Happy Valentine's day 2010!

Once in a while,
Right in the middle of an ordinary life,
Love gives us a fairy tale.


Wow, it's our second V-day together in Albuquerque and the first V-day as a married couple:-)
And in a month we will have our first wedding anniversary :-)
Let's celebrate!

I love you, Jaime:-)

Valentine's Day Contest Winners

Right before Valentine's Day I came across a love story contest which was organized by Native Flava ( L. Harris, Albuquerque) . I submited our story and we were announced the lucky winners!
We were treated to a lovely dinner and we got a special Valentine bouquet.

Do you have some nice memories of 02/14?

Magda & Jérôme's love story (written by Magda)

I Know Ania since 1st year of primary school :-) I had many occasion to see how nice and friendly person she is. We spent many hours on talking and I heard a lot about Jaime. I know it was not easy for her to wait and be so far from the man she loved. Many people would not be patient enough to stay in long-distance relationship but Ania and Jaime didn’t give up on their love and now they live together in happiness :-)
Congratulation and good luck for future!

And here is my “love story”:

Magda & Jérôme

We met on 30.08.2005 in my apartment in Lublin. Jérôme was invited by Ania to visit Poland. How Jérôme met Ania it is a long story: Jérôme has a fiend Lindsay who had girlfriend Aurelie. Ania went to Ireland to work as an au pair, the same did Aurelie and as they were working on the same street the two girls became friends. Jérôme likes traveling so he went to Ireland to see Aurelie and he met also Ania. Ania told him to go to Poland because it is also interesting country.
At this time I couldn’t find a job. I tried hard to find and I was very depressed about negative results. And I had a big dream to go to Rome. But I didn’t have enough money even for the shortest trip to Italy. When Ania told me that somebody from another country would come to visit Poland, I wanted to go for some holidays so much, that I was ready to begged her to take me with them. Ania agreed without begging and we also invited my friend Magda and decided to go together to Krakow and Zakopane. I thought: “Krakow is also beautiful and for Rome I will wait until I find a man of my life and he will like walking and we will spent romantic holidays in Rome walking all days” I didn’t know yet that postponing realization of my dream is the best I could do to make it happen :-)
Jerome and Ania arrived to my apartment and we spent two days on visiting the region and after we took the bus to go to Krakow. It was not love from the first sight and at the beginning we were not even sure we can like each other: Jérôme thought I was not nice and I found Jérôme very strange. But I had some intuition that he is a good person and after talking longer with him I thought he is ok. I felt “dangerously” good with him but I didn’t want to fall in love with somebody who lives so far and I decided to be cold and keep the distance. We spent nice week and when was time to say goodbye at the airport I was surprise how sad and lonely I felt without Jérôme.
Fortunately Jérôme sent me email and we started to chat by internet. And one day Jérôme wrote he could come to Poland again in November. He arrived on 25.11.2005 and he gave me two big Belgian chocolates which made me very happy because I love chocolate. On next day we were walking all day visiting Warsaw and in the evening we went to Mexican restaurant and spent very romantic evening. In the hotel we were listening to the music on my mp3 player and this night Jérôme kissed me for the first time :-) During the week Jérôme had to stay alone because I had just found a job and I couldn’t take a day off. But we spent nice evenings together watching concerts on dvd and talking. On next weekend we went to Torun, which looked very beautiful even at this time of the year. Jérôme talked with me seriously: that we should give a chance to this love and the distance is not so big it is only 2 hours by plane, and he would try to come to Poland as often as he can. These words melted my heart completely. We decided to be together, we were sending emails, smses, chating on msn and talking on the phone. Jérôme arrive again at the end of December and in March and I went to see him in Belgium in May. It was interesting to see how he lives and meet his friends. As a present-surprise for my birthday Jérôme organized one day trip to Paris. It was very romantic :-)
And in September we went for our first holidays together: 4 days in Rome and 5 days at the seaside in Italy. And we were walking and walking all days. In Rome we found very nice and calm botanical garden, it was very pleasant place comparing with hot streets full of tourists.
In July 2007 I arrived to Belgium with my books and some clothes, to live with Jérôme. We rented small but cosy apartment in Brussels. On 26.04.2008 we took civil marriage – the weather was beautiful, the trees had many flowers and we were very happy. We choose our favorite songs for the ceremony: one polish romantic old song: “Z toba chce ogladac swiat” Wodeckiego and one more crazy “Take me with you” Prince.
Now we have another dream: buy an apartment or small house to create our home.

So called Airport Moments

I like airports. Especially, when I am there to collect Jaime. I remember standing and watching people passing by and looking for that one face in a crowd. What a feeling it was after not having seen each other for months!
But I also remember those moments when there was time to say good bye without knowing when we will see each other next...

Do you have some airport memories?

Do you remember your wedding cake?

If there's a wedding, there has to be a cake!
But what to do if one of us loves chocolate (guess who!)and the other likes key lime flavor? It was an easy challenge for the best cake baker in Albuquerque- Dawn Sanchez (a woman of a great heart).We had one cake but it contained those two! Our guests were able to choose which one they prefered (or both!).
Our wedding cake was the best ! As much as I love chocolate (yes, it's me) I wasn't able to eat my piece up! It was so yummy and rich and chocolaty. Everyone enjoyed it. It had to be green because of Irish accent in our story. We planned to keep some cake for our first anniversary but I couldn't resist temptation and it's all gone by now.
I have to say thank you to our great neighbor Kate who knows Dawn and recommended her. Kate, thanks so much for your continuous support since the beginning of my stay in Duke City!

Please let me know if you have any wedding cake memories!Thx!

How to find the love of your life

How do people meet their partners? Where to look for?
Do you believe in love at first sight? So many questions. So many answers :-)

Myself and Jaime met in a hostel room and I will always remember those first moments. He made a very good first impression being kind, open and sharing. I knew I liked him immediately.
I think in order to meet someone special in your life you need to open up and tell others who you are. This way you send some information about yourself and if there is someone around who shares the same views , you've found each other :-)
It is not always easy to find courage to be yourself but hiding doesn't do any good.

I would love to hear more stories about meeting the love of your life.
Thanks for sharing! You can make a comment or email me a longer story.

Ania and Jaime’s Love Across The Ocean Story

Our story is almost 5 years old now. We met in Ireland. I am Polish and he is an American. We were in a long distance relationship and now are happily married and living in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Irish Part

Evidently, the luck of the Irish was with us on the 23^rd of Oct 2004 when we saw each other at the door of the Kinlay House Youth Hostel room number 116. Was it love at first sight? I would say there was definitely something in the air.

Galway-our first and only picture together, taken by Lili

I dreamed of finding the love of my life one day but that meeting was so unexpected! I never ever imagined I could fall in love with an American during his vacation in Ireland while I was an au-pair for The Coote Family in Dublin. We spent three days in Galway and it was enough time for the seed of love to start to germinate. We were very interested in each other, we spent hours talking, being open and honest. I found trust in Jaime to share my secret with him. I have a big birthmark on my cheek which I covered using some camouflage makeup but, somehow, I felt free of my complex and I wanted to share my true face with him. And what happened? What was my biggest worry occurred to bring us even closer together. Jaime knew what I was feeling because he was the only white kid on the Navajo Reservation and he knew how it felt to be different. We often come back to those moments and those feelings of connection and attraction we found in Galway.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/325440309/

Meeting Jaime made me happier and I already considered him a very good friend of mine. The complement he paid me when there was time to say goodbye was like the best thing I had ever heard. ‘I would like to meet someone like you in the States’ he said. His words were so valuable to me that I thought: ‘Well, if HE says that, I don’t care about other people judging my looks.’

a very romantic e-mail attachment

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/117460986/in/set-72057594089924833/

When each of us came back home, the distance between Dublin and Albuquerque wasn’t able to break our communication. We started to develop our relationship via traditional letters, everyday e-mails and phone calls. Sometimes it was easier to write some personal stuff than to say it so we kept writing and falling in love with each other. By the end of that year we decided to officially declare we were a couple and I heard the first ‘I love you’ on New Year’s Eve.

Our next meeting was in March 2005. Imagine going to the airport to pick up your boyfriend whom you only seen once! Well, we could not stop kissing. My host family acted on behalf of my parents preparing dinner so they were able to get to know the person who will take me on a rental car tour around Ireland. It was our first trip with each other. They say people can really learn about the other person when they spend 24 hour together. And during traveling there are many challenges to face but we passed it with flying colors.

Howth

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/192758421/in/set-72157594203765352/

In September 2005 Jaime visited Poland for the first time. We traveled for ten days, visiting sights around my country and he had a chance to meet most of my family and practice his Polish.

Kraśnik- my home

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/185338893/in/set-72157594192561573/

Then, back in Ireland, there was the first Christmas together which we spent with my Polish friends at Iwona and Marcin’s place. We traveled around, visited Galway and of course the hostel where we met. We spent the New Year’s Eve with our friends in Dublin.

Julianstown

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/92325494/

It was on that trip, on Achill Island, when Jaime first asked me if I would consider marrying him. I said yes but we decided I needed to finish my educational obligations in Poland. Talking about our future together was very natural. I think we knew it quite early in our relationship that we have future together.

The Polish Part

I returned to Poland to finish my studies but I was even further away from Jaime and since I couldn’t get a visa to go and visit him in Albuquerque. The only way to see each other was him flying to Poland. He arrived in Warsaw in September 2006 and we spent a whole month together traveling in Eastern Europe. We were fortunate Jaime earned a 4-week sabbatical from his employer. We visited Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. I had a wonderful time! We both love traveling.

Vienna

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/325445868/in/set-72157594260991334/

We didn’t see each other for seven months until late April 2007 when after visiting my home and traveled again. Jaime officially asked me to marry him! It feels wonderful for a girl to hear those very words. At that point of my life I wasn’t wearing makeup for quite a long time. This is how being in love makes you feel more beautiful and confident.

Kraków

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/528015604/in/set-72157600304764368/

Over the summer I was visiting my host family in Dublin while Jaime was shopping for an engagement ring. He wanted to get something I liked so we discussed it briefly but the ring was to be a surprise. It was so romantic that he took another trip in September to offer me the beautiful ring in his trembling hands, kneeling and asking the big question: ’Ania, will you please marry me’?

That time we also had an official dinner at my home and Jaime asked my dad for my hand: ‘Czy mogę poślubić Anię?’ He practiced his Polish, especially that very sentence hard.

Gdańsk

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/1393619343/

When he visited me in March the following year I wanted to show him even more of Poland. We have always appreciated the time we could spend together in person and the hardest part was being unable to say when we will see each other again.

Zamość

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/2690797081/in/set-72157604320189388/

I remember our airports meetings. Seeing each other after several months was a blessing but the time to say good buy always hurt. We decided it was enough of pain and traveling across the ocean. We decided to apply for a fiancée visa for me. Due to my bad luck with the embassy we found it the best way plus we already knew we wanted to marry each other. Jaime started the process in May 2008.

Approval on visa application

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/2932900228/

I was graduating that year and I was under a lot of pressure. The visa process was very demanding and took a lot of time, effort and money (it was absolutely worth it). Whoever went through this process knows how much work it is to undergo all the requirements. During my interview I remember being asked what it was about my boyfriend that I loved him so much. That day was our success. Our journey took another step. I was so over the moon that we were finally allowed to be together!!! I found the first phone booth and called Jaime to share my happiness. He was 8 hours ahead, waiting for my call in the middle of the night. We talked for one hour on the street in front of the embassy on Piękna in Warsaw. What a relief it was to get visa in hand on the 31^st of December 2008. We were so thankful and Jaime quickly booked for a ticket to Poland (guy spent a fortune on those tickets). The packing was done, some gifts bought, work finished. I met my family, friends and coworkers to say good bye.

The American Part

We left Poland on the 22^nd of Jan 2009. Our flight from Warsaw was 4 hours delayed before it even left the airport so we knew we won’t make it to catch a connecting flight to Albuquerque. I was excited about the trip but Jaime suffered his back pain and we wanted to be ‘home’. He decided to fly with me due to immigration procedure I needed to undergo in Chicago. It was all a good experience, though. We arrived so late that there wasn’t any waiting or questioning. I heard a lovely welcome by an officer who, seeing me, asked who the lucky guy was. Jaime was so proud. We stayed in Chicago that night and flew to Albuquerque the next day. New Mexico seemed beautiful to me - such a variety of landscapes and amazing architecture. It is too hot here but I can manage.

Albuquerque

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kittroid/3246108471/

We were obliged to get married within 90 days so the easiest was to tie a knot in the local court. There were 9 of us present there on March 20^th 2009 (one day after Jaime’s birthday): the newly weds, Jaime’s parents: Karen& Jim, Laurie & Tim, Mona & Howard and Charles. We were married by a judge in fancy cowboy boots and the ceremony wasn’t long. Even though none of my family was able to be there, we had a beautiful day and a lovely reception.

Albuquerque –wedding day

I am happily married to Jaime who supports me in my challenges in America. He gives me time to find what I want to do. It is not easy to start a new life in a new place. Finding a job and making new friends don’t come easy.

Thinking of what I do not have I thought that I do have something wonderful to share which is my romantic story. I hope it can help some couples to believe that a long distance relationship can work. True love can conquer it all- the distance, the language barrier, etc. Another thing is that many people worry that appearance has a significant impact on relationships. Look, I have a birthmark right on my face and I am loved by someone I love. So let’s believe in the power of love. Love is the most important thing.