We sent packet #3 12/26/06 and heard nothing from the embassy. A month later 1/29/07, I called the embassy number a fellow VJ member gave me 011 33 1 43 12 22 22 - ext 4842 (no fee!) and the lady mentioned our interview date and that the letter was mailed the week before. We received the letter the next day and it was postmarked on the day I called. Don't know what would have happened if I hadn't called. Anyway, if you feel that it's been more than the normal waiting time, call and don't let them make you call the fee-based number. You may get a run-around like I did but eventually you'll be connected to someone who'll know - they are nice but the process can be frustrating.

Awww I'm sorry sheigh87.. I hope that gets straightened out for you soon.

Congrats Orc - thanks for the info!

bostonparis - my fiance returned packet 3 on January 16th, recieved his letter with his interview date on February 9th, and his interview is February 28th. We didn't need to call like Orc and Larig did.

Thanks for the number, Orc.

Angilla, you must be so excited!! Just a couple of more weeks and he'll be here!

My fiance got his UK police certificate in the mail a couple of days ago - didn't take close to the 40 days we thought it would. Hopefully we'll get an interview at least by mid-March. But now I know where to call if we don't get a letter!!

All that's left to get in check, after the visa's in hand, is finances... I need to find an apartment that I can afford and make sure we have at least $1000 in the bank after all the moving and first month's expenses as emergency money. It might take another month's worth of paychecks to do, I have to keep playing with my excel spreadsheet. To be honest, I'm kinda scared! I've never had an apartment before. The longest I've ever been away from home was 2 months, being able to come home for a few days 1 month through. I don't know how to cook - and when I do cook baaaaaaaad things happen. But yet I know that I'm not happy with my life the way it is right now, so I have to change it to where I'll be happy - and that's with Saint-Clair by my side. It's just scary, ya know?

Bostonparis, I'm glad he got the police certificate, one less thing to worry about!

So Saint-Clair is not coming until you get an apartment? That must be killing you knowing he'll have his visa but won't be here! You'll do just fine when you're in your apartment. It's kinda like bringing your first dog home. You have no idea what to do or how to take care of him, but it just happens. You get the bills in the mail, you pay them. You pay your rent on the first day of the month, or the last day of the month. If you keep all your bills on your Excel spreadsheet, it will help you keep control of things so you know when the bills will come.

With cooking, start slowly. Try boiling water (literally, just boil water - watch it, see what happens). Then throw in pasta and stir it occasionally. Add a little bit of salt and olive oil to the water. Dump it into a strainer. Add some butter and parmesan cheese. If you want, heat up some pasta sauce in the same pot that you cooked the pasta in (makes for less cleaning up!). Just put a little in on medium heat, cover it for a couple of minutes, and it's hot. EASY!!

Watch some of those easy cooking shows, like 30 Minute Meals. Rachel Ray makes things that are easy to follow. Start doing this now, at your parents' house so that if you get lost in the kitchen, someone can help!!

Hi Frenchies and Francophiles! A question for y'all-

I need to get my husband a tax id number (ITIN.) He's still in France, waiting for his visa; I need the ITIN for him so I can do my taxes. To get the ITIN, he needs to submit a "notarized" copy of his passport. But, they don't really have notaries in France, at least not like here in the US. Any ideas about what he can do to get an official copy of his passport?

Angilla -- how's Saint Clair's cooking? That could be the answer to your cooking questions......

My parents won't let him stay here - we tried that already to save money. We asked them if we could rent a room for, say, $400/month or something to help us get on our feet. Didn't work. So, until I secure and set up our apartment, there's nowhere for him to be.


True. A part of it is just that... I'm ending a part of my life that I'll never be able to get back, being a "kid" at home with mom and dad. For the next 70 or whatever years I'll be living completely different and it'll never be like this again. But I'm unhappy the way I'm living right now, so I should wholeheartedly want it to change... part of me doesn't, though. Part of me doesn't want to let go of something I'll never be able to get back. Does that make any sense?


Hehehe there was one time in the Bronx back when Saint-Clair was a friar... after cleaning the stove he had put something back together wrong that really messed the stove up. A pot of water was on the stove for SO LONG and... it wouldn't boil. Word spread that Brother Saint-Clair couldn't even boil water and oh did we tease him!


Christimas Eve 2005... he was making crepes, I was making strufoli (the only thing I can successfully cook LOL)... we set off all three fire alarms in the house - one on this floor, one on the floor above, and even the one in the basement! My dad was running up and down both flights of stairs disabling one fire alarm after another! My mom, in all her years of cooking, has never set off all three! He claims he's a good cook, but I'm not totally sure about that! (When he gets home I'm gonna tell him to read this... )

Oh, I'm sorry you can't stay with your parents. That's too bad, that would have been really helpful to help you get on your feet with a decent head start instead of feeling like you have to rush because you want him here.

I do understand what you mean about moving out of your parents' home. It's everything that's familiar to you, and really all you've known. I subletted an apartment first, and that made me feel like the move was "less permanent", even though I never moved home again. Just remember, they're not going anywhere, and when you feel like being a little girl again, all you need to do is go and spend the night there. The feeling never changes!

My mom made strufoli for the first time this last Christmas - it's really hard to make!!

Some good news i got today from the US Embassy in Paris for who get interviews cancelled coz walsh law
That few I-130 Petitions are back to the Paris US Embassy from the USCIS Roma office after have been checked...
good luck

Some good news i got today from the US Embassy in Paris for who get interviews cancelled coz walsh law
That few I-130 Petitions are back to the Paris US Embassy from the USCIS Roma office after have been checked...
good luck
[/quote]

I called the Paris Embassy this morning and my husbands DCF interview was finally rescheduled for April 24th. I don't have the paper yet, just the info from the lady on the phone. I was hoping it would be earlier that way we wouldn't have to split up the family, but it looks like that is going to be the case. It's not so hard on me as it will be for my husband coming home everyday to an empty house and not hearing the lil guys all excited to see him. But it will only be 2 months which is not so bad for the 3 year old, but he'll miss the first b-day of the youngest.

The good side is we are no longer completely in limbo and know better now what's going on.

Sheigh

Sheigh, could you plan a trip back to Paris for the little one's first birthday so he doesn't have to miss it? That stinks that his interview date was re-scheduled so far away... but at this point, I'm just glad he HAS an interview date!

Looks like you need to have a cooking book as a wedding present, or cooking lessons. ^^ As well as some good smoke detectors for your appartment. lol
More seriously, cook the things you like, and little by little expand your recipe knowledge. I started with desserts, because they are my favorites, now I can actually follow a recipe and usually it comes out good.
The thing is to have a good recipe book with things you want to cook I guess.


I lived on my own for two years as a student, it's an experience, and you learn to deal with it. You learn to do the things your parents used to do for you. I can understand you are going to miss it. But you are going to make your own home, with your own rules and your own family. Just make sure there is a chinese takaway not far and all will go well
You'll do great, and you are starting a wonderful new adventure with Saint Clair. With love you can overcome a lot of things.

Thanks Cécile. Yeah, I can make the strufoli because I love them, I'm proud of them, and I've been making them since junior high school - I always made them for my Italian classes, my teachers always went nuts. If I can make dough without a bowl I can cook something. I just don't have any confidence in myself at this point. I'm sure that'll change after he moves here.

Speaking of which... FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE DAYS TIL INTERVIEW!

Bon Chance for your interview Angilla & St. Clair.

Thanks Shayrene! Medical complete. My fiance said the physical exam part took about 10 minutes. I asked him to write up the details of his day so we could post them here for future French couples. His interview is at 1pm tomorrow.

Good luck tomorrow! I am sending you good interview juju

Juju? Thanks for the juju - but I've never heard that word before. What's it mean?

I'm going to ask my fiance to write up a detailed experience, but this is the info I've got for ya'll so far:

Police certificate
For anyone needing to know how to get the police certificate: don't go to your local police station. My fiance said he did that and they didn't know what he was talking about. Just go to https://www.cjn.justice.gouv.fr/cjn/b3/eje20 and request a casier judiciaire.

Military letter
My fiance's military letter was what they wanted. He was before 1979 so he just got a letter from the military stating he was waived from the military requirement. He got it by going to the bureau du service national in his town, he said you could find them by going to http://www.pagesjaunes.fr . He said to type in bureau du service national and the name of your town, or the name of the biggest town near you. I'm not sure if the process is different for those born after 1979.

Medical
Dr. Anne-Valérie Meyers is an absolute sweetheart with a great sense of humor! My fiance was in and out of the physical exam portion of the medical in about 10 minutes. I know one of the commonly worried about things with the medical is do they have to examine the private regions - NO, they did not! It was mostly questions that my fiance said no to. You don't even have to ask for a copy of the vaccination supplement. When my fiance asked for it she said she was going to hand it to him anyway!

Interview
The interview was a piece of cake. SC and I have been seperated for 14 months and they did not ask for a single shred of proof of an ongoing relationship. I loaded him up with tons of phone bills, 45 pages of chat logs (and to think that was only a sample of one coversation every 3 months or so... we have 18 saved archives LOL), photos of us together in scrapbook fashion, etc. They didn't even ask for it. I thought they would since we haven't seen each other in so long!

They asked him three questions: what is your fiancee's name, what kind of work does she do, and what do you plan on doing in the States. His response to question #3 was "Marry my fiance, get the first job I can get after I have my working papers, and live happily ever after" to which the interviewer laughed. He was in the embassy for a total of an hour and a half and a majority of that time was waiting around.

He had both my I-134 and I-864. They asked for financial documents and he handed them my I-134. We really didn't want them to take the I-864, my tax returns stink. So it was bostonparis' idea for him to just hand them the I-134 and play stupid. They didn't say anything about it, they just took it! He asked how many paystubs they wanted. The lady looked at the stack I sent - which was all my paystubs since November. She photocopied the most recent one and handed them all back to him.

So basically, it was a piece of cake! Paris is an EASY embassy guys! None of you have anything to worry about!

Edit: He just remembered they asked him a 4th question at the interview - how we met.

Edit again: As he's reading my post he keeps remembering things. He said they asked for my tax returns with the I-134. He forgot I told him I attached it to the I-864 (I didn't think they'd ask it for the I-134). "I did not know if I had it so I said I did not know much about it and did not know if ya gave it to me or not." He said she saw he looked really lost and confused and he was starting to panic, so she said it's ok forget it, the tax returns don't matter.

Thanks for all the details! I've passed it along to my fiance! I attached my tax records to both, so hopefully that won't be a problem. I only attached tax records for one year, but gave him tax transcripts for two years prior as well, in case they ask.

Congrats Angilla! I am so happy for you too. The next 2 months will fly by and you will see Saint-Clair very soon.

I'm so excited - he got the letter in the mail this morning:

Medical appointment - March 9 (Friday!!)
Visa interview - March 21!! Holy cow, I can hardly believe it!

The only thing that stinks is he has to give a months' notice at work, and obviously can't do it until he gets the Visa. Rrrrrrrats.

You're welcome for the details - I'd love to help any way I can! And thank you shayrene.

Bostonparis, I know, my fiance's supposed to give a month's notice at work too - but look at my approved time off for the civil marriage, 4/4/07 - 4/16/07! Eek! I don't want to try to push back my time off from work because I'm afraid I won't get so long. He's going to talk to his boss Monday and see if two weeks would suffice.

Oh, an idea for you all! Have the Frenchie get a letter of recommendation from his/her employer before leaving, translated into English if the boss only speaks French. When Mr/Miss Frenchie gets over here and gets working papers (s)he'll want a job, and the employer will want references. But they won't want to call France, and probably won't speak French anyway. So get a letter of recommendation that the Frenchie can bring copies of to their job interviews!

Nice recommendation. Did your fiance get his visa immediately? Or are they sending it to him? Or is he allowed to pick it up?

Your fiance has to bring a chronopost envelope with him (my fiance said there's a machine where you can buy them in the embassy if need be) and they mail it to him in that. It can take up to 10 days to get it in the mail, they said.

Well, my fiance didn't go home last night, he stayed at his mom's house instead. He went home tonight and found... a notice that a package from the embassy is waiting for him at the post office! He got his visa already! He's gonna go pick it up Monday!

That is so exciting!!

Congratulations Bostonparis!

Great idea about the references Angilla. I wish I had used that for my husband. What we have done is give references for people that I know here. It isn't the same as having a former supervisor write one. But at least the job can call someone and speak to them.

Hey more good news! My fiance picked up his visa from the post office today. In the envelope was the brown "do not send" envelope... the passport with his visa... and... the original photos that I sent with the I-129F! Is it normal for those to be returned?

In other news, my fiance talked to his boss today and got permission to leave as soon as I have an apartment. So as soon as an apartment is secured we'll buy the plane tickets!

You know what I meant! Do not OPEN envelope.

Any leads on the new digs? Fingers crossed for you!

Hello folks,

I wanted to introduce myself (and Elise!). Elise (French) and I met nearly 9 years ago and frequently flirted with romance. We couldn't resist any longer and over the past year our love and connection has formented. In that time we've been lucky to enjoy time together in Paris, Cornu, Formentera and the US - all told close to 4 months together! She accepted my proposal on January 26th and had to return to Paris in mid-February.

A little over a week ago we discovered we're expecting a lovely multi-national baby. We couldn't be more excited or more anxious. I was patient and calm before we learned Elise was pregnant. We had waited 9 years to pursue our affection; what could it be to endure another 3-5 months. However since we learned she was pregnat we are, of course, anxious to be together and relatively settled. I want to be with her each morning, day and night to share in her every emotion.

With frustration I've noticed great variance in K-1 filing times and can't seem to find any paterns or causes. Ah - I wish there were answers.

I'll be flying to Elise on Wednesday evening and she's asked that we visit the Consulate while I'm there. We want to ask simple questions about the process, etc. She wants to be comforted but I'm affraid the visit may cause added stress. Has anyone paid a friendly visit to the Consulate for counsel?

OK - that's a long way of saying hi! My next post will be more generous!

-Brian

Congratulations!

Did you look into DCF?

We considered DCF when we started the process but that coincided with DCF freeze. I had not reconsidered it since filing the K1. I think I'll ask at the consulate about that. Thanks for the idea!

3-21 is coming up - here's to a good interview.

Welcome Brian! I see you'll be filing through VSC so things should work out well for you. Take a look at my timeline to see how things go through VSC and Paris without a RFE (request for further evidence). 3 months and we were done. I know 3 months can seem a lot to a pregnant lady, and nervous daddy, but considering it can take 6+ months through CSC you're lucky.

That whole DCF mess really is a shame.

I'm not sure how much of a help the consulate would be, but it couldn't hurt to try. What questions do you have? How can we help?

In other subjects... do you two plan to raise the baby bi-lingual? My fiance and I are thinking about what we'll do with that. I don't speak a word of French (no, that's a lie... I can say... oui... je t'aime... je ne parle pas francais... ummm... heh) ok so I barely speak a word of French, how about that. He's intent that I'll learn, but the sounds are just so hard. He knows my language so I'd consider it respectful for me to learn his, but French and German were the two languages I decided I'd never learn because I hate the way they sound. And now I'm engaged to a Frenchie! So I guess I'll give up and learn French, and I'd imagine we'll probably raise the kids bi-lingual. But at some point, at a young age, I want to start teaching them Italian as well - I don't want to lose my heritage any more than he wants to lose his. Tri-lingual kids... well, why not, their brains are like sponges, it'll be good for them!

How I wish we had done DCF - not just for the process to get him here, but to save so much heartache (and money) once he gets here, too.

Thank you - we're getting very excited!!

If you had done DCF you might've gotten caught in the freeze... having your interview cancelled last minute for your files to be sent to Rome for security checks, not knowing when your interview would be re-scheduled. Who knows, maybe filing the K1 was a blessing in disguise for ya.

I can pipe up about the DCF thing. Right now, you can't do a DCF if you (the American) reside in the US.

I have had mixed experiences at the Paris consulate. I went there to pick up some documents I needed for our wedding and the people were pretty nice and efficient. But it was a nightmare when we went to file our I-130. I'm not sure if they ever have anyone available to just take questions. In any case, check the consulate website for when they're open to the public. Usually, just to get in there's one line for Americans and one for non-Americans (longer....) I believe you would have to be in the non-citizen line if you go with your fiancee.

On their website, they recommend to communicate with them by fax. I have indeed always gotten prompt answers to my faxes, although the information given wasn't always very satisfying.

Personally, I wouldn't go to the consulate just to ask general questions -- it could very likely be a huge waste of time. You should be able to get answers through this forum, the USCIS website and the consulate website.

Bonne chance!

I'm sure you're right... I actually only found DCF as an option a week or so before Adam Walsh Act was put into practice at the Embassies & Consulates, and was grateful that I hadn't done it after those two weeks of absolute frustration at my attorney for not even giving it to me as an option. But yes, it probably is a blessing in disguise that we didn't DCF. If all goes well, he'll be here on May 5!

Thank you all for your answers and consideration. While I haven't been active in these forums till today Visajourney and everyone who posts here have been invaluable over the past few months. I would have been utterly lost without this resource.

Mercycat - I share the concerns you noted. Elise is understandably hopeful they'll be able to provide some assistance. I worry we'll leave more concerned than we entered. However she has more experience with the Embassy (she was an Au Pair before she and I met, lived in the US and had, since forfeited, residency status). I'm balancing my informed intuition that the visit will be for naught against her hopes that it will provide a modicum of comfort and perhaps some guidance. They're open on Friday morning and we'll discuss what we hope to learn / achieve on Thursday. I'll report back as soon as I can - most likely upon return to the states on Sunday.

Thanks again for all of your help! Now if only VCS would send me an NOA2!

Hi Angilla! I managed to miss your very nice response! Your timeline has given me hope from the outset. 3 months would be just fine by us. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a no RFE, no lost petition, no kinks filing.

We definitely plan to raise our little buckeroo bi-lingual. And, my so-rusty-it-no-longer-works understanding of French is something I need to work on. I can't have mommy and our little one having secrets right beneath my mono-lingual ears.

I don't know what we'll be asking at the consulate. I guess we're planning to explain our situation and ask their advice! I have very managed expectations but will welcome a surprise. Elise is understandably anxious about the timing; hopefully they'll be able to provide some comfort.

Hehe yeah, like me and my mom talking Italian in front of my dad so he can't understand it. Teehee. We're bad.

You should be getting your NOA2 any day now! Read back to find my posts about my fiance's interview and medical, that'll give you some insight on the France side of things - it's so easy! Start gathering your stuff for the France side of it all NOW. Talk to your employer about the letter you need for the I-134. Packet 3 requests the I-864 but they've been taking the I-134 anyway - so prepare both. Have your fiancee get her vaccination record from her doctor. Click on "embassy info" up top, then click on F for France, bring up the France embassy page for info on what's in packet 3. Go to the downloads section and have her fill out all the packet 3 forms so they're ready to send back when she recieves packet 3. Put together everything you need to send her - a copy of the I-129F, evidence of ongoing relationship, blahblahblah and ship it over to her in France. Etc. The time FLIES after NOA2 and he and I ended up doing it all at the last minute, he got my package on a Friday... his interview was that Wednesday. Don't do that lol it really freaked us out!

I see you live in CT. Do you live anywhere by Bridgeport? I'm about 20 minutes from where the Bridgeport ferry docks in Port Jeff.

Yes - there will be no conspiring in a language I don't understand. And of course I'd like to be able to speak French too for so many other reasons.

Thanks again for your tips. I've done most everything you've mentioned and planned on sitting down with Elise this weekend (I'm flying to France for a visit tonight) to go over all the stuff she'll need for the Visa process. Your post a few pages back about the interview was very encouraging. I plan to share that with Elise too.

I'm about 20 minutes from the Bridgeport-Port Jeff. ferry on this side of the sound... I think that makes us some form of neighbors!

Thanks again for all of your advice.

The bilingual thing is very important. I want my child to be able to speak to his/her relatives. I really am in desparate need of mastering the French language. When our baby comes in August, my husband will speak to him/her in French and I will speak English. I hope this won't be too confusing. My husband's cousin's children who live here in the US actually were told by the school system to stick to one language because they weren't mastering English. (It is confusing in their household anyway because they speak 3 different languages.)

I am sure we will find the balance.

Brian, I do think that makes us some sort of neighbors. We could have a bi-national get together sometime.

Shayrene, I've heard that being raised on two languages will make them pick up English slower than they would otherwise... but they catch up. And, in my opinion, the gain is worth the delay. Their minds are little sponges at young ages, it's the perfect time to teach them another language. And all the romance languages are so similar - if the child is raised on French it should be nice and easy for him/her to pick up, say, Spanish later in life if they decide they want to! I know I can read French fairly well because it looks just like Italian, speaking is where I have problems because it sounds so different from what I'm used to.

Hey Everyone,

Haven't been here since a couple of months now, didn't see that topic before.

Anyway, I'm the frenchie of the couple, and I am from Lyon. I arrived in the US last October, and get married on Nov.14th in Vegas, at the graceland chapelle, by a french 'priest' !!
that was really unexpected, but pretty cool 'cause he did the ceremony both in english and french so my mom and sister were able to understand everything
We live near Atlantic City in New Jersey.
My wife came to visit in France 2 times before we get married, she loves it (we went to Paris and south of france by Napoleon's road, going through the mountains, that was lovely in spring ).
She's not speaking french, just knows a few words. Not that i didn't try to teach her, but it's taking time and patience...
Well, now i'm waiting for my EAD to get to work and also my AOS. We applied in january (after a lot of problems with the civil surgeon), and i did my biometrics on valentine's day in philadelphia!!

I think that's all for now, just have to wait to get all the papers done and finally really start my life here....

Welcome danyfra! How do you like New Jersey? What was the change from France to USA like for you?

Good news on our part... I GOT AN APARTMENT!! I don't know when we can move in yet, I have to go back tomorrow to fill out some paperwork. We're hoping for no longer than 2 weeks!

Congratulations!!!!!! Tell us about it!

Well... it's a ground-level complex, there's about 8 apartments in the building. When you walk in, to the right is a big living room with a big window and air conditioner. Straight ahead is a kitchen with a cieling fan, stove/oven, marble countertops, lots of cabinet space, a microwave, and a big refrigerator/freezer. There's a back door leading out to the patio and private back yard, where landscapers mow the lawn and snow removal shovels snow off the patio. Back inside the house there's a door, one way goes to the bedroom with another cieling fan and a good closet in it. The other way goes to the bathroom which has a sunroof in it, and I just have to brag, it's the best part of the place! (Just sort of weird to look up from the toilet and see sky! )



It's $875/month and all that includes is hot water. But as far as apartment complexes go, that's awesome, most 1 bedroom apartments in complexes go for over $1,000. I was hoping for more like $850/month INCLUDING utilities but those are all in private houses, like people's basements and stuff, and there's a lot of psychos around here... plus all the ones I've seen in the last two weeks have been dumps. You get what you pay for, basically. It's gonna be really hard to stretch the money, but we'd struggle no matter where we went so... we might as well struggle in a roomy, pretty apartment!

Across the street is a library. Across the street in the other direction is a huge park with lots of walking trails and woods and stuff. I'm gonna bring my bike, and my dad is giving his bike to my fiance. We'll chain them down on our patio. So there will be things for my fiance to do while I'm not home! If he gets the temp EAD... well... there's huge chains of stores and even an office building within walking distance! Basically he'll just walk down the street and see if he can find someone that's hiring. My approved time off from work for our civil marriage is April 4th - 16th and there's no way he'd be able to get that much time off with a new job, so basically we figure he could just get a cruddy local job for a month... quit it... then when I go back to work on April 17th I'll bring his resume and try to get him a job at my place for 2 months, then he could quit it when his temp EAD expires. By the time he gets his next EAD he should have his driver's license, and hopefully we'd be able to afford a second car, so he could be more independant in finding a good steady job.

Oooh, and another cool thing is... 10 minutes in one direction is my job, 10 minutes in the other direction is my parents' house! It's perfect, right in between!

And... across the street, right next to the library, is a Chinese restaurant. There's Greek and Japanese restaurants there too, I never tried either type of food before. There's also a bagel place a little ways down the street. So there's plenty of options for when we burn dinner! Can't really afford it, though, so we'll have to... erm... be careful.

Speaking of burning, a fireman lives in the apartment complex. So if we ever need help it's right next door!

Anyway. I'm going back tomorrow to fill out the paperwork for them to run a credit check on me. As long as the credit check doesn't show anything horrendous, the apartment's mine! We'd like to move my fiance here on Friday, March 23rd. As soon as the apartment is finalized we'll buy the tickets.



It's bittersweet, though. I've fought with my parents my whole life, and now that we're not fighting... I don't want to leave. I still have the I don't want to grow up feeling, and while I'm excited I also feel so sad to be getting older and starting another part of my life... and leaving a part of my life that I'll never be able to get back again. My fiance's mom just started drinking, after being sober for months. It's been hard for him to say goodbye to his friends, and his family... especially since he doesn't know when he'll be able to return to France. As much as he hates his life in France he also loves it. We'll be happy once we're together, but the move is going to be rough on us both.

Your apartment looks and sounds great! I can't believe he'll be here in less than 2 weeks!

Fortunately, you will be living so close to your parents. I know it's a hard thing to make that first move out of your parents' house. But once your fiance is here, you'll be so busy setting up your new place, showing him around, etc., that before you know it you'll wonder why you didn't move out years ago!! Chin up as my grandma used to say. You'll be okay.