Citizens, finally

Well, we made it. My family and I are finally Australian citizens. 

Wednesday, November 15th, 2017. We showed up, hugged our guests, took the pledge and became Australian citizens. Just like that. Of course, it was easier for me. Mom (Mum?) and Dad did the hard work while I just showed up. 

It feels good. It feels like another piece of the Me Puzzle slotting into place. God knows I've spent enough time trying to figure out who I am and this is one thing that feels right, like I was meant to do this. I am so blessed and thankful for this opportunity. I'm now fully Australian and fully Canadian, right where I belong. (Plus when I get my Australian passport, I'll be the real-life spy of my dreams with a stash of passports. Watch out, world.)

I'm not the same person as I was six years ago. A girl with strawberry-blonde hair who couldn't talk to strangers turned into a sort-of woman with purple hair who still gets lost in her head but knows how to find her way out. I think thirteen-year-old me would have been proud of the eighteen-year-old me, and I pray eighteen-year-old me will be proud of the twenty-four-year-old me. I think I will be. God hasn't let me down in the past, and I don't think He will in the future. 

I want to say thank you. I could write a whole book trying to thank everyone, so I'll try to keep this short. Thank you to my readers, who took the time to read the ramblings of a shy girl from the Albertan prairies. Thank you to everyone who helped us through the good times and the bad, who made the transition bearable (and also really fun). I couldn't have gotten through without my friends (old and new), family (again, old and new) and everyone in between (teachers, coworkers, pastors and kind strangers). I have borrowed mattresses, winter coats, tea, cars, dogs (plural), shoulders to cry on, Netflix accounts and homework answers. The kindness of the people in my life - Canadian, Australian, and everyone in the middle - has never failed to astound me. 

Thank you.