Dating to Engaged to Married

There’s one thing that’s been consistent throughout the stages of dating, being engaged, and getting married. But first, I want to share what was different about these times for me. 

Honeymoon: Part 2

Day 6:

I hate mosquitos! I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes everywhere we went. No more walks by the golf course or sitting in pool chairs near the bushes. To make matters worse, all of the stores were out of bug spray, so we really had no defense.

Honeymoon: Part 1

Day 1: 

Arrived in Mexico.

Disclaimer* We needed a rental car to explore the area as well as get to our resort. So Nick used his impressive negotiating skills to get the nicest car on the lot for the cheapest price. Once we arrived we couldn't resist taking this picture to send to the family group chat to let them know we made it safe and sound.

The AC in our Mercedes was much appreciated for our hour long drive to the resort. Our accommodations for the 10 days was condo on the golf course in an all-inclusive resort (and we even reaped the benefits of free food and drinks without having to pay for it). Not sure how we managed to make that happen, but it sure was nice. 

First Christmas Somewhere New

I love Christmas. I love the traditions, the lights and the smells. I love wrapping, giving gifts, and maybe opening a few too! Before Nick and I got married we had the “holiday talk” to figure out where we were going to spend the holidays once we were married. The two main holidays that we wanted to figure out were Thanksgiving and Christmas. One helpful thing is that Canadian and American thanksgivings are a month apart. Since American thanksgiving is pretty close to Christmas we’ve decided we would always be with his family for thanksgiving. Then we would go to Canada every year for Christmas and probably stick around for New Years.

New Country, New Home, New Relationship Status

Our bags were packed and we were about to start on one of the many adventures of our lives. Thankfully Nick and I had each other. Our move to Virginia was definitely stepping into unfamiliar territory, but we were excited and had been anticipating this move for a while. We got settled in and the first thing we realized was that all our friends were miles away. We loved hanging out with each other, but we knew we needed to get plugged into community. 

This hadn’t been a challenge for us previously. For some, this happens when they go off to college, but for each of us we had immediate connections with a group of friends because we both played on a team at college. It was especially easy because that new group of friends had a lot of the same interests, even beyond the sport we played together.

Two Suitcases and a Backpack

When I was 18 I moved from a small town outside of Vancouver, Canada to Lynchburg, Virginia to go to Liberty University. I was recruited to play on their NCAA Div.1 Field Hockey team and was super excited, but I also did not know a single person.

Words That Cause Confusion

Moving to Lynchburg, Virginia for university from Vancouver, Canada was not a huge culture shock for me; I think it was more shocking for the people I met. First of all, I didn’t realize I had an accent until everyone I talked to pointed it out. I can’t really hear the difference, but people think words that have “ou” in them are where they hear the accent the strongest. I can’t tell you how many times my friends would make me say “house” or “out” and then just start laughing.