Ex-pat Newlyweds

One year ago…

One year (and four days) ago, Josh and I stood under a tree at the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver, B.C., and promised to our family, friends and each other that we would be husband and wife.

The day blurred by, between car rides, appointments, ceremonies and finally some dancing. Much in the same manner, the last year has flown by too. One year ago, we were lounging poolside in Maui. Today, we’re shivering in Berlin, but I’m not complaining.

In a way, being married is a bit of a frustrating restart button. Josh and I married five years (to the day!) after our first date, so really, we were celebrating six years of being a couple, one year of being — as my oma says — an honest one. But one year is longer than 90% of Hollywood romances, so we might as well celebrate big, right? We did, but that story will come later.

But really, if Josh and I survived the six month period from the end of August, 2008, to January 2009, I think we already know that we have a solid relationship. Those six months went a little like this:

Sabine starts a new job that expires at the end of November while Josh gets laid off along with the majority of the company and finds out about it from a phone call received at the top of the CN Tower in Toronto. We attend a friend’s wedding, leave Toronto the next morning to make it back to Vancouver for another wedding. Discussion. We decide that it makes no sense for us to find new jobs for three months and make the leap into planning a move to Germany. Meanwhile, there are still details for the wedding to figure out — like the cake, among other things. Cake gets sorted out, RSVPs are chased down and Josh visits Berlin for 36 hours, spending 10 of those in job interviews. He flies home, causes me to break down over candy, gets three job offers and takes the one from Nokia in Berlin. So many butterflies. Two weeks later, we say “I do” in front of 100 people and chow down. Sing Total Eclipse of the Heart and dance the night away. Two days later, on a plane far too early to get to Maui for 10 days of relaxation, promising each other to NOT BRING UP THE MOVE.

We arrive back in Vancouver 12 days later, glowing like only newlyweds do (it may have been the tans).

Both of us are back at work and congratulated a million times by friends, coworkers and strangers in person, over the phone and on Facebook. Meanwhile, we start trying to find renters for our townhouse while packing up all the summer things in boxes for Berlin. Contracts are signed, furniture and books are being sold on Craigslist. Goodbyes start being said in Vancouver as I fly back to Regina for one last trip to Earl’s for a margarita while some farewells start getting missed as time starts running out.

We leave Vancouver, arrive in Berlin, have our one and only “WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!” moments. Our apartment is near the river, but also by a prison and the bed is hard. There is no internet. Sabine gets her phone and life feels better. Apartment anxiety for two weeks until I walk into the doors on Granseer Strasse and know I’m home. We get the keys before our Christmas roadtrip to Cologne and eat way too much and come home with just as many treats. On our drive back, we make the first of three trips to Ikea at three days and nearly kill each other in the wardrobe department. Then, upon delivery to our house, the wardrobes nearly kill us. Fireworks at Brandenburg Gates, our last night in the hard bed and our summer clothes and furniture arrive in Berlin. Drown in a sea of packaging while assembling furniture with a Swiss Army Knife. Fill the fridge and finally, we can relax.

If you’re exhausted reading that, you can only imagine how I feel after typing that only after experiencing it. It was easily one of the most insane periods of my life but there is really only one thing I would change if we did it all over again: I would pay Ikea to deliver the furniture and carry it up the stairs.

Also, I wouldn’t have survived if I did it all with anyone else. Proof that ours is a good partnership and in that, we’ve got an amazing cast of supporters from our parents, friends and even the growing amount of readers at our little blog. It makes it all the more appropriate that we were married on Thanksgiving as we have a lot to be grateful for. Thanks to you all.

And yes, Paris was wonderful. Details will come but for now, I’ll leave you with a picture from our trip.

…four days ago.