Thanksgiving in Mobile, Christmas in Toronto

What's good 2017? I'm here with my 2nd official post, and it feels good. Today well, it's currently 3:09 am, so that counts as day right? Anywho, I bring you a post reflecting on two major milestones in my long distance relationship. I've been dating my boyfriend since the end of August 2015 (Woot! We made it past a year y'all!), maybe one day I'll give you guys the full 411 on how we met, and all that jazz. What you need to know right about now, is that he lives in Alabama, and I live in Canada. This past year it was difficult to say the least,to actually be in the same place at the same time. Mobile is an 18 hour drive away, and around a 5 hour flight with a layover. I'm not a clingy person by any means, but wanting to spend time with my boyfriend more than a handful of times in a year is understandable.
I don't know how things work in your households, or with your families but with mine holiday times were always family time. I've seen many older cousins, and younger ones to boot bring their significant others around during the holidays. I've silently wondered when it would be my turn. I've had dreams about the day my family would meet my serious boyfriend, and the day he would be a part of family traditions. I won't lie, all of those dreams seemed pointless and in vain. I started doubting if I would ever get a turn, lo and behold I did. So as a poem I once heard said, "Doubt your doubts". I grew up in a relatively large family. My mom has 12 siblings, no need to double take you read it right the 1st time. She is the 2nd youngest of 13. Surprisingly all of them had at least one child, which naturally means I have a lot of cousins. As I was saying before, holiday time has always been family time. The major ones include: Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmas. My fondest childhood memories include all of us at church, and then enjoying a family meal at grandma's house. When I say I've been waiting for one special breed of man, to come and join the craziness, I am not lying. My older cousins are a tough group to crack, the younger ones are hilarious. Most of the older cousins have their own children now, so that just adds to the love and craziness. All this to say, I was anxiously awaiting the time in my relationship when I would get to have these experiences I apparently coveted. Let's rewind a bit to the end of September. My boyfriend was supposed to schedule time off work, and come and visit me here in Canada. It didn't happen. So the visit got pushed to October, and if you are a Canadian reader you know what that means...Thanksgiving together, and that would be our first official holiday together. Don't squeal and gasp just yet, it didn't happen. The plan then became that I would go down south for American thanksgiving at the end of November. Thankfully, that did indeed happen. There you have it, I celebrated my first american thanksgiving in Mobile,Al. The added bonus was that my best friend accompanied me on that trip. I loved spending the time with my boyfriend and his family. I loved seeing the way his family did thanksgiving, and eating all the delicious food.

After thanksgiving comes Christmas right? I had already prepared myself for the worst, so all the drama regarding him getting here didn't even come as a total surprise.I will spare all you uninterested people the details. What matters is, he came y'all! I got to spend Christmas with my baby, and it was magical. He FINALLY got to meet my parents, my cousins, my aunts, some friends, my goddaughter. He got to participate in some of our lame traditions (opening 1 gift on Christmas Eve, that gift being pj's that you wear that night), he got to eat Christmas dinner with my family. My heart was so full for the 5 days I got to spend with him. 

 Maybe this will be an annual thing, God willing it might even turn into our own personal tradition. Making new memories, and creating new traditions with my boyfriend makes my smile a little wider. This thanksgiving I was a little more thankful, and this Christmas I was a lot more thankful. Contrary  to popular belief, it's not just because I got to spend them with him. It's because by the grace of God I was able to be a part of his family, and he officially became a new member of mine.

 I apologize if this blog post was mostly pictures, but like I'm not actually sorry I'm just super Canadian and I can't help but apologize. For some of you maybe this gave you an honest look at some of the struggles of a LDR. I truly hope that is the case. I don't live to validate my relationship to the naysayers, but if there is someone out there that is contemplating entering into one... I hope I could give you hope. Not in the hyper egotistical way, and not because I want you to see pictures of us and proclaim "#goals". Simply because there are plenty of ways to be in a relationship, and distance doesn't have to be a deal-breaker if you think it's worth it. Maybe I could be your internet "big/lil sis" that offers you a new perspective, maybe not. Well friends that is all she wrote, I got work in a couple of hours...and ya girl has to work a double. Pray for me, and while you're at it pray for my boyfriend too.