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!!!!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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!!!
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!!!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
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! :)
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! :)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
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.
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.
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