The last night we were at the music festival, however, she got very drunk. She was a mess. I took care of her despite her being less than nice to me about it. After she passed out, I put her into pajamas and got her tucked in. I organized and packed all of her things to be in order for her flight back to LA the next morning, and set her alarm. Upon waking she remembered nothing about how she had treated me the night before. She was mortified when she found out, and it didn't take me long to forgive her. She promised it would never happen again.
We returned to LA and things progressed without any problems. She had not known how long she would be able to stay in the country, and it turned out her band would be doing some recording and therefore her stay would be extended an extra month! She was around for my birthday in April 2009 and I was elated. I had to work that night, but she went there before me and decorated it with green balloons (my favorite color) and invited all of my friends to come by. It was such a good night.
The remainder of that month was awesome as well. Our connection only seemed to intensify. We talked about getting engaged and having kids and the future. I had never thought about those particular topics as seriously as I did with her. It just seemed so right and so perfect. I wanted everything as much as she did. I was done. I wanted to grow old with her, and she with me. She left to go back to her country at the end of April. My plan was to follow her there by mid June.
The month and a half that followed was full of planning and tying up loose ends, which never seemed to stop. I found a subletter for my apartment, I signed my car over to a friend, I got an international driving permit, I cancelled my car and renter's insurance. I applied for a visa. I booked my flight. I organized my life and readied my apartment to be inhabited by others. It was so much, but by the time of my departure, I was ready. I had a year visa to go and be with my girlfriend, and I couldn't wait to experience the next part of my life with her in the place she grew up. My best friends brought me to the airport. We cried and said goodbyes. I flew the many hours to my love.
I arrived in her beautiful country and couldn't believe I would be spending the next year of my life there. I was in heaven. We were finally together for good. "No more being apart", we agreed. The plan was to live with her parents, but we had the entire bottom floor of their house to ourselves. It was perfect and we paid no rent. Her family was very loving and accepting of me, and I felt fortunate to have such a wonderful group of people in my life. She was my best friend. We continued to plan for our future together. Nothing seemed impossible.
We lived simply for the first couple of months, from her small income and my savings, and then I got a bartending job. It was the worst bar ever - old, and smelly, and dirty, but the money was decent and I wanted to do my part to help us. She had been doing the majority of supporting us, but as I had done that in the states, I didn't think she would mind for a bit. I was originally promised a few shifts a week, but was actually only given one or two at the most. She began working more, taking solo music gigs to help us live. Her band was supposed to start doing well soon as they had started getting radio play, and she had told me we shouldn't worry because things would be better soon. We became a little stressed about money from time to time. After all, living humbly can make life less stimulating but we got by and were still able to go out and have fun. We opened a joint bank account and shared everything. I did the majority of controlling our funds as I had more experience with saving. It was a welcome responsibility since she was the major earner - I also assumed the role of the "housewife", doing our laundry and keeping us organized.
October 2009 came around. As mentioned in an earlier post, I love Halloween. Her country doesn't celebrate it however. She told me we could watch a scary movie (which she hated) and that we could go out later and watch more at her cousin's place. During the afternoon she had a band meeting up in the city, so her sister would bring me to their cousin's to wait for her there. I was bummed that she had to do work stuff on Halloween, but understanding as well. I went with her sister to their cousin's house that evening. We knocked and entered, and I could not believe my eyes - my girlfriend had planned a huge surprise Halloween party for me, complete with decorations and everyone I knew there dressed in costumes. She had even gotten one for me. It was the most incredible surprise that I had ever had. She was so good to me.
Early November marked our one year anniversary. We went out to dinner and agreed that the past year had been an incredible one. We looked forward to the ones that would follow. Her birthday came a couple of weeks later. As we still did not have much money, I got her a book. She wanted me to design her a tattoo, which I said I was happy to do. I put it off for a bit as between going with her to her work and me going to mine, I felt as if I didn't have much time. The moments we did have with nothing to do, I wanted to cuddle with her and watch TV, or we would go out. I had plans to complete the tattoo for Christmas.
In early December, I had booked a flight to return to the states for the holidays. She was supposed to come with me, but plans changed as her grandparents were going to be visiting and she hadn't seen them in years. She changed her flight to make sure she would get to me by the day after Christmas, and she would spend the holiday with hers. So I returned to LA, and then the east coast. I booked a bunch of work to make money so we could have a great time when she came to visit. I think I only had maybe three days off in total before the holiday. She was going to meet my family for the first time, and there were many places I wanted to take her. I just wanted the experience to be perfect, and I was so looking forward to having her with me where I grew up. The time couldn't have passed fast enough for me. Christmas came, and the next day she was to arrive.
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