“I am just going outside and may be some time.” -Lawrence Oates, Antarctic explorer and British Army Officer
Last time that I wrote here was more than 3 years ago. I had recently moved in with my girlfriend, we were in a new little adventure, and we hadn’t found Gary our lovely little son.
Now, we have been engaged, married, we have our boy Gary (cat), I am a citizen of a new country, we are married living long distance and we are about to reunite, most likely in a third country.
We have quite had a few wild years.
2020
January 2020 was a whole different world looking back. Obviously covid happened in our area in March. I started 2020 starting to work out a good bit, I was reading, things were good. Then, of course, I fell off a little bit but was doing my best. Then we found Gary outside our apartment, brought him to the vet, cleaned him up and welcomed him into our house and heart.
Then the next week, everything shut down. Amber and I were eating lunch, waiting for her glasses to be ready for pickup, following the Australian GP news as things in Australia were shutting down, and then, news came that the US based sports leagues were shutting down. We were aware of it for a while but that’s when it really hit.
Then when we got home, her University had announced that classes were going online. It was like a house of cards that when one thing imposed limitations everything followed suit.
Luckily, thankfully, my job is 100% remote from day 1(of my employment but especially since covid). They have always been super cool about this and I am so happy to say that. Amber was at University and struggled but we were very lucky to not have our income jeopardised by the Covid measures.
Enough about that though, life was going well, it was a great test on the relationship. We learned how well we worked together, how connected and kind we could be to each other. We would have preferred to have not been locked in the apartment together all day, every day but for dealing with it, it was really good. We did tons of Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Mario Kart, Netflix, Podcasts, Books and just overall were able to spend a lot of quality time when we were not working or studying.
I saw so much about people being stuck inside with their partners and how it tore things apart and we were incredibly lucky to not have that situation. If anything it strengthened us and we learned tons about each other and how we both do things.
2021
2021 was similar but a bit better, things opened up, we got the vaccine, we were able to do some more things. We travelled a little, I travelled for work, got Covid, brought it home to Amber, and we were both infected and missed Christmas 2021. I think she still hasn’t totally forgiven me, or the coworker of mine who brought it to us.
2022
2022 was the year of madness. We went to New York, we lived a more normal life. I moved to Italy for my citizenship. We got engaged, we got married on Christmas Eve. It was a simple wedding, just Amber, Myself, our parents and the Officiant. However it was not without its own troubles.
We woke up in the morning, it was 13°F (-11°C) and I was going to wake up, go to a local bakery, get some yummy bagels and donuts for breakfast. However, our barely surviving 2001 Honda Civic was not managing it. It didn’t start. I tried for about 20 minutes before giving up.
Amber went outside to try after a bit, she was trying and then decided it was dead. She called her mother who was coming to the wedding and informed her we needed to be picked up and we needed a jump.
At that time, someone came to park right next to our car, Amber, was flustered becasue of the situation and jumped up to ask them to not park next to her so that her mom could help us jump the car. Unfortunately, she left the keys, and her purse in the car, and the door shut, and the door was locked.
So now, on the morning of our wedding, Amber and I were locked out of our car, without food, unable to drive to the wedding venue, and her purse and our keys were locked in the car.
Then, to top it off, the venue we were going to, which was a little Chapel, was locked, on Christmas Eve. Still just stunning to me, a Chapel closed on Christmas Eve. So, we got married in the 20°F (-7°C) weather on the steps of the Chapel we wanted to get married inside of. It was cute, I cried. She cried. We were very happy and thankful but it was cold and I did NOT have a jacket because I am stupid and didn’t bring one. Eh, life what are you going to do.
The key is that we were together, promised our love to each other and took a step to our future. :)
2023
Now, it’s 2023, I am in Italy, she is in the US. We are married and living long distance. So stupid but the damn world is conspiring against us it feels with the timing of things but we are doing our best.
I am looking all the time for new apartments that me, her and our kitties could move in to together. We are looking in Lucca, Florence, Bremen and Oldenburg. This is Italy and Germany. Who knows what will work, but we are excited just to be together.
I have two showings this week for apartments in Germany, those might work out lovely! Who knows though, everything has been a surprise each time.
I hope it goes well. I just want something settled so we can plan.
So here we are, my wife and I (it’s really fun to be able to say that) are going to be moving in together, having a delayed honeymoon and just throwing caution to the wind and completely migrating into a new life. Who the hell knows what is coming next but I am so thankful that I am going to be able to go at it with Amber at my side and we are able to help each other with each step as we go along.
I hope to see more people as we go through this and do a bit of a better job writing bits as things go along. It’ll be an adventure regardless. I hope to bring you with us.