January 5th marks the day Ross + I landed in London. It marks the day the taxi dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, the middle of the ghetto in London {I will never go back to our first shack}. I will never forget my feelings: terrified of the future, uncomfortable in our new "home", and completely unsure + insecure about myself. Will we make it here? Will we succeed or will we fail? Will we survive? Will we like our new lives in London?
And, I am here, one year later to say, even though there are still things I'm uncomfortable with, even though there are still things that I am frustrated by, and even though I'm still homesick, we have made it {hooray!}. We made a name for ourselves abroad, we made some friends, and we made our little 550 square foot flat homey {that in itself is an accomplishment}.
People always ask, has the experience been worth it? How long will you stay? Would you do this again? Since moving, I've failed; I've cried; I've acted childish; I've snapped; I've failed again; I've been terrified; I've cried some more; I've judged things + people that were "different" and was judged myself; oh, and did I mention, I've cried? I've also laughed and learned and tried new things and laughed some more. I'm not sure what the future holds for us or what London means in the grand scheme of things, but, what I do know, is that right now, we are in the place we're supposed to be. And that has to count for something, right?
It's funny how much can happen in a year, how much can change, and how much growth + learning can occur. In a short year, we've experienced England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Wales, Spain, and shortly Qatar. We've also experienced coming home {many times!}, and there is no better feeling than seeing the smiles of loved ones after being gone for weeks/months. In this next year, we will have even more new experiences: new countries to visit, new people to meet, and I'm sure new challenges to overcome {sprinkled in with even more trips home for more weddings!}.
Needless to say, 2015 was a memorable year- definitely one for the books. And I'm sure the future will continue to be more of the same, crazy journey. That being said, cheers to 2016, this new year ahead of us, and a new year ahead of you.