Filing in March

[Dutti 0]

I'm pouring champagne for all of you and we are having a party (in my mind).

The interview was a mere formality with no drama...just the waiting in line, waiting in that crowded room, etc. as most everyone else has reported about London. They let me go inside the Embassy with no problems. There was the usual mix of questions and it was more of a conversation. How did you meet? What does she do? When did it get romantic between you two? (since we were friends for years) What are your plans for a wedding?

I asked Nick if that about sums it up and he said "apart from that stupid little woman at window #1 who seemed oblivious of the fact that I couldn't hear a word she was saying and had to keep asking her to repeat everything." He thought the young man at window #16 was very pleasant.

Note: Anyone going to London, if you find a very large clip on the vertical blinds by the fan, it's mine. I was getting annoyed at the buzzing sound made by those blinds being sucked into the industrial sized fan, so being Mommy Nic, I had to fix it.

Oh yes, and I finally found ice cold Diet Coke in England.....at the AMERICAN Embassy. There was also an interesting mix of American candy bars and British crisps (that's chips.)

We were worn out by the time we got home because we walked to the Embassy, then back to the hotel to retrieve our phones, camera, etc, then to the Buckingham Palace inside tour (lovely), then Hard Rock to eat, then back to hotel to retrieve luggage, then to the bus...mucho walking and my feet were beginning to complain loudly to my uncomfortable shoes. Good night all!

Congratrulations!!! Woohoo...

Hihi...same Diet Coke at the Brussels Embassy LOL

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Good morning! I'm much more rested after a good night's sleep. And I'm still smiling over the visa. Looking at some of the other UK people, I guess it will be next week before the courier brings the passport and brown envelope. What? More waiting?? LOL.

This is indeed a waiting game.

Bex--good to hear from you. I'm so glad you're excited about the wedding plans now. I want to see pictures when the time comes.

Alina--Good to hear from you. Has Dracula emailed you? hahaha. Glad you got the parent meeting over with. It won't take long to get all settled in, married, and working. Can you believe you're already at that point? This sure was a short process. (I think I should go back and read the sad, frustrated posts from 2-3 months ago when it was a l-o-n-g process)

Dutti--Wow, you have the visa in hand already and will be flying out so soon. It's so wonderful to have spent this journey waiting time with all of you and see it's progression from nervous hope to flying to America. I love this website!

Time to do the vibe thing for our April friend Kim. And for Highway .

VIBES~~~~~~going out the VSC for my friends. Just do it! TODAY

[aleena 0]

CONGRATULATIONS NICH!!!!!!!!!!!

I am really happy you got that out of the way!

now you can help your guy packing!

I haven't used my computer in the last 2 days so i appologize for my congratulations coming so late.

But you know i love ya...

I have started doing some things... Like help my baby with the paperwork at the office. I was getting bored and feeling a little useless.

I have already met most of the people i know here and it was nice to see familiar faces.

Other that that.... Hope we'll have a sunny weekend so we can hit the beach!!! Yaaay!

much love and good vibes to all!!!

Alina

[tuty 0]

Good morning! I'm much more rested after a good night's sleep. And I'm still smiling over the visa. Looking at some of the other UK people, I guess it will be next week before the courier brings the passport and brown envelope. What? More waiting?? LOL.

This is indeed a waiting game.

Bex--good to hear from you. I'm so glad you're excited about the wedding plans now. I want to see pictures when the time comes.

Alina--Good to hear from you. Has Dracula emailed you? hahaha. Glad you got the parent meeting over with. It won't take long to get all settled in, married, and working. Can you believe you're already at that point? This sure was a short process. (I think I should go back and read the sad, frustrated posts from 2-3 months ago when it was a l-o-n-g process)

Dutti--Wow, you have the visa in hand already and will be flying out so soon. It's so wonderful to have spent this journey waiting time with all of you and see it's progression from nervous hope to flying to America. I love this website!

Time to do the vibe thing for our April friend Kim. And for Highway .

VIBES~~~~~~going out the VSC for my friends. Just do it! TODAY

Congratulations honey! best wishes for both of you...Im smiling right now...I so happy for you guys!

[tuty 0]

Hi there my friends...

Donnie is already here and we are having a great time together.

Tomorrow we are going to get my medical, once thats done we are going to interview and see what they say...I can't say Im confident things are going to be exactly the way we want to but we are doing our best lol.

Tuty xoxoxox

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Oh Tuty. I was thinking about you today and wondering what's going on with you. We went to the Isle of Man for the weekend. We had hours in the car and hours on a ferry boat and part of that time today I was planning to PM you and say come back and see us. I'm glad you're going to go to the interview and see where you stand. Maybe just ignore the other police report and see if they miss it. Or tell them you can't get one because of not having an id. You're been gone from there for ages. I hope they say, no problem...here's a visa.

We don't have the passport or brown envelope back yet. It comes by courier. But I called the Dept of State Friday and they said the visa was issued Thursday.

Edited August 3, 2008 by Nich-Nick

[mrs_sdp 0]

Hi All

I am so happy for eveyone .... lots of good news since I last logged in!!

I just popped in to give you all an update - I finally was able to file for my divorce, they said it should be final in six weeks.

Steve's visit to Scotland went really well - he had a great time. I did too, but was slightly worried throughout about being refused entry to the USA on our journey back because of all my visits this year

We also spent a miserable time waiting for delayed flights to be rearranged and after an unscheduled overnight stay in Frankfurt were told we would be flying into Dallas instead of Chicago. I was petrified ... I've flown into the USA 10 times now and 80% of the time have flown into Chicago. The new airport didn't help my stress level any!

We landed in Dallas to 103 degrees heat .... tired, scared and cranky ... but I have been told on here .. numerous times .. to just tell the truth .. so that's exactly what I did ...

I had come to the airport with bare information on ties to my own country. I had a letter from my college saying I was a student and was expected back at the beginning of September. I also had my last three bank statements listing direct debits for my rent, car insurance, mobile phone and gas maintenance.

The officer asked why I was visiting America ... and I told him that my fiance had been visiting me in Scotland for a week and that I had come back over with him for a five week vacation. He asked if my fiance was a USC and where my fiance was and I said YES and pointed him out to the officer - Steve was standing just at the other end of the lane I was going through ...

He asked if I was employed - I told him NO and that I was a student.

He asked if I had a student ID - I told him NO but that I had a letter from the college if he'd like to see that - he declined.

He asked if I had a return ticket and how long I was expecting to stay - I said YES to the ticket and a month to the other. He asked to see the ticket.

He asked where I would be staying - I gave him Steve's address

He asked how long my visits in January and March had been - I told him seven weeks and 90 days - at this point he frowned and I thought .. OH NOOOOOOO!!!

He then asked when we intended to get married - I told him that my divorce would be finalised by the end of September and that Steve would be filing an I-129F application as soon as possible after that.

He finally said to me ... "you have a LOT of stamps on your passport" - and I said .. "well that's what happens when you fall in love with an american" ... and gave him a little smile ....

He typed some stuff into his computer .... looked at me several times ... glanced at Steve again .... then asked me to look into the camera ... put my fingers on the scanner .... and stamped my passport!! Wooo Hoooo!!!!

He did give me a finally warning though ... any other visit within the next six months WITHOUT a pending fiance visa application would most likely be refused. I told him I had no intention of visiting again until the K1 was approved - which is the truth because the whole thing was so totally stressful and I don't want to have to do that again Steve and I had already discussed it and he has said that he will visit ME .. approximately half way through the process - so that will help a lot ....

So ... I am now sitting here in Iowa trying to organise everything ... I am totally overwhelmed with the whole thing - it's kinda scary now that I'm finally having to pull all the documents, pics, evidence etc together!

I will be asking lots of questions over the next four weeks .. I hope that's ok? I've been through the guides until I'm blue in the face, but I'm sure I'll still have lots to ask ...

Take care all ... talk to you soon no doubt!

[BexandAlan 0]

Hi everyone!!!

:dance: CONGRATULATIONS MOMMY NIC!! :dance:

Is Nick ready to come back with you or is he planning to fly out later? I hope your having a lovely time in the UK.

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm starting to get home sick a little bit these last few days. Everyone is at work and I'm just sitting here bored desperate to work. Applying for a ssn this week, will let you all know how that goes, don't really need it yet but am thinking of getting a GA driving license whilst I'm sitting doing nothing and think I need it for that. The wedding plans are going well too, we are all registered up at our favorite stores, just got to get the invites out. I can't believe we still haven't invited anyone lol. Thats how we role.

Tuty glad your enjoying yourself with Donnie. I think you are doing the best thing by going to the interview, I will be sending out some good vibes with your name on them.

Mrs sdp sounds like you had a pretty rough time getting to your final destination. Glad your here safe and sound though. Its great to hear that you will finally be able to submit your petition soon too. very exciting!

I hope everyone else is well. Lots of love xxx

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hey there Mrs SDP--Good news that things are working out for you. You're probably lucky that you ended up in Dallas because Texans are really nice people.

And it's always nice to get an update from you BEX. Nick won't be coming until October. He's going to give his 4 weeks notice at work as soon as the visa is in his hand. That is supposed to be today from 1:00-3:00. The SMS courier people said their computer system was down last Tuesday at the Embassy. I'm not sure what that affects, but he got a hand written receipt that wasn't in the most readable handwriting. The reference number was just the date 290708 which isn't a real reference number they tell me. I don't know what you got from them...was it a printout from the computer? Anyway, no text messages from them. I called Monday to ask if they had us in their system and they said yes, it was scheduled for delivery that day between 8:00 and 6:00. So I just sat here all day waiting. Just before 6, I called again to ask if it was still going to be delivered. The guy apparently got his morning deliveries done and then broke down so it would be Tuesday. ARRGH!! So they said if I would call today at 8 am they would tell me a delivery time so I wouldn't have to spend another 10 hours stuck at the house. We'll see how it goes....

Have you driven yet? I thought your UK license was good for a year, but maybe that's a Texas rule we looked up. I've been driving! My first time in the UK. Nick sold his good cars and then bought an old £500 Nissan to do until he leaves. He put me on the insurance and I drove all the way home from Heathrow. Roundabouts are frightening places. I'm going over to the Garden Center this morning to browse around. It's about all there is close by with only one roundabout to negotiate. They have a big antiques area that's fun to poke around in. And there's cute gift areas too. Sorry you're homesick, but that's to be expected. You need to buy a car and go to Target or Walmart. Did you do a gift registry at Target? Go do that and sign up for some nice stuff. I bought Nick a car as his birthday surprise, so he's all set to be mobile the day he arrives. He was chuffed.

I've been watching hurricane (or tropical storm) Edouard on the internet because it's hitting my hometown. Well it has moved a bit. Yesterday it's predicted path was straight over my area. Today it's line has shifted toward Lousiana some, but we are still in the warning area. Maybe the next report will shift it even further away. I'm just left of the big chunk out of the coastline (Galveston Bay) as seen in this map...

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_a...?large#contents

Edouard is not very big, so shouldn't be a problem.

Take care all!

Edited August 5, 2008 by Nich-Nick

[tuty 0]

LOL guys dont think you are over yet! I hope to see you around even when filing for AOS hehehe

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

LOL guys dont think you are over yet! I hope to see you around even when filing for AOS hehehe

Oh I know there's reams of paperwork to go, but the VISA part is done and in hand. Yes, the SMS courier finally arrived around 4:20 Tuesday. They promised between 1:00 and 3:00 after they failed to deliver Monday. But that didn't quite happen either. I still have to wait on Nick to come (sometime in October), but at least that's now in our hands to decide and not in the black hole of the visa processing system.

Tuty, fake it at your interview like you have every single document. Look confident and act like you are expecting a visa. If they notice to ask for the other police thing just tell them you can't possibly get that and you've lived a clean life in Israel x -number of years and that should do nicely for their requirements. No groveling or tears.

[aleena 0]

Hey guys!

Nich it must feel wonderful to have the visa in hand. the time that is left will pass by a lot quicker now that you know where you stand and have everything ready.

Tuty please keep us updated on your interview. I am praying they will disregard the missing document and issue the visa for you keep the faith!

I am laying an the couch and sipping on my coffee. Lee is at work. i did not bother to wake up at 6.30 this morning to go with him at work...lol...

Might hit the beach for a couple hours later and then come back and cook some diner for me and my baby

Last week i made myself useful and helped him sort out some billing issues at the office. and i met more people that are close to him. Friends and coworkers...

We are going to take a day next week and start planning things. We have nothing set so far regarding wedding...lol... But i was not even ready for jumping into things as soon as i got here. I didn't even know most of his family members. Well...now it is time so start some serious planning. It will actually be something small with his familly and close friends (which i have few left...). And next summer we might do it again in Romania with my family. I will keep you posted

i had a very unpleasant experience yesterday...And i was reday to write a long post here and let my frustration out, but i decided to just try to calm down and detach...And i feel a lot calmer today...

I did not even tell Lee about it because he already warned me about the person involved... and i kept taking her side... But now i think i just had enough of it and stoped considering her as my friend...

It really hurts... since i don't have to many close friends here ...to see that the ones you consider friends are talking behind your back...

So here's the story... There's this girl that i was really close to for a while and we worked together here. Lee thought sh was just a fair weather friend but i always thought she just needed to grow up a little and was not a bad person. Well....yesterday i went back to the hotel where i trained last year (she is still working there) to see people. Of couse i kept my "friend" updated on what was going on with me and Lee and the visa process...

And it turned out she had told everyone already i was getting married...and not only that but she told them i got a fiancee visa and i "had" to get married within 3 months...or i would have to leave the country! She is a person that know very well how things stand between me and Lee and not just an outsider who likes to gossip. It really bothered me that everyone was asking "when do you get married? i heard you have to do it in 3 months..." I mean...even if it was not for the 3 motnh thing... I would rather it was me who gave everyone the big news...and not somebody else...And then the way she put it.... Arrrrrrrrrrr i wanted to call her up yesterday and say something...but then i decided to just...leave it as it is...

I just can't imagine why she did that... She always said i was her "bestest friend" and she was so excited that i was coming back... how can one not realize that it is not "nice" to say things like that...about your best friend...

But...to my side...people that work there know both of us... and those ones that care about me will never question our realtionship... It just really bothered me that you know.... she gave them something to talk about and suggested some things that she knows very well are not true...

I won't say anything to her until i see her face to face... If i call her she will start ignoring me afterwards... so i will wait until she will have to look me in the eyes...

I was feeling very sad yesterday especially because i did not have anybody to talk to about this... Didn't want to get my mom worried... And didn't want Lee to see i'm upset because of something she did... It is my fault for not listening to him and trusitng her...

and here i am again on VJ....letting it out to my dear friends....

Thank you all for listening...

Aleena

[KimandRuss 0]

mrs sdp.. glad things are moving along for you. Waiting for that divorce is slow torture..I know!

tuty.. I really do hope that by some miracle you can get through the interview without the id!

Alina, I was going to say it sounds as though your 'friend' was just explaining the situation and perhaps people just heard what they wanted? Then you said she suggested some things she knows are not true... and I wonder. In any case, I hope you can sort it out and feel better about it.

Still waiting over here

[Ana&Jeff 0]

Hi evebody sorry I wasn[t around for a while. I was spending time with Jeff and doing 354.3543.5.6 thousands of stuffs that I have to do and I still have 5.543..35345. antohes million to do .... hahahaha

Today Jeff went back to US =( I am feeling lonely iI miss him but this time we didn[t cry when he was leaving because I know I will be with him soon. I am leaving to RJ on the 17 (OMG one week!) and from RJ to US on the september 3. and Ia m so excited!!!!

Anyway Bex homesick sucks =( sorry but try get something new to do cooking, crafts watching movies playing games upsss I got that idea from Jeff seriously that is what love does with you. That is love right there huge!!!

Aleena- I hate this b*** I know what you are feeling when me and Jeff we decided to get into the K1 process that was the first thing I thought like people that get to think stupid stuffs about you. and you know what Iam talking about Iam sorry about that. You can always talk with the VJs here I think most of the people here knows what that is...

Nich- big mama I miss you!!! hahaha how is london? I think london is sooooooo chick! I will try make a tour around there sometime when I be able to save up some money

Kim - how is the boston girl doing? I hope you get your aproval soon!!!

byebye evebody!!!

Ana

[aleena 0]

Morning girls!

ANA..must be very exciting that you are getting so close now! I am wishing you all the luck in the world!

I am feeling much better today! I knew it will not be so bad after i sleep on it a couple nights...lol

I talked to another friend of mine yesterday and she said none of the people that really knew me there said anything mean about us... and they were all very exiced i was coming back. And those who do not know us do not matter anyway. People like to talk about everything and i should not take it personally.

Sometimes it is hard to be in the position of the Eastern European immigrant and to be confronted to the reality that indeed some people do it for the wrong reasons and i guess that makes you somehow try to prove to everybody else that what you have is real... But i cannot change the rest of the world and i don't have any intention to do it... So i'd better just concentrate on our relationship and the wonderful times we have ahead of us and just forget about everything else.

I need to go shopping for a dressy outfit. We are going to a wedding in 2 weeks and it is going to be a very fancy one... 900 guests at the reception!!

It is funny cause i thought the next wedding i would go to will be my own ...lol Hope i catch the bouquet!

Hope everybody has a great weekend! We have some home improvement planned for tomorrow and then we are having Maryland crabs with Lee's family on Sunday. Yummmmy!

Think our dear BEX found lots of interesting things to do. She hasn't been around the last few days..lol I know your having fun girl!

Alina