We are going to Memphis this weekend for fun...that's my treat to her...and surprise. I wanted to fly somewhere, but not enough money right now. Valentine's we'll do something fantastically romantic I'm sure. Gimme a few days to think that through.

Hey guys

Sounds like you are going to have a great valentines and that is so wonderful. I don't want to play down your happiness one lil bit cause I truly am glad someone is hahahaha

I wish I was I want to go home to my Honey.

Hold up - not "you guys"....just Sean and Natalia. Caroline will be crying like you Lorelle. I am doing nothing, with no one...except maybe talking on the phone to Stewart.

<sigh> Maybe next year.

I wont even get to talk to Dan on the phone cause I didnt pay the last phone bill hahahaha oops And cant get it put back on until next week sometime. Damm xmas nearly broke me. Oh well it was worth it for my last xmas with my kids and grandkids for quite some time. And I wont take money from Dan for it so just have to grin and bare it.

Dang.....no word from Mellie about meeting up with her. I have missed a few calls on my cell but have no idea if was her or not

All is cool. I am still intending on travelling in to the city to meet up. Will just have to wing it hahahahaha Their interview is 8am tomorrow morn, they are getting there an hour early......so if Im up at 5.30 I will be in there by 7am. *goes to study Mellie and Scotts pic so I can recognise them*

Im excited.......I wonder how they are doing on the eve of the interview.... in a little over 10 hrs time they should be walking out with the biggest smiles on their faces. I will have my trusty camera ready

Wow that is so exciting!!!

Get back online and let us know ASAP how it goes

Need I say more???

that was quick.......thought you werent getting on until tonight..do the ferry's have internet access now hahahaha

I just walked in the door myself.......Will get those photos up shortly. Let me know where ya want em.

Im so glad I caught up with you guys and didnt miss you. Was awesome

OH MY GOSH

I am so freaking excited for you!

WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO we are so da*mn happy for you

You can put em in the off topic post!! That would be a good place for them me thinks!!!

Thanks guys!! Ok, Im REALLY logging off now... I think...

done

Have fun.....I hope to catch up again with you guys on Friday when you fly out.

AWESOME! What a great way to start off a week. Good on ya, I need to go read the offtopic post, but I'm sure it says it was a breeze. Congrats and time to start the rest of your life...with no visa worries!

Wow don't I feel like the odd girl out now. I need some other non-approved DCF people in here to keep me company.

Hopefully Ill be joining your ranks soon.

I can't get over your approval Mellie. I am seriously excited.

Not much to report here. 31 days left but who's counting right?

oooh and I got final approval for my morgage...my bank is about to own my new condo!

Kick ### Karo, you are now a homo...wner. Ha. Good investment, that condo will be. Hopefully you can make some serious money when you sell it to move back to Australia in the future.

HAHA Sean I know I am very excited to not be throwing away rent money. Also went to the gym last night - so proud of me!! AND I'm going to night. Soccer season starts up on Sunday so I'm taking ONE WEEK (lol) to get in shape for it. I can't wait - soccer season is my favorite part of year.

It's also good that it comes now since there are NO sports in which I am interested on TV now.

Not an Olympic fan? I'm enjoying them. Love downhill skiing.

Good on ya for excersising, wish I had the motivation. You'll be extra fit when you go back to oz!

hey someone on a diff. thread was talking about a bank letter of support ???

Did you have a bank letter? do I needone? I know I need bank STATEMENTS....like to show my balance.

but a letter?

oh wait - maybe that's what they mean by statement.

hmmm

Hey I don't think you need one. I didn't, per se...I had a bank letter, but that is due to me working at a bank, and it said the normal "Sean works here and has worked here since 2000 and makes this amount of money and has this position" verbage. So not a support letter but an employment letter. As for bank letter of support, don't have any clue. Maybe someone didn't make enough money but knew a banker who wrote them a letter stating how their accounts are handled (a bit overboard). I wouldn't worry. But do get an employment letter. I think that's required.

Oh and Karo, Happy Valentines Day.

Awww thanks Sean Valentine's day is fun....but this year i'm proclaiming it a capitalistic holiday that I hate...out of jealousy of course. Once Stewart gets here, you bet your @ss I'm celebrating the hell out of it every single year!

Hey how was TN? I don't even think I asked. AND did you come up with something fantastically romantic for tonight?

You're welcome. Here's an idea for ya, celebrate Valentines at the half way mark this year. So 2006 Valentines for you will be August 14. Something to look forward too. Never mind that's just a silly idea.

TN was good, Beale Street rocks. We did some museum stuff, visited the ducks at the Peabody Hotel, had some good bbq, rode around their trolleys, and heard some crazy lady sing. Good times. We will definitely go back when it's warmer. And take friends.

Tonight, I am still working on it. I was thinking of a bath when she gets home, but she is dead tired from work and so I think first thing first, when she gets home I'll have some soft music playing and candles lit in the bedroom. She can take a nap. During that time I will begin to cook. I'm thinking a great steak might be a good idea. Big ol steak. And mashed potatoes. Some veggies. Ooh and we have strawberries for dessert, I need to get something to go with them. After that, oh who knows. Maybe we'll go to bed early. Ha ha. Maybe a movie.

And maybe that bath...

HAHAHA I hate you Sounds like a plan. I'm sure natalia will love it.

As for the Peabody. I LOVE THAT HOTEL. There is one in Orlando. LOVE IT...

I'm tired today and still worried about that Bank Letter. So just to clarify - don't kill me - you just took bank STATEMENTS? right?

I hate immigration.

Yeah don't fret. Statements are required but you know what? they didn't even look at mine. Just have them with you, no letter needed. You'll see everything you need in the final packet they send you, which tells you the exact order to present it all as well. NO WORRIES MATE!

Hey you!!

The bank LETTER thing is for the I 134. You dont need it for the I 864. Like Sean, I had one because I work in a bank, and you have to take a letter from your employer.

The bank Statements thing.... I think you only need them if you are using your savings on the I864, but I took all mine anyways. Rose even said to me that I had more paperwork than what was required of me, but that she liked to see that because it meant that I was truly prepared for all possibilities. SO yea, take them with you! I took about 6 months worth and they were happy campers.

We picked up Scotts Visa yesterday. Very pretty and expensive little sticker, that one!! lol

[/quote]

Statements are required but you know what? they didn't even look at mine.
[/quote]

Statements aren't necessarily required. It's really up to the consulate officer; statements are just one of the things you can bring to prove your finances. When we had our interview in Sydney, the only thing I submitted with my I-864 was a letter from my father's employer and his taxes (as I had no income at the time, so he was sponsoring). Of course, I had all of the other evidence (i.e. payslips, statements and whatnot) in a folder I took with me "just in case". Anyway, they didn't even want to look at any of it. The letter plus tax transcripts proved to be sufficient.

I think, like mellie said, bank statements would be more crucial if you were using a savings account to meet the required amount of funds.

however, it is always a good idea to bring more info than needed just to be safe.

You guys are awesome. I'm all sorted out now

It's cold here - I know ya'll up north probably want to slap me as 50 degrees is not cold to you - but I'm freezing.

I had a hot v-day date last night...with my best friend her fiance lives in miami so she was dateless too - we went to dinner and got ice cream. It was so good!

How was that bath sean ?

Ha, didn't happen. Dinner was late, no time for that. And dinner was fantastic by the way. I grilled some steaks. good stuff.

And yes, SLAP!! That's for that cold 50 degrees crap. It's 50 degrees here as well, and I am thinking about wearing shorts and no shirt. Friday it will be back down to 30. Joy. Acutally, 62 degrees tomorrow, and then next day 31. Cut in half. Nasty!

edit to say: when I was dateless, my buddy Aaron and I used to go and buy the most expensive bottle of bourbon we could find and we would drink it in one night. Usually one night. SOmetimes not. But anyways, thanks for the memories. We had some fun back then, but now life is all about a different kind of fun...a more preferrable one.

i had a steak salad - and then we went and got ice cream AND the restaurant had blue moon - my fave! I do love steak.

One year when I was single, my friend and I named it Bloody Valentines day.

this was when I was in NYC living off student loan money. We went to ruth's chris...we started with bloody marys, then ordered two bottlees of red wine and then ordered MR steaks...

we were TRASHED but man that was fun -

Nice. Fun times, valentines can be. Dinner sounded good, of course you still have to celebrate once stuart is in town. Two dinners for you!

look at you Mr. Platinum!!

Why do you love your job? is that sarcasm.

I'm speaking to the head of guidance for my county tomorrow to get OUT of mine...My supervisor is driving me insane.

I am sad that our thread is now so short - in the old forums we had like 20+ pages!

Karo, did you see the link to the page in the old forum about police certificates that I posted in the other thread. If you didnt, here it is again. There was a lot of whohar about them not being done correctly in Australia and having to go back and get them corrected.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums2/index.php?showtopic=29151&hl=australia&st=600

Yes I did Lorelle, thank you SO much - as always you are SUCH a blessing to this board. I went back and read and I think that was really a SA problem.

I spoke with Karen (Kajikat) yesterday as she is from VIC also and she said her cert was just a letter like Stewart's. In addition, after some "Coaching" stewart did, indeed, find the watermark...

How would men get through the day without women? I just don't know!

I am so ready for you to get your case finished and get over here!!!

Hey now! I'm a man, and I know how to find watermarks! Har har.

Yeah my job is not much fun right now, so it's sarcasm. Stupid work. I just can't leave. Too many bills. Too nervous to find out what's out there for someone like me. I need to get some cajones and go demand a raise. It's been over 2 years now!

i'm nauseous. I don't know why. I think I'm hungry.

Get some food then! I need more coffee myself. Cheers!

Sean you're almost more of an aussie wanna be than I am - and I'm bad

I love it.

I'm eating lunch now - hopefully that will help.

I knew a guy from somewhere right outside of St Louis once - he reminds me of you - his name was Matt

Matt must've been a cool mo fo.

Yeah I am training myself to comform to their ways in Oz. Av a go ya mug. Fair dinkum. Are you taking the piss outta me? I can't be bothered. Yeah I say everything they do at some point in the day.

HA when I first started dating Stewart he would say, "I can't be bothered" ALL THE TIME. It drove me nuts.

I say no worries a lot. What I really want to start over here is, "How are you goin'? I love that so much more than What's up, or whatever.

Everything just sounds better when it's australian, I think.

At a party a girl asked me if I learned any aussie expressions. Stewart had given me a stubby holder with a Sheila's favorite expressions... I could only, in my drunken haze, remember one...

so in my semi-southern, pseudo aussie accent I blurted out, "GET STUFFED B!TCH!"

I was a hit that night

WELCOME HOME MELLIE!! AND SCOTT!!! (When you finally get here !)

Oh no Karo, you gotta take out the word 'are' in that phrase. It's "How ya goin?"

Ha! I got the Wench's approval! No worries mate. Or as my wife's friend would say it, Nahwries.

you should hear me try to say it in person. I sound retarded.

she'll be right mate jus keep practicing

I hope mellie pops in today - It's not as much fun without her

I do practice - how sad is that? I hope no one ever HEARS me practicing...

Hey, congrats!

I still haven't had my interview scheduled cos my UK police certificate got delayed so I can't send in my DS-2001. Darned UK police. At least the US Consulate phoned me about it to ask what was happening - and the lady that called sounded sympathetic.

We're back!!!

Getting in to the states was a BREEZE!!!

And I wish I could be around more today, but its my first day back at work and have TONS of catching up to do. Ugh.

I wanna go back now. With Scott of course.

Life is just awesome right now. I couldnt be happier.

Anyways, ta ta for now, will pop in tomorrow for a more extended visit!!

Good to hear Mellie Glad you guys arrived safely and that it was a breeze ..........Must be a wonderful feeling being home all there together now with Scott never having to leave again

I couldn't make it to the airport to see you guys off Did you get those photos of us that I emailed to you ok. Wasn't sure if you had enuf room in your inbox for them. Let me know aye.

Lorelle

hi all.
No news really.
23 days to go

Busy at work.
Someone give me a good update to entertain me

I am so disappointed in us!

Where are ya'll Am I the only one with no life???