One January 9, Mitch and I decided that we should get married on Friday the 13th. Oddly enough, we ended up actually saying I do on the 13th at around 13:13 p.m. Yes, 13 is our favorite number. :)
I started my pile of immigration paperwork in February. You know, to change my status from being a total alien now that I was married to a good ole American boy. No, I didn't get married just for this. Anyone who hangs out with Mitch and I for 5 minutes would know that.
Mitch and I went for our immigration interview on the 12th of June. We were interviewed separately. While they didn't ask too many awkward questions, there were questions like "what size is your bed?" that caught me off guard. Also, Mitch and I argued about the color of our bedroom walls...the whole ride back home. I still stand by my answer. While driving back, I received an email from the Department of Homeland Security informing me that my application has been sent to process. The next day, I received another email letting me know that my application for permanent residency has passed! I received a "Welcome to the United States" packet toward the end of June.
In July, Mitch and I moved across the states to California. We wanted to try it out...see if we would like it. After 6 weeks of fruitless job search, our car broken into and our dwindling savings, we decided to drive back to dear old Minnesota. Since we were essentially homeless, my awesome sister in law let us stay with her. For two and a half months, Mitch and I stayed over at their house, with three cats and three dogs.
In October, we finally moved to our own place in St. Paul! So instead of it taking about 2 hours to get to work in Minneapolis, I had a 15-20 minute drive. We celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple. It's still odd to say that.
As I sit here, writing this, my fondest memories are of Mitch and I spending our days on the road and nights at rest stops, watching movies in the our car. We've traveled many miles and visited more states in a few days than the average person. I would do another road trip with my dear husband and choose to spend the night snuggled together in our car. So all in a year, we were both employed, unemployed, homeless, adventurers and more importantly, in love.
I can't wait to start a whole new year with my best friend. 2013. The best year yet!
Love to all my friends and family,
Mrs. Heid (that is still so awkward)