Although I’m nowhere near where I thought I would be I’m still blessed beyond measure. 2019 was a year of new life, I have a new grandson, Cameron. New adventures, I completed my certification to become a life coach and I decided to return to school to finish my degree. The Life Coach certification is something I plan to explore more in 2020 but after taking the classes I decided that I would be my first client LOL. Based on how things have been going with me I thought it best that I use the tools on myself to help me figure some things out. Last but certainly not least, reflection. The reflection part is never ending. In order to have continuous growth we need to constantly reflect and adjust as we experience things and learn. 2019 was a rough year overall. Being apart from Raulin has been very difficult on us both after having spent so much time together in 2018 and 2017.
The endless cycle of document request, gathering, translation, travel back and forth and waiting for response from the embassy has really taken it’s toll on us both. The cycle continues unfortunately. We are currently in the process of responding to another request for information. I had really hoped that I would be able to leave that craziness behind in 2019 but the universe seemed to have other plans. The difference now is that we both have to move on and continue living even though we're apart. I feel that in 2019 we were both stuck in a state of limbo. We didn't make very much progress not just in regards to the visa process but in our lives in general. Yes I did accomplish some things and made some decisions towards the end of the year but overall I was stuck in a cycle of just going through the motions each day. Waiting for the answer. Never wanting to make plans or commit to anything just in case we got the thumbs up from the embassy. I can laugh about it now but there was a period of time where I told my daughter that the only plans I had on Saturdays was to drive to New Jersey to pick up Raulin from the airport. Week after week my dream didn't come true and over time I became numb which led to my silence.
I went to visit Raulin at the beginning of December a few weeks after we received the most recent letter from the embassy. It had been about four months since we'd seen each other and we needed to have some hard conversations about our future. Do we continue to submit documents and wait or do we throw in the towel? Although we've both been in the mindset to throw in the towel several times I'm happy to report that we've never both been in that same place at the same time. Whichever one of us is feeling weak and broken down somehow the other has the strength to pull the other back up and we continue to fight. So we decided we're going to continue to fight. With that said I have decided to stop putting everything else on hold waiting for the answer. I've got to get back to living my life fully even though it's without Raulin by my side. He is still one of my biggest supporters in everything that I do, even from over 1,400 miles away. So, that means I'll be back to writing more, I'll be focusing on building partnerships to help grow my A Blessing for You non profit this year and I will also continue to explore how to best use my Life Coach certification. I'll also be continuing with my online classes, working of course and continuing to fight to bring my husband here with me.
I know at the beginning of the year everyone says new year new me. Well I'm the same Terri but with a different attitude. I'm ready to tackle whatever 2020 brings and I'm expecting some wonderful opportunities. I hope you will all continue to follow my journey.
Be Blessed
Terri D.
