Well, the date has been set for Thanksgiving Day as the move (26 November).
I'm going to be flying off to Ft Lauderdale to do some planespotting for a day (for my Richard) and then I will be flying across the pond the next day. Hey, can I help it if prices are cheaper doing it this way?
I guess the day is quite symbolic. Thanksgiving Day. I'm very thankful for many things. Skipping the obvious, I really am thankful for the USA. I've had quite a few people ask me if I'm getting tired of living here, and well, it's a mixed bag. Yes, I'm tired of a lot of the BS and politicking that's going on as well as the ever-present polarization of the nation... but there's also quite a lot to be thankful for. I'm never tired of the freedoms that we enjoy (and I think we enjoy some of them a it *too* much). I will never tire of what the USA stands for. Sure, the USA and more precisely, its people, is viewed as being a stuck up spoiled brat child of a nation who always wants to get their way, but be honest, don't all nations always want to get their way? The USA just has more bully power. OK... I'm not going to get off on that tangent... you'd be reading War and Peace by the time I'd be done with that. Back to Thanksgiving... I'm also thankful for the country that has seen fit to allow me in to be a productive member of their society. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland finally has seen fit to let me in, and I will not let them down. Third, the friends I have been able to make that live in the UK (thanks Facebook!) have made me feel so much better about moving to Terra Incognita. It's scary, but I will have Richard and friends to help me.
I will say this again, because I have gotten asked a few more times over this past week about it, but yes, I do plan on becoming a British subject. I will not however, renounce my US citizenship. Yes, I am allowed dual citizenry.
Lots and lots of exciting things are in my future. I will for the first time in my life, be able to spend holidays with a loved one (excluding family of course). I do plan on expanding my photography work. I will still continue to take landscapes and improve on them by doing new and different things, but I also have a lot more portrait work and artistic work planned. I do want to do nudes, and yes, I have some volunteers already (get your mind out of the gutter... this is NOT pornography). I will be diving into themed art pieces... one in particular is very very exciting and will be hugely symbolic. I'm hoping to get this into a gallery somewhere if I can pull it off. I'll be doing light painting as well, which is just hugely cool!
It's truly fantastic to have people that support me fully in all of this. The first person who really believed that I had talent in photography was my friend Ron. He told me time after time that I had talent, but I guess I would always not think that highly of myself and I just lacked confidence in myself. The people at Grace Episcopal Church in Cullman, Alabama also helped a lot to build my confidence enough to help me take the big step into the pro world. Richard has been the key for me though. He's my future in everything, and I'm soooo thankful that I have a wonderful partner and husband to help me in my endeavours in photography (and more importantly everything else!).
Finally, I have been asked how the events in Paris and Lebanon have affected my plans. Well, they haven't at all. That's not to say that Richard and I haven't talked about moving back to the US in a few years if things do get worse, but I think we will be just fine in England for a while to come.
I'm gonna miss a lot of you guys... friends, family... you know who you are.
xx
