KnightAndMagpie

...just a quick hug to everyone! I didn't mean to neglect checking here, it's just that there's been so much to do and sort out.

Grats on the job Daymo! Also grats to those who got their green cards, good luck to those job hunting, and and and...I hope I haven't left anyone out. If I have, love to all!

:: runs away! ::

Magpie.

Hello Magpie, nich nick, bob and pat,

well had my interview today and i was wondering why they called us, it turns out the doc left something off our medical.. so we have to get that notated and sent off. But I am APPROVED , and should be seeing the card within three weeks. Awesome!

Woohoo! Approvals are GOOD, I have to agree. Now go celebrate!

I've been here for a year once it hits four o'clock in the afternoon here. I still can't believe it!

Hugs,

Magpie.

Go on then, you lot! Apartment will get a bit squished, though...

Huggums to Gemmie -- you're very brilliant and bright, so you'll find what's right for you. Nich's got some good solid advice there. When in doubt, be a pest!

Daymo, move up here to the Alaska. Knight called me this morning to say some grizzly decided to charge a vehicle on the highway, thought better of it (wisely) and ran back into the scrub again. You can more or less shoot anything that moves up here, and I've found I've acquired a taste for game meat...mmmm, beer-moose sausages. People apparently eat bears too, but it's a weird thought for me. Salmon-eating brown bears (the less angry ones) taste horrible, so I hear, but the berry-eating ones (the angry, smaller ones, also known as good ol' grizzly bears, probably angry because they only eat berries) are meant to be tasty.

This is the only other state in the US where you can purchase a firearm in a Walmart .

Knight's going to be getting more hours with his work (yay!) so that means it'll ease things up financially a bit. He gets to start working with a psychopath on Saturday, so that'll be interesting for him. Maybe Gemmie should move up here too...places like Arc of Anchorage and Focus in Eagle River are always hiring, and apparently Focus pays $14 an hour for just an ISP. Case managers get a fair bit more. There's also a need for medical technicians and whatnot up here, particularly child psychologists. But then, there's the whole cost of the move. Well, pooh!

Cats are doing well, poor things had to go through a vet visit yesterday. Cleo just got spayed, so she's running around (stumbling, rather) with a very silly soft cone on her head and it's driving her mad, so she mostly sleeps. Ugh, came to about $250 for their shots and whatnot, and they told me that an IV and painkillers were optional for Cleo. As if I wasn't going to take those! The pound pays for the spaying process, but anything else is extra. Makes me start contemplating pet insurance.

Anyhoo...I ought to be off to work soon. Looks like it's going to rain today, typical of Alaska in winter/summer (spring? What's that?).

Hugs to all!

Magpie.

A most hearty congrats to you two, Allie and Nigel! Sorry I've been a tad scarce all, I've had work training this week, and then was running around trying to sort out things for Knight's new car + tires.

Nik and Heather, got my fingers crossed that Nik will find something he'll enjoy better. Like you said, at least it's bringing some income in for a while until he can find something he likes .

Need...sleep!

Magpie.

I will, enjoy your crustaceans. how can you have a whole festival for crawfish????

Huzzaaah, and congrats! It didn't take us long after getting the EAD to get an interview date. It almost rendered the EAD moot, but I at least was glad I could apply for jobs. You'll do fine on the driving test don't forget to mention that driving in the UK might have given you a few bad habits. The lady who tested me was really nice about it, and understood that drivers do pick up the, ahem, occasional bad habit.

Crawfish festivals...lobsters everywhere! Aaah, snappy claws!

Also, Knight might be getting a second job at Fred Meyer's. His second interview is on Tuesday, so we'll see how that goes. If it goes well, then his poopy truck is going out the window (sigh, oh these trucks of constant sorrow) and we're going to set up him up with a nice new, gas-economic, Ford Focus. Thank goodness my financial savviness has gotten better since I've been working.

Magpie.

Just a quick post to give a :: hug :: to Damien and an "eeeeee!" to Marm.

'Nuff said, I think.

Magpie.

Congrats Gemmie! What wonderful news, after searching for so long. The two hour journey might be poo, but considering the benefits...woohoo! I can't believe it covers pets, too...and it's so expensive out here to get them looked over.

Hugs to you guys still looking -- I know something will show up! Everything seems to work out in the end in its own funny way. I might have been working at Sears if I hadn't had that call just a few days before my orientation. I don't know if you guys have tried credit unions yet, but they're nicer than banks and I love my job where I'm at. Mine's hiring all the time, but it's not out there in the lower 48. It also really depends on the branch -- my team is really focussed on helping out the people with the not-so-nice scores and working with them to fix it. We don't focus on the sales, just on doing a good service to people. Any bonusses we get are a nice add-on. My manager is a bit of a numbers man and a bit sales-minded, but hey -- as long as the results come through, all's well and good.

MJ! It's been forever -- lots of big changes happening for you. My hubby would love to live in Florida, just for the heat...poor guy, he's stuck out here now because of me.

People apparently aren't very good, might I add, at saying "we're not hiring you". Some people don't even respond. Understandably, they have a pile of applications to sift through, but knowing there's a human being on the other end should motivate them enough to send a letter saying "sorry, we don't want you right now".

Hugs! I have to be off to a half-hour meeting...it's a bit poo that I have to go all the way into Eagle River for that, but it's a gorgeous day and I'm going to enjoy the drive. Weee, all the snow's breaking up and the temperature feels like England!

Magpie.

Woohoo for Marm! What a long wait it's been, and you two have had to go through so much. I'm so glad they approved you on the spot you guys have worked so hard for it.

Gemmie, I can imagine your frustration -- there were some applications I had put in where they didn't bother telling me whether they'd even looked at it or not. You'll get the perfect job, and I know you will -- and who knows, they may still get back to you. My fingers are crossed!

Hugs to Selina...they're making you jump through some ridiculous hoops, which you shouldn't have had to dealt with in the first place. They better process it properly now...otherwise we'll form a posse and deal with it ourselves!

Nich shnookums, I lost your number and Knight and I have to postpone the wedding for a year. His current truck's transmission went, and the way things were racking up financially, there was no way we could get through the next few months by just barely scraping by. It wasn't an easy decision, but I'm being sensible about it. This way, we can focus on my future sister-in-law's wedding this summer, and then it gives everyone plenty of warning for next year and I can plan it properly. I need to make lots of phone calls and apologise to people...blurrgh!

Magpie.

Alaska's is the one of the Big Dipper constellation...see if you can spot it! The stars will be tiny, though.

Magpie.

Good luck for Nigel's interview, Allie! I'm sure you two will knock their socks off.

Eeee, and congrats, Heather! Yaaaaaay! It's got some cool holograms on it...just sit in the light and play with it until you get bored. I actually checked if there's anything UV under the UV scanner at the credit union (we were very amused by it for a day), but sadly not.

Magpie.

"Card Production Ordered" email #2!

I am now hurrying off to read deep meanings into this.

Edit:

EAD card email 1 on biometrics date - I think it's the "we ordered it"

EAD card email 2 3 days later - I think it's the "we mailed it"

That makes sense given my observations on how long the mail takes. We'll see if I'm right. If so - should be in the mail box by the end of the week!

I'm curious to know how fast it is, too, but it takes a bit longer up here in the Alaska. Grats on the card production being ordered, though!

Also, well done to Rosalinda Woohoo! You'll do fine on your driving test too, I expect.

To Snowbunnies, they gave us our tax return within two weeks, I think. We e-filed through TurboTax, but I suspect yours was more complex than mine and Knight's (as we don't really own much).

Huggums to Marm Thankums for the support.

Offs to work I go, now. Friday and Saturday off, woohoo!

Magpie.

Nich, it sounds like you had an awesome day! I'm glad that things have perked up so much for you . And yes, Knight will be missing the winter, but Thanksgiving and Christmas along with it but it's only a one-time thing. I won't be able to talk to him regularly for eight weeks, so it'll be as many letters as I can write before someone physically pulls me away. After that, he'll hopefully have a laptop and internet so I can talk to him through that, though with my schedule being what it is, I don't know how we'll be able to time it. We'll figure it out though, as we always do . Also, I will be down there for his graduation, so I should very much like to see a certain Mama Nich...

And Cleo's input is: 1`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````090909090909

Marm, woohoo! Interview's fast approaching, and it'll seem like forever until you get there and then it'll be over quicker than you can blink. I wouldn't worry too much about the EAD with the interview being so close. You guys will do fine!

Hugs,

Magpie.

Caught up on reading (finally) -- sounds like a lot of you guys are having to deal with all sorts of horrible hoops, Selina especially. I really hope that gets sorted soon. Grats to Nik+Heather I'm glad that they weren't being over-optimistic about when you were getting your green card! And Damien, glad to know that it did get cashed. Boo to the postal worker .

Good luck on the job search, for those of you who are looking. Lovelyalex, it did throw me off as well when the applications ask you to put in the salary that you want, but apparently it can be very vital. Knight had a professor who put in something modest on an application some years ago while someone in the same department of where she worked was paid a lot less than the other guy. She was told that that's all she asked for, so that's what she got, but she didn't know it actually worked that way. In the end, they bumped up her paycheck, but she lost out on a lot.

Nich, be nice to your tummy! We can't have you being sicky again, now, can we? I'd be very upset. As for Knight, he gets to pick when he goes out within a year of his swearing in. It'll probably be in September or late August as his step-brother's getting married in August, and San Antonio's meant to be disastrously hot at that time anyhow. I'll use that time in between to just get used to the idea, and I'm toying with the idea of maybe taking a long-distance graphic art degree while he's gone.

Huggums all I'll check back later! Sorry if I missed anybody.

Magpie.

By the time that I got my green card, I had only just started getting responses (after I got my EAD in hand). It varies from case to case, I suspect .

Also, Knight got sworn into the Air National Guard by his dad on Friday! We were all so proud of him, and it meant so much to Knight that his dad got up in his old uniform to do it. Means that we can start using the BX on base and all that good stuff, and we're not entirely sure when he's going to go off to basic training. He'll be actually going into Aerospace Maintenance now, as what he originally wanted to do has no slots left. It also means that he'll be away for twenty-five weeks...I think I'll be able to manage it, but it was a bit of a shock more so than the fourteen weeks before was. At least he won't have to disappear on me again after that, I hope.

Hugs to all I've gotten over the cold now, or most of it, anyhow. Alaskan colds are mean!

Magpie.

Aawh, Mama Nich, you're well on the road to recovery. It sounds like the surgery went well, for which I'm glad. I hope the soreness goes away soon! All my love goes out to you, and thank goodness for hubby-wonderful. As for me, I've been trying to get lots of good things into my system, but no bread and mushrooms for a while until my body's balanced again (that's another story).

Snowbunnies, Alaska getting warmer depends on what mood Alaska is in. We're going through "break-up" at the moment (which could be Alaska falling out with the snow), where it'll be melting for a bit, a tad warmer, and then everything freezes over again and it snows. It'll do that a few times (confusing all the budding trees), and then hopefully spring will finally hit.

Hugs to all! I'm going to get something in my tummy, and hopefully, it'll stay there.

Magpie.

Congratulations to you guys, woohoo! No USCIS for two years, now...and then you get to remove conditions, woo.

I might have just got my first cold here in Alaska. Throat's burning, nose is runny, and my eyes want to pop out of my head and go running down the road. I can't say that I'm enjoying it much, but good ol' vanilla Roobois tea should kick it out of my system.

Magpie.

And off topic of AOS, this is a bizarre story. We live in a normal suburban neighborhood with two-story brick houses, grass lawns, flower gardens, paved streets and sidewalks. So a few nights ago, we had a herd of cattle wander down the street. Yes, COWS. We first noticed the 'cow patties' plopped down the sidewalk. Then we found hoof impressions walking over our roses and leaving mulch in the driveway. A neighbor toward the end of the street told me he thought he had a burglar at 4 am, but discovered 7-8 cows grazing in his back yard. So weird! I guess Texas is still the wild west after all.

I got such giggles reading this. COWS! We get moose, but we don't really get herds of 'em grazing in the garden. I've had one dart in front of a friend's car while she was driving, at night, but never a herd...makes me wonder where they all came from!

Grats to Snowbunnies woohoo!

Also, Ellie, at least they've admitted they made a hash of the whole thing. Hopefully that hiccup won't be a pain for long!

Huggums to everyone...I'll get back to lounging around until bedtime, I think .

Magpie.

Since we received our interview date for AOS

YAYYYY!

I am concerned about whether the following is enough for "supporting evidence of relationship":

-Joint bank accounts: savings and checking

-Joint bank safety deposit box

-Joint tax return for the year 2009

-Congrats cards from guests at our reception

-Pictures of the civil marriage ceremony

-Pictures of our wedding reception

-Pictures from our trips to Pakistan and London before the marriage

-Pictures with family/friends in the USA

-Notarized affidavit of living arrangements (because we live with my parents)

-Joint cell phone account

-Joint credit cards

Marm, that looks great The fact that you're able to demonstrate that you share financial responsibility along with the other evidence you're presenting is a big one. I would also say that talking about everyone in the photos to show that you've got a connection with one another's families helps, too. Don't forget to smile, which I'm sure you will .

We do not have any utilities on our names since they are on my parents' names. Also, my husband has still not been signed on to the car insurance, this is pending his driver's license examination (the date TBD). And we do not have health insurance at the moment, I am waiting on starting in my new job position and then he will be signed on. I don't know if there will be enough time for me to present the health insurance documents with both our names at the interview since my first day at work is March 22 and the interview is March 30.

I don't think this will be an issue. You've got enough evidence in the bag, I suspect, to knock out the USCIS entirely. Keep it in a shiny folder and just stay relaxed during the interview! You have nothing to hide or to fear. It'll be a lot quicker than you think, and I hope you get an interviewer as nice as mine and Knight's was. Don't worry about being chatty -- I think they just want to be sure that you guys are legit, which you are, wholly and truly.

Grats on passing your driving test, Ellie...but it's a bit poo that you have to go deal with InfoPass, rrrr. At least you got over that bump, eh?

Hugs to Nich I'm glad you're feeling better, and it'll be a bit yuck for a bit after your next surgery appointment but at least they'll be setting you right again. I think about you lots .

Wooo, our future sister-in-law and her fiance (technically Knight's step-brother) are moving into a house, so we get their queen-sized bed. Swisssh! We're using a double at the moment, and I've recently gained a tendency to nearly push poor Knight off the bed.

Magpie.

Hewwo my lovelies My apologies for being so out of touch! Typing would be easier if not for Bean sitting on my monitor and letting his tail swish all over the screen.

Updates from me: I can't remember if I said or not that Knight's got into the Air National Guard . He did amazingly well on his ASVAB (he's over-qualified for what he wants to do) and he passed the medical with flying colours. The other lads thought he was a bit on the skinny side, so he joked that he had lost 300lbs and was the poster child for The Biggest Loser. He still has to get sworn in, so we're waiting for his dad to come down from the slope so that can be done. It'll be amazing if he gets to do it full-time, because they'll give use a housing allowance and all the other bells and whistles. The yuck side is that he'll be away from me for fourteen weeks, and I'll only be able to send him letters or hear the occasional phone call. The other yuck side is that he'll still need something to bring in income until they ship him out, and goodness knows when that'll be. He's applied everywhere right now...I mean, even something like a job at Fred Meyer would be more than enough to cover us for a while.

To Lirwin2000: I actually was able to obtain my SSN before I adjusted status as it's Alaskan law to have an SSN in order to get married. Knight and I actually ended up having our little wedding in San Antonio (thanks to the wonderful, wonderful Mama Nich), and we're having our big ceremony this year. In addition, I applied for my SSN roughly about ten days after arrival, or something like that. Thing is, I don't know that they'll let you have one unless it's the state's law to have one to get married.

Hugs to the lovely MARM -- I'm so glad that you guys are together so that you can at least cross this bridge together. Hopefully they're not going to keep you hanging for much longer.

Keep up the job search, Gemmie...I think persistence is the key. Be a pest to everyone .

Grats to everyone moving along! Good luck with the driving stuffs, Ellie .

Huggums to all!

Magpie.

Oh boo, Gemmie...what a rubbish day you had to deal with I know what you mean by waiting for what seems like forever, and when they eventually get back to you, it turns out they'd rather miss out on the opportunity of having you. Knight also applied to a job out here in the valley because he's not earning nearly as much for the drive into Anchorage to be worth it, and it took them weeks to tell him, "Thanks, it looks good, but we're not actually hiring" instead of telling him from the beginning.

MJ, you'll be able to manage it :: hugs :: with your hubby being in Dubai. At least you'll have an idea of when he'll be back and that kinda thing...it's not the best scenario, but take it a day at a time, like you said.

MARM, I was in the same boat as you -- I had a very shiny degree and no real experience. My boss is awesome in that even if someone doesn't have experience, he'll take them on if he feels he can train them quickly. I think that's the biggest thing, them not wanting to have to train someone. Just keep hard at it, you'll get there .

And now, I'm going to wave my RFE wand so that everyone waiting to deal with those won't have to ever again! Poof!

Magpie.

Good grief! RFE's left, right, and centre, not to mention poor MARM having to wait, and waiting in general to all... raaaaaaaaaawr!

My hugs go out to you all (warrior Mamma Nich, too!). I shall have to bite someone before there are any more delays!

Magpie.

I know the feeling, believe you me...having my maiden name attached was like having a big weight there. I'm estranged from my parents/brothers, you see...long story.

Another good reason that I've done it separately is that at the time last year, my closest friends from the UK couldn't attend. They were all in university, or didn't have the funds for it, so hopefully they'll be able to come to this one. I wouldn't dare "make" them -- I know that they still might not be able to make it, but at least they had a year's notice.

As to what to call your spouse in public? Easy! I call Knight "pooky", and he calls me "kitty"... "snugglebuns", "snoogiewoogie" and "huggytush" is also acceptable (to maybe 0.1% of the population).

Magpie.

My two cents from another WoW couple (though we both more or less quit after we became quite close; the game's a money and time pig!) --

As we were both students at the time (and he still is), we opted to have a civil ceremony and have something bigger later so that all the family could attend. It ended up being that as we had to go and see Knight's brother's graduation from basic training, we ended up doing it in San Antonio. It was a lovely little ceremony (and a thousand thank-yous to Nich-Nick, who organised the entire deal), and we did dress up semi-formally for it. I wouldn't recommend going all the way to Texas though, especially if you live in Alaska like we do . It was, though, much better than having to worry over getting the visa, planning the wedding right, and so on, when it was much better planning it with my in-laws after I arrived.

We've already been planning the "renewal of vows" or "wedding ceremony" for the 4th of July this summer. It's the same day that we were married last year. It's going to have all the works, and we're having a friend of mine perform the rites/initiation/thingy -- she's wonderful with words. Family and friends are attending this one, and we've sent the save-the-dates out already. I've already ordered my dress :: sigh ::, a red one, like I've always wanted it to be. I actually wore green in San Antonio, because we got married on Marriage Island and it seemed more appropriate.

As for surnames, I did take Knight's name for various reasons other than this, but a good reason to get it done quickly is that once you start getting bills and such, it's going to be a pain to change your name and then go and change it on everything else. For us though, in any case -- what's in a name? It might be the one you carry, but there shouldn't be any phenomenal change in your relationship if you're already committed to that person. It's completely up to you what you guys decide to do, but that's just the way that we went about it.

TBoneTX, that's excellent advice. I know that having several copies made it really handy for me.

So, after my seemingly endless ramblings, my advice would be that if you are going to have a civil ceremony, do make it special. It might not be the full-blown to-do that you're going to have later, but it's still your civil ceremony. That, or you can say I'm talking a load of rubbish and throw it out the window. Oh boo, there it goes...

You guys will do fine, I'm sure. I hope that helped!

Magpie.

/edit: Good grief, someone needs to take the emoticons away from me! That, and I shouldn't be allowed to write this early in the morning...

Grats to n1dom! Nice to see some progress there .

Marm, I'm breathing a big sigh of relief for you on my end. I don't think they'd send you a separate RFE if they needed anything else. And if they lost the other copy...whoops. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Gemmieeeee, email me your full name for Facebook so I can add you . My privacy settings have me hidden.

Magpie.