Life is a Series of Hellos and Goodbyes ...

And as Billy Joel said, it's time to say goodbye again. Day one of the road trip back East has come to an end, and within the last 24 hours I have not even been able to keep up with my raging emotions. Bittersweet times: the understatement of the year.

As I said goodbye to everyone last night and my fiance this morning, I couldn't shake the sadness. And when I drove away at 5:30 am (because that's how I do on road trips), I was reminded of my ride out to California almost five years ago.

The trip was comprised of four days with three friends who talked the entire time, about quite literally, everything under the sun. I think we listened to music for a total of one hour and the rest of the time we gabbed. We talked about things that in our years of friendship, we had never touched on before. There was so much laughter you'd think I was lying, and even one conversation that ended in an argument ... and then tears. (Girls. I know.)

But I was on a mission in August of 2004. I had met a boy when I visited the state to sign my lease one month before and I was SUPER anxious to spend time with him again. (How funny that half a decade later I'm driving home to set-up our apartment for us before we get married!)

Jamie recently told me that she remembers the exact moment she, Di and Stacy left me at LAX. I remember it too - I dropped them off after an amazing week together, one that actually felt like a girls vacation - and then reality set in. Each of them standing outside my smurf blue VW Jetta, and me facing them. Suddenly the fact that this wasn't a fun filled girlie getaway occured to me ... and what's worse, that they were going their way, and I was going mine.

I felt something similar last night. And this morning I went my way, and my friends went theirs. But we didn't really. Because in LA, you can't get by if your friends DON'T become your family ... and if you're lucky, they gladly assume that very real role you need to be filled to be okay away from home. Yes, in my friends out West, I found family. Every holiday, birthday, weekend or day by the pool, we had each other - and that meant a lot. I won't be falling asleep on Friday nights while I have them over as house guests anymore, but I will be thinking of them often. And certainly looking forward to the next time I get to hone my narcoleptic skills with them again, in WHATEVER part of the country, soon.

On a much lighter and far less descriptive note, the ride itself has been awesome. It actually lifted my mood taking in the scenery and being fortunate enough to do it with my father. Dad, Meatball and I left California before the sun rose, moved on to Nevada and passed through Vegas, crossed into Arizona and drove for awhile in Utah and ended up in Colorado. Utah was so impressive that there were times I let out gasps. It was unbelievable and I can't wait to share the pictures that will do it no absolutely justice. In the mean time, here are some impromptu cell phone pictures that are less about America's beauty and more about my dog's unhappiness and my signs from Cisco.

Day two, here we come!