January Filers at the CSC - How are you doing?

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

lol guess everyone is busy with their marriage life nowadays

Doing perfectly fine here btw, kinda nervous for the interview tho and I still need to wait a month :S

[Alex & Rachel 78]

That, and I know I no longer have a desk job where I'm so bored I have little else to do except browse the internet!

Alex and I are doing well. My friends were thinking of visiting this week but I'm glad they didn't. After a very sunny and warm January California finally realised it needed the rain and for the past four days we've had, what, ten minutes break from the downpour?

No luck on the job front, but we can still collect unemployment for the next six months so we're not panicking just yet!

Keeping busy; Alex and I occasionally meet up with friends in Santa Cruz, and I'm helping a home-schooled boy with his math which is good practice for me, too.

Oh! And my belongings finally arrived! Everything was in good shape; only one broken glass and one broken plate, and none of the boxes were damp or torn. We bought more shelves from IKEA and have transformed the apartment:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

We juuust have enough room for everything. It's a good thing we have no money as we don't have the space for any more books or DVDs!

[CourtAndGrey 0]

It's BEAUTIFUL Rachel! I love rearranging furniture, and perhaps more so, buying new stuff!

Glad you guys are doing well!

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Wow that's a lot of shelves Rachel! Almost looks like a bookstore

We just came back of a one week vacation in New Orleans, it was very nice, we had a lot of fun! we walked a lot in town (French Quarter, and also Algiers, the historic part of town), we went to the Lake Pontchartrain, we took a tour of the swamps in Slidell and then went in Mississippi on the coast because I wanted to see the ocean There are still a lot of destroyed houses, the ocean front in Mississippi looked all empty. 80% of the houses we saw were not houses anymore, we could only see the foundation pillars of the houses, the rest was brand new. In New Orleans it's fine if you are in the tourist areas or the business district but as soon as you get out of these areas there are more broken houses.

Anyway we had a wonderful time!

Now it's going to be job hunt again. Not much luck on that side...

[hawkeye52 0]

Great news!!! Valerie was approved on Tuesday for her green card! She should receive it in the mail within the next two weeks! So happy that it is all over.....at least for 2 years! Interview was quick and painless. Our interview was scheduled at 9:00 a.m., and we were called in at 9:15. Interview ended at 9:25! The adjudication officer just looked over our paperwork, asked where we met and when we began living together. He then asked for her EAD card and said that she was approved. He didn't ask for ANY type of evidence regarding our relationship. We had bank statements, phone bills, insurance policies...etc. But, he didn't ask for any of them! Unreal! After, Valerie said, "Don't you even want to look at our wedding photo album?" He smiled and said, "I guess I have a few minutes." Kinda amusing. But, for us, it was as easy as could be. I know some people have a little bit of a tougher time than we had, but for everyone preparing for your interview...just relax, be yourself, and don't work yourself up by worrying. If you're marriage is legit and you've done everything the right way from the beginning, you have nothing to worry about! Good luck to everyone, and thank you for all of your input and support during our journey!

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Congratulations! it must feel great to not have to think about USCIS for two years

[sunnybear 0]

Just popping in to let everyone know we got the dreaded interview. Oh well we know we are legit so if they want to waste their time on us so be it! Gives us a little road trip since we have to go to Detroit for it. We don't have it until May 6th so weather will be nice too.

Rachel LOVE the shelves! I was just telling Gareth how I need to mapquest to see how far Ikea is from the interview location tee hee! We love us some shelving! We have insane amounts of dvds as well! Books not so much since I do tend to donate those.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Congratulations hawkeye!

I'm hoping that at the interview they won't ask to see much supporting evidence. First of all, Alex and I decided it would be best to continue to use his parents' address for AOS paperwork, as we were concerned about losing this apartment and he also currently has most of his bills going there. I don't have a bank account yet and he's not even sure I can get a joint account with him (he has an account at a tech credit union). We don't really have any bills as all utilities are included in the lease, so I'm wondering what we can use! At least we'll file a joint tax return. Oh, and, if I can help it, the wedding photos are never seeing light of day.

Wow that's a lot of shelves Rachel! Almost looks like a bookstore

We just came back of a one week vacation in New Orleans, it was very nice, we had a lot of fun! we walked a lot in town (French Quarter, and also Algiers, the historic part of town), we went to the Lake Pontchartrain, we took a tour of the swamps in Slidell and then went in Mississippi on the coast because I wanted to see the ocean There are still a lot of destroyed houses, the ocean front in Mississippi looked all empty. 80% of the houses we saw were not houses anymore, we could only see the foundation pillars of the houses, the rest was brand new. In New Orleans it's fine if you are in the tourist areas or the business district but as soon as you get out of these areas there are more broken houses.

Anyway we had a wonderful time!

Now it's going to be job hunt again. Not much luck on that side...

Alex's dream is to own a bookstore. I said if I ever earn enough money, I'll buy him one! In the meantime the best thing we can do is attempt to have our own little bookstore at home.

I'm glad you had fun on vacation! Was the French Quarter very French?

Just popping in to let everyone know we got the dreaded interview. Oh well we know we are legit so if they want to waste their time on us so be it! Gives us a little road trip since we have to go to Detroit for it. We don't have it until May 6th so weather will be nice too.

Rachel LOVE the shelves! I was just telling Gareth how I need to mapquest to see how far Ikea is from the interview location tee hee! We love us some shelving! We have insane amounts of dvds as well! Books not so much since I do tend to donate those.

sunny I shouldn't worry - seems most people have interviews. Good luck, though!

For cheap, white, laminate shelving they work very nicely and are very sturdy - definitely recommended! IKEA would be a great place to go after the interview; it's always fun and relaxing to visit there.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

I'm glad you had fun on vacation! Was the French Quarter very French?

Not really. The name of the streets are in French, some restaurants/bars/other social places have a "French name" but 3 times out of 4 it's either spelled wrong or doesn't mean anything (or maybe it's just because it's the Creole language and not French?). But in itself it looked more like a city in Europe than in the USA. The houses looked old and elegant, and there was almost no chain stores or restaurants inside the French quarter. It was nice to not see Walmart or Target when we were in the French Quarter (or course Walgreens and MacDonalds and other places were all around the French Quarter )

[sunnybear 0]

I'm glad you had fun on vacation! Was the French Quarter very French?

Not really. The name of the streets are in French, some restaurants/bars/other social places have a "French name" but 3 times out of 4 it's either spelled wrong or doesn't mean anything (or maybe it's just because it's the Creole language and not French?). But in itself it looked more like a city in Europe than in the USA. The houses looked old and elegant, and there was almost no chain stores or restaurants inside the French quarter. It was nice to not see Walmart or Target when we were in the French Quarter (or course Walgreens and MacDonalds and other places were all around the French Quarter )

LOL yeah Gareth and I were just talking last night how annoying how every city in America seems to have all the same stores and fast food chains etc....blech

[Alex & Rachel 78]

I do and I don't mind that.

It can certainly be confusing when you pass another intersection with the same supermarket and shops and you have to do a double-take and make sure you haven't just circled the block. It's also a shame that there aren't really 'city centres' (excepting San Francisco, from what I've seen, anyway) in the same way there are in Europe - in Sheffield it was great because I lived inner city and was half an hour's walk from everything, the buildings were largely unique and it was interesting to walk around. In San Jose, the 'inner city' is just a bunch of ugly administrative buildings and we've only been there on official business. I also hate walking here - lots of long, boring roads.

On the other hand, sometimes a little familiarity is useful! I've learned which shops I like and where they are located. Fry's sells Green & Black's chocolate and does a most delicious smoothie, despite being an electronics store (you can find things from your own country in the most bizarre places!). I've not seen a Walmart yet, but I've been pretty impressed with some of the things you can find at Target. I like Jamba Juice and Togo's and so it's actually useful sometimes seeing those places everywhere - I know where to get my lunch from!

I guess it also depends on how easily you can find more unusual little shopping centres - quite a few of the smaller towns around here have really interesting family-owned bookstores and mini-markets, and they're fun to walk in, too. Pity they're not a little closer, but at least they're there!

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Blake says "Hi!" to all of you. I sent you a PM, but if I forgot to send it to someone please let me know.

I definitely miss being able to walk everywhere. When we were in New Orleans I started feeling sad because there was so many different architectures in the town, with old houses, etc. Here everything looks the same. And we are looking for a house (but we'll probably wait before we buy anything, at least we'll wait until I get a job) and the main problem I am having is that I want something that looks nice, but they all look the same to me. At least in our price range... and the neighborhoods look the same, nothing looks exceptional.

Of course if I was in France I may have the same problems, maybe I'm way too picky. But it seems to me that there's more 'diversity' in Europe.

[sunnybear 0]

Ooh yes Rachel Jamba Juice is so good! And Target is one of my faves!!!

Cecile I hear ya on houses looking the same and boring! That is called American suburbs for the most part haha! What stinks in our area is it is hard to get a 2 story house under 100,000 and we are just not digging the single floor ranch style house which I have a feeling we may end up in :/ Dang economy haha....we will be in our apartment at least another year though.

[Cecile and Bryan 0]

Ooh yes Rachel Jamba Juice is so good! And Target is one of my faves!!!

Cecile I hear ya on houses looking the same and boring! That is called American suburbs for the most part haha! What stinks in our area is it is hard to get a 2 story house under 100,000 and we are just not digging the single floor ranch style house which I have a feeling we may end up in :/ Dang economy haha....we will be in our apartment at least another year though.

Same here. I really want a two story house, it looks much better and at least that's a little bit of exercise to climb the stairs everyday But it's hard to find at low prices. And we'll probably stay in our apartment one more year too, just to save more money for a better down payment (and to have time to find something we really like)

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

Hawkeye, congrats on the interview, and Sunny congrats on knowing the interview date!!

Hmm I can only hope ours will go as smooth but I am still very afraid for the outcome, mostly coz I almost didn't get the visa in my old country either. Oh well, guess we'll find out in about a week and a half.

On a different note, here's some other news from the marriage life: Michelle is pregnant!! :dance: We only know it since this weekend, going to the doctor later today to make sure it is really really true but I kind of do not doubt on it, her period has been too long ago and the home test says she is preggers, so she better well be also!

Edited March 2, 2009 by JeroenAndMichelle