Meanwhile...

I had almost completely forgotten about this blog. In fact I had almost completely forgotten how nice it is to write out what is on your mind.

To start, I ended up moving to Switzerland about a month and a half early in on May 13th, 2005. My then fiance's grandmother who she was very close to died, so I packed up everything in a matter of hours and headed over to Switzerland. Other than that unfortunate death, everything went very well.

First we lived with my then fiance's friend for a few months and I looked after her two young girls during the day. In August we moved to an apartment and my then fiancee started a new job. We got married on January 13th, 2006 and had a nice honeymoon in Canada where she got to meet my whole extended family.

I started German classes and began looking for work, and here we are 18 months later! Happily married, with a dog, and still taking German classes and looking for work! It's still not easy, but I try to stay positive. Well, the marriage is easy, at least I think as easy as marriages can get! Despite the fact that we are quite different we fit together very well. It's the living in a foreign country away from your family where you must learn the language despite not being a very social person that's not so easy! Money is not as issue(thank goodness) as my Wife has a good job that can support us both.

So yeah, despite the difficulties I try to stay motivated. My motivation tends to wear down after months however if I don't pay attention. Which is what has led me back here. Without motivation I am more of a passenger in my own life than the driver, which when I think about it scares me. You only live once and I don't want to miss it or have any regrets about things I wish I had done!

It's so easy to just fall into a routine when everything is mostly the same every week. To take things for granted that shouldn't be taken for granted and start to forget what it is you live for. To forget that it is the little things that matter the most. The emails, the little notes, the small spontaneous gifts, a few words and a loving look. The motivations, the daily goals, the little challenges. Taken individually they mean little, but when you put them all together they are the essence of life and of happiness.

Now about my Wife; she is many things, all of which are dear to me, even the parts that I don't always like. She is loving, and caring, sometimes overbearing! She is thoughtful, and helpful, sometimes bossy! She is motivated, and optimistic, and sometimes stubborn! She is my light, my life, my world. Sometimes it's easy to forget that when you see the same person everyday, despite what you might have thought in the past. Sometimes it's necessary to do more than just what is expected of you.

Life. It reminds me of a locomotive. In the beginning everything is going very slowly. A year seems to last forever, but you're too young to really care or cherish it. Before long it's going by at a good pace, it doesn't seem to fast or too slow but you wish it would hurry up anyway. Then before you realize it, events in your life are flying by at a fast pace and if you try to focus on any one event close to you, it is gone before you ever really see it. I can only imagine how much faster it gets from here, once kids come into the picture. I can see myself at fifty looking back at today like it was only yesterday. So I hope between now and then I remember to take time to look at the big picture. If you don't try to focus on anything too close to you, and you step back and look at your entire life before you, both past and future, it all becomes clearer.

I am happy here. I miss my family, friends, and some old hobbies, but I am happy. What I am doing is not something that many people get to experience and I am happy for it and that I can share it with one who means so much to me.

This is life! I have to remind myself from time to time to make sure I am living it!