For those who have been in the U.S. for awhile...

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Just a quick little poll!

[Malrothien 6]

I voted, even though I don't truly count.

[minnew 4]

Just wanted to add that I was on a K-1 visa so it took about 2 months to get my EAD, then another almost 3 months to find a job, so 5 months in total I guess. The major dietary changes part, at first I lost a bit of weight but I think that was due to stress of the wedding planning (was afraid i lost too much to fit into my dress! eep!!) ..etc..then after the wedding the AOS. After the AOS was submitted I have gradually gained about 5 pounds just due to inactivity of not working and not wanting to dig my car out of the snow to go to the gym.. Also, my husband LOVES to eat all the BAD stuff that tastes soooo good!If pizza was a food group...

Edited March 27, 2010 by minnew

[Sprailenes 47]

Regarding the homesickness, I cried when I left... but it didn't really hit me until a few weeks after I left. When I knew I was down for the long hual... it was hard. About the job, well I couldn't have a job right away because I came on a K1 but a day after my AOS interview I got a job... I began looking about a week before that. Oh and the weight well I gradually gained weight. When I first moved here I was really active, rollerbladed a lot and did stuff but then I started working and I stopped.

[darkchilde794 5]

I lost some weight when I came to MD from being K1 -- I am sure it's because when I lived in Toronto, I was really sad about being so far away from my hubby and turned to food for comfort! But when I came over, I was so happy, I wasn't gorging in food! I must say it is also because my hubby doesn't eat much, so I carefully plan our weekly grocery so I don't buy too much food that will end up spoiling. He also does not eat a lot of processed foods, so I've stopped eating that too! As of now, I am really set on losing more weight, so we will see

As for being homesick, I really missed Toronto a lot. I'm not really close to any of my immediate family, but I really missed my friends and I absolutely missed my independence -- I was stuck in the house for a while!

And I had a job offer before coming to the US and it is due to the connections I maintained in MD when I was a student

Edited March 28, 2010 by darkchilde794

[Inky 1,110]

I put on about 6 pounds but I dont seem to be gainning more, for a while we ate quite a bit of fast food but now im cooking more and buying veggies and trying to cook healthier things cus we cant aford to eat out so much, im hoping i will start to lose some of the weight. ( my mom says its happiness weight, when your happy you gain a bit of weight? lol)

I got my green card DEC 3rd. I havent found work yet, applied to a bunch of retail as well as other jobs no calls for interviews. I have to stop looking for work for a while because I may need outpatient surgery which will give me a 1 month recovery. Yuck.

As for being home sick.. not really at all. I havent cried, I dont really miss anything cept for going to timmys lol.. I do miss being able to hang out with my few good friends but they chat on msn with me a lot. Being a military wife is VERY difficult to make friends. Very high percentage of the other wifes are unfaithfull which I wont have anything to do with thos people, and most of the rest of them are way too young and accidentally got pregnant so had to get married.

Minnew and I talk a lot and hang out sometimes tho! hehe thanks to Vj I have one good canadian friend here =)

[Rhiannercakes 14]

I have not gotten homesick. I cried a tad bit when I left, but that's all.

I can't work yet, so I havn't started looking

And I've maintained weight, surprisingly. I swear I'd weigh 200lbs by now, but I guess not.

[minnew 4]

I put on about 6 pounds but I dont seem to be gainning more, for a while we ate quite a bit of fast food but now im cooking more and buying veggies and trying to cook healthier things cus we cant aford to eat out so much, im hoping i will start to lose some of the weight. ( my mom says its happiness weight, when your happy you gain a bit of weight? lol)

I got my green card DEC 3rd. I havent found work yet, applied to a bunch of retail as well as other jobs no calls for interviews. I have to stop looking for work for a while because I may need outpatient surgery which will give me a 1 month recovery. Yuck.

As for being home sick.. not really at all. I havent cried, I dont really miss anything cept for going to timmys lol.. I do miss being able to hang out with my few good friends but they chat on msn with me a lot. Being a military wife is VERY difficult to make friends. Very high percentage of the other wifes are unfaithfull which I wont have anything to do with thos people, and most of the rest of them are way too young and accidentally got pregnant so had to get married.

Minnew and I talk a lot and hang out sometimes tho! hehe thanks to Vj I have one good canadian friend here =)

Hehe! I haven't been homesick too much, there are times though that I miss the ability to call up

one of my friends back home & go for coffee, but MSN & phone calls make up for that, but it's not the same.

Yes I do agree that it's hard to make friends as a military spouse, thank goodness we are NORMAL! LoL! (it's because we are canadian) It's really disheartening & disgusting to hear of the infedility . But sometime it's an "agreement" by each partner to not be monogamous... Ugh! So gross!

Thank goodness for VJ!

[ashenflowers 5]

Well, I don't really think I should answer this as I might skew the results since we had such a shitty experience when I first got here, what with the hubby completely unexpectedly getting fired the day I arrived in California. I'm sure if that hadn't happened things would be a lot different and I'd feel differently about the situation.

However, I think I'd still feel homesick regardless. I was lucky in that I saw my parents 2 weeks after I moved, because they came for the wedding (and to drive their car back home...lol). But I miss them alot. I also miss my friends alot, and I miss my brother and his family(my sister in law, niece and nephew) but they live in Cambodia, so that's different. lol

Also, I somewhat think that the weight gain or loss can depend on what area of the country you move to, and at what time of year. For example, I moved from snowyish southern Ontario to sunny southern California in January (mind you, it rained for several days the first month I was here). lol The people are also a lot more active here, and there's a big healthy eating focus. It's whacky.

[Marilyn. 340]

I gained about 40lbs in the first 9 months I was here..

I don't really know when I started being homesick.. I know it was really hard for me after my nephew was born... and I didn't get to see him til after his 1st Birthday...

I didn't really start looking for work until about 2 years ago.. once I did start looking I found a job within a couple of months....

[ashenflowers 5]

I thought about this more, and I'm thinking my answers are also swayed by the fact that my husband is also somewhat new to this area. He's been here less than 2 years, and doesn't really have any friends, so I don't have much of a social circle here other than his parents. lol But I'm volunteering several places and it's helping. I'm meeting a lot of people that way, and keeping busy. I also signed up to take some night classes at the local college. I'm excited about that.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I've been homesick since a couple weeks after we arrived. Once the wedding happened and friends and family came down for that, then the real homesickness set in. I still don't really go more then a couple days without missing someone back home.

I got a job within a month of getting my EAD and starting to look - still work there 2 years later (my anniversary is tomorrow actually) and its not a bad place.

During my 4 months off I maintained my weight no problem....I was surprised since I was at home alone and could have munchied myself into oblivion! I gained a little after going back to work....and then in the last year I've gained 15-20 lbs due to stress and health related stuff....now trying to lose some of it.

[Bern. 3]

As for being home sick.. not really at all. I havent cried, I dont really miss anything cept for going to timmys lol.. I do miss being able to hang out with my few good friends but they chat on msn with me a lot. Being a military wife is VERY difficult to make friends. Very high percentage of the other wifes are unfaithfull which I wont have anything to do with thos people, and most of the rest of them are way too young and accidentally got pregnant so had to get married.

I'm not in the US yet but I've friended a few military wives via facebook and what not. I swear it's like a whole other world. I think I'll stick to my online gaming for a few months before I even try to make any friends. I mean, I'm 20, and there is tons of wives my age but they all have children...and yeah.

[Leafgal 3]

Well homesick set in about maybe 5 months after being here, but it passed as my mother has been to visit as well as some other relatives.

I gained about 35 in the first 1.5 years of being here due to some family issues here (father in law fell and we had to move him in with us, big adjustment), but he will be going home this summer and I am planning on getting back to eating properly again and joining a gym to get rid of it.

I got a part time job about 2.5 months after I got my EAD. Have not worked outside the home for just over a year due to caretaking, but will be out hitting the pavement in the fall I am sure again, not looking forward to that lol.

[Sam and Ben 2]

It took a few weeks for me to really feel homesick, I think mostly due to the fact that we were so busy those first few weeks with getting things settled in, working on our room, etc. Then it hit me. It hasn't really left, though I find that in working much, much harder at a positive and happier attitude, I at least emit those feelings to those around me, and then eventually catch them settling into myself bit by bit.

The job part is skewed for me right now - can't work, and I'm not bothering to look when there are hundreds of applicants for every retail job and I can't even realistically compete at this time. I do plan to go hunting crazy in about a month when I finally have my Green Card and things get moving.

I haven't gained weight, though I'm a munchaholic. But it hasn't really been an issue because that's been a habit of mine all along; nothing's really changed at all.