Tim n Irina

Anyone else have some interesting or humorous stories to share about your spouse's initial settling in?
 
Right now we seem to be in a bit of a cold war over US vs UA canning methods.
 
"Honey you can't just pour hot water in, drain and repeat then seal the lids like in UA."  
"This how I do it"
A couple days later I decide to check the seals on the lids (US Ball canning jars) and start removing the bands/rings where she can see it.
"WHAT YOU DOING????"  Actually it was something like "SHTO TII DELAT????? and and bunch of other words that I have no freakin clue. 
 
Its been kinda quiet for a few days now.
Btw, I found two lids that didn't seal.
 
 

-OR-
Things our girls say when they first get here?
 
Well, I married a city girl with a country girl's heart, which is good because we're building a small house (not a tiny house) on a dirt road, in rural Maine.  What does she do?  What any self respecting Ukrainian gal would do, go mushroom hunting of course.  "Hachu les. hachu les."  We're surrounded by woods, knock yourself out babe.  We now have several lbs of dehydrated shrooms (reduced to several ounces) in the pantry and now she wants an old cheap blender to make some shroom powder for soups.
 
I took her kayaking (sit on top) at one of my favorite local lakes.  Now its "kagda go baidarka apyat?"  Next time we're taking the sleek sea yaks out.
 
Almost every time we get in the Ram to go to town I hear "Kak horosho" in a very contented voice.
 
And yesterday when we returned to the apartment (10 mins away from the cabin site) on a rather humid day I hear "switch on the conditioner".  SCORE! 
She has 2 jackets and 2 or 3 sweaters in the Ram so I can crank the AC. 
 
I'm actually a little nervous about when she finally opens that 6 CD set of Pimsler - Eng for Ru speakers sitting next to her laptop.  She's still binge watching shroom hunting and thrift shop videos, so I'm safe for now. 
 
Her SSN and Green Card have both arrived.  Now if I can get her to understand she needs to have these things WITH her when we go out (and her fishing license).  I want to go to DMV and get her State ID card and open a bank account for her.
 
Life is good
 
So to sum things up.  My gal's transition is going quite smoothly.
 

Anyone else have some interesting or humorous stories to share about your spouse's initial settling in?
 
Right now we seem to be in a bit of a cold war over US vs UA canning methods.
 
"Honey you can't just pour hot water in, drain and repeat then seal the lids like in UA."  
"This how I do it"
A couple days later I decide to check the seals on the lids (US Ball canning jars) and start removing the bands/rings where she can see it.
"WHAT YOU DOING????"  Actually it was something like "SHTO TII DELAT????? and and bunch of other words that I have no freakin clue. 
 
Its been kinda quiet for a few days now.
Btw, I found two lids that didn't seal.
 
 

Anyone else have some interesting or humorous stories to share about your spouse's initial settling in?
 
Right now we seem to be in a bit of a cold war over US vs UA canning methods.
 
"Honey you can't just pour hot water in, drain and repeat then seal the lids like in UA."  
"This how I do it"
A couple days later I decide to check the seals on the lids (US Ball canning jars) and start removing the bands/rings where she can see it.
"WHAT YOU DOING????"  Actually it was something like "SHTO TII DELAT????? and and bunch of other words that I have no freakin clue. 
 
Its been kinda quiet for a few days now.
Btw, I found two lids that didn't seal.
 
 

Anyone else have some interesting or humorous stories to share about your spouse's initial settling in?
 
Right now we seem to be in a bit of a cold war over US vs UA canning methods.
 
"Honey you can't just pour hot water in, drain and repeat then seal the lids like in UA."  
"This how I do it"
A couple days later I decide to check the seals on the lids (US Ball canning jars) and start removing the bands/rings where she can see it.
"WHAT YOU DOING????"  Actually it was something like "SHTO TII DELAT????? and and bunch of other words that I have no freakin clue. 
 
Its been kinda quiet for a few days now.
Btw, I found two lids that didn't seal.
 
 

My experience does not apply to the way NVC operates now, but back in 2016, it took 12 weeks for the initial review.  Thanks to our incompetent attorney's office, we received a checklist (RFE).  It then took another 12 weeks to get the "DQ" email.  So, about half of our total waiting time for the CR-1 was NVC.  
Things are different now, but I thought some people might want to know how it was back in the "old days"....LOL.

-OR-
Things our girls say when they first get here?
 
Well, I married a city girl with a country girl's heart, which is good because we're building a small house (not a tiny house) on a dirt road, in rural Maine.  What does she do?  What any self respecting Ukrainian gal would do, go mushroom hunting of course.  "Hachu les. hachu les."  We're surrounded by woods, knock yourself out babe.  We now have several lbs of dehydrated shrooms (reduced to several ounces) in the pantry and now she wants an old cheap blender to make some shroom powder for soups.
 
I took her kayaking (sit on top) at one of my favorite local lakes.  Now its "kagda go baidarka apyat?"  Next time we're taking the sleek sea yaks out.
 
Almost every time we get in the Ram to go to town I hear "Kak horosho" in a very contented voice.
 
And yesterday when we returned to the apartment (10 mins away from the cabin site) on a rather humid day I hear "switch on the conditioner".  SCORE! 
She has 2 jackets and 2 or 3 sweaters in the Ram so I can crank the AC. 
 
I'm actually a little nervous about when she finally opens that 6 CD set of Pimsler - Eng for Ru speakers sitting next to her laptop.  She's still binge watching shroom hunting and thrift shop videos, so I'm safe for now. 
 
Her SSN and Green Card have both arrived.  Now if I can get her to understand she needs to have these things WITH her when we go out (and her fishing license).  I want to go to DMV and get her State ID card and open a bank account for her.
 
Life is good
 
So to sum things up.  My gal's transition is going quite smoothly.
 

I’m just so pleased by simplicity and the exact tone and manner of you replicating her phrases in Russian. Adorable😭

-OR-
Things our girls say when they first get here?
 
Well, I married a city girl with a country girl's heart, which is good because we're building a small house (not a tiny house) on a dirt road, in rural Maine.  What does she do?  What any self respecting Ukrainian gal would do, go mushroom hunting of course.  "Hachu les. hachu les."  We're surrounded by woods, knock yourself out babe.  We now have several lbs of dehydrated shrooms (reduced to several ounces) in the pantry and now she wants an old cheap blender to make some shroom powder for soups.
 
I took her kayaking (sit on top) at one of my favorite local lakes.  Now its "kagda go baidarka apyat?"  Next time we're taking the sleek sea yaks out.
 
Almost every time we get in the Ram to go to town I hear "Kak horosho" in a very contented voice.
 
And yesterday when we returned to the apartment (10 mins away from the cabin site) on a rather humid day I hear "switch on the conditioner".  SCORE! 
She has 2 jackets and 2 or 3 sweaters in the Ram so I can crank the AC. 
 
I'm actually a little nervous about when she finally opens that 6 CD set of Pimsler - Eng for Ru speakers sitting next to her laptop.  She's still binge watching shroom hunting and thrift shop videos, so I'm safe for now. 
 
Her SSN and Green Card have both arrived.  Now if I can get her to understand she needs to have these things WITH her when we go out (and her fishing license).  I want to go to DMV and get her State ID card and open a bank account for her.
 
Life is good
 
So to sum things up.  My gal's transition is going quite smoothly.
 

-OR-
Things our girls say when they first get here?
 
Well, I married a city girl with a country girl's heart, which is good because we're building a small house (not a tiny house) on a dirt road, in rural Maine.  What does she do?  What any self respecting Ukrainian gal would do, go mushroom hunting of course.  "Hachu les. hachu les."  We're surrounded by woods, knock yourself out babe.  We now have several lbs of dehydrated shrooms (reduced to several ounces) in the pantry and now she wants an old cheap blender to make some shroom powder for soups.
 
I took her kayaking (sit on top) at one of my favorite local lakes.  Now its "kagda go baidarka apyat?"  Next time we're taking the sleek sea yaks out.
 
Almost every time we get in the Ram to go to town I hear "Kak horosho" in a very contented voice.
 
And yesterday when we returned to the apartment (10 mins away from the cabin site) on a rather humid day I hear "switch on the conditioner".  SCORE! 
She has 2 jackets and 2 or 3 sweaters in the Ram so I can crank the AC. 
 
I'm actually a little nervous about when she finally opens that 6 CD set of Pimsler - Eng for Ru speakers sitting next to her laptop.  She's still binge watching shroom hunting and thrift shop videos, so I'm safe for now. 
 
Her SSN and Green Card have both arrived.  Now if I can get her to understand she needs to have these things WITH her when we go out (and her fishing license).  I want to go to DMV and get her State ID card and open a bank account for her.
 
Life is good
 
So to sum things up.  My gal's transition is going quite smoothly.
 

-OR-
Things our girls say when they first get here?
 
Well, I married a city girl with a country girl's heart, which is good because we're building a small house (not a tiny house) on a dirt road, in rural Maine.  What does she do?  What any self respecting Ukrainian gal would do, go mushroom hunting of course.  "Hachu les. hachu les."  We're surrounded by woods, knock yourself out babe.  We now have several lbs of dehydrated shrooms (reduced to several ounces) in the pantry and now she wants an old cheap blender to make some shroom powder for soups.
 
I took her kayaking (sit on top) at one of my favorite local lakes.  Now its "kagda go baidarka apyat?"  Next time we're taking the sleek sea yaks out.
 
Almost every time we get in the Ram to go to town I hear "Kak horosho" in a very contented voice.
 
And yesterday when we returned to the apartment (10 mins away from the cabin site) on a rather humid day I hear "switch on the conditioner".  SCORE! 
She has 2 jackets and 2 or 3 sweaters in the Ram so I can crank the AC. 
 
I'm actually a little nervous about when she finally opens that 6 CD set of Pimsler - Eng for Ru speakers sitting next to her laptop.  She's still binge watching shroom hunting and thrift shop videos, so I'm safe for now. 
 
Her SSN and Green Card have both arrived.  Now if I can get her to understand she needs to have these things WITH her when we go out (and her fishing license).  I want to go to DMV and get her State ID card and open a bank account for her.
 
Life is good
 
So to sum things up.  My gal's transition is going quite smoothly.
 

-OR-
Things our girls say when they first get here?
 
Well, I married a city girl with a country girl's heart, which is good because we're building a small house (not a tiny house) on a dirt road, in rural Maine.  What does she do?  What any self respecting Ukrainian gal would do, go mushroom hunting of course.  "Hachu les. hachu les."  We're surrounded by woods, knock yourself out babe.  We now have several lbs of dehydrated shrooms (reduced to several ounces) in the pantry and now she wants an old cheap blender to make some shroom powder for soups.
 
I took her kayaking (sit on top) at one of my favorite local lakes.  Now its "kagda go baidarka apyat?"  Next time we're taking the sleek sea yaks out.
 
Almost every time we get in the Ram to go to town I hear "Kak horosho" in a very contented voice.
 
And yesterday when we returned to the apartment (10 mins away from the cabin site) on a rather humid day I hear "switch on the conditioner".  SCORE! 
She has 2 jackets and 2 or 3 sweaters in the Ram so I can crank the AC. 
 
I'm actually a little nervous about when she finally opens that 6 CD set of Pimsler - Eng for Ru speakers sitting next to her laptop.  She's still binge watching shroom hunting and thrift shop videos, so I'm safe for now. 
 
Her SSN and Green Card have both arrived.  Now if I can get her to understand she needs to have these things WITH her when we go out (and her fishing license).  I want to go to DMV and get her State ID card and open a bank account for her.
 
Life is good
 
So to sum things up.  My gal's transition is going quite smoothly.
 

Be careful when popping 'shrooms.  Things allegedly happen.
 
Remember, before and after the above action, that the largest Native American tribe is the Casino Indians.

Yesterday I heard my gal utter the best word ever (well, almost the best).
She will frequently say things like "kak horosho" in that very contented tone, as we set out in the Ram to go somewhere.  Yesterday it was "I'm happy in Maine." 
 
Of course having mushroom infested woods around our home building site doesn't hurt at all.  We already have 2 of the large BJ's (or Sam's/ Costco) mixed nuts canisters full of dehydrated shrooms, some of which she wants to make powder out of.

Yesterday I heard my gal utter the best word ever (well, almost the best).
She will frequently say things like "kak horosho" in that very contented tone, as we set out in the Ram to go somewhere.  Yesterday it was "I'm happy in Maine." 
 
Of course having mushroom infested woods around our home building site doesn't hurt at all.  We already have 2 of the large BJ's (or Sam's/ Costco) mixed nuts canisters full of dehydrated shrooms, some of which she wants to make powder out of.

OMG that's priceless!   🤣
 
I spewed coffee all the keyboard, sending the bill.  The price tag for your free kitchen remodel is piling up.  

Yesterday I heard my gal utter the best word ever (well, almost the best).
She will frequently say things like "kak horosho" in that very contented tone, as we set out in the Ram to go somewhere.  Yesterday it was "I'm happy in Maine." 
 
Of course having mushroom infested woods around our home building site doesn't hurt at all.  We already have 2 of the large BJ's (or Sam's/ Costco) mixed nuts canisters full of dehydrated shrooms, some of which she wants to make powder out of.

There were many times I wished we had gone the K1 route....or just flew to Mexico and walked in. 
But its all done and over with now so all's gone.  And to be honest I made several mistakes on my AOS that resulted at least a year's delay.  Being stuck in S. Africa last year caused almost another year delay when we got the notice for her interview July 14th 2020

This is the definitive study guide:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/382775-mrs-t-b-the-citizenship-test/
 

Background:
We mailed Mrs. T-B.'s N-400 (citizenship) to USCIS last week. I printed the 100 interview questions that USCIS can ask, wrote the answers, and gave them to Mrs. T-B. to study. She stated that she had "looked" at them "a little" during the last couple of days, between Facebook activity and chasing after young Mini-Bone.
As I tucked her into bed tonight (she has resigned herself to my late-night VJ-ing), the conversation went as follows:
Mrs. T-B.: I was looking on-line for "how to remodel your kitchen without money."
T-B.: Shouldn't you have been looking for "how to pass my citizenship test without studying?"
Mrs. T-B. [brightly]: I looked at the answers! Ask me some of the questions!
T-B.: OK... uh, "Who was the Father of our Country?"
Mrs. T-B.: Abraham Lincoln?'
T-B.: No, man.
Mrs. T-B.: Donald... Ronald Reagan?
T-B.: Good guy, but no, man.
Mrs. T-B.: Barack 0bama?
T-B.: [censored]
[silence]
T-B.: Here's a hint: Jorge...
Mrs. T-B.: Jorge Washington! George Washington! He or someone else is on the $5... the $1 bill, right?"
T-B. [invisibly rolling eyes]: Uh, si man.
Mrs. T-B. [undeterred]: Ask me another!
T-B.: OK... uh, "What is one thing that Benjamin Franklin is known for?"
Mrs. T-B.: Oh, I saw this one! He was hit by... hit by... [makes vertical zigzag motion with hand]
T-B. [helpfully]: That thing that happens before thunder?
Mrs. T-B.: Si -- that's it! But I can't remember the word in English.
T-B.: Lightning?
Mrs. T-B.: That's it! He was hit by lightning!
T-B.: What was he doing when he was hit by the lightning?
Mrs. T-B. [blankly]: Uh, mmmm... sitting in his back yard, drinking beer.
T-B.: No, no no... uh, si, man; we'll talk about this one later.
Mrs. T-B.: I know how I can study! You put the answers on an MP3, and in three days, I'll know all of them.
T-B.: All of them?
Mrs. T-B. [mischievously]: Si, and you can motivate me by paying me $10 for all of them that I miss.
T-B.: You're not going to sneak that one by me, no man.
Mrs. T-B. [flashing big brown puppy-dog eyes]: OK -- you can ask me more of the questions tomorrow, and sometimes husbands make financial arrangements so that wives can remodel their kitchen.
T-B. [to self]:

Thanks, you're correct.  I was talking about delivery time after entry.
 
UPDATE:  her GC arrived in the mail on Saturday, so 28 (ish) days after arrival.  IR1 good for 10 years.
 
Now to get her on some Eng lessons so she can study for the Citizens test.

I think @Tim n Irina is talking about delivery of the actual card for a CR-1/IR-1 (though the endorsed visa counts as a green card), not AOS from a K-1 (which even pre-pandemic almost never took less than 90 days unless you were at a very fast field office).

Up to 90 days, according to USCIS -- https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/expect-green-card
 
Some VJ members have reported waiting for much longer, but the wait time seems to be getting back to normal.  Check the recent updates on this thread --
 
 
Reminder that your immigrant visa with CBP entry stamp serves as your green card for 1 year while waiting for your plastic card in the mail.
 

Ah, gotcha. I think our process was a bit different because of K-1.
 
Well, glad you're both here and continuing to build your life together!

UPDATE:  Its SO good to be HOME..TOGETHER.
 
We arrived in Boston June 25, spent the night in Portsmouth NH and drove home to (now) Dixmont, ME on Sat the 26th.  We are now settling in and getting started on making our cabin habitable and awaiting the arrival of her Green Card...which isn't actually green, but I digress.
 
In BOS they were sending all Immy visa holders to a side room where (I think) CBP made online checks of everyone's Med records.  So why the disk?  Any way, all is good and it only took about 10 minutes.