~July 2007 K-1 Filers~

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

wow, as usual some great news in this thread! it's so much fun to come in and see all the happiness; does the heart good

special congrats to Chris (and Gretchen!), and teachme; REALLY great news for both you guys

I've just spent a week in Yorkshire (snow!) with my good friend, her husband, and their two kids, but before I went I booked my flights! depart the UK on April 28 (arrive Australia April 30; egad ); Dave arrives Australia May 11, and we both fly out May 25 (POE: LAX)

it's all becoming very very real...

plans after that - no kids, thank you very much

it's funny; I love kids; I've always enjoyed teaching, especially the younger ones; I work for my friend looking after her two on at least three days a week, and love that too - but have never wanted any of my own

plus, I'll be 36 in July; unless we wanted to start straight away - and we want to get used to the whole living in the same country thing; it will be such a novelty - I'd be pushing 40 before giving birth, and while I know some people cope with that fine, I'm just glad it's not a decision I have to make

Dave's going to finish his degree though! he's all enrolled, with only a small amount of - reminding

he did a year at Rutgers, before rebelling and joining the navy, and is EASILY smart enough to do very well, so I'm very excited about that for him

at first it should be pretty easy to fit it in around work, and by the time he may need to work part time for a year, to fit everything in, I should be earning, so we THINK it will all work out fine

sounds like a wonderous plan! what will he be going to school for? rutgers is a fun place, i visited some friends there a few years back, had a good time...thats so wonderful that you guys can come to the US together!! i wish i could've done that with adriano!!

[StillThePrettiest 4]

oh, I know; I've done so much solo travelling - in fact solo everything - that I wasn't exactly NERVOUS about completing immigration on my own, but I like it SO much better that the whole last leg will be done together

it was actually pretty easy to organise, too - I booked my flight first, and double checked there was loads of space remaining, and later that day Dave booked his on the same flight out of Kingsford Smith

I've never tried for an upgrade before, but I'm going to do my best with that one... surely our story is one that will make the heart melt?!

Dave started his degree in Electrical Engineering, but is just going for straight Engineering this time... his work in the navy (he was in nuclear subs) and what he's doing now will count towards it, so it will probably only be three years part time, and the navy has a deal where they pay your tuition fees for up to ten years after leaving, so THAT'S great as well (that was part of why I needed to remind so much; the ten years will be up soon )

he loved Rutgers too... but loved New York more; he kept going off and hanging out in the city

I'm glad I know him NOW; I'm not sure I would have liked him as much back then

julez - I will probably be pretty quiet while I'm in Aus, but I hope not to disappear completely... and then after that I'll be back with a vengeance

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

oh, I know; I've done so much solo travelling - in fact solo everything - that I wasn't exactly NERVOUS about completing immigration on my own, but I like it SO much better that the whole last leg will be done together

it was actually pretty easy to organise, too - I booked my flight first, and double checked there was loads of space remaining, and later that day Dave booked his on the same flight out of Kingsford Smith

I've never tried for an upgrade before, but I'm going to do my best with that one... surely our story is one that will make the heart melt?!

Dave started his degree in Electrical Engineering, but is just going for straight Engineering this time... his work in the navy (he was in nuclear subs) and what he's doing now will count towards it, so it will probably only be three years part time, and the navy has a deal where they pay your tuition fees for up to ten years after leaving, so THAT'S great as well (that was part of why I needed to remind so much; the ten years will be up soon )

he loved Rutgers too... but loved New York more; he kept going off and hanging out in the city

I'm glad I know him NOW; I'm not sure I would have liked him as much back then

yea, your situation is quite different from ours...adriano has never been on a plane, nor has he been to america, nor does he speak english!!! makes me very nervous i hope they dont give him a hard time!!!

thats awesome that the navy will pay for his schooling, a sweet deal indeed!

of course he was always sneaking off to the city, nyc is freakin' awesome!! im so sad that i have to leave here for school, but i guess a nationally ranked top 10 university would be a good reason to do so

Edited March 25, 2008 by babybluesusie

[StillThePrettiest 4]

oh, I hear you; I still can't believe, sometimes, that I'm giving up London for HOUSTON

but there's method in our madness... we're getting other stuff we want, in place of the things we like we have to do without... I doubt either of us regrets our choices

is there any way you can arrange for an interpreter for Adriano, ahead of time?

in any case, I'm sure he'll be fine; even if it takes him a bit longer than some others, he'll get there, and then you'll be together, and happy forever

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

oh, I hear you; I still can't believe, sometimes, that I'm giving up London for HOUSTON

but there's method in our madness... we're getting other stuff we want, in place of the things we like we have to do without... I doubt either of us regrets our choices

is there any way you can arrange for an interpreter for Adriano, ahead of time?

in any case, I'm sure he'll be fine; even if it takes him a bit longer than some others, he'll get there, and then you'll be together, and happy forever

i have not a clue as to how these things work, but i told him to make friends wth someone on his flight who speaks both italian and english...that shouldnt be hard considering the flight is from milan to nyc on alitalia airlines...lol hopefully his new friend can walk with him through immigration...otherwise, im sure it cant be THAT hard to find someone who speaks italian in this fine city...ill keep my fingers crossed for him

[Jeraly 4]

Susie - it sounds wonderful I did psych in high school but I never pursued it - I went down the art route instead I loved history as well.. in fact I think I just kinda liked learning. My two dissertations in uni were awesome - I got firsts for both of them - not sure of the US equivalent... one was on animation and the other was on video games

StP - I am realyl glad I am going to have Jeremy with me as well although part of me does kinda miss the fact that I am not going to have him waiting at the airport to welcome me then introduce me to our first real home together Ah well - he'll make it all look lovely before he comes out so it will be beautiful because he is really well organised like that...

Julez - I figured out it was ORD when I heard Audrey was going through there (well - Phil was ;P) and remembered Maggie's entry!! Have updated and highlighted!! Yippee!!

Finished updating CSC - VSC tomorrow cause I really ought to do some work this afternoon!!!

[StillThePrettiest 4]

sounds like a plan, Susie

I hear you, Aly; I feel the same way... and I bet it won't even occur to Dave to get things all set up for my return (not that he really CAN; all the furniture and things will be coming later ), or at least, it will only occur to him on the plane back to LA when it's too late to do anything about it

I'm sure he'll have perfected the in-ceiling speaker system for the stereo, however

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

Hi all, Gretchen has settled in quite nicely and seems to be adjusting. she is not use to the 70 degree weather and is alittle cold , but loves being with me and Vegas. She is currently trying all sorts of food each time we eat, and learning all the particulars to operating the appliances and tech in our home. My cats now spend more time with her than me lol, and she has worked out communication with all her friends and family. So far all is a success and we are so happy to be together and finally living a normal life.

Hehe We have just a little bit colder here today 69 ;-) Nice to hear you two are settling down

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

I´m glad everyone is doing so well...I read all the recent stories I´m sure Adriano will make it just fine Right now I´m done with all the paperwork for a while. Did AOS, taxes, paperwork for registering the marriage in Europe... So now I can just wait till I hear something from all the offices. Hopefully everything was filed ok and they will work on everything soon Though haven´t heard anything from USCIS yet. We sent AOS almost two weeks ago and it was only yesterday when they cashed the check (apparently they cashed it as bulk so they were waiting to receive paperwork from lots of other people ). So hopefully will get the biometrics appointment letter soon

How did everyone spend their Easter? We spent it with the family and it was a lot of fun I showed them some of the Czech traditions and they all loved it

StP I bet you can´t wait You probably didn´t see your family in a long time right? Are they all excited that they get to see you and your almost husband?

[StillThePrettiest 4]

it will be almost a year - almost to the day; I think I'm about a week off - since I was last in Australia... before that I hadn't been there since leaving in 2004

I saw my parents last year, in October, when they visited me here, but there are loads of people - including my two brothers - who I haven't seen for a year, and who I'm looking forward to catching up with

and yeah, they're very much looking forward to meeting him... SO weird that they haven't yet

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

Received all 3 NOA1s today

[Jeraly 4]

I hear you, Aly; I feel the same way... and I bet it won't even occur to Dave to get things all set up for my return (not that he really CAN; all the furniture and things will be coming later ), or at least, it will only occur to him on the plane back to LA when it's too late to do anything about it

I'm sure he'll have perfected the in-ceiling speaker system for the stereo, however

Hahaha - yeah I bet we have a home network set up! I am sure he will do me proud - I do jest as he has his lame moments but generally he is pretty good - this is a really big deal so he'll prolly surprise me with something really cool... Of course I don't want to get my hopes up

Received all 3 NOA1s today

YAY!!!!! Now we just need to decide: do we use the notice date on the hard copy? Or do we use the date received for our AOS spreadsheet?!?! Personally I think it should be the Notice date on the hard copy as that is what they ask for on the VJ timelines so can people check their AOS section to make sure I have the right date?! I haven't bothered e-mailing people for updates yet - am still working on the K- sheet!!

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

Susie - it sounds wonderful I did psych in high school but I never pursued it - I went down the art route instead I loved history as well.. in fact I think I just kinda liked learning. My two dissertations in uni were awesome - I got firsts for both of them - not sure of the US equivalent... one was on animation and the other was on video games

good times...im guessing that the US equivalent would be an A...we get letter grades, A being the best, then B, then C, then D, and the lowest grade is F which means you FAILED and you must retake the course...there are also pluses and minuses involved, for example if you didnt quite reach an A (which would typically be 93% or better), but you came close (90% through 92%), then you would normally get an A-...im assuming this is what you were referring to...im sort of curious how the system works for you...is it just 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc?? what is the lowest?

i love psychology and i also love history...im with you on the love of learning thing...it took me a while to choose what i wanted to study, because i was interested in soooo many things!! i loveeee philosophy (political philosophy was my minor), i took many many history courses and entered undergrad as a music major!! go figure that i would end up doing research in psycholinguistics lol well thats my story *shrugs* oh yea, and we dont do dissertations until we get into grad school (for masters and PhD only)...bachelors dont have dissertations, is that would you did your dissertations for?

[Jeraly 4]

Kinda like that although our system is crazy - to get a 1st class you need 70% - I don't think it means it is easier than you getting an A, just that the way the % works is different - I don't really see the point of having a top 30 percentile that doesn't alter the grade you get but there you go... They changed it all here in the UK - now you get:

A - 1st class - 70%+

B - 2:1 (2nd class, 1st division) - 60%-69%

C - 2:2 (2nd class, 2nd division) - 50%-59%

D - 3rd class - 40%-49%

Anything less than that is a fail. A 2:2 is known as a "drinker's" degree - ie you spent more time on the beer than studying - it's not horrendous but not preferable as a general rule. A 2:1 is kinda your average - it's seen as a decent final grade by an employer and I think (although am going by guesswork) that most people get this. A 1st is pretty tough to get and sometimes can be detrimental to getting employment as employers feel they might have to pay out more money... again - this is just what I have heard (I got a 2:1 ).

I would have loved a 1st and I was soo surprised and pleased when I got them for my dissertations (which are all bound up with covers and look really cool ).

For a BA which is what I have you generally have to do a dissertation. Because of my crazy degree I had to do two - one about general primary teaching/current issues and one about my subject specialism and primary teaching (art & design). These were shorter though and totalled I think (if I count the words I wrote but didn't include ) nearer 11k-12k words. I am sure for a MA or PhD they are much longer

I'd love to go back and study but I just don't think I could afford it... I would love to just learn all the time and get paid to do it but I don't think I'd enjoy it so much then I want to feel like I am progressing so the next thing would be a MA... who knows... maybe in a few years when wee find our feet

[*julez* 124]

Hey Aly, Griff actually sent his AOS petition today (26 March) as he was too sick the last few days to get to the post office. Just thought youmight want to update the whizzy spreadsheet!