Vegas Baby...and a Green Card!

 So, lets just skip the chit chat and get to the good part! Its official...my husband is a permanent resident!! Praise the Lord!! Last week we had our immigration interview in Memphis. We had been praying that it would go smoothly and we would get an answer on the spot, and God blessed us abundantly! From the minute we got there, we were in and out in less than 30 minutes! We were the first couple called in, our interviewer was very friendly and comfortable to speak with. He went through our paperwork, asked us some questions, looked at our binder and then printed out this lovely little sheet that granted by hubby his green card! The real thing should arrive in the mail in a few weeks...and yes, he will actually have a "green" "card" its similar to a drivers license.

This was THE binder! I worked on this for quite some time. Yes, its complete with color coordinated tabs...I am a teacher after all. This is pretty much like a scrapbook of our relationship. It has photos and lots of documentation of our life in Australia and in the US all that lovely stuff to show immigration that we are actually in love, married and all that jazz :)

So after our interview we were off to Las Vegas! This was my first trip to Vegas, and to be honest I probably would have loved Vegas a lot more a few years ago when I was young and single or had an endless amount of cash. I don't gamble, I don't party, I don't shop at high end stores, etc...but I did enjoy the yummy food, the outlet malls and the warm weather! We were so busy trying to fit as much as we could into a short amount of time and with all the wedding events, the 4 days flew by!

We did make it to Arizona and to the Grand Canyon, which was a whole day trip...600 miles and about 10 hours in the car, but totally worth it! 

 Yes..that is my hubby out there on the cliff, and yes...I was freaking out the whole time!

 Breathtaking!

The whole reason we were in Vegas was for my Aunts wedding. It was a beautiful day and she was a beautiful bride! The whole afternoon was so fun. I'm so glad we got to be apart of their special day.

The rest of our time in Vegas was spent seeing the Hoover Dam, dinner at Max Brenner in Cesars Palace, an AMAZING restaurant and chocolate bar that was a favorite of ours in Australia, shopping at the outlets and a stroll down the strip. All of that followed by a 3am wake up call and 6am flight home...at the time that seemed like a good idea. Overall is was a nice getaway and fun to spend time with family and friends that we don't get to see often, and now we can cross Las Vegas off the list.

So, about that BIG update I mentioned last time...tomorrow it all becomes "official" and I can fill you all in! 

best valentines day gift, ever

Most girls get chocolate and flowers on Valentines day...I got something even better!

Just a few days after my last post...on Friday, February 15th to be exact...we received my hubby's work authorization card!!! Praise the Lord! This was what we had been waiting on for the last 4.5 months! He is now able to work in the US and we were able to get his drivers liscense. The very next day we received our letter from immigration with our interview appointment date! Another, wonderful day! Our interview is scheduled for March 20th, which is less than a week away. We are SO excited this process is finally underway and close to being over! My hubby has been job searching for a few weeks now, with a few leads. We are continuing to pray that God leads him to a wonderful job that he will love! We have been overwhelmed by the love, support, and prayers from so many family and friends. God is faithful.

With all of this going on, we are finally starting to feel more settled into our life in Little Rock and in the US. We have found a great church to be a part of and met so many wonderful people through out that process. We have been able to spend time getting to know different areas of Little Rock with a little house hunting. We are settling into our routines, spending time with friends and really enjoying our life here. They say the process of moving is one of the most stressful things a person can undertake in their life. Whoever said that is right!  But try moving across the world...twice in 2 years (did I do that math right? and does that make sense? lol)...that is WAY harder than moving across town! We've certainly had our time of adjustment and settling into our life here, but I really think after 9 months of being here, we are starting to feel settled and it is feeling like home. To be honest, although I lived in Australia for 2 years and called it home, there was a part of me that never really felt settled and at home there. I tried to, I really wanted to, but with living with my cousins and then in our tiny flat the first year of our marraige, I just felt so unsettled for so long. I'm not really sure if I even realized that at the time and I certainly didn't know the impact if would have on me. But i'm getting there. I know, now that I wasn't suppose to be settled there, because God had a different plan for us and I'm so thankful that He did.

So thats just a little bit about whats been going on with us. We have a few other "BIG" things stiring in the pot...but I'm just not quite ready to spill those beans yet :) give me a few weeks and NO we're not having a baby! Why does everyone ALWAYS ask that when you are a young married couple?!?! Right now we are enjoying married life, before kids!

Next week is my Spring Break....FINALLY! We are headed on a vacation...aka- holiday for all you Aussie friends :) to Las Vegas for a few days to enjoy some time away in the sun, with family but also celebrating my Auntie's wedding! I am beyond excited, I would have started packing last weekend but I'm pretty sure my hubby would have laughed at me! Other than our trips to and from the US/Australia to visit family (I don't count that as a vacation) and our trip to Branson last Thanksgiving, this is our first vacation since our honeymoon. I LOVE to travel...hence how I ended up in Australia in the first place...and in the last 3 years I've taken fewer vacations than ever in my life, so I'm just a little excited.

Maybe my next update will be from Vegas :) and if not...I'll be sure to update again soon with some BIG news!

Happy [belated] new year

 I so wish I was better at keeping up with my blog. I'm pretty sure I wrote this same thing at the beginning of last year! To be honest, I do think about it often. I actually put it on my to do list, but that list is always incredibly long and there are too many things that take priority over the blog. I really am going to try this year to make it a priority. I love being able to go back and read post from several years ago and see how much has happened in our life and where God has lead me (now us). I want to be better at documenting our life not only for us to have, but also because this is such an easy way to keep our family and friends overseas updated with our life.

Since Christmas, we haven't had a lot going on....just waiting. We are still waiting to receive my hubby's working authorization. By law the government is required to issue work authorizations within 90 days of filing a visa. We are somewhere past 120 days, i've stopped counting. I'm kind of at a loss for words. I could sit here and write about how incredibly frustrating dealing with immigration is, because believe me we know, this has been our life for the last 18-21 months. But crying, complaining, getting angry, being frustrated doesn't help. We just have to let go and give it to God. He has great plans for us, plans to give us hope and a future.

I'm trying to look at the bigger picture. And maybe in a few years, I really hope we can laugh about all this immigration stuff! I know that immigration will always be something we will have to deal with being an international couple. I love my husband more than I can put into words. And even through all the ups and downs of an international marriage, I would not change any of it, because my husband is more than worth it.

Other than our immigration situation, our 2013 is off to a great start! We are loving our life in Little Rock. I look forward to the many adventures and blessings in store this year!

Christmas in Memphis

This year we were blessed to be able to spend Christmas with my family in Memphis. Our situation isn't like most, the holidays for most families means traveling and dividing time between 2 sets of families/in-laws but for us since our families are spread across the globe, we pick one place and thats were we'll be for Christmas!

We had an amazing Christmas! We've been able to spend a lot of time with my family, visit with friends, shopping, movies, baking, cooking, and eating yummy Christmas food! I think the high-lights were the hubby and I getting a much needed, relaxing couples massage and going to a Grizzlies game with my family (both wonderful Christmas gifts from my parents). We even had a little snow shower late Christmas night. To say the least we have been spoiled this Christmas! Although I was able to spend Christmas with my family both years while I was living overseas, when you are separated from your family, friends, and country for so long it really gives you a different appreciation and view on things. I really feel like I cherish the time I'm blessed to spend with my family and friends so much more now. Once again, I'm so thankful we're able to be back in the US and be near my family.

While Memphis had a little dusting of snow, Little Rock got dumped on! Of course we were sad to miss it, but I'm thankful we didn't have to deal with the power being out. I heard today that our apartment building has power but since so much of LR doesn't, I think we're staying put in Memphis for a few more days!

Heres a glimpse into our Christmas. Sadly, I have been terrible at taking photos during the holidays this year and have NO photos of me and the hubby :( I think my mom got a few though. Thank goodness for moms!

 Home Sweet Home!

 Marley loves Christmas! His shirt says "Sorry Santa, I ate the cookies!"

 Decorating christmas cookies

 Christmas morning

 Excited about our new iPad!

 Love my momma!

 Winter wonderland 

 Grizzlies vs. 76ers

Love my parents house at Christmas time

To our friends and family around the world, I pray you had a wonderful Christmas season surrounded by family, friends, and the love of our heavenly father. May you and your family be blessed in the new year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Tis the season for Christmas trees, lights, traffic, holiday cards, gift wrapping, kids with runny noses, freezing cold mornings, Christmas parties, lots of Christmas crafts with my kiddos, scarfs, boots, hot chocolate, and the countdown to Christmas break! This is the busiest time of year and despite the business I'm loving it!

Although this is our 2nd married Christmas, its our first Christmas to have our own tree and all those "other" Christmas things I love...and my hubby could do without!

I'm counting down the days until Christmas break. I love my job and my kiddos but I'm ready for some time off with my hubby and family. I've officially finished my 1st semester of grad school...yahoo!

Here's some of our Christmas decorating. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving 2012

This year my thankful list might be longer than years past. I think the greatest blessing this year was being able to spend Thanksgiving with my family here in the US. The past 2 years I have celebrated with my cousins while I was living in Australia, but it was just never quite like an "American" thanksgiving celebration. This year the hubby and I traveled to Branson, Missouri with my parents to enjoy our mini holiday by the lake. Now, I have not been to Branson since I was maybe 5 or 6 and I had no memory of what Branson would be like so it was a surprise for the hubby and myself! Branson had been described to me as a "country" Las Vegas, I think I would add tacky into that description, nevertheless we enjoyed our time there. We visited the outlet malls, did some sightseeing, ate a lot of yummy food, and spent some time relaxing around our lakeside condo in our pj's! I think one of my favorite things we did was visited Silver Dollar City, which is a theme park in Branson. Most of my theme park experience was from several visits to Disney World, so this certainly different, but it was so much fun. The park was decorated from top to bottom with Christmas lights and decorations. We saw 2 shows while we were there and when we came out of the 2nd one the sun had set and the park looked beautiful with all the Christmas lights! Not only was the park all decked out for Christmas, but ALL of Branson was decorated! 

On Thursday, Thanksgiving day we traveled to my aunt, uncle and memar's (my grandmother) house about 100 miles from Branson to spend Thanksgiving with them. It was great to see them and spend time with them. It was the first time Ben had gotten to meet my cousins and get to spend more time with some of my extended family. We ate and ate and ate. It was all so yummy! Then we played some scrabble, a Smart family favorite! The day went by way too quickly, but I'm so thankful we were able to spend it with family. 

Overall our short and sweet 'holiday' was just what we needed. I'm not going to lie I'm not excited about my alarm going off oh so early tomorrow morning and heading back to work. Just four more weeks and Christmas break will be here!

I'm really trying to get better about taking pictures. We haven't had a camera in over a year and I've been terrible at taking photos with my phone and really terrible at taking photos of us! I didn't really even know this until I started getting photos and things together for our interview with Immigration for Ben's green card. We had all of this stuff put together when we did mine in Australia but thats been over a year ago now so I need to fill in the gaps! So here are a few photos from our trip...I did actually take more but they haven't made it from the phone to the computer yet! 

the hubby and I at a scenic spot on hwy 65

at Silver Dollar City...braving the 40 degree temps!

I hope everyone had a blessed and restful thanksgiving spent with family and friends.

November update

 One day I will have time to keep up with my blog, but just to warn you I don't see that day happening until maybe June or July. My plate is FULL right now, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides work, adjusting to our new life, and sorting out immigration stuff...grad school is taking up most of my time. I'm really enjoying it though, so I guess thats good, right? I'll just be thankful next summer when my classes are over and I can feel like I have some "free time" again, although I'm sure by then something us will be going on. My grad program is all online, which is a new thing for me. I'm thankful I don't have to sit in classes several nights a week, but that just means I really have to force myself to do it on my own. I'm thankful for the opportunity to take graduate classes and further my education and for a supportive husband who encourages me to do so as well. I'm also very thankful to live in a country where higher education is encouraged and appreciated because I know it doesn't work like that in other countries.

We are still in the middle of our immigration journey, now in the US for my sweet hubby. We've sent off all of our paperwork and he had his biometrix (fancy word for getting finger printed) last week, so now we wait for our interview. Hopefully that should happen in the next 2 months and we should have our decision! I'm so thankful this process has been much shorter than when we did it in Oz for me, and I feel like its been less stressful! I told my hubby the other day that my new years resolution for 2013 is to not have to "deal" with anything "immigration" for either Australia or the US. I already know that won't happen because we'll have to do a 2 year follow up, but either way I know I will feel a huge sigh of relief when we get his green card because we will both be permanent residents in each others countries and that is HUGE because this has been something we've been dealing with for over a year and a half! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I can't believe we've been in the US for exactly 4 months today! We have had a crazy, awesome adventure so far! I also can't believe its November. The last 4 months have flown by. We get to celebrate my 28th (yikes!) birthday and Thanksgiving this month! And Christmas will be here just around the corner. I'm already itching to put up our Christmas tree and decorations. My hubby laughs at me, but I CANNOT wait! I haven't gotten to put up my Christmas tree in 3 years! And we haven't gotten to have our own tree yet, so I'm just a little excited. Oh, and there will be Christmas cards! Which my hubby tells me all of this is "very American"....well he married an American! If you want to be on our Christmas card list, let me know!

Alright, enough procrastinating for me. I need to change all of our clocks, thank you daylight savings...this is the only time of year that I regret having a 'wall of clocks' as a design feature in our apartment. And I really should be working on my paper for grad school before we head to church. Hope everyone is having a wonderful, thankful November!