June: a month of discovery

So June 2008 was a big month for the soon-to-be Strock family. In the first week, we quit our jobs, traveled to Hilton Head with his family for a farewell trip, traveled to my family's cabin in Huntingdon, PA for a bon voyage, took a majority of our belongings to thrift stores, packed up what was left, and GOT ENGAGED! We were engaged on 6/8/08 in Huntingdon, PA surrounded by family. There were tears, cheers, and a diamond. It was glorious.

The Move:
Or what I like to call the wagon train to Maine. Wikipedia defines a wagon train as "individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons who banded together for mutual assistance. Although most trains elected a captain and created by-laws, in reality the captain had little authority. His role was largely confined to getting everyone moving in the morning and selecting when and where to camp at night." Kurt did a fine job as captain, haha. He'll appreciate this entry for a million reasons. Anyway, we had a grand total of 2 hours sleep for a 12 hour drive. We had a honda civic, a jeep cherokee, and a truck (compliments of mom and dad) to stuff full with our belongings, mattress, and sofa. Jerry did a wonderful job as co-pilot for Kurt. Despite the lack of sleep, we were happy.
We stopped at my aunt's beautiful home in southern Maine to rest up for the last 3 hours to our future home. When we arrived, the apartment wasn't quite what I remembered in the 2 minutes we spent looking at it 4 months ago. But my aunt and mother went to work cleaning their lives away. I'm lucky my amazing aunt is an interior designer by trade (and a good one at that) or else this apartment would not look as amazing as it does now. She gave us all the furniture we wanted! Who is this lucky?

So when the dust settled, we had a new home, the same cat, and our family 600 miles away. I'm not going to lie, our first 5 months haven't always been sunshine and roses. We've probably learned the most about eachother in these past months than we have our entire relationship. We went from a cushy 3 bedroom home to an apartment that has taken us back to the simple kind of life. We do our own dishes, we go to laundry mats, and we have no cable tv. We've discovered that we are avid card players, that Kurt can make me laugh so hard milk literally comes out of my nose, sometimes I get cranky, sometimes Kurt gets defensive, we prefer washing dishes than having a dishwasher, and we vow to never again live with out a washer and dryer. The biggest change has been going from being surrounded by friends, family, and constant activities to having only eachother and the great outdoors. So we've had to adjust to the fact that we can't be everything for eachother, but that we can support and challenge each other to be more for ourselves. I am proud every day to wake up and live life with Kurt.

And So It Begins...

Although there is a scientific paper awaiting its completion, I'm going to make my first blog entry. Ready? Here goes... I moved to Maine this summer with the most wonderful man I know. Every day his patience, kindness and wit impress me and I love him even more than I did the day before. It's hard to think I didn't notice any of these things when we met 12 years ago in 6th grade.

Last winter, he agreed to embark on an adventure with me so I could go to graduate school in the great white north. Being away from everything we know, all of our friends and family, has been a challenge. And we have learned a huge deal about ourselves and each other, and I am proud to say we're getting married as soon as I get this degree.

This blog is a way for me to catalog our adventures and experiences as we start our life together in Maine, the things we see and do and the things we learn about each other and life. So I've got some catching up to do! We've been here for 5 months now and we've done some amazing things...so the next blog I have time for will be a quick synopsis of the adventures of the past 5 months and all the emotions that went along with them. I love you, Kurt.