A Leap of Faith

Today marks exactly a year and a half since our wedding day! I felt like doing a post reminiscing back on our special day & everything it took to get to it!

A little flash back before the big day...

Sean and I met in Cancun, Mexico on vacation in March 2009. He was the first Canadian I had met &   we talked the night away on the beach about our different worlds. We instantly clicked. We only had 2 short days together in Mexico, but exchanged numbers and said we would keep in touch. Little did we know, that spring break trip was going to change our lives.

We went back to our daily lives and talked every single day with texting, Skyping, talking on the phone and through Facebook. I remember sometimes feeling like I didn't understand WHY exactly I felt SO drawn to someone that I barely knew... He lives in Canada for crying out loud! We had something special though and I couldn't let that go. (Funny fact, when we met I was currently living in a city called Little Canada in Minnesota. A little foreshadowing?)

First trip to Canada (I look so young!)

Before dropping me off at the airport from my first trip up to visit Sean

We did long distance for a year and a half, had a few trips to visit each other & finally had the discussion about what exactly we were going to do if we continued our relationship. I'll be honest, I never thought about moving to Canada. Ever. But I was 19, young and didn't exactly know what or where I wanted to go in life. Sean was starting his career, more settled where he was living at the time and I guess it just seemed right. I'll never forget telling my mom that I was going to start looking into moving to Canada. The look on her face and the long pause. She wasn't exactly happy. I mean what mom would be happy to hear that her 19 year old daughter is moving to a different country to be with a guy that she barely knew?? My mom told me something really interesting though. Her mom, so my grandma, actually loved Canada. One of her favorite places in the world was Vancouver. (My grandma passed away when I was 1 years old so I never got to know her.) My mom also told me that in my grandma's casket there were maple leaves printed all over. I remember it gave me goosebumps.  I believe hearing my mom talk about my grandma and her connection with Canada helped make my decision. Even till this day I know my grandma is the reason I met Sean and guided me to make the big, difficult & unsure move to Canada to be with him. 

Sean's first trip to Minnesota

Seems like so long ago..

Flying back to Canada for another trip

Moving to Canada wasn't easy. It was a complete leap of faith. I left my family, friends and everything I knew to come to a small town in northern British Columbia. Besides going through frequent lonely and homesick moments I was going through a lot of stress with applying for Canadian residency. (This is a whole other subject/post I could write about! Uh.) There were many moments of feeling like everything was against us being together. 

So after 2.5 years of living in Canada as a visitor so I could live with Sean, working on a work permit, filling out endless paper work, collecting every photo that we had together for proof & asking friends and family to sign a form starting they were aware of our relationship... I FINALLY received my Canadian residency! I'll be honest and say that wasn't an easy time for our relationship. We had to stay strong & stay focused on WHY we were going through everything. To be together. I think some couples wouldn't have been able to make it. It was a very long, draining, made you question yourself and stressful process! But we did it and I really believe it made us closer. To receive my residency made me feel like for the FIRST time I could breathe & know that I can stay in Canada and be with Sean. Everything we had worked for was worth it!

My approved application!!

After I walked across the border into Canada and received my Canadian residency! I can't even explain in words how I felt on this day. 

May 1st, 2014

Our wedding day of course was a special day and meant the world to me, but I felt it symbolized more than becoming man & wife. For me it also felt like a celebration day of "we did it". After some days of feeling like everything was against our relationship & us being together this was the day all of that went away. We had been through quite a rollercoaster ride and now here we are standing back in Mexico on the beach exchanging vows. 

For my "something blue" I had a piece of material from my grandma's dress that she wore to my mom's wedding sown into my dress

 

To have our family and friends together for the first time was amazing! With everyone living so far away from each other we knew this wasn't going to happen very often, so we definitely appreciated it and took in the special moment!

 It was the best day of my life so far... soon with the birth of our baby girl I know I will be experiencing an even MORE best day of my life! I couldn't be happier and feel more blessed to be married to my best friend every single day. 

You just never know where life will take you.

xo Ashley