The Honeymoon Is Over.

We returned to Texas soil from our adventurous three week long honeymoon in Europe just over two weeks ago and already my teacher summer is more than half over... I feel like it just began!!! Please feel sorry for me.

As with most things, after the dust has settled on an event it's hard to feel motivated to document it any further. Between the two of us, Brandon & I posted a lot of updates on the ole' Facebook throughout our vacation, and I instagramed nearly every day. So, what more is there to say about it, really?

The Reflection Documentation:

It's just interesting how you look forward to things for years, and then they happen--and sometimes they feel so eternal in the moments of their happening--but then those moments end, and life goes on with that experience far behind you. Every time I've spoken to anyone about the month I backpacked around Europe with my super-nice-guy-but-not-right-for-me-ex-boyfriend when I was nearly 20 years old I say the same thing: "I need a do-over of that trip!" I've even used the experience to lecture certain middle school students with super cynical attitudes toward life that I recognize all too well as my younger-self disposition. It has always pained me that I stood in such monumental places on the globe and felt so...lame. I can blame it on being there with the wrong person, but in the end I have to admit that I was the wrong person. I was so uncomfortable in my skin then! 

Fast-forward ten years later, and I am getting to be quite comfortable in that very same skin. Although, it's still a work in progress... Turning 30 years old brings me such hope for the future, because I've gotten everything I've wanted and wished for out of life in recent years. So much so that I've had to start a new list of things to dream about and strive to obtain... I remember a conversation with  Katie when we were 26-27 about loving ourselves and our bodies so much more at that point than we ever could as teenagers, and how we couldn't wait to be 35 to see how much those sentiments would grow by then! I recently remarked to Brandon that even on my most self-conscious days, it's refreshing to realize that I am still more confident than the most confident 18 year old you could find on the planet. 

And yes, I might be just a bit obsessed by ages, but I think it's because spiritually I try to live very close to that 14 year old inside of me! In a good way...

Looking out the window as our plane left the ground in Paris, I thought to myself how extremely lucky and blessed I am to have gotten my "do-over." I went back to some of those same places I stood battling myself to enjoy the moment through the knowledge that I was ill-equipped internally to do so, and the even more depressing knowledge that I could not look to my companion for assistance in the growth needed to understand myself or feel understood! Gah! It was disappointing to say the least. This time, I was excited to be going home, because I know I'll go back again some day...and I no longer have to fear the "what if this is it?!" as far as magical opportunities in life go...

At times, I know Brandon feels overwhelmed by my Jane Eyre-like yearnings for things I feel are sometimes beyond my reach, but the fact that he gets that and can make jokes that make me laugh at my  occasionally intense internal drama (and knowing how much he really loves that about me despite himself) is all I really need. 

My favorite thing about the trip this time, besides knowing myself better and feeling content with my companion, is how much traveling through foreign lands for an extended period of time can teach you about a person you thought you knew about as well as you could... The biggest understatement I made in looking forward to our honeymoon was "Brandon is not the type of person who can lay on a beach all day and just stare at pretty scenery...he has to go & see & do as much as he can!" I knew a trip to Paris, Vienna & Prague provided the stage for the historical observation and unknown exploration that Brandon & I craved together...I just didn't realize beforehand how much it would take out of me, or how hard it would be at times to keep up with him! Unlike my wonderful husband, I CAN lay on a beach and stare at the pretty scenery...all day, in fact!! I like to sleep & sit & watch. Luckily though, after some good communication on the subject, we found a nice balance. 

One great example of this balance was our evening in front of the eiffel tower. Brandon kind of thought it was a touristy waste of time that would be better spent scouring the catacombs or another cemetery again, and I agreed with him to an extent. Although, my romantic side wanted nothing more than to lay in the grass on the lawn beneath it and soak up the buzz of that environment. So, we did. We had just enjoyed a lovely dinner at our favorite hidden gem restaurant in Paris complete with to-die-for fois gras and a bottle of wine, and upon arrival at the eiffel tower, I took off my shoes, and we dozed in the grass until twilight. Another favorite day for the two of us was our trip to Kutna Hora... the town an hour away from Prague that holds a famous ossuary, or bone church. We leisurely strolled the town all day long discovering more than we had hoped to find along the way, and enjoyed the best meal of the trip late in the day as well. We even got lost on our long walk back to the train station by meandering along a beautiful creek it seemed natural to follow, but it didn't matter. The same with the day in Vienna (by far my favorite city on our trip!) when we had a perfect picnic in a lovely park outside of the Naschmarkt (or weekend flea market) and then enjoyed an afternoon beer and coffee at our favorite coffeehouse, Cafe Sperl before exploring another imperial palace! Days don't get much more lovelier than that.

It was not the most relaxing vacation of my life, but since returning home to lazy summer days where the most productive things I've done so far in the past two weeks is organize the closet and go to the gym nearly every day, I am not complaining. Last night we were invited across the street to a gathering at our neighbor's house (the neighbor who we bought our house from, actually). We sat talking in their front yard into the night, and came home just as it started to rain to our deliciously comfortable bed (something missing from every night in Europe!)...and while falling asleep I thought how perfect was the day! Home is hard to top sometimes.

And now I'd like to share a couple of things I jotted in my little notepad I carried with me daily on our trip... (If anyone is still reading this...I know--I'm very longwinded, but those who matter most don't mind!)

People watching [& listening] is one of my favorite past times, and I overheard some lovely moments due to my chronic eavesdropping.

1. Overheard in the Louvre...
Sporty Frat Boy: "What was Da Vinci's era...17...1800's?"
[this one even made our French cab driver laugh later that night when I thought he didn't understand much English]

2. Overheard in Gerhard Richter exhibit in the Louvre...
[I love this artist by the way, and I even tried to capture a similar dark mood he effortlessly conveys in certain paintings I made in art school...the exhibit held drawings, sketches, and monotypes he used as studies for paintings...]
Girl Who Had No Business In the Presence of Fine Art: "That looks like a five year old made that!"

3. Overheard in Vienna Flea Market:
[My favorite!]
Warm & Friendly Looking Man to Another (First Man is shopkeeper):
First Man with Austrian Accent: "What could be better than seeing you?!"
*they embrace in a manly hug*
Second Man with English Accent: "Somebody with a lot of cash...?"
First Man: "Ha ha...how are you doing, my friend?!"

4. I also listened intently to a group of teenagers on the tube (subway) in Vienna as one told an animated story I could not understand... and when she saw me looking, she turned the volume up on her animation. It was adorable.

I want to include a few photos in this post, but there are nearly 3,000 photos of our trip between Brandon & I, so it's hard to pick just one or three... but I'm going to anyway...

Here is one photo in each of the three cities we made our mark:

In Vienna, having the best picnic ever...

In Prague, the night we decided to dress up fancy & have a romantic dinner...

And in Paris, after all of the grass laying in front of the eiffel tower...

Fin.