Coming Home...

First, I want to apologize. I know many of you have followed my blog and you have walked along the journey (to the USA) with me, and then, once I actually do arrive in the USA, I abandon you! That was not my intent, I assure you.

However, SO much has happened since I have written that I decided to break it up into parts. Today, I will talk about the whole moving to the USA part. So, let's begin:

I moved on September 14th. The night before, Jim flew into Detroit and rented a mini-van and drove to come get me. Because of his awesome corporate discount, we managed to cut down a lot on expenses for the move. This meant however, that I had to purge a lot of my stuff. I have moved 3 times in the last 3 years. Luckily, each time I was of the mindset that it was easier to give it away or throw it out if I wasn't going to use it, then lug it to another house. So, all of my worldly possessions fit into a mini-van and the back of my Dodge Caliber. Deciding to do it this way, meant that Jim and I would have to drive seperately. Thankfully, my nephews had an extra set of walkie talkies that we used to help stay in communication. We are also thankful that Jim's parents live in Illinois and that we had a place to rest so we didn't have to make the 12 hour trip in one day.

When we arrived at the border, they let Jim pull over with me. We had a contingency plan if he had to continue on, but we hoped that since I could be up to two hours at the border, that we didn't have to use it. I pulled up to the border and showed him my K-1 visa and he instructed me to go into the building for secondary processing. Thanks to visajourney I was not surprised by any of this. I told them Jim was with me so he said he would pull him in too. We had to sign in and take a number. About 15 minutes later our number was called. The border patrol officer had me give him some info and then we had to sit down again. After a few more times of this, along with a picture and fingerprints (I have been fingerprinted so many times I better never do anything wrong!) we were on our way. The whole process took about 45 minutes or so, but I walked out with an I-94 document in my passport. This meant the clock was ticking and we had 90 days to get married.

       It was a LONG drive and at the end of two long driving days, neither of us felt like unloading the vehicles but we did. (And a lot of those boxes stayed right where we left them for a long time!)

The days leading up to the wedding itself were really hectic. I will tell you all about that next time, but for now why not watch our wedding video.

www.vimeo.com/m/53368495

Time....

There is a song I know called "Time" and one of the lines says, "Time? Where did you go?" That is pretty much what I have been feeling lately.

There are only 21 days left to the wedding! I am now officially done work  as of yesterday and next weekend I am preparing to leave the country. It seems like time just suddenly disppeared! I remember clearly, like it was yesterday, the engagement, then 9 months out, then 6 months out...but how in the world did it get to be only 21 days til the wedding?

The next 21 days will fly by. In the next week I have a full page list of things I need to get done. It is pretty overwhelming packing up all your stuff, and tying up loose ends to leave a whole country. I have also been dealing with mixed emotions lately. I am SOOOOO excited to be starting my life with Jim, but doing that means I have to leave my family, my job, my friends etc. I am happy to do it, because it makes sense for Jim and I, but as someone who once swore she would never move further than an hour away from family, it makes it a bit bittersweet.

I think I am pretty organized with all the stuff for the wedding, but there is still so much to do for the moving, preparing the adjustment of status for after the wedding (which we want to do immediately so I can get 'advance parole' for my nephew's Confirmation, or if I can't be at that, I would like to get back to Canada around the Christmas holidays).

I can't believe that a small little email in February 2010 had the power to change my life like it did. But I am so happy that in 21 short days I will be marrying the best man in the world (I know, I know...I am biased!)

The next time I will probably have time to write one of these I will be Mrs. DeLara! Pretty unbelievable!

Shower me with your love (again)

I was just talking to a co-worker and she said to me "Wow! You must be getting busier! Your blogs are few and far between these days!" To be honest, I have been planning on writing another entry, but she is right, I have been extremely busy.

Hot off the heels of settling into my temporary home (the one bedroom apartment my mom owns), I had my last bridal shower. This shower was thrown by my Matron of Honor (who is also my sister), my mom and my Godmother/Aunt. I was fortunate that Jim's parents and sister were able to come down and make the trek to this shower. They had only ever been to Canada once before, and ironically it was to Windsor. Years and years ago, they went on a family vacation to Detroit and thought if they were that close to Canada they should come over. Little did they know then, that their son would be marrying someone from that very area!

They came for the whole weekend and so we had some good family time with them. I took them to the Southernmost tip of Canada, and since it was Jim's birthday the day before the shower, my sister had everyone over to her house for a birthday party for him. It was a great day.

The next day was the shower! I was so excited. Alot of the ladies that were there are unable to come to the wedding, so it was nice to see them and celebrate with them.

Here is a picture of Jim and I at the shower.

Jim was not allowed at the actual opening of gifts part of the shower but he came later for the food :)

Everyone was so generous and I felt so loved! My sister Maggie, made me play this game where I had to answer questions about Jim and if I got them wrong I had to eat a gumball. When I heard this, I thought "Ohhh, I got this!" But then the game started. They were very obscure questions about him. She had sneakily asked him these questions months earlier. Jim is not a sports fan at all and there were a ton of questions about his favourite sports teams. I had no idea what they were, since we NEVER talk about sports. So I got about 10 questions wrong and by the end I could barely speak enough to say the answers! It was fun though!

Then, they decided to have a slide show of my "growing up years". My 10 year awkward period was on full display! Matthew, my nephew, worked hard at it and it was so cute!

All in all, it was a great shower!!!

Girls of the Bridal Party (minus Victoria-Junior Bridesmaid)

l to r. Jenn (Jim's sister), Maggie (my sister), me, Kortney (my friend)

My mom and sister and I

Jim's mom Jan, my mom and I

There are only 52 days left to the wedding!!!! AHHHHH!!! Here's hoping we get everything done! :)

Holiday.....Celebrate.....

It has been so long since I have written a blog! So much has happened since I wrote last. In the last two weeks, I have been to Montreal and back, moved from a 2 bedroom apartment that I share with my mom to a one bedroom that she moved into. (I am currently sleeping on a mattress in the living room). But let me break it all down. Let's start with the Montreal trip.

Jim and I had arranged to take flights to get us to Toronto (me coming from Windsor, Jim coming from Minneapolis) and then getting on a connecting flight together to Montreal. After a downpour the morning we left, the skies cleared and both Jim and I arrived safely in Toronto. Once we got there, we were just about to board our plane to Montreal when they announced that there was a mechanical problem and the plane was not usable. They explained that another plane was available but we would be delayed. This gave Jim and I more time to catch up and relax before our flight, but it also meant we wouldn't be getting to Montreal until very late.

Once we arrived in Montreal, we hopped in a cab and made it to our hotel in no time. Montreal is predominantly a French speaking city and even though French is one of Canada's official languages and I took it in school as a child, I was worried my VERY rusty French would be a problem. Luckily, because Montreal is also such a tourist area, we had no problem at all. It was really cool though, to still be in Canada and have people all around me speaking a language I barely understand.

Anyway, we awoke bright and early the next day to get the most out of our only full day in Montreal. We headed to Notre Dame Basilica in the heart of 'old Montreal'. This church was the most beautiful church I have ever seen. The artwork and the sculptures were breathtaking. After we spent some time visiting and praying in the church, we headed to the rest of Old Montreal. As we walked on the cobblestone streets, it was extremely hard for me to feel like I was still in North America. Montreal has a very European feel to it. It was very beautiful. After a day of walking, touring and eating poutine (fries covered in gravy and cheese curds-invented in Montreal) we headed back to the hotel via the subway system for a nap. We managed to get back just in time because it started to rain. We decided, because of the weather to just eat at the restaurant at the hotel. We had a nice leisurely dinner and then decided to just call it a night since we had to be up bright and early for our interview in the morning.

The interview was scheduled for 8 a.m., but everything I have read said to be there as early as possible. I decided we needed to get there for 6:45a.m. We did manage to arrive by that time, and to our surprise there were two people already there. After waiting for 45 minutes (and Jim complaining he didn't get to eat breakfast!) we were let in the building. As they let us in we had to go through security and we then had to wait by and elevator to go up to the 19th floor. They packed the elevator full of people, but we still managed to be the third people out of the elevator. We were given a number and were told to go and wait. We got C3, and we were actually called to our window first. At the first window we had to give them a bunch of forms that we brought along. (My passport, medical, my long form birth certificate, my police clearance, the forms Jim filled out proving he could support me etc.) After we were done at that window we had to sit back down for our actual interview. We waited about 30 minutes and were called to another window, but more secluded. We were sworn in and asked the following questions:
1. (to Jim) I assume you are the petitioner? What do you do for a living?
2. Where do you live?
3. (to me) What do you do for a living?
4. Where do you live?
5. How did you meet? (we told them online) What website?
6. When did you meet online? When did you meet in person and where?
7. (to me) Have you ever been to Minnesota?
8. Have you ever had any trouble crossing the border?
9. Ever any trouble with the law?

And that was pretty  much it. The interviewer typed a bunch of things into his computer and told us we were approved and gave me a "Welcome to the USA" letter. We were so excited! We were walking out of the consulate  by 9:30. We decided to celebrate by getting some food :) We had to fly home at 5 p.m. that day, so we only really had a chance to eat and explore a bit more. We flew back to Toronto and parted ways. We will be SOOO happy when we don't have to say goodbye to each other anymore!

Two days after returning home, my mom and I moved out of our apartment. We managed to move on the hottest day of the year. I swear it was 120 degrees outside. We managed to get in to her new place and try to get settled, but it took over a week to get phone, internet and cable. So talking to Jim this past week has been a challenge. But yesterday, on my birthday I finally got the ability to use the internet at home!

Today, I received my passport back with my visa printed on it! It is official! I am good to move to the USA and get married! All of the months of uncertainty are over and now I can just focus on marrying the most amazing man ever!

Le coeur de Montreal....

Today is my day off from work. Good thing, because today is when I have to do the bulk of my packing. Nope, not my packing to go to Montreal for my interview, but to move forever. You see, my mom is moving from our two bedroom apartment to a cute little one bedroom apartment. She got the apartment July 1st, and we have this one until July 31st, so I had plenty of time to slowly get rid of my belongings.

Then, we started to look at all of our weekends coming up. We have something going on every single weekend except this coming one. So, we decided to get the help we needed to move, we were moving on the 7th. The problem is, we decided this just last weekend. I leave tomorrow for Montreal until Thursday. So, although I have done little bits of packing the bulk of it has to be done today. It will be some tight quarters for a couple months in the one bedroom apartment but that is ok.

It is really hard to part with some of my stuff, but when you are moving 12 hours away, you can't bring every pair of jeans that don't quite fit anymore but you hope against hope they will one day. Lots of my clothes will be donated to those less fortunate so I feel good that someone will be wearing them!

I have been so busy with this move, I haven't really had time to be nervous or stress over Montreal. This is probably a blessing in disguise. Jim is coming with me, so we will be able to have one full day of sightseeing. Doesn't sound like a lot, but since neither of us have been to Montreal before, it is better than not seeing any of it at all. My interview on Thursday is at 8 a.m. I belong to a website called visa journey and it is basically a message board type place and people who are going through the same thing can share tips and information. Everyone on that site says you need to get there to wait in line by 6:45 a.m. We got a hotel that is a short walk to the consulate, so we will be getting up bright and early on Thursday for sure. They schedule a lot of people in the same time period so if you don't arrive early you could be waiting a very long time. Pray for us, that everything goes smoothly and we get approved.

I remember when we first started this process after getting engaged going to Montreal seemed SO far off in the distance, and now it is about to be here! I can't believe it! Time has flown!!! With only 89 days left to the wedding it is about to fly even faster!

Oh, and by the way, the title of this blog means "The heart of Montreal". :)

Busy....

I have been so busy lately, I haven't even had time to update my blog! You know I must be busy if I don't have time for this! Among other things, I have been hard at work trying to get all my thank you notes done for my last bridal shower.

In the past few weeks, I can feel the wedding getting closer. So many things that were so far off in the future only a little while ago, have come to pass already. I am going to blink and our wedding day will be here.

One of the things that seemed so far away, was Jim's brother's wedding. Well, it has already taken place! Justin and Hedda got married on June 16th in Union Springs, NY. I remember when they first told us about the date of their wedding. I was unsure if I was going to be able to be there because of all the visa proceedings. As luck would have it, we were able to purposely delay our interview in Montreal, so I could be sure I was able to attend their wedding.

What a great wedding weekend they had! I had never been to New York state before and the area we were in was absolutely beautiful. They got married in a little church right on one of the Finger Lakes and they had their outdoor reception on the lawn of their uncles property right on the lake. It was a beautiful day and Hedda looked fabulous! (Justin looked good too, but it really is all about how the bride looks on a wedding day, right?) What I loved about their wedding was that it totally was a reflection of who they are. They are both very artistic and creative and it showed in their wedding.

People have asked me if it is weird to have our weddings so close together, but it is really not. For one, our weddings will be nothing alike, except for the fact that they will both happen in a Catholic Church. But that is where the similarity ends. Like Justin and Hedda, I think our wedding will be a good reflection of who Jim and I are as people and as a couple. You will have to wait to hear about all the details though. :)

These past weeks, I have also been busy addressing wedding invitations. With all the trouble with the medical, I am not allowing myself to mail them out until I hear the words "You are approved" in Montreal, but they are all set and ready to go! I remember thinking months ago what it would feel like to be addressing the invitations. I thought for sure it would be a wonderful experience.Well, frankly, it took a long time and my back hurt from sitting so long on a hard chair! I am excited though, to find out who will be able to come and join us on our special day.

Also, I currently live with my mom and with my impending move, she was looking to get a one bedroom apartment for herself. Well, the perfect apartment came up and she is moving in sooner than expected. (I will bunk on her sofabed for a couple months). But because it is sooner than expected, I have 2 weeks to pack all my stuff! In the midst of those two weeks, I have to go to Montreal for 3 days to get my visa! So, all of my spare time in the next little while will be filled with boxes, garbage bags, and goodwill donations. I will be happy when this is over for sure! I am planning on taking only what I absolutely need with me to Minnesota so lots of downsizing will be taking place. I tend to be one who holds onto things for their sentimental value, but I won't be able to do that now.

These next few weeks will surely fly by as I try to get everything done! I hope I don't stress too much!

My Heart is Overwhelmed...

On Wednesday night, my parish ladies association (Catholic Women's League) held a bridal shower for me. When I was first told of this idea, I was amazed that they would want to do this for me (and Jim). The committee consisted of the two secretaries at the church who are members of the league, and another member of the CWL. Because I work with two of them on a daily basis, as the event drew near, my office door got closed by them more and more and there were more and more secrets floating around.

Now, I am the curious type. If there is something to be known, I want to know it. So all of this secrecy was driving me crazy! Part of me was a little nervous about the surprises that were in store.

So, as Wednesday night rolled around I was getting really excited to see what would come about at this shower. Over 60 ladies had RSVP'd that they were coming. I couldn't believe it! The evening began with mass, and then proceeded onto a potluck dinner. I love potluck dinners! There is always the BEST food at them. This one was no exception. There was so much food! And the desserts were amazing as well!

After that the gift opening began. I opened a few of the bigger gifts first. The whole CWL chipped in and got me my pots and pans! The office staff got us luggage! I was so overwhelmed. Then, I looked at the gift table and there were two whole tables packed with gifts. All of the ladies got us little kitchen gadgets, things everyone needs. I got everything from dish towels, to a kitchen clock, to a knives, to funnels and measuring cups. The ladies were also asked to bring their favorite recipes. So, now I have no excuse for not cooking! There are SO many good recipes! I can't wait to try them all.

The highlight of the night was two men from the parish who came dressed in Adam and Eve aprons (well they other things on too!). I never laughed so hard in my life and I think all of the ladies enjoyed the entertainment too!

I was overcome with emotion at the end of the night. I couldn't believe that all these ladies came out to honor me and they were all so generous! They welcomed me with open arms almost 5 years ago, and they continue to shower me with love and good wishes. I am going to miss all of them so much! What a wonderful cluster of parishes I work in!

Hallelujah....

          Good news! I am cleared for my medical! After not one, not two, but three trips to Toronto for x-rays I have in my hands a clear medical that I have to take with me to the interview in Montreal in July. I am so grateful that I decided to do my medical early. Usually, people will schedule them within a week or two of their interview. I somehow had the foresight to do this one early. I have now found out that apparently I was getting over a chest cold or pneumonia and that is what they were seeing in my chest x-ray. I had a sore throat when I went the first time, but nothing felt like it was in the chest to me. But, thanks be to God, I am ok and there is nothing seriously wrong with me and I have the approved medical.

        Last weekend, Jim came down and we went to our Engaged Encounter weekend. What a great weekend it was. Luckily, almost all of it was review for Jim and I. When you never see each other in person and all you can do is talk on skype, a lot of issues already get discussed! But we had a great weekend. It was great to affirm why we are getting married, what values and morals we believe in and hold dear, and what things we hope to pass on to our children one day.

       It also affirmed for me why I am marrying Jim. He and I are on the same page on almost everything and I have truly never met a more charitable, generous, honorable man. I left the weekend with a profound realization that I am the luckiest girl in the world! :) I was also happy that Jim was able to come with me to Toronto for this last chest x-ray that finally got me cleared for the medical.

     My other good news, is that we found a new photographer. After our last photographer bailed on the engagement photos, I started a hunt for a new one. After repeated attempts to get ahold of our old photographer, we sent her a registered letter letting her know we would no longer need her services (she still has not responded to any emails or called us back). It almost seems providential in a way, because the new photographers pictures are even BETTER than hers were. We connected right away and when I had inquired about our date and if he still had it available he just had a cancellation the week before for that date!

      I am so grateful to God for all He has done for us. Hallelujah!

Shower me with your love...

This past weekend, my mom, sister and I headed to the Chicago area for the joint bridal shower Jim's mom and sister were throwing me and Jim's brother's fiance. We had a great time! This was just the distraction I needed. You see, the medical fiasco is still ongoing. I need to go back to Toronto in a week for EVEN MORE chest x-rays. I am still worried that this could ruin our wedding, but this weekend I chose not to dwell on that.

After some shopping along the way, we arrived at our hotel late Friday night. We were all tired, but awoke on Saturday ready for a full day. Jim drove down from Minnesota Friday as well, and he came to pick us up to go and pick out the tuxes for the wedding. This process was pretty easy. We quickly decided what we wanted and I am confident all the guys in our wedding party (and Jim too!) will look great on our wedding day.

Next, we went to the hotel where we will be holding our reception to meet with the new wedding coordinator they have. We picked chair covers, and got any last minute questions we had for her taken care of. Then, it was on to lunch. We ate at the restaurant where we will be having our rehearsal dinner. We will be having some great deep dish pizza so we needed to sample it, of course.

After that, we headed to church. Jim and I had to get all of our forms taken care of for the wedding. We also needed witnesses to attest to our competancy to be married. My mom and sister were my witnesses and Jim's parents were his. The priest led us all into a 'holding room' and called each of our witnesses in one by one. Then, Jim and I got to go together but of course were seperated for the big questions. After we were done with all the paperwork, we headed for dinner. We went to the Olive Garden. It was yummy!

After a long day, we were all exhausted so we made sure to get some good rest for the events of the following day. I awoke Sunday morning very early to head to my hair and makeup trial. I was excited about this! I wanted to see what they would do with both of these. I know that my hair is going to continue to grow, so the hairstyle I had that day, was not necessarily the same hairstyle I would have on my wedding day. This was actually a good thing, since besides the shower, we had arranged to get our engagement photos done on Sunday as well. My hair and makeup was actually done pretty quickly. Both took just a little over an hour. I headed back to the hotel and got ready for the shower, then my mom, sis and I headed to the restaurant where the shower was to take place.

I loved the shower! This was my first ever shower! It was so much fun and so much thought was put into it. It was so nice of Jim's mom and sister to put so much time and effort into the shower. It was great to be able to share this shower with Hedda, as well. It was also great that my friend Claudia from Catholic Match was able to come. I hadn't seen her in awhile so it was great to catch up. Jim and I received so many wonderful gifts and it was so overwhelming to know how many people love and support us.

After the shower, we got ready for our engagement photos. Our photographer was supposed to meet us at 6 p.m. and even though we waited for over an hour she never showed up. I was really upset. Luckily once we returned to Jim's parents house, Jim's brother mentioned he has a great camera and would snap some photographs if we wanted.  They ended up looking really good. We decided instead of trying to find another photographer at a later date to just go with these pics. Here are a few of them:

All in all, even despite the little snafu with the photographer, we had a great weekend! Stay tuned for even better pics taken at this photo shoot in the near future! :)

Doctor, Doctor....

 Last weekend I headed to Toronto for my medical that is required for immigration. I still find it crazy that I had to go all the way to Toronto for a medical, but c'est la vie. My mom and I headed up to Toronto Sunday afternoon. My appointment was scheduled for anytime between 7:30 and 9 a.m. on Monday. We got a hotel that was about a 10 minute walk to the medical building. We had a pretty uneventful drive to Toronto and the traffic was manageable and we made great time. We got there in less than 4 hours. We ate dinner at the Pickle Barrel restaurant (my mom loves this place!) and then we checked into our hotel. The hotel was not a 5 star by any means, but it served its purpose.

Once we were settled, we took the 10 minute walk to go and find the building where I needed to go early the next morning. We found it easily. We relaxed in the hotel room and aside from a toilet overflowing and having to move to a new room, it was a nice uneventful evening. I set my alarm for 6:15 a.m. Thanks to the visajourney site I belong to, I knew that if you get there before 7:30 they will process you early. I was up and ready to walk out the door by 6:55 a.m. After the short 10 minute walk, I arrived at the building. Almost immediately a woman came up to the door and asked what I was there for. I told her my medical for immigration. A guy walked up as she was talking and she asked him the same question. She is the receptionist for the doctors office and told us to follow her upstairs. We went in and since I was the first one at the door she started processing me. I handed over my passport, my passport photos my 350 bucks (300 for medical and 50 for them to courier it to me!!) signed some forms and then she brought me to an exam room. She told me the nurse would be in soon to take my vitals (height, weight, blood pressure etc.) Almost immediately the nurse arrived. She was really nice. She had me sign another form. She then told me the doctor would be in shortly. At 7:30 the doctor came in and he was very nice. He had me sign some more forms, looked over my vaccination records to make sure they were up to date (they were!) and gave me back my passport that I gave the receptionist. He asked me some basic questions like "Do have any chronic illnesses?", "Do you smoke?", "Do you take any medications on a regular  basis?", "Have you had any major surgery?", "How is your mental health?" etc. Then he checked my throat, glands, and breathing. He made small talk while he was doing all this asking me where I was moving to in the US and why I was moving there (they do medicals for people doing many different types of visas). He congraulated me on my upcoming nuptials and told me the nurse would be back in shortly. She came back in and told me to go back to the waiting room where they would call me shortly for blood work.

The blood work is to make sure I don't have any STD's I think. I got called in fairly quickly and the lady had no trouble finding a vein. I then had to sign another form. After that, I had to go check in with the front desk and they gave me a map to the place I had to go for the chest x-ray. It was literally around the corner. I got there at 7:55 a.m. and they don't open until 8:00a.m. I waited the 5 minutes and was called in shortly thereafter. It was an easy x-ray and I was done and walking back to the hotel by 8:20 a.m. I stopped at Starbucks on the way back and was still back in the hotel by 8:30!

My mom and I then checked out, went for breakfast then headed to IKEA! :) While we didn't buy much, I managed to mentally purchase all the items that I thought would look nice in Jim's house. It is going to look great when I am done with it! :)We then headed back home. After a quick stop at a little country store my mom wanted to stop at, we were home by 4:30. I was glad my mom was able to come with me. It felt more like a vacation than a chore. We had a great time!

Unfortunately, the very next day, they doctors office called me. They told me that I need to repeat some chest x-rays before they could sign off on the medical. Even more unfortunately, I have to go back to Toronto to do them. So, this Monday I am heading back. I am not going to lie. I am worried. They won't sign off on the medical unless everything is ok with the medical. They are mostly looking for TB, but if they were to find something else I would need to prove it was nothing before they could sign off. My big worry now is that if it is something else, then all of that proving could take months! Months that I don't have to the wedding! So in essence, our wedding timeline could be in jeopardy. I am praying they will take these new views, see nothing and I will get the medical in the mail by the end of the week. I would appreciate some prayers if you could spare them, that all will be well. I will keep you all posted.

You're Still the One....

This weekend, I was finally able to spend some much needed face to face time with Jim. It had been 7 weeks since we had seen each other, and we were both excited to spend this time together. The purpose of the visit was to go to a wedding of a good friend's daughter. The wedding was fabulous!! The bride looked amazing (as did Caroline, the mother of the bride!) We had a great time and I always love an excuse to get all dressed up! Here we are at the wedding:

This weekend was also my nephew Matthew's piano recital. Coincidentally, Jim was down last year for Matthew's piano recital as well. We were both able to see the improvement he has made in a year. He is getting to be a great little musician! We were also able to spend some time visiting with my family Friday night.

Saturday pretty much consisted of getting ready for the wedding and attending the wedding. We were lucky that we got to sit with some great friends and we had a wonderful time! The food was fabulous and the atmosphere was great!

Today, we went to mass and afterward, we had a chance to meet with Fr. Rick who will be coming to Illinois to marry us. Father Rick is the Pastor at the parishes I work for, and has graciously agreed to come to Illinois to marry us. We are so happy that he is willing to do this. We were able to work out the details of the wedding with Father. We had our meeting over lunch so it was really relaxed and he was able to get to know Jim a bit better, which was nice.

After that, we headed to meet up with my friend Kortney and her boyfriend for a quick visit. Kortney is standing up in the wedding, and she has moved to Kitchener this past year so I don't get to see her as much as I used to. It just so happened that she and her boyfriend were going to be in town this weekend, so we managed to fit in a quick visit. It was lots of fun. After the visit, we headed to get a quick lesson on Natural Family Planning. One of the parishioners in my parish is a certified instructor so we were able to get a private lesson from her.

After that, we headed to Windsor to an Italian restaurant to celebrate! Not only is it 5 months until the wedding, but tomorrow will be one year that we have been officially dating. I say 'officially' because anyone who knows us knows that we have been 'sort of' dating for much longer than that. (If you are unsure of what I am talking about, feel free to look back in the blog to Jim's epic saga of the events of our relationship lol)

It is hard to believe that a year has gone by already. It seems like yesterday! This has truly been a magical year for both of us and we are so blessed by God to have been able to have all the events of this year take place. I pray that the next year (and those to come) will continue to  be as wonderful and grace-filled.

Come together....

In the past month, things have really been coming together with the wedding and visa planning. When it comes to the visa, I have my medical in Toronto on May 7th and my interview July 5th in Montreal. It is exciting to think that soon this will all be done, but I am still a bit nervous. I will feel much better once I get approved for the visa and it is in my hand!

As for the wedding plans, they are going great. In the past month, we have booked the hotel for our honeymoon. (Yes, it was the place that we were discussing in a previous blog). We are excited!
We have also booked transportation for the day of the wedding and received our invitations! Dare I say that all of the big stuff is done??

Now it is just all the little things that add up along with finalizing the logistics of my move to the USA. It is not cheap to move stuff from one country to another. Thankfully, when Jim and I were planning the expenses of the wedding, we remembered the amount of money we would have to add on for moving, and visa expenses. Along with the trips to Toronto and Montreal (which are not cheap!) filing for the adjustment of status (where I can actually apply for a green card) will be another 1000 bucks!  The United States government sure doesn't make it easy for one to move to their country on a fiance visa!

Next weekend, it will be 5 months to the wedding! I can't believe it! Also, next weekend, Jim will be coming down to visit. This is the first time I have seen him in 7 weeks! Even though we talk everyday on skype, it is not the same thing. It is a good alternative to being together, but we really have to work at our relationship and talk a lot because we aren't together all the time. This is one of the longest stretches we have gone without seeing each other. I am not going to lie and say it has been easy, because it hasn't. Long distance relationships are not for the faint of heart. I am so happy that soon we will be together all the time!

Loving You....

Seven years ago today, my dad died. I remember one of the first thoughts that went through my mind as I began to process things was, "He's not going to be here to walk me down the aisle one day." As the years passed and there didn't seem to be a groom to marry, I didn't think much more about that fact. I still missed my dad everyday but it was beginning to look like their wasn't going to be a marriage in the cards for me ever. Then I met Jim.

The realization that my dad won't be there physically on that special day is a hard one. I know that he will be there in spirit, but on that day his absence will be felt. My Godson/nephew Alex will be stepping in to fill the role of walking me down the aisle. My mom informed me long ago it would be too hard for her to do it.

They say that when you find the guy you are going to marry often times you end up marrying someone just like your dad. Jim is so much like my dad in so many ways. Not only is he kind, sweet, caring and loving but he goes out of his way to talk to people and make them feel special. He has a strong faith and loves God and his family with his whole heart. My dad was the same way.

I know that if my dad and Jim would have gotten to meet they would have loved each other. While my wedding day will be bittersweet without my dad there, I know that he will be looking down happy that I found someone who is perfect for me. Someone who is a good and honourable man. Someone like him.

Whoo Hoo!!!

So for the past month or so, I have been eligible to get an interview for my visa. At first, there was none available when I tried. Then for awhile they had 3 days available: April 23-25th. This was way to soon for me to even entertain the idea of taking it. I had a few very good reasons why I couldn't. First, I had to renew my passport since it was up for renewal in February 2013 and I need a passport valid for 6 months once I enter the US, which God-willing will be in September. Second, Jim's mom is having a shower for me (and Jim's brother's fiance) in May. Third, Jim's brother and his fiance will be getting married in mid-June and I really want to go.

So, everyday I had a routine to check the website several times a day to see if there were any interviews available. Today, once I got to work I quickly checked like I always do, and was shocked to see that there were many interviews available in May, June and July. I immediately called Jim at home and didn't get an answer. I called a few more times and go ahold of him. Then the task began to figure out which date would work best for us.

We finally settled on one: July 5th! We chose this date because it falls right after the American holiday and therefore Jim will have to take less time off. Also, we realized later, that on this date we have been together in person every year we have known each other! (Also, I think we went to the U2 show last year on this date so it has to be lucky right?)

I am so excited that it means that I will get to do everything I want to do before the interview and still have plenty of time to get the passport back with the visa on it. It generally takes 2 weeks or so to come back but very rarely it can take up to 2 months. Also, I went online to look at flights tonight and all flights on the two major Canadian airlines are 50% off if you book by tomorrow! I will be taking advantage of that for sure! What great timing! Also, it looks like Jim and I could actually travel together for once. We may take the same airline and both have connections in Toronto. That would mean from Toronto to Montreal we would fly together! :)

Getting an interview time means I can now book a medical which has to be done before the interview. I called at lunch and left my information  at the doctors office in Toronto who does medicals for the consulate. At around 3p.m. today they called me on my cell phone and when I told them I wanted a date in June the lady replied "JUNE? I don't even have the calendar ready for June! Can you call back in May please?" My first reaction was to think "Seriously lady? I didn't say December! June is only 2 months away!" But I guess I will call back in May and see when I can get into the medical.

I am so happy that everything looks like it is going to work out. Keep praying that everything goes well with the medical and the interview! :)

Looking back on the things I've done...

As Jim and I approach the 6 month mark to the wedding tomorrow, it is interesting to see how far we have come. Technically, we have not even been officially dating for a year yet. We reach that milestone next month. But those of us who know our story, know that we have been 'together' on and off for a lot longer than that.

Recently, I have been reflecting on not only how far Jim and I have come as a couple, but how far each of us has come individually. I will let Jim guest blog one day to explain just how much his life has changed, but for now, I thought I would look back on mine. I look back on my life 3-4 years ago and realize just how drastically it has changed. About 4 years ago, I decided to enter the world of online dating. I was too cheap to pay for a site at first so I spent some time on plenty of fish. I quickly realized that you had to really search on this site, because lets just say most of the men were not my type.

I did manage to go on some coffee dates with men I met on plenty of fish. Almost all of them were horrible. One guy, when he asked me to explain exactly what I did for a living told me, "Yeah, I have had enough of that religious crap shoved down my throat for 12 years in school." I wasn't really sure what to say to that. Needless to say I didn't see that guy again.

Another guy on paper was totally my type and really should have been a match for me, but I ended up doing 95% of the talking. I gave him a chance and went on a few dates with him, but when it didn't get better I realized that it was pointless.

It was around this time I got serious about Catholic Match. I was ready to meet someone who shared my faith and my beliefs. I realized quickly, while Catholic Match was a great site, it didn't really have a ton of local guys. I foolishly though I would go online and a plethora of men would be waiting for me from the Windsor area. Well, what actually happened was there were probably 10 guys from the Windsor area, and most of them were not paying members. I participated in the forums and made friends so I stayed for the good discussions and nice people. I was definitely not looking for a long distance relationship. But, when I met Jim, I was at the point where I was at least willing to give it a try.

I never thought I would be one who could make a long distance relationship work. How wrong I was. While it has been challenging not to be together all the time, we have grown so much as a couple. If you would have told me 4 years ago that I would be moving away from not only home, but from my country for love, I would have laughed at you. But, now I could not imagine my life without Jim in it.

I can't believe in 6 short months, I will be embarking on a new life. A new husband, a new country and new experiences. I can't wait!

Chicago....

This past weekend, my whole family headed up to Chicago. My sister, mom and I headed up on Friday night after work and my brother-in-law and nephews came the day after. This was the weekend that my family met Jim's family for the first time. This was also the weekend that we got a lot checked off our wedding list.

Jim flew in late Friday night and headed to his mom and dad's house. On Saturday, Jim and his mom came to pick up my sister, mom and I to go to our cake tasting. We got to try our yummy cake and decide on a design. This is the fun part of the wedding planning for sure! I won't spoil the surprise and let you know what we got, but it is going to be delish! On the way up to the cake tasting our moms got acquainted. Once our cake tasting was over, we had time to kill and were right in the neighbourhood of where Jim's brother lives, so we had arranged to meet him and his fiance for a snack. We had a great time catching up with them, and they were able to meet Maggie and my mom.

Soon it was off to go to our food tasting at the hotel where we will be having the wedding reception. I didn't really know what to expect, but I wasn't prepared for how great this tasting was going to be. We got there and met the banquet manager, Jean. She brought us to the room where will be tasting the food. When we entered the room, there was a table fully set up with all the linens that will be at our wedding. Our first choice we had to make was what napkin design we wanted for the wedding. We had 5 choices. Again I won't spoil it for you, but they will be cute. We were introduced to our server for the tasting, Pedro who promptly offered us wine. I wasn't expecting a server at all! I just thought we would have a bunch of things on the table to eat and they would each give us a fork. It was so not the case. We had previously chosen two starters to try and Pedro brought all five of us out full samples of each starter. We ate them both and chose our favorite. We were pretty unanimous on our choice which was great! Next up was the salad course. Again, we had previously chosen two to try and they brought out full versions of each. We also got to choose 2 salad dressing (we had 4 to choose from). Jim doesn't like salad, so he sat this one out. When we told Jean that Jim didn't like salad she offered on the wedding day to bring him out a fruit plate at that course!
Next up was sorbet to cleanse our palates. It was a yummy refreshing treat.

Finally, our entrees we had previously chosen came out along with different starch options and vegetable options. They brought out full entrees for us to share. We made all of our decisions pretty quickly and unanimously. With 5 of us present this was a great thing! At the end of the tasting the chef came out to talk to us and see if we had any questions or concerns. It was amazing how much care the hotel took to make sure we will be happy on our wedding day!

We could not have had a better time. We had plenty of food, lots of wine and a great feel for how our wedding food will taste. We are so excited to try it again on our wedding day!

After the tasting, the florist we are working with met us right at the hotel. When it comes to flowers, I am not one to know a chrysanthemum from a gardenia. So this was a pretty easy appointment. I just told her what I liked, and brought some pictures and made sure we had all the flowers accounted for that we wanted on our wedding. She had done the flowers for Jim's sister's wedding and they looked so beautiful so I know that mine will look great on the wedding day too. It was so great that my mom, his mom and Maggie could share in the planning and see the banquet room where we will be getting married and share in some of the preparations of the wedding.

That night, my nephews and brother-in-law Dave arrived. Jim and I decided, after hanging out with my family for awhile, to go for a date night. We didn't have much alone time, so we took what we could get. It was nice to be able to just talk about how everything went that day and how excited we were that things were coming together!

The next day my whole family and Jim and his mom headed to church. This church is his mom's church and the church we will be getting married in. It was so nice for my family to be able to see where the wedding will happen. My little nephew Alex was feeling under the weather, but he managed to make it to mass. After mass, we all headed for brunch where we met Jim's sister and her husband, Jim's brother and his fiance and Jim's dad. It was VERY surreal for Jim and I to have our WHOLE families in the same room together! Everyone got along well and were able to get to know each other. It was great!

After brunch, some of us headed back to Jim's parents house. It was great for my family to see Jim's parents house and experience their wonderful hospitality. All in all it was a great weekend! It went by very quickly but it was awesome that our families got to meet!

Only 198 days til the wedding! :)

We are Family....

I am really excited! Why, you ask? Three reasons.

1) I am heading to Chicago this weekend and Jim and I are going to get a few more things checked off on our wedding to-do list. We will be doing our cake tasting, food tasting and we are meeting with the florist. But the best part is that this time we get to have our families involved. You see, this week is March Break (spring break for you Americans) and my whole family is coming up to the Chicago area with me. We are taking this opportunity for Jim's family and my family to meet. Our moms and my sister will be joining us for all of our wedding errands. Then on Sunday, our whole families (all siblings, nephews and parents included) will be going to brunch. It should be a great time.

2) I got word that we are cleared to schedule an interview! We have to go to a website and try to get an interview from the times they have available. The only problem is that there are no interviews available at this time. This is a common occurrence because they only open up a certain number of interviews at a time to keep it controlled and to not get too far ahead. Lucky for us, we have some time to wait, since the wedding is not until September and the interview is the last step of this part of the process to get me over to the USA. Hopefully new interview slots will open up soon. I am really excited that things are moving at the pace we anticipated.

3) I spent some time this week figuring out how certain things will work when I move countries. I was concerned with my life insurance and pension plans and what would happen to them. I contacted the agencies and they were very helpful and explained all I would have to do which is not as big of a deal as I thought it would be. So my stress levels surrounding these issues has decreased significantly.

Hope you all have a great weekend! :)

Why did you have to go and make things so complicated?....

When it comes to the visa process, nothing is easy. However, I think by the end of it I will know more than most immigration lawyers. When I first realized there was a possibility Jim and I may be heading in the direction of marriage, I started looking into what it would take to get married. I looked at both possibilities; me moving to the US and Jim moving to Canada. Both of them were annoying and frustrating. However, the USA was the only one that offered the fiance visa option. In Canada, you have to be married first and then do all of your paperwork later. The US has this option too, but they also provide a way for people who want to get married an not be seperated for close to year afterward to do so.

This does not mean however that they make this process easy. It is a lot of redundant information asked over and over again on different forms in different ways. It is not hard. It is just knowing what needs to be sent that is the tricky part. This past week, we got word that Montreal had received our case file and they sent us out a packet of information. This packet is simply instructions to go to a website to download some forms. All of this information this time around is all about me. So it was easy to fill them out and send them back. Within a couple weeks we will get another package that gives us directions on booking a medical and an interview. I am excited about this possibility! The only downfall is I have read on visajourney that as of right now Montreal does not have any interviews available.

Back in the day, Montreal would assign you an interview date. However, as of a couple years ago, they stopped doing that. Now, you are the one that has to go to a certain website and try to book your date. The problem is Montreal only releases dates ever so often. Once all of those are taken, they wait awhile before opening up another block of interviews. Also, the annoying thing with this way of doing things is that you need to be near your computer all the time and checking for interviews. It is very possible a  limited block could open up and people that have been waiting months could miss out and people that just tried for the first time could get those slots. I am guessing that since I have read people have been waiting a couple weeks already for interviews, that they should be opening some more up soon. Here is hoping we get one ! I looked at this time last year and they were booking into July for the interviews. This would actually work out well for us, since it will be easier to travel and easier for me to take some time off.

I am glad that this part of the process is nearing an end. After the wedding there many more forms to be filled out. I just can't wait until I can just stop worrying about visa stuff anymore! It will all be a lot less complicated!!!

Holidays in the Sun....

I was going to write a blog post all about my current work and visa happenings, but I decided instead to write about something else. I wanted to tell you a funny little story.

Last night, Jim and I were skyping. Lately, I have been bugging him about booking our honeymoon.  Yesterday was no exception. But do you blame me? After all, I have a very detailed "to do" calendar on theknot.com and the only thing that is overdue on my list for the wedding is booking our honeymoon. Jim has been really busy with work lately. I have as well, but when I come home I like to unwind by spending some time online. Over the past few months, I have used this time to do some research on where to go for our honeymoon. Jim and I have to stay in the continental United States because of the visa restrictions, so we had settled on going somewhere in California to honeymoon. We were unsure whether we wanted to go with San Francisco or somewhere further south like San Diego. All I knew was I wanted to stay somewhere close to the water at a place with a resort feel to it.

As I was researching San Fran and San Diego nothing really spoke to me, so I took a chance and looked at places in Los Angeles. It wasn't long before I found this amazing resort overlooking a bluff right on the Pacific Ocean that is an hour away from L.A. It looked heavenly! I fell in love with it immediately! I did more research on guest reviews, price etc. and showed it to Jim a few weeks back. He loved it too.

So, yesterday, when I was bugging him about booking the honeymoon, I wanted to go ahead and book this place. Now, of course, Jim has not done any of this research yet, so he was hesitant. He asked me if we could just google a few things so he could research it a bit more. So I said sure. He shared his screen with me so I could see what he was typing in. (We do this a lot on skype. It is a great convenient feature when you are wedding planning!) He typed in "Best Resorts in Southern California". Immediately, hundreds of choices popped up but one website seemed to condense it all. It said "Top 10 Resorts in Southern California". Perfect! Jim clicked on it and as it opened up I had to laugh. The number one choice appeared immediately and it was none other than my pick! I have to admit I was a little smug! But, the moral of the story is Jim really needs to learn that I am always right. ;)

All kidding aside, we had a great laugh over it. But strangely enough we still didn't book the honeymoon. Hmmm, I bet he is doing some more research on the sly as we speak ;)

p.s. Today is exactly 7 months to our wedding! Time is flying!!!!

10,000 Lakes....

This past weekend, I went to Minnesota to visit Jim. This is only the second time I have been there so I was excited, considering I am going to be moving there in a little over 7 months. I took it as a great opportunity to get a little more familiarized with the Twin Cities and its surrounding area.

I also took it as a great opportunity to mentally redecorate Jim's bachelor pad. I have visions of giving a lot of things to good will! He has been a bachelor for 20 years! Most of his things are from the 1980's or earlier, so it will be time to let them go. Luckily, Jim is ready to part with most of these things. I am still working on helping him make a clean break from his forest green sofa with a built in phone, but I am confident he will come around.

Anyway, our weekend was GREAT! It was so cool to be together in the city we will be living in! The major wedding thing we accomplished was getting my engagement ring sized (finally) and buying our wedding rings. My engagement ring had a great warranty on it but it was void if another jeweler worked on it, so for the past 6 months I have been wearing a sizer in it. It was nice to see the sizer go and actually have the ring fit my finger properly. My choice of wedding ring was easy, I picked the one that matched my engagement ring and was part of the set. Jim's choice on the other hand was a bit more difficult. After only an hour or so of looking, we decided on a ring for him. (For those who know Jim well, yes he really made a decision in an hour! ;) )

Jim is really worried that he will not be able to get used to the ring on his finger. I told him it will be fine. To be sure, he wore it around for a little bit inside. He kept saying "This feels weird!" I finally had to remind him that it will be a symbol of our love and that he will learn to love wearing it. I am not sure if that worked or not, but I hope so.

I could tell you all about the weekend and go on and on, but I won't. (Luckily, Jim is not writing this entry or it would be a 5 part series ;) ). Anyway, a few of the highlights this weekend was going to look at really cute shops in White Bear Lake (Yep Jenn and Justin I saw the big white bear), going to eat in Minneapolis at Rudolph's followed by the improv show Comedy Sportz, going to Como Zoo and finally going to the Mall of America again! (Yep Jenn, he told me AGAIN about the time you almost both got killed there in the parking lot..)

Anyway, the greatest part of the weekend was getting to spend it with Jim and getting a small taste of what our lives will be like in Minnesota. I was really lucky that there was no snow while I was there and it was unseasonably warm. But I am pretty sure God is just giving me one last winter of nice weather before I move to the frozen tundra.

All in all, I had an amazing weekend! I am so blessed to have Jim in my life!!!

One Moment in Time....

On February 11, 2010 at 1:40 a.m. I got the following message in my Catholic Match email inbox.

Subject: The best part of your profile

Hi Lisa,

There are a lot of things I could compliment you on in your profile:

-Your vocation in church ministry (this is really cool and impressive)
-Your close relationship with your family
-Your karaoke skills (I know I sure couldn't do that!)

But what I really wanted to talk to you about is the very best part of your profile....that's right, I'm talking about your glasses. That is one cool pair of glasses. I actually wear them myself when I don't have my contact lenses in. Well...I wear my own glasses, that is. Not yours. I mean, can you imagine if we were both invited to a party and showed up wearing the same glasses? Talk about embarrassing!

Take care,
Jim

P.S. I hope that didn't sound like I was making fun of your glasses. I really do think they're quite stylish. My glasses, on the other hand, are just thick blobs of glass that make me look like some sort of geek. Which is OK, I guess, because I am some sort of geek. So I guess everything worked out for the best there! ;)

I remember this day very clearly. I was talking on the phone with my friends Claudia and Karina who were both friends I had met on the site. I had my computer on and I saw this message pop up. Occasionally I would get an 'emotigram' which was a small text like message from different men, but this was a full out email so it stood out. I thought it was a cute message and told Claudia and Karina about it. While I liked the message, I was not positive I wanted to respond back. I had Claudia do some recognisance work and she read the profile of this man. She said he sounded really nice and I should write to him. So, I did. I sent off a quick reply before I went to bed. It wasn't much, just a few lines. I figured I would wait to see what would happen.

A couple days went by before I got a reply. The reply was so cute. It turns out this gentleman had been to Windsor with his family years and years before and he told this really cute story about how he stole rocks from Canada. I was beginning to be smitten.I decided to look at his profile myself. I was very impressed. Some people on Catholic Match don't spend a lot of time preparing their profile and, to be honest, most start to sound the same. This one definitely stood out.

Unless you are living under a rock, you know the rest of this story. That man that wrote me was Jim. These two years were not without ups and downs. But through it all we have grown in who we are as people. This one little email changed both of our lives. It goes to show that small decisions you make in life can have a huge impact on your future. I, for one, will be ever grateful that Jim got up the courage to write that email and I was open enough to respond. I am also grateful that we were both open to a long distance relationship and where ever that would lead us. God is so good!

I love you Jim! Thanks for taking a chance two years ago! One more thing. I will admit it. This was the best, wittiest, funniest email I ever received! :)

Catching Up....

I just realized that it is already the 9th of February and I have yet to post anything at all this month! I guess I have just been busy! Right now at work, I am in the middle of perhaps the busiest time all year. We are in the middle of Confirmation preparation for our grade 8 students and our parish is doing a spiritual renewal program that I am organizing that is gearing up for another 6 week session. Since I am in charge of both of these programs it means that I am pretty busy.

Along with work, I have been working away at more wedding plans. My mom, sister and I are heading up to Chicago in March to work on some wedding stuff. Jim will be meeting us there. This will also be the first time Jim's parents and my mom meet. While we are there we will be doing our food tasting at our venue, meeting with the florist and doing a cake tasting. Now some of you may remember I already talked about doing a cake tasting. Back in November we went and had our cake tasting. But the bakery that the hotel is affiliated with closed, so we have to do it all over again. While it is a bit of a pain because the bakery is over an hour away from the hotel, I am always up for sampling some yummy cake!

Next weekend I will also be heading up to Minnesota to spend some time with Jim. I haven't been there since July so I will be able to experience the frigid temps of winter while I am there this time. We are also going to get our wedding bands while I am there. It is all fun exciting stuff!!

Also soon, I will have to deal with the next step of paper work required for the visa. I know the visa is very confusing for a lot of people. Sometimes Jim is even confused. So I thought I would take a moment to sort of lay out the steps along the way. Luckily we are already done with Step 1 and 2. Here they are:

Step 1: Send in original submission which includes evidence of having met within the last 2 years and biographical information for both of us. This gets sent to a service center in the US depending on where you live. Ours went to California. This generally takes about 5 months to do all the background checks on us. We got our in 140 days just shy of 5 months.

Step 2: California reviews submission and either approves, denies or requests more information from us. We were approved. They then send the submission to the National Visa Center where it gets processed and moves onto the local consulate.

Step 3: The local consulate (in our case Montreal) receives submission and sends out a package of information for you to fill out and return. This includes more biographical info etc. Once you fill that out, they send you another package where you are able to book your medical and your interview. Usually these are booking 2-3 months out once you can book them.

Step 4: Medical in Toronto and Interview in Montreal. At the interview the passport is taken and the visa is printed right on passport. After the interview you cannot enter the US unless you want to be married within 90 days. You have 6 months to use your visa once it is printed on the passport.

Step 5: Move to the US.

Step 6: GET MARRIED :)

Step 7: File for an Adjustment of Status to get your conditional green card. Also at this time you file for advanced parole (so you can leave the US while your visa is being processed. It is like letting you out on good behavior! ;) and employment authorization. The advance parole and work authorization take about 2-3 months to come through. Conditional green card takes 4-6 months.

Step 8: Receive the conditional green card. Once you have this it is good for 2 years. Before the two years are up the government will send you a reminder to fill out some more paperwork to remove the conditions on the green card. (Yep, yet MORE paperwork to fill out!!). Once that is sent and processed you will receive a permanent green card renewable every 10 years. At this stage you may or may not be required to go for a couples interview before they approve your permanent green card.

Step 9: Live like a normal human being not worried about paperwork every two minutes!

Hope this helps you get a better picture of how things work.

What We Have Been Waiting For....

For the past few weeks, we have been expecting our NOA2 (Notification of Action 2) for our visa to show up. I had signed up for an e-mail alert to let me know when the decision would happen. Now there was a chance we could have received a RFE (Request For more Evidence) so we kept wondering when we would hear and if we heard what the outcome would be.

Oh, and don't mind the lingo, I have become well versed in my research on visa's to know all the short forms imaginable.

Anyway, today was my day off and I was really tired from the weekend. Jim came down for a visit and whenever we are together we seem to subconciously know we only have a limited amount of time. We always have a lot to do and so we tend to let sleep be the thing that slides in our time together. So today I was really tired. So I slept in a little, and spent some time recharging.

After dinner, I got ready to head to the gym. As I was working out I was thinking that it would be really cool if I had an email waiting for me. But I quickly laughed off that idea since it was almost 7:15 at night and surely they would send out information during the day, not at night. Well, I got in my car and checked my phone and sure enough there it was. Sent at 7:05 a notice saying we had been approved. We received our NOA2. On the way home, I was so excited. I also realized on the way home that this notice is coming from California which is 3 hours behind us so it still was during the day there.

As soon as I got home I let my mom know and dialed the phone as fast as I could to call Jim. I called and the machine picked up! I thought for sure he was just taking a nap, so I called again. Nothing. I called a few more times and finally left a message that it was very important he call me. After waiting a bit I called again and finally he answered. I thought for sure he was sleeping the whole time, but he wasn't. He was out running errands. I had thought of attempting his cell phone but he is not like me. He never has his cell phone on or with him.

When he answered he had already figured out what had happened, since there were like 6 hang up's from me! LOL We were both really really excited! And we both remembered that today is our 9 month anniversary of dating officially. What a great gift the US government has given us!

So what happens now? The petition gets moved to a National Visa Processing Center, where it will stay for a minimum of 1 week (sometimes it could take up to 4). Then it gets sent to the local consulate handling our case which is Montreal. After Montreal recieves it, they send me a packet of information that I have to fill out and return to them. This packet has a checklist of things I will bring to the interview, as well as a bunch of other information on me. I also need to pose for a few more passport photos.

After Packet 3 comes and I send it back they will send out packet 4 which will allow me to book an interview and a medical. This whole portion of the process from NOA2 to the interview takes 3-5 months. So with the wedding 8 months away we should be good with our timeline. :)

What a great day! :)

Living My Life....

Wow! I guess I haven't been very good at updating the blog! I haven't written since the 15th! That is so unlike me. Part of the reason I haven't wirtten is I have been pretty busy with stuff at work. I am in the middle of Confirmation preparation as well as organizing a small faith sharing group for members of my parish (among other things!). Between work, going to the gym, spending time with family and talking to Jim nightly my life is pretty full.

This weekend Jim will be coming to visit. I am really excited for him to come down. It is always nice when I can count the time between visits in days and not months. Once we get past the 4 week mark of being apart, it always gets harder. This time it will be 22 days between visits. We are trying not to do too many wedding things and just have a nice relaxing weekend with each other. The only real wedding thing on the agenda is to decide on invitations. (Of course knowing me I will try to throw in a few more wedding related things!) A friend of mine from church will be doing them for us, so we want to decide on a design and wording so we can get the ball rolling on them. Other than that, our weekend will consist of visiting family and friends and just spending some quality time alone.

In mid February, I will be making my second visit to Minnesota. This will also be the last visit there until I move there for good. That weekend will also only consist of a little wedding planning. We plan on getting our wedding rings. :)  It will be really nice to feel acclimated a bit more to Minnesota since I have only been there once, and that was way back in July. Jim and I usually meet here in Canada or in Chicago so it will be nice to spend some time in the state we will be living for once.

Other than that, life has been a whole lot more of the same. We are still waiting to hear something regarding the visa. We are thinking it will be closer to the time I go visit Jim that we may finally hear something. I am trying not to focus on that, as I can't change how fast or slow the government moves. I will just drive myself crazy if I try to focus on it. I would appreciate however some prayers or good wishes that everything goes smoothly with the visa and that our wedding can proceed with its current timeline.

I also wanted to thank you all for continuing to support us by your good wishes and prayers and most of all by taking an interest in the blog and following our story. You all mean so much to us! Thank you!

Love Lifted Me....

Today, I was reflecting on how I have changed since I met Jim. In knowing him and falling in love with him I know that I am a different person. I can't think of a way that I changed that has not been for the better. For instance, since I met Jim, I have softened considerably. I used to refer to myself as a robot, and no one was ever going to get emotions out of me. Jim has changed all that. I have gone from a robot to someone who is not afraid to share their feelings. I think I have become a better friend, a better Pastoral Minister and an all around better person because of him.

There is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for him and all that he has done for me. He has helped me grow closer to God, he has helped me to know what real self-sacrificing love is all about and he has become my best friend. I don't know where I would be without him. Also, he makes me laugh so much everyday! I have never laughed harder with anyone!

As our wedding approaches we are both just so anxious to be together. Every night Jim says something along the lines of "I am sick of talking about our future. I just want to start living our future." (NOW...who would have thought those words would have come out of his mouth a year ago! ;) ) As we reflected on our time together at Disney, we know what a great team we make and much we are ready to start this amazing journey.

Now are we perfect people? No. My nephews will tell you I am "messy" and Jim's family may say the same about him. But we can no doubt overlook our imperfections to start an amazing new phase in our relationship as husband and wife. Well, maybe not all our imperfections. We have to do something about all the X-box playing.... ;)

Good Life

For the past couple months I have been searching and searching for the perfect bridesmaid dresses. I am pretty sure my sister (who is my matron of honour) must have tried upwards of 50 dresses on. I wanted to make sure all the girls were happy with the dress and I wanted it to be one that fit with the overall wedding as a whole. Some people have the girls wear mismatched dresses and while I like that idea, I am a traditional kind of girl and I wanted to have all the girls wearing the same dress. Well, I am happy to say that we have found a dress! Now I can move onto something else like centerpieces or transportation.

Also, I just wanted to give you all an update on our visa situation. Back when we applied for the visa WAY back in September we expected not to hear anything for 4-5 months. Well, the service center our visa went to has slowed down considerably. On average it is more like 5-6 months for most people. We know this because of an amazing website called visajourney.com. They have people sign in and list their timelines and as people get approved they keep track. They are just now approving people from August. Tomorrow will be 4 months since the service center got our application. So we are expecting another month or 2 before we hear anything. After we do, our application gets sent to the National Visa Processing Center for transport to our "local" consulate Montreal. Once it gets to Montreal they send me a package of information that I have to send back and then they send me another package to arrange my medical in Toronto and my interview in Montreal. All of this should take 3-4 months. So, we are still hopeful that our timeline will work out well and there will be no glitches. Don't worry, everyone who reads this blog will know the same day we get our notification, I promise! :)

The only other news I have is that I joined a gym. I have been meaning to do it for awhile, but haven't had a chance. A local gym has a shape-up special for 3 months and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get in a little better shape for the wedding and use it as my de-stress time as I am sure to have lots more stress in the coming months. My hope is that when the membership runs out it will be nice enough outside to continue working out in the great outdoors (or, at the very least on the crappy treadmill in my apartment building.) I will keep you updated on any progress I make. All in all, it has been a good start to 2012. I am so excited for this year and all it will bring! :)

Do You Believe in Magic....

Yesterday, I got back from the most Magical of all vacations! My whole family (including Jim) went to Disneyworld! There is so much to tell you that I don't even know where to start. This vacation was a gift from my mom. You see, she and my dad had always wanted to take my sister and I to Disneyworld when we were little, but we never quite got there. When my mom sold her house, she made the decision to take some of that money and take us to Disneyworld. Even if our dad couldn't be there (since he passed away), it would be a vacation to remember.

We managed to keep the fact that we were going to Disney a secret from my nephews. My mom had to let us in on it, so we could arrange time off etc. but we worked really hard to keep it from my nephews. On Boxing Day we had our family Christmas celebrations. My mom had a whole system to let them know we were going to Disney. She put all of our names in seperate gift boxes and then one gift then eventually had the boys open boxes that said "On December 28th grandma wants you to join her at" and then they had to open boxes with Mickey ears in them. Their reaction was priceless.

This was a special vacation for many reasons but one of those reasons is that it was my mom's first plane ride ever. She was understandably nervous but the ride was fairly smooth and she did ok. Here is a pic of her and the boys on the plane ready to go on vacation.

We arranged it so Jim flew in from his parents house near Chicago and his plane arrived minutes after ours. We met him at his gate. It was so great to see him again! It had been a month or so. I was looking forward to 5 consecutive days with Jim! It was a great opportunity for him to get closer to my family. We would definitely be spending a lot of time together in the upcoming week.

I can clearly only give you the highlights of the trip but here are a few:

One of the things we did was take a side trip to SeaWorld so my youngest nephew could touch a real life penguin. As you can see in the picture above, he loves penguins. It has been his 9 year old life long dream to touch a real life penguin. So a few days into our trip he managed to do just that. Here is a pic:

Another highlight was spending New Year's Eve with Jim. Last New Year's Eve we were on a break and not even talking so this was special for us to be able to spend this one together. Here is a pic from our night spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios:



And me (with Jim) wearing the Princess Tiara that my mom bought me:

Jim and I didn't get to spend Christmas together so we had to exchange the gifts we got each other in Florida. One of the things I got Jim was a shirt that says "Property of a Canadian Girl". While we were at Disney he made me a shirt that had a similar message and gave it to me. We also picked up some headgear while we were there.

My nephews absolutely adore Jim. In fact I was a little annoyed that when I went to go sit next to my nephews they would say "Nope, this is reserved for Jim." But it was so great how much they all liked each other. Jim could only stay for 5 of the 7 days we were there. He can't afford that many days vacation this year with all the extra days he will be taking for our wedding and activities related to our wedding (and his brothers wedding which is also this year.) So before he left we snapped a photo of my nephews and Jim and I. Here it is:

After Jim left, a cold spell hit Orlando. The previous 5 days were wonderful but the last two days were there were downright freezing. I only brought one hoodie because I didn't think it would be that cold (everyone else in the family was more prepared than I and all brought two). So I had to go and buy another sweatshirt. They were all really expensive. The one I liked only came in really big sizes but I bought it anyway. Here is a pic of me freezing:



We had a great vacation! I was so happy to be able to spend so much quality time with my family (and Jim)! I think we were all tired and ready to get back home but we will have many magical memories from our time in Florida. The seven of us (my sister and her hubby, nephews, mom, Jim and I) will always have these memories! Thanks mom!