Choosing Happiness

The first thing you have to do when you decide to write a blog is name it. I've been contemplating writing for awhile now. But, what do I call it..? I knew what I wanted to write about. I want to write about our life. I want to write about taking every opportunity we are presented. I want to write about what the world has to offer. I want to write about not settling for a life I don't like. I want to write about happiness. 
So, after MUCH deliberation. My husband and I settled on the name, Choosing Happiness. 

Welcome to our story. My name is Christiana and I will be the main composer of this blog. I graduated college in December of 2012 and decided to move to China. It was there that I met my wonderful husband Ed. We spent four years there together. In 2015 we became engaged and married. We then applied for my husbands green card to the States. I should pause here to say that my husband is from England. So, we applied and anxiously awaited word on the status of the application. Boy, do they make you wait. After various steps, fees and a final interview we were granted his green card (permanent resident card) in the beginning of 2017. 
We were excited and nervous. We had talked about what we would do. He is a certified personal trainer and would begin working in a gym and I would go back into teaching. Ohhhh if only it were that easy. 
At the time the green card was granted we were staying with his family in the UK. I am only allowed to stay in the UK for 6 months out of a 12 month period. Because we had visited for the Chinese New Year, my time was up before his official paperwork would arrive. So, I headed to the States to start our life. I moved into my parents home (my parents had recently moved to another state and left us their home to rent, but thats a whole other story) and began to make it our home. I applied for a few jobs and began interviewing. I was made several offers, but ended up deciding I was going to take a job in retail for awhile. I love teaching, but thought while I was settling in I needed a 9-5 job. Teaching is not and will never be a 9-5 job. The company offered a decent wage and benefits. So for what I needed, it worked. I was still working the retail position when Ed arrived. It was his turn to search for a job. He had a few interviews at gyms, that ended up not choosing him. I then decided I wasn't happy in my current job and needed to go back to teaching. So, I applied at a childcare center near our home and was hired. I was still working the retail position, while Ed searched for a job. After countless applications he took a job in a factory. It wasn't what he wanted to be doing, but the people were nice and it paid. It was then that I was able to leave the retail job and begin teaching. I also started my own business by becoming a Pampered Chef consultant. Soon after Ed started at the factory, they began having layoffs. He realized the work was not going to be reliable enough and began applying elsewhere. After a few interviews he found a place that seemed to be a better fit. It was closer to home and was actually requiring over-time from its employees rather than having to lay them off. 
We have now been in the US for 7 months. We are both working, and we hardly see each other. This is not the life we want. This is not the life we signed up for. 
Now, I don't want you to read this and think we were naive and thought all the pieces were just going to fall into place for us. We knew it was going to be hard. Moving is always a challenge. We weren't just moving, but starting a new life. We thought there would be ups and downs, just as we'd experienced in China. We just didn't expect it to be like this. For the past 7 months, there have been more downs than ups. Most days I feel like packing our bags and just leaving. One of the hardest things is not being together. My husband makes me a better and stronger person. Together I know we can conquer anything life throws at us. But, right now we aren't able to be there for each other. We are in this together, and yet some days feel so alone. 
Right now, I don't know what we are going to do. But, I know THIS isn't working for us. There are opportunities out there in this great big world that will lead to happiness, and we are going to choose them. We will choose us over anything else. 
There is so much more I could write, about our past, our future, and everything in between; but I will save that for the weeks to come!