Almost Christmas Catch Up

Well I am here for an update! Gareth and I have now been married for just over a month! Cannot believe it has gone so fast, yet on the other hand it feels as if we have been together for YEARS already haha! I told him I think this is a good and bad thing. Good thing as it is nice to have the feeling of comfort and security that you don’t usually feel right away in new marriages (at least I wouldn’t think you would) but then bad because the whole immigration process sure did put a damper on the whole newness and newlywed phase I believe. This was our fate though and there was really no way around it legally especially with a child involved too!

We have now been dealing with the stresses of finances or lack thereof and of course making our 2 bedroom 1,000 sq foot apartment feel more like a home to the 3 of us. We figure we will be in the apartment at the least a few more years. So I have been trying to take on the task of reducing inventory in the home! Kind of hard when you work full time and have a child and then there was the wedding and now Christmas is just days away! I have managed to donate at least 3 huge boxes of stuff now though and sold off 2 garbage bags of clothes to a consignment shop so I am making SOME progress!

Gareth is adjusting well to Michigan and especially to being a step daddy! He does an awesome job with Gabby and I really could not ask for anyone better for the job! He walks her to school and back….helps her with projects….plays games with her….and we take turns reading to her at bedtime  Gareth is a bit down since this is his first Christmas EVER away from home which is sad for sure but I would lie if I didn’t say he has brought me down a bit too…..I am trying my hardest to understand what it was like but I am a bit jaded due to the military having me away from my family for many Christmases since the age of 19! I was super excited since this is OUR first Christmas together and I know Gareth is excited about that too but he still is very down so that makes it hard.

Gabby has been away just over a week now and it has been HARD for me! I feel quite alone without her even if Gareth is with me it still is just WEIRD. She is truly such a hunk of my heart and I cannot wait to see her on Christmas Eve day. She has been with her Dad which is awesome for her as I know how much she misses him throughout the year and she only gets to see him about 2 times a year. She did call me up though on Saturday night crying telling me how much she missed me which made me feel good I must admit as I was getting worried she wasn’t missing me as much as I was missing her haha! I told her she needed to enjoy her time with Daddy though and that she would be back with me very soon, so she calmed in the end…the call still very much warmed me and made me feel better.

I have been trying to get a photo book made up of our wedding photos for Gareth’s mum and also for ourselves and it has turned out to be a bigger pain in the ass then expected! 1st had to figure the software out, 2nd had to edit a ton of the pics still, 3rd have to deal with my crappy laptop that keeps needing to be shut down since it gets too hot even when there is no need for it to be as hot as it is randomly!, and 4th uploaded all the wrong pics so had to delete (which I could only delete a few at a time since it would not let me clear all at once!) and then upload the proper edited photos! SIGH…… My goal at this point is to have it ordered by the new year!!!

I have however gotten 8 gifts in a jar made up (half a bean soup and the other half smores in a jar) they turned out pretty cute and will go to the grandparents and teachers (Gabby had a snow day on day of her class party so teachers will get them as New Year gifts).

Only present things I have left to do are put tags on them and find something for Gareth (even though we said no gifts he got me something so now I have to get him something!). Gareth wrapped all the gifts this year so that was AWESOME! He does a much better job than me too haha!

I started weight watchers just over a week ago and lost 4.8 pounds my first week! I was pleased but know it could have been better if I had really followed the plan. I am hoping Christmas doesn’t pack too much on me and that I stay the same or by some miracle have lost even a fraction this coming Saturday after Christmas! My clothes are all just way too tight and I cannot afford to keep buying bigger sizes so enough was enough! I am trying to get the whole 10,000 steps in a day too but it is proving to be a lot harder than I anticipated! I asked at the meeting what the average mileage that was and they said 5 miles! So I am going to try and walk more during the day and maybe even start utilizing the gym we have at our apartment! Spring time will get outside and hoof it a lot more as well! I want to feel good in my swimsuit this summer dang it!

The snow just won’t stop coming down here in Michigan it is crazy! I don’t remember us having this much snow before Christmas in a long time! Of course I was away for 10 years but yeah still haha…it is really pretty though even if it is making the roads hell. Need to get snow pants as want to start going sledding with Gabby on the weekends as what a great workout that is huffing and puffing my way up the hills!

Gareth and I need to get cooking on our immigration paperwork too. It has to be sent out by mid January I believe so that is in no time at all! We have almost all completed it is just putting all together and assembling with cover sheet etc….picking up our certified copy of marriage license tonight after work and then need to find out tax info I think for 2005 and then we are pretty much set! Oh and of course photos of us together but that is easy too! Will be so nice when it is sent off! Feels like we have constant paperwork lately and I just want it to go away haha. I need to apply for a masters program as well so that makes more paperwork for me too! Someday I will be able to rest more…..


And after all my random blabbing here are a couple pics I love of just me from our wedding day....more to come!