Seven Days and Counting

It's been a week since I arrived in Montana, the journey took a bit longer than I thought it would but that's to be expected when White Eagle tells you to take your time seeing your friends. I spent a week and a half in Iowa, the state where perhaps I feel the most comfortable - I saw friends I hadn't seen in over a year and spent a lot of time 'rallying.' We made cute 'family' dinners, went out on the town, watched a tv series...followed by the cult film, went to balloon festivals, took seemingly meaningless trips upstate... all in all the best vacation in the world that I never wanted to end. But end it had to and tears fell upon I-80 as I drove toward my next destination; Kansas City, Missouri.

I didnt think my trip could get any better, I really didnt but I was wrong. I pulled into Christian's drive way after managing to get myself lost and felt the surprising ease I always feel around him. It's odd because I've known him for ten years and still, to this day, I am always surprised by how comfortable I am around him... you'd think I'd have learned by now. Regardless, the three days I spent in Missouri confirmed my suspicion that I have the best friends in the world. He took me out to meals (something no one actually does in the east coast... no one that I know anyway), over to see his family again as I hadn't seen them in years, he took me out at night, we played pool (he let me win a few times), he took me out to meet his friends and their families, would give me a kiss and tell me I was beautiful no matter who we were around just because he felt like it in that moment, and he walked around with me on his arm as though he was proud to just be around me. Christian is one of my best friends - he makes me feel more loved than I know what to do with, and genuinely so. Suffice it to say, as I pulled out of his driveway I was again crying, this time on some random highway.

That is how my journey to Montana began. It took two days to drive from Kansas City to Helena - as soon as I arrived I ran to WalMart (twice) to gather supplies for Lauren and my new apartment. For full disclosure, in the past week I have been to WalMart at least 8 times... it's certainly a new world but they have everything!

Our apartment is pretty phenomenal, three bedrooms, a large living room and kitchen, cute bathroom, loud children neighbors... oh wait, those little ones are not quite a highlight. Lauren and I have been gathering things (thanks to her mom as well) for the apartment... scored huge at goodwill - coffee table, kitchen table, AND side table for a total of 17 dollars... not to mention the sweet cowboy boots I found there for 3. Our home is not quite complete but it should be soon - we're also planning on getting more groceries because we have more storage space than a smugglers pirate ship.

So far I've been looking for work out here and already noticing how friendly strangers are to others... It's like being in a welcome time warp. Well I'm off to find some street toward the mountain thing that Lauren told me to explore :)