I am so sorry to all our family back home! I have
not blogged about ANYTHING since being here in Calgary! I really should have
been because a lot has happened… both good and bad. First off I LOVE being back
in Alberta, I am extremely sentimental about every little thing, even the look
of Alberta license plates haha Cindy can testify to that! She spent the entire
15 or so hours with me in my car on the drive up to Edmonton. I don’t know if I
should feel sorry for her or explain how lucky she was to spend that time with
me ;) But I came home to my new baby niece Ella who is honestly such a gorgeous
baby. Blonde, big blue eyes, and well-tempered, just like her mom and dad. She
is a very lucky little girl to have Crystal and Tanner as her parents. I am
loving life being back together with my family. There could not have been a
sweeter reunion. I love them all so much and it has been amazing to be close to
them again. We are living in an apartment complex on the south east side of
Calgary. Our apartment is huge compared to our place back home… Alex and I
cannot see eachother at all times, there are corners and rooms that we can
actually disappear into haha They are newly renovated and clean which is great,
and I have tried to make it as homey as I can. But I want to paint the walls so
bad! They are white and boring and driving me nuts, but that’s what you get
when you only live somewhere for four months. Alex has been enjoying work and
is on track to have his best summer yet, so we are both very happy, and it has
been nice to reunite with Michelle Forsyth and her cute little family J We have a fun group of girls here this
summer all supporting our husbands haha Sarah Bonnett is from Las Vegas and has
two little boys, Amanda Forsyth from Lethbridge and Karli Johnson who just
recently reunited with her husband after two months of being apart! So it has
been very fun being around the girls and the four kids in going to the Zoo,
Calaway Park, Elbow Falls, and the spray park! You name it and i am sure we
have done it haha I go home quite a bit and then Alex joins me on Sunday, we
had the opportunity of going to my cousins wedding! Blake and Lindsay are way
too cute and I could not have been happier for them. It was nice for Alex and I
to witness their marriage and to be there as they were sealed for time and
eternity. It reminded us of the covenants that we made to each other 6 months
ago J BANFF :)
It’s crazy to think that Alex and I have been
married for 6 months!! Alex doesn’t think six months is anything to celebrate,
but he came home with flowers and some sparkling juice and took me out for
dinner because he knew I cared J I can honestly say that these
past 6 months have been the happiest and saddest times of my life. I have made
hard decisions and sacrificed lots… and it has been worth EVERY single penny.
Alex and I are so happy, I could not have asked for a better man in my life. He
knows how to handle me when I am crazy, cares for me when I am sick (which has
been a lot lately…), and makes me laugh when I am mad or stressed. We have so
much fun together and try to do as much as we can together when we get the
time. Alex leaves at 12 and doesn’t get home till around 10 every week day and
then Saturdays he leaves at 8:45 and gets home at 10… We only have the
mornings, a couple hours at night and then Sundays to be together, so we try to
make the most of it! In the mornings we usually take an hour or so to just lay
in bed and cuddle and be lazy, and then we will usually go for a walk. Our
nights end in us cuddling and watching part of a movie, however, Alex cannot
stay awake in movies to save his life… it’s a bit ridiculous. But Alex and I
have been to Banff twice now, we love it there. On Canada Day we took Zach and
Karli to Banff and went on a hike up to Johnston’s Falls. It was such a pretty
hike and the falls were gorgeous! I could stand beside a waterfall and just sit
there for hours on end… 
Now onto a couple of issues that Alex and I have
been dealing with. I’ll start with the stomach pains that I have been having. I
don’t know what to call it and neither do the doctors, I have been to two
different ones and have now been referred to specialists. I have been in for
multiple blood tests, ultrasounds, breath tests, all kinds of tests and
everything has come back fine, but i am still in pain… Possible diagnosis are
GI, crohns or colitis, or endometriosis. The last two would be the worst case
scenarios and we are just trying to rule them out as possibilities. GI is most
likely what is going on in which I will have to change my diet and be very careful
what I eat which isn’t ideal but not horrible. I have been having episodes of extreme
pain every month or so, constant pressure in my stomach abdominal area, am
constantly tired, food doesn’t seem to be digesting properly, as well as other
annoying symptoms. I have been dealing with it since last September…so I had
just had one of my stomach episodes, and on the day that those happen I cannot
stand up straight, walk around, nothing, and then my stomach is uneasy and sore
for a few days following. Well two days later I burnt my foot way bad!! Talk
about bad luck, oh my heck! So stupid… I was boiling water and the cup with the
hot water slipped out of my hand and spilt down and onto my poor foot! I was
wearing socks and I was in so much pain that I was not thinking clearly and I
ripped my sock off taking most of the skin on my foot with it… it was the most
excruciating pain, well besides the Stomach pains but those come and go
throughout the day and the burning was constant for a couple days. So Alex got me
a bucket of water and that helped but it still killed and I didn’t know what to
do next! So of course I hopped on Facebook and asked for opinions haha \then I
called health link and they told me to go to the hospital. That was a horrible
experience!! First, I had to take my foot out of the water to get to the car
which was so freaking painful. But Alex, as strong as he is, carried me and my
bucket of water so that I could have it on the drive there haha it was so
embarrassing walking in because I was balling obviously haha and couldn’t
really explain to the reception what had happened. But they got me in a
wheelchair, my bucket and all, and got me in right away. But then they had to
wrap it, which means taking it out of the water, and I thought I was going to
die haha (dramatic I know) and so they gave me T3 and a shot of morphine and it
almost did the trick. It took a while to kick in and even then I thought they
had given me a placebo because it still freaking burned, but it was somewhat
bearable now. I am just glad it happened when Alex was around so he could drive
me and just be with me! There’s no way I could have driven there on my own. So
that’s the deal with my health issues.
Now for my immigration update! It still sucks and
is as frustrating as ever. I really wish I had just paid a lawyer to do it,
looking back now I definitely should have. Firstly, our post office in Logan
decided the send the notices that immigration was sending back to them instead
of forward them to Cindy as I had requested… Immigration of course paused my
application without me knowing… So that was hold up #1. Secondly, I was told
before I came to Canada that I did not need my fingerprints done in order to
receive my Advanced Parole which allows me back into the United States. An
immigration officer recently informed me that I DO need the fingerprints done
in order for the document to be processed and completed and you can only get
them done in the United States. If he is correct, then that means I cannot get
my advanced parole document which means I cannot go back to the states without
immigration denying my request for permanent residency. So basically, I’m
screwed. I am waiting for the notice to be sent to Cindy that will notify me
whether or not I actually do need my fingerprints done, and if I do, then there
is a border patrol guy who is trying to help me get across. Because I still
have a valid student visa there is a possibility that I can get back across on
that without immigration throwing a fit. So right now I am just kind of
waiting… if I can’t get across then I will have to re file from Canada which would
keep me here an extra year. Alex and I are already planning on taking a
semester off and traveling Europe. Even if things go well, my travel document won’t
come till after the semester starts anyways, so while we have no children, no
mortgage, or real obligations we may as well take advantage of it! Taking a
semester off does not change when Alex graduates, it just makes what would have
been an easy semester a harder semester so it’s not a big deal school wise
either. We plan on selling post season, and then backpack Europe for the month
of October and then take a cruise from Spain on the 5th of November
for 13 days, ending in Florida. But we will know for sure what we are going to
do when Cindy receives the notice…scary.
So that’s the long/ short summary of the past few
months here in Calgary, and like I said there have been some great times, and
some not so great times haha but as Alex always says, “everything will be fine,
it will all work out.”
