ATTENTION JULY FILERS!

[*julez* 124]

sara - That just does not sound right at all!!!!!!! I have sent choccie to the UK and have received the same from the UK via international post. Did you ask the person to cite the regualtion forbidding this shipping of chocolate? Cos I don't buy it one bit!

And I know just how ya feel about getting to Day 100. I just hit it today and it sucks BIG time. You are lucky that you can see your man once a month. I won't see mine now until 19 January.

Now that you've posted become a regular too! The more the merrier and it will help you get through the loooonnnngggg wait!!

[Jeraly 4]

Yes - I agree - the guy is insane - I've brought cheese into the US so I can't see why there would be a problem with choc leaving the US!!

And please become a regular - it's nice to know someone going through CSC who is in a similar predicament to me!!! You filed a bit earlier than I did but still!!! It is so good to know I'm not alone

[teachmehistory 0]

thanks for the supportive feedback! I will try to post more regularly. I am tempted to challenge the shipping thing - I just need a minute to breathe cause the frustrated tears are so close.

I know I am sooooooo lucky to see him as much as I do, I read about folks on here that haven't seen their loved one in months and my heart breaks. the longest we went was 7 weeks and I couldn't sleep.

Jeraly - I have hope. it may be out of denial, but I do. We are planning to write a letter and include proof of money being spent on the wedding and travel etc. to the London Embassy with Packet 3 (whenever that comes) requesting an expedited interview due to our wedding date (Feb 16th) being planned in good faith given the estimates of processing times in July. I am going to try to say that we planned for 7 months after filing given the 6 month estimated processing time and trying to plan a proper wedding within 90 days, etc etc. We have money and family money (plane tix, reservations, etc) riding on delays out of our control. It prob won't work, but worth a shot since we did act in good faith at the time! I know others on this site get a bit hot on this topic of whether or not to plan a wedding during the initial phase of the visa - and some have even been a bit mean to those of us who went ahead and did (I got some not so friendly responses to this topic on another thread a few months back). but we had no idea at the time and really wanted a nice traditional wedding. so keep your chin up! even if it gets moved, I know that I will be with my man for all time and that makes it okay! someday all this waiting will end, it just has to and I have a dress and he has a suit (well, its ordered and being made!) and we will get married one way or the other!

So those of you from the UK - where are you all from?? I know you have mentioned this before, but I can't recall now. We live in Bromley (south borough of London) in the UK and Seattle here in the US. I leave in 17 days to head back for an 8 day stretch and then again over Christmas and New Years - YAY! seriously counting down days!

On another fun topic - I love the wedding talk! What are you all thinking about for wedding themes??? We met in Vegas (tacky I know!!!!) but we were on holidays with friends (separately) and happen to run into each other waiting for a taxi cab in front of a hotel (it was a long wait) we ended up talking until 7 in the morning (no - nothing happened that first night!!!!) although I knew I would marry him by the time we said goodbye - and I never believed in love at first site! anyway - I left for London 3 weeks later and the rest is 8 months of history!!! and of course the most amazing love of my life I never knew was even possible!!! so, while I don't want to get married in vegas, we are doing casino themed details for fun! we are having custom playing cards made up for favors with our names and chocolate casino chips, lots of red flowers, little spade, clubs, heart, and diamond accents around - it will be classy, a bit funky, and really about our story!

so what are you all doing??

[janaus 0]

APPROVED!!!!

Receipt Number: EAC0XXXXXXXXX

Application Type: I129F, PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On October 30, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.

You can choose to receive automatic case status updates, which will be sent via email. Please click here to create an account online.

Please remember that we submitted a request for a "Military Expedite" last week which is why we were approved so quickly. We sincerely hope that the rest of the July Filers won't Have to wait much longer.

Congrats

[StillThePrettiest 3]

hello sara! I'll echo Jeraly and say that it would be grand if you wanted to become more of a regular poster; you sound like just the sort we need round here

I SO understand how you must have felt with those eejits at Fedex... I've never heard of chocolate being a prohibited item either, and I've sent LOADS of things in my time... and to Australia (among other places), which has the strictest laws of just about anywhere (for a good reason - keeping bad bugs out, that we don't have - but still, it's annoying when they won't give my mum the Whittards of Chelsea fruit tea I got her for her birthday and similar )

a tip - whenever I send things OS, I use generic terms - 'confectionery'; 'manchester', whatever; I just don't want them getting stuck on the details

never had any problems when I do that (apart from the aforementioned tea, but that was because of something different )

I'm sort of a UKer, and live in east London, to answer your question, but have only been here three years - before that I lived in Sydney, Australia

my aim of living on all continents is well advanced

and I'm one of those who goes for extended periods without my SO... just can't do otherwise, what with trying to save money and no holidays and mortgages

I saw him in September, but before then it had been nine months... no, I don't know how we did it either

[bakofoil 27]

well, keep in mind that I count the week as starting on Monday, so it's five in two days

still not GREAT, but better than it may look at first glance

This morning I think it felt like Friday. Ignore me

[StillThePrettiest 3]

never

[Jeraly 4]

I'm from Bristol

We're not moving our wedding date - we can't afford to for a start and secondly, if we had wanted to be together sooner then we would have started this process two years ago - I said to my OH, after all the sacrifices we have made, why should we have to change everything we have planned including the date we set our hearts on just because of the crappy system?!

Ok so it means I might end up having to go down the K-3 route but we're both stubborn and even though being together is important to us, so is every other aspect of our relationship - including how/when/where we have the wedding

[vegaslizard 0]

teachmehistory,

I met my guy in Vegas too!! I was doing cocktail at a stripclub - nightclub employment was harder to obtain than I had orginally thought!!! He was in Vegas for a couple of days with a friend and after a rental car distaster (putting green handled diesel instead of regular gas in!), they made it to town and slept too late in their room. They went out a side door of the Excalibur and found a taxi with its lights off. The taxi driver was told to take them to a club and he asked my guy and his friend if they wanted girls to be there. They misunderstood what he meant, they thought he was assuming they were gay, - of course they wanted girls there! The cab driver drove them to where I was working at the time (doesnt look like a strip club on the outside), and they figured since they were already there and the driver was giving them drink tickets and comped admission they might as well stay a bit. I was walking around bored because it was very slow and decided that I would sit and talk to him and his friend for awhile. They wanted to find somewhere showing the England soccer game and I told them I knew of a place and would join them as I heard it was alot of fun. Long story short, I called out of work that night and spent the next 24 hours with them until they had to leave back to California. He asked me many times over that night to come see him in England and had joked that we should go get married since we were in Vegas. Funny enough we lived 15 minutes away from each other when we were both in college in California, he used to go to my campus all the time to pick up travel stuff back to the UK. We probably walked past each other many times and never knew it!!

Like you when we said goodbye in February I knew I had met someone incredible and since then I have been to visit him 3 times, he has been here once (because of his job) but is coming next friday and staying for 2 months. We hope to marry February 7, 2008 in Las Vegas a year to the day we met. If it cant be that day then that is okay because we still have each other forever.

Here's to random meetings, taking chances and believing in long distance love...

(L)

[Jeraly 4]

Hear hear!!

Love Excalibur too - went to a show there with my OH - 'twas awesome

[weedebz 0]

Hi Sara, welcome to the board!

My wedding theme is very celtic. I've even found a bag piper in Nebraska. Me and Nick me online, he found me through my yahoo 360 page, I used to blog on there alot and I was on a downer as just come out of a long term relationship that ended really badly, Nick's girlfriend had run off with his best mate and the 2 of us spent a month just being really bitchy about our ex's. Gradually became closer and we decided that whilst I was in texas 3 months later I'd jump over to nebraska and met up for a couple of days. 4 weeks later my trip to texas was cancelled due to unforseen reasons and after alot of discussions including some with his mammy we decided I'd just go there for 3 weeks. The rest is history.

I can't believe how much time has passed already and there is only a wee glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I still say 21st Nov for 1st (non expedited case) July filer.

[vegaslizard 0]

Hear hear!!

Love Excalibur too - went to a show there with my OH - 'twas awesome

I think its hilarious that my guy was staying in the Excalibur castle and we spent the majority of the day in an English pub and later at Revolution lounge ( Beatles themed). haha!!

I love the Excalibur because it is so cheesy! It was my absolute favorite when I was a kid, we used to go there all the time. I used to read lots of fairy tales and loved princess, magic and castle stuff. I grew up in Las Vegas so exploring the casinos was tons of fun as a kid, always wanted to pull the slot machine handles because they looked like toys.

[Jeraly 4]

Got a lovely pic of it by night

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7661...mp;id=739675434

That's the Vegas album anyway - didn't see any Elvis impersonators to have my photo taken with so had to make do with the back of a truck...

Jeremy and I met online six years ago, made a go of a relationship, didn't cope, broke up, lost contact on and off with the occasional e-mail etc, got back in touch, had the same feelings all over again, decided to make a go of it and we've been together two years now, pond-hopping

Time really does fly

[weedebz 0]

I've still not seen anywhere exciting in the US. Just Grand Island (nicks hometown), Lincoln airport and Omaha airport in NE. Newark airport, Denver airport, both chicago airports and chicago from the train that connects them.

Part of me really wants to see vegas other than on CSI but as a scot.....well those temperatures will KILL me!!!!! Nebraska going to be bad enough. As a scot I can't cope once the temp goes over 80F, so for the majority of June/july/august in NE with temps 100F you'll find me sitting in the ice box ! Vegas would be death of me.

I know this off subject....what have peoples experiences been with various airlines? I hate continental, aer lingus lost nicks guitar when he came over and refuse to pay compensation....american scewed up my return flights first time I went and I ended up spending 10hrs in ORD. They did sort it though, gave me free access and food in business lounge, upgraded me to first class and gave me $500 towards a future trip so they are forgiven.

[English Muffin 59]

Another big Vegas fan here.

Scott and I went there in 2005 and fell in love with it. We've decided to get married there at the Little White Wedding Chapel. We were hoping to get married on 30th January 2008 but now it looks like it will be 'whenever'.