Is it that time already?

I can't believe it but Julian and I just filed to remove conditions on his green card! Has it really been that long since his AOS was approved? I guess so! Luckily I remembered to save EVERYTHING we could possibly need as evidence. Photos (our wedding and honeymoon, our REAL honeymoon, vacation pictures, etc), utility bills, tax returns (omg I think I killed a forest!), joint bank account and credit card statements for the various accounts we have, our drivers licenses, AAA cards, and on and on and on...

So now we wait. Julian is of course getting really nervous about how long this is going to take. I try to remind him that the chance of him getting denied is almost zero, and anyway, it's not like we're faking this marriage. My dad said that if they ever wanted to investigate us, all they would have to do is watch us bicker like an old married couple, lol. It's just that J gets so irritated with anything having to do with immigration, and then I end up doing everything because he says "you're the American, you know how to do these things." Sigh.

I started working full-time again recently. Since we decided to put having children on the backburner for a few more years, it seemed stupid to have me doing nothing most of the time (I was still working 15-20 hours a week, just working with one client). Don't get me wrong, I liked being a mostly-housewife for the first year or so. I got to structure my weeks so I was in the office two days a week, and on call for emergencies. I visited friends in Boston and Texas, decorated the house, read a LOT, took some classes at Pasadena City College in design and jewelry making. I made a vegetable garden! I kept myself busy, but I didn't feel busy, if that makes any sense. I felt like I was just marking time.

So I told Julian that I wanted to go back to work full-time, if they would have me back. He wasn't 100% thrilled at first. I mean, he still thinks that what I want as a woman is to start having kids. But I'm still pretty young (I turned 28 last week!) and I want to experience more and see more. I want to have Julian all to myself, just a little longer. I want to still be able to go out with my friends until 2am and not have to worry about a babysitter. But anyway, more importantly, I just wasn't feeling like Melissa any more. I mean, some of that is good, since I'm no longer as crazy as I used to be (thank god for therapy!) but so much of who my parents raised me to be was to be a girl, a woman, who is not just a support for her husband but controls her own life. Working helps me be that woman.

And to be honest, I was just lonely a lot. Julian's work schedule is sometimes insane. He has to fly back to the UK more often than I like, even if it's just for a few days. Of course there's Skype and email and Vonage, but I miss having him actually be here with me. My house is big, too big for me and my cat. Julian reminds me that if I could just settle down a little, and be ready to have children, I might not feel so lost. And empty.

But anyway, yes! Removing conditions, here we come!