December 2015

Where do I begin?

To say that December has been a month of mixed emotions doesn't begin to cover it. There comes a time in everyone's lives where something has to change, and on 28 December 2015, such a moment happened to me - I said goodbye to my family and my life in my home country of the UK that I've known for the past 29 years, and took a one way flight across the pond to start a new life in the USA with my soon-to-be wife Nicole. This was something that had been in the works for this whole year, and while the waiting and the whole process of applying for the visa got a little bit frustrating at times, it all came together in the end.
I always knew that saying goodbye to my family, especially my twin brother, would be one of the hardest things that I would ever have to do, and as emotional as it was, it needed to be done. At the end of the day, they all want me to be happy, no matter where I am in the world. And making this move doesn't mean that I intend on losing touch with any of my family or friends back in the UK, if anything it makes my connection with them stronger. As a good friend said to me, "you can take the lad out of County Durham but you can't take County Durham out of the lad."
My flights over to the US were absolutely fine, and to my surprise I had no trouble at US customs either - the only problem that happened was that British Airways left one of my bags in London, but that all got sorted thankfully. And when I was reunited with my lovely Nicole, I was finally able to say "I did it!"
We got moved into our own place, a very spacious apartment - it took a couple of days to adjust to it, there were a few moments where we both thought "pinch me, is this real?", but it already feels like home now. There's still much for me to get used to, but I'm sure in time that I will, and I know that Nicole will help me to do so.
With all that's been happening, Christmas has almost been an afterthought - however I'm glad that I was able to spend Christmas with my family before the move, as well as apending the New Year with Nicole and her family and friends - the best of both worlds, really.
As 2015 draws to a close, I can only wonder what 2016 is going to bring, not just for myself but for everyone. To this I say, it will bring what it will bring, let's just see what happens.

I'll leave you with my final artwork selection of this year, a festive group shot for my DeviantArt friends. Which leaves me to say just this: wherever you are in the world, whoever you're with, I wish you all the best for 2016 and beyond. :)