1 year and 9 months later…

Well, it’s been a while! I thought it was about time I posted a little update to let everyone know what we’re up to! (Whether you care or not, I’m going to tell you!)

Since we got our approval in May, so much has happened! After a lot of drama, I received my Green Card, applied for and finally received my Social Security Number, went for multiple job interviews and finally accepted a job at Kohl’s! In between all of this, I managed to squeeze in a two week trip to England for my Uncle’s wedding! Oh and now I have my learners permit and am practicing for my driving test!

We have been so so busy! FINALLY after over a year and a half of unemployment, I am in my second month of working at Kohl’s! They offered me the job on the spot and it has been smooth sailing since! Everyone at work loves my work ethic and see’s that I am a hard worker and it is paying off for me as I am being given more responsibilities in my role! It is not something I want to do permanently as I want to get my degree and go on to build my career and hopefully one day write that novel that has been niggling at me in the back of my head! (I’ll be the next Tasmina Perry I swear!) However, for now I am enjoying my time at Kohl’s! Although I must add, the daily questions of “Oh my god where are you from?” grow very old very quickly. Sir, please just take your purchase and stop trying to mock my accent.

I am working on getting my drivers license! I now have my learners permit and I am driving to lots of different places! My confidence is growing and Adam feels confident enough that he really doesn’t have to worry anymore! Once I have my license, it will open up so many more opportunities for us!

Finally, I have health insurance! This was a huge one for us as it was the final piece of the puzzle! I couldn’t get insurance before because I didn’t have my SSN but now I am added to Adam’s insurance and I can finally visit a doctor if I need to! In fact, we have utilized our insurance just this past week as I needed a trip to the dentist, which led to a doctors’ and hospital visit in the same week! I have a heart murmur so I cannot get my teeth cleaned at the dentist without them knowing what kind of murmur it is! So off to the doctors we went. We were referred to a local hospital for an echo-cardiogram where they did a sonogram of my heart and so far all we know is that I 100% have a heart murmur along with an arrhythmia. We go back to our doctor this week to get the results and figure it all out! It all seems so crazy, I just wanted to get my teeth cleaned and get a check up at the dentist!

But among all the craziness, we are doing good! Life is treating us well and we are so so glad that we are progressing in our lives, what with me finally being able to work. We are a far step away from where we want to be, but I find comfort in knowing that we are just working towards the life that we want. The exciting part is getting to do it all together and learn with one another on the way!

Something a little off topic

After reading something online a few weeks ago about a group of bitchy young girls in a Starbucks coffee shop, it got me thinking about my own personal experience. Now this is not normally something I’d discuss on my blog as it is not visa related, but I hope one day to make this blog about my entire life in general and not just immigration stuff. Therefore, I figured it was time to post something a little different!

When I read online that a group of girls were overheard by a woman in a Starbucks, talking about themselves along with some other girls, it brought back a tsunami of memories of my own experiences throughout my teens. At 20 years old you probably think “Oh yeah just girls growing up being judgmental, what harm can it do?” Let me tell you, as a 20 year old that had a best friend growing up that repeatedly told her that she was not good enough as a human being, it has one hell of an affect.

Growing up, I made friends with a girl and we spent every day together; laughing and hanging out as young girls do. Never did I imagine that the things she would say would haunt me throughout the next few years into my adult and married life. As a young 14/15 year old girl, you yearn for a best friend to do everything with, and that’s what I had. Until the jealous words started to cut deep. I didn’t even recognize the vicious words until my mum said to me one day “If she puts you down one more time I am going to say something.” To me, this was our friendship and I didn’t even process the things she was saying to be mean and hurtful. I stand by the phrase “when you hear something enough you start to believe it.” I guess that is what happened to me. I didn’t even realize what she was saying was hurting me anymore. I heard it so often that it was the norm for me; I wasn’t good enough.

As a young girl, trying to figure out who I wanted to be as a person, hearing such degrading things from someone you value some much, is soul crushing. The worst part is the day when the fog clears and you realize you don’t deserve it anymore. It’s the part when you stand up for yourself and they act as if it’s your fault. Like you were the one that inflicted this pain on yourself.It’s the part when they are so blinded by their jealousy and insecurities that they try to shift the blame.

I think the main reason I felt the burning desire to write this today is because I believe it is so incredibly important to teach your daughters, sisters, nieces, that they are valued and important and that they are beautiful. That they do not need anyone, friend, family or husband or wife, to validate who they are as a person. It is so vital that we love ourselves and that we realize the importance of our own existence. As a young teenager, I was so affected by the girl that treated me so cruelly and I want to encourage anyone, boy or girl, to walk the hell away from relationships that do not serve you any greater purpose. If this relationship is not uplifting you to be a better person and all it is doing is bringing you down, walk away!! I wish I would have walked away a lot earlier in the toxic friendship that I was in. However, I would not have learnt the lessons that I have learnt and I would not have received such wisdom on the matter from my husband had I not walked this path.

I encourage all young people, early on, to terminate any toxic relationships and friendships if they do not uplift and encourage you to be a better person. It is so important that we encourage our friends and family to love themselves and also to treat others with the love and respect that you wish to receive.

Our lives and bodies are too precious and sacred to destroy due to the words of another person. Love yourself and encourage those around you to love themselves too! You are beautiful inside and out. Don’t let another person define you. Love, you.

The big day!

On May 3rd, after a long year of waiting, we made the 40 minutes drive to our interview for my green card. Comfortingly enough we had visited the building the interviews were held in, a week before when we went for a meeting with an immigration officer to get some information on our case.

When we walked into the building and through the line to the security check where my purse was scanned and we had to walk through metal detectors; the security officers recognized us from the week before! We told them it was the big day and they wished us luck. I asked an officer where we needed to go for our interview and we were instructed to go upstairs and wait.

We made our way up the stairs to a large room filled with back to back chairs with people from every corner of the world sitting in them. Handing our interview notice to the lady at the desk we took a seat. By this point my heart was pounding. This was it, we were finally here! After a year of waiting we were here doing this for real! We sat for a long time before our interview time neared. As the clock hit 10 0’clock I turned off my phone and waited patiently. Our interview was scheduled for 10.15am and this time quickly came and went and we remained seated. This gave me time to watch how it all worked!

There were about four doors surrounding the seating area where the immigration officers would come out, go to the desk and call the person next in line. I watched intently, seeing how to officers interacted with people. I turned to Adam and said “She looks nice I hope we get her!” Many of the officers did not greet people as they took them through the doors, while others shook hands with a smile and chatted with the nervous people being interviewed.

There was a vast range of people in the USCIS building and looking around it made me wonder what they were all there for! Opposite us sat a couple going through photos while I assume the mans wife, was telling him where the picture was taken who was in it and when. Their names were later called by two separate officers and they went to two separate rooms so I can only assume that they were there that day for a stokes interview. (An immigration interview where spouses are separated due to suspicion of visa fraud) But who knows I could be totally wrong!

Around about 11 o’clock our names were called. Clutching my folder close to my chest, I stood and greeted a very smiley immigration officer who shook our hands and introduced himself very politely! We followed him to a door at the end of the room; everyone watching us, wondering what would await us behind those doors! Through the door we walked down a long hallway of glass window offices, able to see some people being interviewed. When we reached our assigned office, we sat and were asked to stand to take the oath. As we sat again, the immigration officer told us this wouldn’t take long and he would get out of our hair as soon as possible (I thought if anything we would be getting out of HIS hair!). He made a joke that this wasn’t an interrogation and he wasn’t going to shine a light in our faces and shut us in a dark room. This made me totally relax! I had read horror stories online that said do not under any circumstances joke with the immigration officer. So hearing him make jokes with us totally set me at ease!

He started by explaining that he would ask us both separately some questions. He started with Adam, asking his name, date of birth and address. Then came what he called the “Million dollar question”, What is your wedding anniversary. “March 23rd” Easy! I thought. He then asked what year, which to my surprise Adam responded after some hesitation…2013. I looked at him and said jokingly, “No! 2015! We met in 2013 so you’re half right” The immigration officer joked about how he was trying to whisper the year to Adam and he didn’t want to get him in trouble with me! How funny!

Moving on, it was my time for the questions. Again I was asked my name, date of birth and address. He also asked me what my status was when I entered the United States and what date I entered, along with at which airport I landed and was inspected by an immigration officer. Then came the part that nearly had me giggling! When you fill in the I-485 Adjustment of Status form, there is a section that asks a bunch of questions along the lines of; Do you plan to overthrow the government? Have you ever been a prostitute? Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever been a member of any terrorist group? Both the immigration officer and I clearly knew none of this was true. I am a 20 year old girl from the English Countryside, I have not lived a very exciting life! Obviously my answers to all of these were no; he just needed to clarify that my answers on my I-485 matched my answers on the interview day. He asked if we had any evidence that we wanted to submit, to which we handed over the lease to our apartment with both of our names on. He said “Oh this is good.” He took a photocopy and handed it back to us.

He explained that everything was good and there were no issues and that he would make a decision that day. Following that, I would receive an approval letter and my green card in the mail about 3 weeks after this. He never explicitly said that we were approved but given that he explained the approval process, we did not expect to be denied. He asked if we had any questions and we did not, so we shook his hand and he walked us back down the hallway and to the door where we shook hands again.

And that was it! We actually sat longer in the lobby waiting than we did getting interviewed! It was a super easy process and no way near as daunting as I had dreaded it would be.

Our interview was Tuesday May 3rd and I received my approval letter on Saturday May 7th! I danced around the kitchen in excitement! I was ecstatic! They say that the green card should arrive 3 weeks after the approval notice and so far we are at 2 weeks. One more week to go. If we do not receive my green card by next week then I will call and ask where it is! I am so excited for this process to be over! Next is applying for a social security and a drivers license! I am so excited to get a bank account! My UK debit card is not always accepted over here so I have trouble spending money unless it is in cash! It’s the little things right!

The home stretch!

Wow what a crazy week! I have been on the phone every day this week trying to get information from various people which ended with one very helpful call to an attorney (I wish I’d done this in the first place!).

Here’s the back story…

Obviously, it is time to file your taxes here in the US, something incredibly foreign to me as we do not do this in the UK! As I am not a permanent resident yet and I do not have a social security number, I had to apply for something called an ITIN. This is an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number which allows Adam to file his taxes with my name on the documents. After filing, we received a notice asking for my physical passport. I confirmed with someone at the IRS that they did in fact need this and I wasn’t going to be sending to a phony address! So I mailed in my passport along with our marriage license as the names on the tax form did not match the name on my passport. (I have not changed my name on my passport yet. We’re working up to it! $$$)

About two weeks passed, and one morning I received an email from USCIS saying I had been assigned an interview date! GREAT, FINALLY!! Oh how my bubble burst quicker than I could jump for joy. I did not have my passport or marriage license. So a call back to the IRS and I mailed a letter to them requesting their immediate return. Which as I have found out this week has not actually been delivered!!

After lots of stressing about not having my passport and whether we are going to have to reschedule the interview appointment which we have waited a whole year for, I booked my medical which I go in for tomorrow (eek) and we ARE going to the interview. After lots of useless calls to USCIS customer service, I decided to call an attorney and get some legal advice over the phone. I was a little dubious about how much help I would actually receive before I was given a hefty legal bill. But a quick 15 minute conversation and my mind was at ease!

I will attend my medical exam tomorrow, April 25th, for my very first blood test which I am incredibly nervous about! Following this, April 26th we made what is called an InfoPass appointment in which we will meet with an immigration officer to discuss our situation and get clarification that we will in fact go to our interview. I am hoping that this will put my nervous mind to rest because I am still stressing about everything! After returning to the doctor April 27th to get the test results, we will attend our interview May 3rd!

Things are in no way how I imagined they would be when we would receive our interview date one whole year down the line. However, we are going to go to our interview and explain our very complex situation in the hope that they will understand that “life happens” and people have to file their taxes!

To say this has been a stressful time would be the understatement of the year. There have been lots of phone calls, a few tears and lots of hugs to get through all of this. I commend my husband for putting up with my stress and helping me to deal with all of this craziness. I have a tendency to over complicate things sometimes and worry when I do not need to. Slowly but surely we are getting there! This time next week we will be preparing for our interview and I am sure I will be a bundle of nerves but I am looking forward to this all coming to an end! Well, for two years at least!

Family ties

When you move across the world to be with the one you love, no one tells you about the days that you will miss your family so much that your whole body aches. The days that you just want to sit on the couch with your mum with a glass of wine and watch TV in silence. They don’t tell you that there will be weddings and your finances mean you are unable to return home for them. They don’t tell you that family members will get sick and how it will break your heart and you will stay in bed for a whole week sick at the thought that you may never see them again. I know my husband was not prepared for my reaction to this in particular. No one warns you about the pain of phoning your grandparents and hearing how proud they are of you, and wishing that you could hug them tight before you hang up the phone. It’s sitting looking through pictures that leave you craving the face to face conversation with your family members, able to truly feel their presence and the warmth of their laughter.

Love can travel the world and my family’s love does just that and then some. However, nothing can prepare you for the flood of pain that will randomly hit you on a Friday night after dinner. It’s the strangest thing, to be sitting happily and then start talking and thinking about family and it sets into motion a whole wave of emotions; of sadness and aching.

As the wedding invitation for my Uncle’s wedding sits on my fridge, it breaks my heart that I will probably not be able to return the RSVP card with “attending”. You will never be prepared for that. Ever.

The days that are easy; are super easy. I am able to go about my business and not feel the deep sorrow that I am not able to pop in and see my sister for a cup of tea and a chat. But the hard days are harder than I could have ever imagined. The pain of missing them never goes away, it just gets buried beneath life’s happenings and other feelings. No matter what family will be there and I know if my mum or dad needed to they would get on a plane and be here with me tomorrow if I asked them to.

When all is said and done, and my heartache gets buried again for another day, I know everyone is just a phone call away and will without a doubt support me with their hearts bursting at the seams with love.

82 long days

After our last snippet of information was received from USCIS on June 25th, we have heard nothing positive. We received a letter to say we didn’t file the medical records so we must take that to the interview when we receive a date…well that would be all good and well if we would be receiving our interview date any time soon! It’s been 82 days exactly since USCIS received our latest request for evidence. Yes, I counted. After 60 days of hearing nothing you are allowed to call and ask questions. After 82 days I am growing increasingly frustrated. I have called two or three times in the last couple of weeks and after calling today, I was told “You are still within the normal processing times for this type of case so you must wait now to receive an interview date” Oh how nice it must be to spew out this information to frustrated petitioners at home while you have a job and an income!

It’s becoming incredibly boring checking the mail everyday and staring into an empty box. I feel like I cannot look forward to anything anymore. Family members birthdays, Christmas. I have no money to contribute to anything. Yes of course Adam provides for our family but I want to contribute too! I want to be able to go out and see something desirable for our home and buy it there on the spot because I am working and I have the money to do so! Instead I am just able to dream about the day that I can do that and leave the item on the shelf.

Adam frequently reminds me that this is a journey we embarked on together and one we will face together. As frustrating as it is to sit at home with no money and no car, it warms my heart when he says that because I know he will truly always be by my side. And he is right, this is a journey we decided to start together and we knew what we were getting ourselves into when we filed that paperwork a long five months ago.

My frustrations come from the waiting; the unknown. Will I be able to work by Christmas or will I be waiting until next March? Another one of my unanswered questions that I must wait a possible further 82 days to find a resolution to.

What they don’t tell you

When the prospect of moving to the United States comes about, it seems like such an exciting venture. A lifetime with the person that you’re so crazily in love with; a new life together. You hear all the stories about how people went through the immigration process and it was such an exciting time for them. Well here’s what the love stories don’t tell you.

Immigration proceedings are no fun. They are a lot of money, a lot of time and a hell of a lot of waiting. It’s going through weeks of stress to get together all the relevant paperwork only to send it in and be told that you’re missing documents. It’s checking the mail every day waiting for a letter only to be disappointed once again when it’s empty. Staring into an empty mail box is like staring into the emptiness of your future.

The excitement of getting to be with your husband or wife is such a magical feeling; yet that’s all you seem to hear. You don’t hear the struggles of the spouse that sits at home all day and has to rely on people because their paperwork hasn’t been completed yet. Months of waiting means a crumbling of independence. For those that don’t have a drivers license, it means relying solely on your spouse to drive you around. Or if you’re lucky enough to have family members here too, it’s them having to drive you around as well. There’s the stress of not knowing anyone outside of your family and your spouses friends; the longing for the friendships you had in your home country and the heartbreak that you can’t just pop round for a cup of tea with your best friends back home.

I’m at the point as you may be able to tell, of frustration. I feel like a burden to those around me. I have had to latch on to family to do things for me that I can’t; driving, paying for things. My independence is gone. Yes I’m living with my husband in a new country and it’s oh so exciting. But am I able to contribute and do things without having to ask anyone to help me? No. And God damn I hate it. I want so badly just to drive to Walmart and pick up groceries with my OWN money that I went out and earned for myself. I want a proper life.

I knew this journey would be tough and it would entail a lot of sitting at home and relying on my husband. He does a bloody good job of supporting our little family all my himself, I just long to take that pressure off of him. I’ve been here for six months now and we are four or so months into our immigration proceedings, which seem to be at a standstill. I think that’s where my frustration is coming from at this moment. The last letter that we received was to tell us that I would need to take my medical papers to my interview, which I would receive the date for soon. And that was about a month ago. Since we sent in our very first set of paperwork, everything moved pretty fast and we heard something new every couple of weeks; however now we are left in the dark waiting for an interview date. I feel hopeless and just like a burden because I am unable to do anything other than sit at home and have people run around like blue arsed flies for me when I have things I need to do.

I am grateful for our journey and I try every day to find patience in it; some days I do this better than others. But for right now, I have hit a mental wall. This is not a post to scare anyone. When I started my blog, I decided to be honest with what was happening along our journey so that I could help others also walking the same path. It will be a rewarding experience for sure, but for now it is a very tough one. However, it is not a journey that I am willing to struggle through. We will all have our tough days, but it is waking up the next day and deciding to change our mind set and have a better day.

Back in processing!

As of yesterday, our case is back in processing! It was an anxious two or three weeks for me. Our package was delivered to the National Benefits Center within two days and then…nothing. We didn’t hear a peep; I started to question whether our package had been received by the office or not! But yesterday, in the most patriotic way, as we pulled into the driveway of my aunts house after seeing fireworks for 4th July, I saw that I had a text. Lone behold, it was from USCIS saying that we had an update on our case! I logged into our account online and saw our update! “On June 25th, we received your response to our Request for Evidence”  Finally!! “Our National Benefits Center office will begin working on your case again. We will mail you a decision or notify you if we need something from you.” Boom. There it was.

I kind of feel like now is crunch time. The word “decision” seems so definitive. In reality, I know I still need to have my medical and my interview so it is not as if we will are at the end of the road just yet! It’s exciting to know that we are back in processing but I am nervous that we could be receiving a decision soon! Of course I am having thoughts that “What if they reject our application?” But we have followed all the correct instructions and sent the correct information so there truly is no reason for them to deny our application. If anything, they could accept this and deny us at the interview! However I know I am just thinking outside of the box and I need to stay positive!

Who knows how long it could before we receive a letter or a notice that they need something else from us. Now I go back to checking the mail every single day and dreaming constantly of anything to do with immigration! At this point I am continuing to stay positive and am trying to remember that we are on a long journey and to stay patient with it and with ourselves.

Sorry isn’t the hardest word, goodbye is.

As I sat these evening looking through photos of last summer spent here in Texas with Adam and my family, I was flooded with happiness and I remembered all the fun things that we did together. But as I got further through my pictures, I started to remember the ending of my trip; the saying goodbye. I had to stop looking because it hurts to remember those feelings. I had the most memorable three months last year; we got engaged along with planning and cancelling a wedding. But one thing sticks in my mind; having to leave.

The first year was definitely the hardest; I didn’t know what to expect. We began a whirlwind romance and I didn’t know where we were headed. Hell we weren’t even “boyfriend and girlfriend” exclusively yet. We both knew we loved each other but agreed it was way to soon to say that. So getting on a plane a short few weeks after only meeting and falling head over heels in love was incredibly overwhelming.

At the airport it was kind of that awkward, “when do we start the goodbye?” I for one am firm on sticking to schedule so I didn’t want to miss my check in time or be late for my flight. But my heart was being torn away from what it desired so badly and it was something that I had never experienced before nor did I know how to deal with it. I cannot even begin to describe the pain of walking away from the one person that makes you the happiest person on earth; the person that makes you feel so safe and carefree. I wasn’t sure what to do once I got on the plane. I wanted to hide my sadness; or rather I wanted to be alone with my sadness. I cried the whole eight hour flight home; barely ate a thing and just waited for it to be over so that I could speak to Adam again and feel complete.

Adjusting to life back at home was hard, I was back in sixth form and working my butt off to pay for the next trip out to Texas. But Adam spending two weeks with my family over Christmas broke up the nine months that we were faced with spending apart. In this time he gave me a promise ring and I knew for sure that he was serious about us and that we would spend our lives together. But again, the time came for us to be separated once more and honestly, having to watch him walk away from me was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life. It’s one thing to be the one walking away, but it’s another to be walked away from. It’s like watching the light in your life slowly go out. Returning home and every little thing reminding me of him was tough. My family helped in getting me back to normal but nothing could take away the pain of having our tie severed.

The next six months went by so painfully slowly. I counted the hundreds of days until we would be back together; and this time, a surprise for Adam. My Aunt and Uncle picked me up from the airport and I surprised him four days earlier than planned. (How I pulled it off still to this day amazes me. I got so excited about a fake day!) But then after the most incredible three months, after getting engaged, I had to leave again; this time with the plans of marrying in December. After much planning and saving, along with enough heartache to go around both our entire families, we called off the wedding. Flights were too expensive for Adam to make it to England and I wasn’t going to have him sacrifice a roof above his head for a wedding that could wait. (Perhaps I shall blog separately about this one day and explain the heartache)

For me, September 2014 to January 2015 were our hardest times apart. We were newly engaged and had both planned and cancelled a wedding by November. For many, our relationship was taking a turn for the worst; but for us, we knew that people would make that assumptions, that we “wouldn’t work out” or it “wasn’t a good idea” or “oh they’re on the rocks” But NO. Two fingers up to those people because we fought through our troubles. A few months and a couple of bumps in the road were nothing for us. We knew the bright future that we were about to be facing and we were ready to get there. I wont lie, we had our incredibly tough days, many times skyping and crying to one another how tough it was; but to be able to say that we got through and we are here, together; married, is one hell of an accomplishment. I am so proud of us.

Long distance relationships take you whole heartedly on a journey that you cannot even begin to fathom. It thrusts you onto a rollercoaster ride that will take your breath away. The bumps in the road, although it may seem as though you cannot conquer them, with the right person by your side, holding your hand, anything is possible. To say this has been one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of my life would be an understatement. The journey is never easy, but I for one am a firm believer that if you want something, you have to work for it. And we want this; so we damn well worked our asses off to get here!

“It’ll give you something to do!”

As summer rolls in and school finishes here in Texas, I am filled with excitement that my aunt is finishing up her first year as a special education teacher; as I’m sure she is too! Now I finally have someone to spend my days with! Gone will be the days upon days of sitting in bed until 11am and cleaning every ounce of our apartment daily.

As of January, my life changed from working 40-50 hours a week, to being unemployed in March and living essentially as a housewife! One big misconception about anyone coming to live in the United States is that you are able to work instantly. Oh how I wish it was that simple! First you must go through mountains of paperwork, money, interviews and a medical exam before you can even begin to say the word “employed”. For some, sitting at home doing nothing and not working may seem like an idealistic lifestyle! But not for this girl! Even when I was in sixth form, I was working five days a week to pay for my trips to Texas! I have always had my own money; always paid my own way and loved to work! So you can only imagine my struggle when I had to give up my job in England and enter into a lifestyle of waiting and waiting. One of my biggest struggles is accepting that Adam is completely responsible for all of our finances. I paid rent when I was working full time and living at home in England so to have my husband pay for everything while I sit at home all day is tough! He tells me all the time that it’s what a husband is supposed to do and if I never worked a day in my life he would continue to support us both; however he appreciates that once I am able to work and earn my own money, I will give an input into our finances. He also appreciates all that I do around the house; the cooking, the cleaning, the laundry. And he does remind me of this quite often.

Now I have to admit, I do like to clean. I enjoy looking around my home and seeing that everything is in its place, where it should be. What I struggle with is the fact that we have a small apartment and there is only so much that I can clean and organize on a daily basis!

One of the phrases I have heard a lot in the past four months is “it’ll give you something to do!”. Everyone who knows what Adam and I are going through have said this at least three times if not more to me. My aunt bought me a finance organizer and said: “I thought it would give you something to do during the day!” Also suggested to me by people was couponing, taking up crafts or volunteering. Although I am not the most imaginative or creative person, I have considered volunteering at our local animal shelter. It is within walking distance and I am pretty sure that I am able to volunteer while we waiting for our paperwork to be completed. Heck, it’ll get me out of the apartment and give me something to do!

I am trying to stay patient on our journey and Adam constantly reminds me of this; things take time and I know I will really appreciate it when I finally get that work permit through in the mail! For mow, I am going to enjoy what could possibly my last summer in Texas not working! Now reunited with my tanning buddy, I plan to have a very hot lazy summer!