I-130 submitted

On December 16th we submitted the first immigration documents to apply for my spousal visa. $420.00 later… fingers are crossed that we hear back soon. From what we have read online the process takes just under a year. It’s so exciting to think that this time next year I will probably be preparing to move to Washington to be with my beloved. Those immigration forms are crazy complex and involve many many steps and supporting documents. I wonder how anyone with English as a second language manages to navigate the process.

The Wedding Recap

It has been exactly 3 weeks since we got married. Everything is going amazingly well! It has been so busy since the wedding that I have not had a chance to update at all. Now with Christmas just 3 days away, time is simply flying! Here is a little summary of the wedding and mini honeymoon afterwards: I was extremely nervous crossing the border. I was afraid that they would somehow know that I had a WA marriage license and was crossing the border to get married to an American citizen. Luckily they just waved me through. I had a couple of hours to get dressed, curl my hair, do my make-up and head to the court house. Our ceremony was at 4:30 on December 1. Besides the marriage commissioner, there were only 4 of us: BB, BB’s best friend, my friend and myself. The past few weeks leading up to this, I knew in my head that it was real and that we were getting married, but in my heart I didn’t 100% BELIEVE it. I was afraid it was a dream that I would suddenly awake from and the happiness would be snatched away from me. However, standing there holding his hands and looking into his eyes as he said his vows – I felt so loved and cherished. I was “in the moment” and filled with love. I am so glad that we did this our own way. Even though we are doing things the unconventional way, it feels right for us. In some ways it is much more romantic this way because our wedding was really and truly for ourselves and no one else. It is a decision we made as the best thing for our future and because we really wanted to get married! Not as a show for friends and family (although we are going to do a “real” wedding next year). This year’s ceremony was all about us and the declaration and commitment to each other. I never thought I would elope, but I guess that’s what we’ve done! The words “elope” has connotations of irresponsibility, spontaneity and superficiality but this could not be farther from the truth in our case. We wore our rings the entire weekend. He surprised me with a beautiful, luxurious stay in a suite at the Hyatt Bellevue with champagne and a lovely dinner. Even though this isn’t our big wedding, it is still incredibly special and we wanted to have a mini-honeymoon all weekend. I feel incredibly blessed to have found the love of my life. I keep; wondering if this is really real. It will take a while to get used to hearing myself referred to as his “wife”. I didn’t know it would be so hard taking off my wedding ring and putting it away in its box. I wish I could wear it and I love seeing his band on his finger. But we can’t give away our secret!

Our Wedding Day

Today is the 1st day of December. The first day of a new month and for C and I, the first day of a new life together. It’s our wedding day! At 4:30 today we will be at the court house getting married! BB will have his best friend as a witness and I will have a close work friend as mine. I’ve had such a mixed bag of emotions over the past week. Right now I am so excited – counting down the hours. Only 6.25 hours of singledom left! I have no doubts about marrying C, but I do wonder if we will regret the decision to elope and to do things in such a topsy turvy order. We are getting married before he has proposed, although he is adamant that he still wants to ask for my parents’ blessing and propose and do things the “right” way. I wonder what it will feel like when he proposes after we are already legally married. I hope it doesn’t take away the specialness of it. Right now I’m at work, leaving in 2 hours to drive across the border and meet him. He just emailed me, “Good morning beautiful! I love you! Only a few more hours left. Mwah!” I couldn’t be happier marrying into his amazing family. At thanksgiving at his grandparents’, his whole famly was there and a funny thing happened. We hadn’t seen them for 3 months so everyone wanted to know what’s new. His aunt joked, “I thought you were gonna say you guys got married or something!” If only they knew how close that is to the truth! It is a strange, indescribable feeling being around his family while holding this huge secret that I’m almost family but they don’t know it yet. On another note, last night my little boy hugged me and asked me to sleep with him. His warm little body curled up against mine, the peaceful sound of a little child breathing, safe in his mother’s arms and in the knowledge that he is loved. I am his world. I know these moments will not last forever. I know he will grow up. I hope I am able to enjoy these times to the fullest so that I never regret not taking advantage of these precious, young years once the time has passed. It’s so hard to juggle between being a mother, being in a relationship and taking care of myself.