Our Day

I don't want to write much about our day, mainly because I think I'll spend it crying at my desk. It was beautiful, nothing like I'd imagined, and the people I wanted there the most made it (short of a miracle!).

We got married on November 21st, at Cardiff City Hall, surrounded by our parents two friends. My parents made it all the way from Canada for the weekend (what jet-setters), I forgot my bouquet in the hotel, and we celebrated back in Johnston until midnight.

All of our photos were taken by the amazing Elaine Williams, who did an amazing job at capturing the day. I would recommend her for any event you have to photograph!

Instead of drowning on, I'll leave you with a quote from one of my favourite books:

"I didn't plan on falling in love with you, and I doubt if you planned on falling in love with me. But once we met, it was clear that neither of us could control what was happening to us. We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created."

What No One Tells You About Moving Abroad

1. You'll miss home more than you could ever imagine.
2. Not all the time. It'll hit you at the strangest of times, when you're at home on a Sunday, at the movies, or on your way home from work.
3. It'll especially be hard around the holidays - but stay positive! bring in your own traditions to your new home, and create new home.
4. You'll suddenly gain a huge sense of patriotism. Those Buzzfeed articles about Canada are a little ray of sunshine in your day.
5. Every one will think you're American (if you're Canadian!)
6. Figuring out your size in a new country is mind-boggling. Three words: UK bra sizes.
7. Truly no one does Halloween/Christmas like North Americans. You'll almost find it insulting how little anyone else cares.
8. The first few weeks or months will be so exciting! New restaurants, new cities, new shops... Then you'll find a routine and the excitement dies down a little. It's Home, Work, Home Cook, Clean, Repeat. Don't lose the excitement when you can and take advantage of your new surroundings. 
9. The constant struggle whether to spend your holiday allowance on trips back home or trips to somewhere new.
10. Invest in a good data plan! 10-minute Facetime chats can make such a difference.
11. On another note, timezone. I hate them.
12. While a lot of your favourite food will be available, they will not be the same. I'm looking at you tomatoes, cheese, and salted popcorn.
13. People will point out the way you say things. It gets annoying, but just smile it off.
14. You will cry about home more than you'd like. Stay strong. Remind yourself why you're on this adventure in the first place. Call mom and dad.
15. Sometimes you'll end up moving back home, sometimes you'll realize you're already home.

Are any of you living in a foreign country?
Any Canadians out there? :)

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Life Update: January

found on weheartit.com

Goodbye, January, you will not be missed.

January has been a bit of an odd month for me, and I've found the start of 2016 to be filled with a lot of doubt, excitement, and reality.

Coming back "home"
On the 7th, the boyfriend husband and I flew flew back from Canada, and that was the end of our 3-week holiday. I won't sugarcoat it - it was awful. I came back with a new-found homesickness and we both agreed that the UK simply isn't for us in the long-term. I think I always had doubts about where I wanted to settle down, but these doubts are gone. I want to go back home, and I want to go soon. It was very strange to come back home, as I've realized the UK will never quite feel like home. I think it was the first time in my life where I was coming back to something that simply didn't make as happy anymore - no home comforts to look forward to, especially as I had left all of those behind.

Planning ahead
So it's decided, we want to eventually move back to Canada! It's an exciting thought, but the process of it all is quite... exhausting. My visa to stay in the UK expires in a few months, so I'll be applying for a FLR visa as a spouse, meaning I'll be able to live and work in the UK for two more years. At the same time, we are now looking at a similar visa for the husband, but we can't simply apply for both. My visa comes with a hefty fee, and it would feel like a waste if I were to leave after only a couple of months. I think we'll be here for another year, at least, and eventually we'll have to apply for his visa... and hopefully things will work out from there?

I don't know if any of my readers have any experiences trying to apply for visas, but they are scary, complicated things, and I always feel like it puts us a step behind everyone else in the long ladder of life. Where some people my age are saving up for their first home, we have to save up for paperwork, and put the dream of a home slightly further back.

Wandering Europe
With the extra time we will spend in the UK, I would love to tick off a few more trips off my list. At the moment, we're thinking Germany in 2016. A 10-day trip around the country, something like that. I've been wanting to visit Germany for a long time, so I really hope we can do this.

I'd love to go to Rome for a couple of days! I have a friend who lives there and I imagine we can do the city quite quickly in 3-4 days.

I'm also considering some UK trips - Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, and Brighton.

Mini projects to keep me busy
There are a few things I sort of cast aside before/after the holidays. This blog being the main culprit. But also my scrapbook! I'm constantly re-envisioning new ideas for the blog, a new direction I want to take it in. I quite enjoy posting about my every day life, where we've been, where we're going. I think I want things to feel natural and personal, especially so I can look back on these posts and see how far things have come. A few upcoming posts: our wedding (yes, I will finally divulge some of our photos to the internet), our trip to Canada, and snaps of Geneva (I was there for a few days two weeks ago!). Beauty-wise, I think I'm taking a bit of a break. I still absorb a lot of beauty-related information, but I feel like I never got to the knack for it. Who knows? The occasional haul might pop up, I still like a good haul.

Here comes February
You know what? I'm quite excited for February! It's Valentine's day and the husband's birthday and it's generally a less depressing month than January. On the cards this month, maybe a quick day trip to Manchester? We're talking about it. I'm also looking forward to eating out twice this month because nobody enjoys cooking.

And that's it for now, I guess there isn't much to add for today.

B.

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A Fresh Start

I'm not sure whether anyone has noticed or not, but my blogging has been, for a lack of a better word, pretty much non-existent at the moment. I could blame it on the busy work season that was summer, the lack of inspiration, or general laziness, but... I'm not sure why I stopped writing. Maybe because the last thing I wanted to do was open up Photoshop, edit through hundreds of pictures, and deal with the Blogger platform.

So I've changed a few things and a few things have happened.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has had a good Christmas. While this year has been harder than in the past, as I'm away from my family in Canada, it was a lovely Christmas nonetheless. Crackers were popped, presents were ripped open, and I had a huge Christmas dinner before bed. I got so many beautiful gift, and also pulled off the ultimate Christmas surprise. If you want to see a few snaps of my Christmas, then read more.

Life Update: October

This is what I can gather from my latest update/instagram feed: I like taking selfies! Hah, might have to work on having more creative pictures up there, but I'm such a lazy bum when it comes to instagram. Anyway, here's what's been going on in the month of October.

Life Update: September

I am two days away from my 4-month mark living the UK, and already some things are changing. The biggest news? I got a new job! Today is my last day working at The Body Shop store, and I am very sad to go. I will forever be grateful that they gave me a chance, allowing me to land a decent job less than two weeks after I landed here. The girls at the shop have been welcoming, sweet, and I hope we do stay in touch. I'll definitely miss the free samples, the mini-makeovers, and the general friendliness of everyone I worked with. I never thought I would enjoy working in retail again, but the team at the shop made my time there really fun - especially during a time where I felt like such an outsider.

Life Update: June

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I've moved to Birmingham. To be exact, I'm living in Solihull, a suburb area that is about thirty minutes away from Birmingham. Anyway, I thought it would be a good idea to check in with you guys and let you know what I've been up to!

Terminal 5, Gate 14

Today's the big day. I'm currently sat in JFK airport, listening to Nina Nesbitt and wondering how I got here. I'm a couple of hours away from boarding a plane that will take me all the way to the UK and I don't have a return flight for once.

I kept telling everyone I was going to cry like a baby at the airport, but that wasn't the case. I did shed a few tears when I saw my parents get choked over me leaving, but once I boarded my first place, I felt okay. It felt like I was going to something good and familiar and exciting. When I first left for the UK (almost three years ago) for my study abroad semester, I cried a lot. I was completely petrified to go to a new country and I had no idea what to expect.

Things are a little more stable now because I know I'm going to be greeted by the best boy in the world, I'm going to see old friends, and familiar sights. I'm going to explore a new city, throw myself into a job hunt, and hopefully succeed at this new chapter in my life.

I am incredibly grateful for everyone who has ever helped me get to this airport terminal, including my best friends who showed me how brave I could be, my parents who allowed me to be completely selfish, and my family who will always let me there is a home for me in Canada, Peru or Chile, or wherever else they can be found.

This is a short one you guys, I hope that's okay.

ps. There's a little bird in the terminal.

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Teeny Updates

It's been a little over a week since I've written anything and I apologize. I have a few posts in mind but I have yet to fully flesh them out/take pictures to go along. To be honest, I've been lazy as hell because I feel like the days are counting down until I leave and there's so much to do. I thought I would give you a little update about my life for the few who might be interested and normal posting will resume very, very soon (I promise).

Today is a good day.

via Tumblr

I actually found out about this a couple of days ago, but I wanted to hold off until I had the actual paper proof in my hands to tell the whole world that I got my visa and I'm moving to the UK for the next 2 years. There are no words to describe how ecstatic, scared, excited, speechless and amazed I am about what's going to happen in a few weeks. As some of you may know, I have been in a long-distance relationship for the last 2 and half years with a lovely, cheeky boy from Wales. We have been traveling back and forth from Canada to UK ever since we met, whenever we can, and it's been just about the most difficult thing I've ever gone through.

Wake Up Call

weheartit.com

This is a bit of a real life post, mainly because there's no way for me to explain why I haven't been writing other than to tell you guys what I've been through. I don't want to go into too many details, because it would be a long story and I doubt everyone needs to know it. To make a long story short, my mom was recently hospitalized for a couple of days and for most of them, we had no idea what was wrong with her. Thankfully, she was well-cared for and is now back at home, recovering from a nasty bug that involved her blood, some freaking tubing coming from her neck, and a lonely father-daughter duo who tried to fend for themselves for a few days.

New Year Resolutions

Now, I normally am not one for resolutions. I mean, power to those who actually follow through with them but I'm such an underachiever sometimes that I don't see the point. Plus, the typical resolution of losing weight and working out more never apply to me because I'm a lazy bum.A little part of me always thinks I should work out more, but I've never been motivated enough to stick to it for more than a month. 

I Hate Saying Goodbye

It happened again.

We said our goodbyes at the airport in tears and walked away from each other. 

This is the fourth time in two years that we have to part and hopefully it's the last time. We promised each other that next time we see each other, it's a one way ticket. No return flight. No goodbyes. No pain.

New Year's Eve

Unlike most, the boyfriend and I started New Year's Eve with a post-party breakfast. We actually attended a late Christmas party the night before and the boyfriend was in dire need of some fried food to bring him back to life. I wanted crepes, but my favourite crepes place was closed down for the day. We settled for a breakfast spot near my house that makes the best eggs benedict I've ever had. The rest of our day was spent at home, recovering from last night's party. We were supposed to have people over but the homebody in me just did not want to deal with the drama and stress of planning a party for everyone else.

Don't put dreams aside.

I think a lot about the future.

Like a lot.

And I love making lists. Lists what I want to accomplish, where I want to travel, and what I want to learn. There are many lists and sometimes I think I should write those lists on my wall to keep me inspired. Sometimes, life can be a little mundane and it's hard to remember what you're looking forward to. That's why I make those list, because I don't want to lose sight of what I want to do. It's almost like when Ellie in Up made that adventure book? It motivated her to go on her own adventures. I have my own version of that, it's a small notebook where I write whatever goes through my head. Quotes I like, ideas I have, pictures that inspire me. It's an everything notebook.

Tell 'em that it's my birthday

So although my birthday was last weekend, I didn't get a chance to celebrate with my friends until the next week. I would have put up the pictures earlier, but as expected, I woke up very hungover and didn't do much for the rest of the day. Excuse my lack of updates, I have a couple of posts written up but I have no picture yet. Plus, it was the first week of my last year of university, so I've been busy, busy busy.

Anyway, click below for the drunken debacle that was my 22nd birthday.

If we just keep dancing like we're 22

I'm turning 22 in less than two days.

Twenty two.

It's crazy fast time flies, doesn't it? I don't feel 22. Sometimes I think I'm still 18 mentally. I always thought I would be in a completely different place at 22. I thought 22 was an age where I knew where my career was going, I lived on my own, and I would be happy. One out of three ain't so bad, now is it? I am happy. There are a lot of circumstances I would change if I could, but I can't right now. I have to be patient and let things work themselves out.

It feels like home.

I never planned on living elsewhere. Montreal has always been my home, until about two years ago when it simply didn't feel like home anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love this city. I always will. It's exciting in its own ways and it's beautiful. It's my family and friends and everything I've ever known. But for the last few months I've been toying with the idea of moving to the UK to be with my boyfriend and now it's not really a vague dream? We have plans. We're saving up. I'm reading about visas, getting ticket updates, and trying to adapt my CV for another country. It's very scary.

This is the dreaded introductory post.

BLANK.