So today Ben and I are celebrating our first year of marriage, or our "Paper Anniversary".
Now I can tell you that our first year as a married couple has been anything but as boring as paper! Here are just some of the times that we've gone through since our wedding day:
1. Both of us coming down with the norovirus just 24 hours after we were married, which is NOT how we were expecting things to go right off the bat. For those of you who don't know, the norovirus is a particularly nasty (and violent) sickness bug usually lasting for 2-3 days. It is the worst illness I can ever remember having, and it made us miss the first 2 days of our honeymoon. We are still very grateful to Mum and Dad for looking after us during that time! And this is what Dad had to say about it...
"We weren't expecting the "in sickness" part of the vows to happen quite so soon!"
Which is of course amusing. More so now than at the time.
2. Going through the immigration process and all that that entailed. We're talking lots of background reading, various forms, pictures, background checks, fingerprints, a medical exam, a fair amount of money and an interview. Not to mention double, triple and quadruple checking everything before we sent it off! I couldn't have done this without Ben as he is a whizz at understanding such complicated information and filling out forms.
This process went from the end of January when we sent off the forms to that one day in May when I received my green card in the post. What a relief that was! We were (and still are) thankful for how smoothly the whole process went. We know God was with us through the whole thing.
3. Learning about many new things like the currency, driving on the other side of the road and navigating a completely different road system. Not to mention having my first experiences of what bills to pay, when to pay them and how to pay them.
Trying to figure out various military acronyms like DFAC, MPF, BAH, BAS, LOR, LOC, CAMS, CAC (and the list goes on), has also been quite a task. As well as understanding air force protocol, etiquette, ranks, where everything is on base, what the routine is at each building and where to go for support. I can't even remember my own Social Security Number (which is something else that I needed to apply for) because people ask for Ben's number a lot more often than mine.
There are probably other things that I have had to learn but those are the ones that come to mind, and many of them are still a work in progress!
4. Acquiring my drivers license, which thankfully wasn't too difficult to achieve. I went through this process the month before Ben deployed. It required a written test and a practical test much like the UK. I did a lot of preparation for the written exam by reading the Georgia state driving manual and taking LOTS of practice tests. Thankfully I passed it and only failed a few questions. The practical test went fairly smoothly for the most part even though I completely botched the parallel parking!
The whole process was so much more simple compared to the UK where they are becoming more and more strict each year. So if you passed your test first time over there, then I salute you!
5. Pre-deployment was certainly challenging for me, and of course for Ben too. There are so many emotions leading up to saying goodbye and a lot of them are indescribable. Even to me. So I believe that's why I started having panic attacks 2 weeks before Ben left. I think it was partly my body needing to express those unknown and unexpressed emotions and anxieties. Because of the attacks and the anticipation of him leaving, I found myself crying a lot more than usual.
Helping Ben to pack was bittersweet as I enjoyed it, but I knew that it meant he would be leaving soon. At least I learnt how to roll socks the military way, right?!
6. The current part of this deployment, or "Sustainment" as they call it. Ben and I were discussing this a bit last night, and he was saying that it's been the hardest situation we've gone through since marriage. I think the main reason for this is quite simply because we are not physically together. Whilst other times have been difficult, they've been "easier" to go through because we've been able to actually be there to support one another.
But of course we are doing all we can to support one another from afar. We've still been able to talk and listen through means of Skype, as well as having fun and being silly. Ben has been his usual patient and encouraging self, which I think he's absolutely amazing for! And I've absolutely loved putting together care packages for him. They all arrived in time, aside from the snack box which went all the way to a US Navy Ship first before going to him so it took 2 months to get there! We know this because he received the package with an extra sticker on it saying that it had been mis-sent to this particular Navy ship. At least we found out why it took so long!
There is so much more I could have added, but we would have been here for a long time.
Despite all of the above, many other life events and some miscommunication and misunderstandings along the way. There is no doubting that it has been one of the most amazing years of our lives and we love each other even more now than when we first got married. Most likely because we've been through so much together.
Here's to many more adventures!
Before I finish this post I'm going to leave you with a gallery of some of my favourite photos from our wedding day. Enjoy!
Have a joyful day everyone!
Kathryn.