Good news from the lawyers; FI and I can finally start looking at houses! I'll still be on temporary residency for a while, but the mortgage broker I've spoken with says that's not a problem. Hopefully the permanent residency application will go through smoothly after the wedding. Well, by that point I will have been here long enough to qualify for one on my own anyway.
I'm so excited! I bought an apartment on my dad's behalf once, and it was such a fun experience. This, I'm sure, will be a lot more stressful, but I'm really looking forward to the idea of finally having a place of my own! Hopefully we'll have an extra bedroom so that FI can have his man cave, but as an adult, I find it really difficult to imagine with light sabers as living room decor. And hey, I'm not putting my Yellow Submarines up in the living room either.