing things in life, from starting families, getting awesome jobs and finding causes that they are really passionate about.

Watching things happen on Facebook is pretty cool too, because you kind of watch the lives of hundreds of your peers unfold at once.

Facebook is pretty amazing because you get to watch your friends' lives change, even friends you don't keep up with regularly. Some of these girls I've know since I was little; through Girl Scouts and braces and freaking out about having your first kiss and graduating high school and really finding our niches in the world.

A lot of my friends are in grad school or getting their careers started or getting engaged/married/partnered up, and it's amazing to think that we're all going through a new period of our lives together, even if it doesn't feel like it. It's weird to think that 30 years ago this was our parents, and years before that it was their parents, and 30 years from now it will be our children. I guess I'm just experiencing such a rush of emotions and I feel like my life is going to change so much, I forget that it's all part of life.

High School Prom. I think I was trying to show my wrist corsage?

I was trying to upload more pictures but Blogger is not cooperating. I really need to switch to Wordpress.

I know it's really sappy and sentimental but sometimes I see my friends and myself and I just can't believe how fast life goes. I never understood that cliche before, because it didn't feel fast. But it's a cliche for a reason!

My brother and I graduating from college.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited. I'm excited about the future, and I'm definitely excited about the future with Alex. I can't wait to travel more and move to new places and experience all the next stages of life with my bud. It just feels a little surreal to prepare to leave the only home, the only town, the only state I've ever known, and start this brand new journey. That is so corny! But I can't help it it's true!

Alex and I in Rome.

Ah well. I think I have to get sentimental about this process otherwise the frustrations in booking the Chapel and the reception site would just make me very annoyed.

So as a reward for the 2 people who read this, here is a picture of my cat cuddling up and going to sleep with her giant stuffed bear named Pancakes. Enjoy!