It’s been quite a year, to say the least. I’ve moved country, said goodbye to the old life and to family and friends, got married, and joined a new family and made new friends. (Didn’t like the old ones much anyway.) I’ve hunted for work, with a long seven-month spell of unemployment in between leaving EWST in the UK and starting at Renau Electronics here.

A few of the year’s highlights.

There was snow in England in February, the most I’ve ever seen there. This was also the day I sold my trusty BMW E30 325i Touring.

A week or so later, a few days before leaving for the US, we held a going-away party. This was quite an epic event, with friends from all stages of my life turning up – many quite unexpectedly – to wish me well on my Grand America Adventure. I got decorated:

Entry to the US! February 23rd. My visa is stamped, and I am legally allowed to stay! As long as I get married…

We started moving stuff into our rented apartment…. looking forward to living together at last!

After only six weeks, the wedding was nearly upon us. People started arriving from England: Jenny and Dave first, for a week’s skiing trip to Mammoth Lakes.

Then they arrived in droves, for a stag weekend (bachelor party) in Las Vegas. A night to (mostly) remember! From left to right: Neil my best man, Ben, George, Andy, Dave and me.

We have actually now received the photos from the wedding, but haven’t had time to copy them onto the computer, let alone pick any for this blog post! So on to the honeymoon… the photo below was some drunken night in a restaurant in Hawaii. There are many more pictures to post – stunning scenery, great views from the hotel, incredible island roads, day trips on boats… but I’m saving them for a quiet time.

A great view from the hotel.

Back in Pasadena after the honeymoon, I bought myself a car for my birthday.

And someone else bought me a cake!

In June we flew out to Iowa to visit Jamie’s mum’s family, for the town’s annual Homecoming. It was warm out there! The Turkey river flows surprisingly fast over the shallow bits, as we found out:

The Willis/Cooke family annual holiday took place in the Lake District in England in August, so I went back for three weeks to stock up on drizzle.

Then I got a job and the Green Card in early October. This was such an enormous relief! It was the culmination of a long summer of waiting and not feeling very useful.

Later in October Jamie and I met up with my Mum and Dad in Boston. The east coast really felt like England…

Over the course of the year we’ve accrued all the ingredients of our own home, and it is finally liveable, comfortable and welcoming.

Now Christmas has been and gone, it’s the last day of the year (still – as I write the new year is still mid-Atlantic), and, honestly, everything’s looking rosy. We both have jobs, we’re financially stable and as-yet unburdened with the debt of house ownership, and we have enough disposable income to keep us comfortable. I miss home, and family and friends, slightly more as time goes on, but I know that I need to keep a balance: concentrate on making the most of my new life here while keeping the connection to home alive.

All the best for the New Year to my loyal readers! And to everyone else. The year 2009 has been a year to remember.