Beyond New Zealand: We’ve Decided on Forever {Part 1}

{Well, my sweet Christopher is away for a week for work. So I’ve decided to maybe catch up the blog a bit, by not going home straight after work and stealing WiFi from the local McDonalds. Basically this will get me caught up on the “BIG” events for now.}

So as you know, I was in California two weeks prior to Chris’s arrival and I was done. I was READY to go home. I tried to convince myself that I was excited to have the wedding in California and that everything was great. But truth be told, I was sad. I was sad that I was surrounded by people I didn’t know for the biggest event of my life. It didn’t really hit me until I was out in California that I really wanted to be surrounded by my family and friends. I am grateful to Chris’s family, don’t get me wrong, but the longer I was there, the more I wanted those important people in my life sharing on the biggest day of my life, and I knew they weren’t going to be there. But I wanted Chris to be happy, and he had dreamed of having the wedding at “the ranch” since he was young, and I would do anything for him.

I am extremely grateful to Chris’s parents for having the wedding at their house and planning and paying for everything. I wouldn’t have been able to have the wedding in California without their help; so I don’t want the above statements to make it sound like I am ungrateful because I’m not.

Anyway… things weren’t all bad. My brother Brent arrived on the same flight as Chris. I was so excited that he took the time and money to fly all the way from Germany to join me on my wedding day $ That was a happy day.

I also had my amazing “uncle” Chad and “aunt” Christy drive all the way from Utah to be with us.

And of course I can’t forget Kimmie, the best, most amazing, wonderful, (insert as many positive adjectives you can think of here, and we still wont have enough) maid-of-honor. Kimmie and I have been friends since middle school, and one of the few, if not the only, I keep in contact with from High School. She’s the greatest!

I am so grateful to these few who made the trip to be with me. It means more to me than they’ll ever know.

That being said, after two weeks at the Ranch, I was ready to go home. I was so happy to finally have people at the ranch with me, but I was missing home, and my comforts immensely. (As you’ll remember, I moved all my stuff to Chris’s house at the end of May and then was living with Kale, going back and forth to my mom’s house.) I probably didn’t “enjoy the day” as much as I should have. I don’t even have pictures of anything except the ones the photographer took Crying face