With all of the busyness over the past 6 months it has been hard to find the time to sit down and actually blog. However, after going through my old blogs, I have realized how much writing things down helps me remember the "little" things I would have otherwise forgotten. So many wonderful things have happened since the wedding that its almost been a bit of a blur.
Patrick and I have settled in to our lives, finally. After months of waiting and filling out documents and stressing and one interview somewhat straight out of The Proposal, Patrick is finally a permanent resident. He now has a job at Mercedes-Benz of Fresno, which meant a wonderful new car for us!
My sister and her main man got married on October 19th. Their wedding was in the mountains right below Yosemite, and it was amazingly beautiful.  See for yourself :)

I am so happy to have gained not one brother this year, but two. I also couldn't be happier for my sister, she is an amazing person that deserves the world. 

Speaking of weddings, I realized I never blogged anything about ours. Our wedding was wonderful and full of love, not just from family, but so many friends that made the 3 hour trek to be there. It was a beautiful, emotional ceremony and a great party afterwards. We also had a wonderful honeymoon in Hawaii. There were lots of adventures, and even more importantly, plenty of much needed relaxation!

And maybe one from the honeymoon...

Needless to say, this year has been an overwhelmingly wonderful year filled with an abundance of love, amazing times with friends and family, and a great insight into what the future holds for Patrick and we continue our lives together. 

We are already planning new adventures for next year! To celebrate Patrick's great month at work, Patrick and I are going to take off to Vegas for the weekend at the end of January. It might be pretty darn cold, but we are really excited to get out of Fresno and have some fun on the strip. I can already taste that 3 foot long margarita!

Since I missed Thanksgiving, I figured I would end this catch up session with reminding myself of the things I am thankful for. I am incredibly thankful for my husband. He keeps me on my toes, and life is never boring with him. He is always up for the random adventures, silly ideas, and sometimes just having a veg day. He is such a hard worker, with such drive that it inspires me to work harder at what I do as well. I am thankful for my amazing sister. I honestly have no idea what I would do without her. In Grey's Anatomy terms, she is my person. She gives me the honesty when I need it and wonderful advice because she knows me so well. I am thankful for my incredibly awesome friends. We have made some wonderful memories over the last few years, and I know we will make plenty more. As I have gotten older, I have really realized who those through thick and thin friends are, and I feel blessed every day they are in my life. I am thankful for my parents. I heard someone say that after 25, your relationship with your parents gets better. However, I am going to completely disagree with that one. I feel like I have always had a close relationship with my parents, even through those high school years, but the past few years I have felt closer to them that ever. They have given me so much, but also kept me grounded and taught me what hard work is. They have helped me become a strong woman who knows her self worth. They pushed me to further my education so I can have the wonderful job I am also so thankful for. And lastly (I promise) I am thankful for the little things in life. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

It has been way too long.

Now that things have settled down after the wedding and the moving and the buying anything and everything possible for our new home... I can finally sit back and relax.

Hahahaha! Yea, right. When does that ever happen? Especially when your husband is not an American citizen, needs to get a drivers license, you have to change your name on a billion different things and you work a normal 40 hours a week. This whole visa process seems to be never ending. After the 9 months of work for the fiancé visa, we still have a couple years to go, and a couple thousand dollars, dual citizenship. At least we are on the same continent now! 

Let's rewind a little though... Because the last time I blogged it was July, and I had just jumped out of an airplane. After that was Christmas with its usual excitement and family time... Oh and I took a step up in the technological world and got my first LED/flat scream tv. Patrick and I topped it off with a new blue-ray player and laptop... Go big or go home right??? 

After Christmas was January, February, March, and then April. I am pausing on April because my fiancé (now husband) finally touched down in America for good. I was actually amazed that everything went so smoothly, considering some of the fiancé visa horror stories I read of hours of interrogation at the airport, being denied access, etc. However, by some miracle, everything fell into place.

Then came the wedding. It was a perfect and amazing day... Yea, I know that is a bit cheesy, but it really was. Nothing crazy happened... I didn't trip down the isle or rip my dress, thankfully. Everything just kind of went. Patrick and I were able to enjoy the evening thanks to everyone who helped us our so we weren't throwing flowers in vases at the last minute or fussing with the webcam right before the ceremony. It was just a perfect day. 

Then came Hawaii. That vacation was much needed, and one of the best trips I have ever taken. We did some snorkeling, watersides, hiking, and of course, lots of eating. We finally got to make a stop at Kona Brewing Company. If you are ever in Hawaii, this is definitely worth a stop. Their beer and food are amazing. We staying on the island for a week, and then it was back to reality. 

We flew into San Francisco airport at 4am, picked up our bags, paid the outrageous amount for parking, and began the trek back to Fresno. We picked up the keys to our new apartment 5 hours later and started moving in. Looking back, we probably should have picked up the keys before the wedding and moved a few things over... But hey, you live and learn. 

Two weeks later, here we are and we are down to 2 boxes and Patrick has a social security number. However, I am no closer to changing my name. That is being put on hold while we get all the paperwork together for for his green card and ok to work from immigration. Let metell you, they do not make this whole visa thing easy! It is time consuming, expensive, nerve-racking and over all just a pain in the butt. However, it is completely worth it.

Hopefully by this time next year Patrick will completely legal, everything will be settled, and we will be house shopping... Then again, that sounds too normal and easy for us.