I am only halfway through the process of changing my name from Leach to Mavis after getting married more than two months ago. It's an incredible headache to change a name, and especially so when I'm changing from a Texas to California resident in the process. Today, my name was officially changed at work, forcing me to surrender my e-mail address beginning with "bleach," only to be replaced by a much less clever-sounding "bmavis."*The wedding was beautiful. Everything fell into place so much better than I could have hoped. I was an emotional wreck the last month, but it turned out better than I could have hoped. After a blur of a wedding, Steve surprised me with two nights in an ocean view room at the Hotel Del Coronado, plus a one-hour massage the day after the wedding. We then flew to the East Coast to spend the remainder of our honeymoon in The Berkshires in western Massachusetts. It was a little brisk (29 degrees the day we left) but beautiful and sunny. We took day trips around the area, never passing through anything larger than what could be considered a "town," stopped in local book stores, coffee shops, hole-in-the-wall restaurants and a couple art museums. We slept in every day, and RedBoxed movies to watch at night by the fire.
We got home to Escondido to a pile of wedding gifts and unpacked boxes (all mine), and are just now starting to feel settled. I returned to life as an assistant editor, and I'm loving my job. I'm published in the current (June) issue of Triathlete magazine. We traveled to Texas in April for a post-wedding reception at my parents' house, and I just got back from my brother's high school graduation in San Antonio. I'm currently overwhelmed by the remaining things to change my name on, but I'm taking them one step at a time.
*Rest assured, the name of this blog will not be changing to "BMavis'ed."
