Fall is a tie between spring for favorite seasons, for many reasons!
Growing up in south central Pennsylvania, I have some really great memories of fall as a kid. In the Appalachian mountain area, there was a festival called the Apple Harvest Festival that my mom and I would go to every year. There they had people from all over who sold their artwork, their crafts, there was all this delicious food like kettle corn, sweet potato fries, and all things pumpkin and of course, apple. Apple juice, apple cider, apple pies, candied apples, caramel dipped apples, apple dumplings. And there was always a few local bands who played the music of Pennsylvania Appalachia, who were always dressed in dirty flannel and hole ridden overalls. They had their banjos and their fiddles and they played til they couldn't play anymore.
As much as I poke fun at my hometown and its surroundings, I really do miss it! I love the nature there. Each season has a different and distinct smell. Spring is full of flowers and new growth, winter is icy and smells like snow, summer smells like...tar from all the construction, and fall...ah, fall. It smells like rotting leaves that have fallen from the trees after their beautiful show of foliage, it smells like the coming cold of winter. I promised myself that if I ever have kids (and even if I don't), I'll move somewhere north to settle down, if settling down is something I can handle. Recently we tossed northern California into the options of ''affordable, liberal places to live'', along with Seattle, Portland, Madison, Ann Arbor, Boston, Philly, and Burlington.
Yeah. I know.
Not THAT affordable.
Currently we are residing in Austin, TX where it is most certainly liberal and since we are staying with my parents until we can save some money which is affordable, it's south.
And south equals hot.
The fall that I know is cold mornings and chilly nights with nippy day time sandwiched in between, longer night hours and the sun starts it's descend around 3pm. Pumpkin pies and apple cider are served in a kitchen with dried corn and gourd decorations and smiling jack-o-lanterns.
I love that fall.
So in honor of the fall that I love so much, I've created a recipe for a warming autumn soup that is rich in flavor, nutrients, and the colors that reflect this beautiful season!
Fall Soup:
1 fruit of a small pumpkin
2-3 sweet potatoes/yams (let's face it, there really is no difference), unpeeled
3 carrots, peeled
1 - 1 1/2 cans of coconut cream (I use Coco Lopez)
2 green onions
Salt and pepper to taste
So here's what ya do:
Throw the pumpkin, carrots, and sweet potatoes into a pot of boiling water and cook until they're super tender.
After that, drain and throw them into a blender or food processor, whichever is bigger in your case. Add the coconut cream and blend.
The consistency should be kind of thick, but soupy enough to be well...soup.
Chop up the green onions and lay those puppies on top of the soup and enjoy.
I don't have any pictures of it now, but it's orange with little green things on top.
Use your imagination.
Anyway, I love that for fall, especially eating it outside on a chilly evening, watching the steam roll off the bowl as a breeze flows by, accompanied by warm apple cider!
Anyone else love the fall season, too? What's your favorite part about it? Mine is the food, colder weather, and of course, HALLOWEEN!!!!
Love & Light,
DNB
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Sunday, March 9, 2014
The Invisible Epidemic
1. Depression distorts your thinking. When you are depressed, your mind can play tricks on you.
2. Depression makes you selfish. It's very hard to think of other people when you're wrapped in a prickly blanket of sadness, and all you can think about is your own pain. Be proactive and take the steps you need to heal.
3. Depression is experienced as anxiety 65 percent of the time. Make sure you get an accurate diagnosis, so you can get the most effective treatment available.
4. Persistent irritability can be a symptom of depression. If the world, your life, or your loved ones constantly tick you off, the cause might be something that's going on inside of you.
5. Chronic pain can be another symptom of depression. At the same time, being in continual discomfort can cause you to become depressed. When you are depressed and in pain, it can be hard to know which came first.
6. Alcohol is a depressant. So are marijuana and a host of other recreational or street drugs. Self-medication is not going to get you better and will surely make you worse over time. Remember that all medications, including anti-depressants, have side effects.
7. People don't choose to be depressed, but they do make a choice about how to deal with it. You can choose to do nothing, but denying that you have a problem will only make you feel worse.
8. The origin of depression can be situational and/or bio-chemical. If you are experiencing mild to moderate situational depression (resulting from the loss of a job, for example), counseling will help you. Most bio-chemical depressions that are moderate to severe are best treated with a combination of medicine and psychotherapy.
9. Depression can be as hard on your loved ones as it is on you. Those closest to you may start to feel unloved, and may distance themselves so they aren't pulled into your pain. Remember that others are counting on you.
10. Exercise is the easiest and least expensive cure for depression. Just walking 30 minutes a day will help you and sometimes completely alleviate your symptoms. For this very reason, many therapists take walks with clients instead of doing "couch time."
I will tell you all a little story of my life from my mid-teens.
I had a really great childhood. I was always kind of the ''weird one'' in my group of friends, but I still had some really great friends throughout middle school and high school. I was bullied a good bit but it never really got to me, I guess because I knew the people who were doing it were not worthy of my tears or fears.
When I was 16, about the time that I started dating my school sweetheart, Chuck, my world completely changed. I think many people blamed him for it, but it was just bad timing I guess, that he entered my life in such a way when I was faced with it.
Previously, I was a very devout Lutheran. I went to church and Sunday school every Sunday, youth groups, retreats, anything that I could do to be involved with my church, I'd do it without question.
Around the time Chuck and I started dating, I became depressed. At first, I thought I missed summer or something, since it was taking over my mind in the late fall.
It started out by me feeling like I no longer had enjoyment in things like going to church, or playing tennis (on my high school team), and eventually my friends started dropping like flies. About 3 of them seemed like they cared.
As the months went by, I became rather antisocial, really only wanting to hang out with Chuck and my only friend at the time, Katie.
I had a few former friends who thought Chuck had gotten me into drugs or something, I guess because he fit the part of the stereotypical high school ''druggie''... in a band, long hair, raggedy clothes, and he got around town via skateboard. Honestly, I never intentionally did drugs during my high school years, nor did I even drink alcohol. Chuck was very much against that and he really talked me out of trying pot for the first time when I was 17, so I just ended up not caring whether or not I tried it.
I started lashing out at my parents and teachers, I stopped caring about.... everything, really. At one point in time, I was failing every single one of my classes in school. And I just didn't care. I had lost all motivation to do anything.
My parents got concerned because all I'd listen to was Nirvana. I had a 5 disc stereo and every cd I had in was Nirvana. For some reason they didn't like that, I guess because I previously listened to upbeat Christian music.
One night, I called my childhood best friend who I had sort of grew apart from a bit because of this. I told her that I was feeling suicidal. Her response to that was, ''Jimmy (her boyfriend) is coming over in a few minutes, I can't talk now.''
12 years of best friendship and that's what I fucking get?
Some friend.
After that, I became angry at her and all of our mutual friends who sort of took her side after we completely split ties.
No one tried to find out what was wrong with me, they just didn't like my boyfriend, without even talking to him.
By the end of my 11th grade school year, I had attempted suicide 3 times. Although I still fiercely believed in God, I prayed every night that I wouldn't live through the night to see the next day. And I got angry and frustrated when I'd groggily open my eyes.
I hated myself.
Whenever I looked at myself in the mirror, I wanted to gouge my eyes out, pull my hair out, punch the mirror and slice my throat with a broke piece.
I absolutely hated being Dara.
I hated my family, I hated the people who used to be my friends, I hated everything and everyone. I'd constantly fight with my parents, who I'd ALWAYS had a wonderful relationship with.
I stopped taking care of myself. I'd shower maybe once a week, and slept as much as I could. I had a job that I worked after school during the summer and winter (fall was tennis season and spring was track & field season), I'd get home from school around 3 and had to be at work at 4, which was across town (like a 10 minute drive). I'd get home and go to sleep up until I had to leave for work. I wouldn't eat for days, until I felt like I was going to pass out from low blood sugar. I just... didn't give a fuck.
I lost all hope for a future. I always said that if I made it past the age of 18, I'd be surprised.
I finally saw a counselor who told me that I was depressed, and I'm not sure why I didn't think of it, I thought I was just going through what normal 16 year old go through.
I had no motivation though, to help myself. I just wanted to die.
No one understood it. My parents didn't know how to deal with it. My friend. I didn't even know. I remember the thing that made Chuck and I so close was that we were both depressed and we sort of fed off of each other's depression, and somehow that made me feel a tiny bit better. You know, knowing that SOMEONE gets it. That SOMEONE knows how it feels to wish they'd have died during the night.
If I had told that to someone who didn't understand the feeling, I can't even imagine the looks and comments they'd give me.
I felt like I was in an altered state of consciousness. I did not feel like me. I did not feel human. My heart was beating and my blood was running, but I felt dead. And I wanted to be.
By mid-12 grade year, I had another 4 more suicide attempts to count for.
I just wanted to get out of high school. I was sick of the people, sick of the teachers, sick of everything. I was sick of being told, ''just be happy!''
I finally graduated.
I busted my ass, but I graduated.
Barely.
In mid-summer of 2005, I began to see light at the end of the tunnel.
I was wanting to get out into the world and free myself of the restraints of childhood and adolescents.
I wanted to explore and meet people.
After a while, I realized that I was hopeful.
I ended things (only to be on again/off again for another 6 months) with Chuck because as I was seeing the light, he wanted to keep ahold of me and my depression.
If I had stayed with him, I would surely not be here writing this. I would have made sure I'd have done it right.
At age 19, I moved to Texas and soon after, I started dating a guy with whom I worked. Bad idea. He introduced me to heavy drinking and drugs. I was on and off with him for 5 years, with other equally bad influencing boyfriends in between, one of who was a schizophrenic whose medicine was alcohol and cocaine.
When I was 20, I was diagnosed with cyclothymic bipolar disorder. That is when you experience the high highs of mania and the low lows of depression, but not in such a severe way as the first two levels of bipolar disorder, and it's more sporadic. It's a sub threshold of bipolar disorder.
I have had 3 other temporary periods of depression, all lasting about 5-8 months each.
Now I know what to do to keep my head above sinking level, even though I still (all too) often become manic, I haven't had a depressive period for over 2 years.
I eat (rather) healthy, I exercise, I avoid alcohol and drugs, and I live life to be happy.
I became a vegetarian at a young age and a vegan age 18. Staying away from dairy helps me really keep my mind sharp and focused. When I add into the equation actual healthy eating, it's multiplied by 10000. Clean eating is a definite bonus when struggling with mood disorders because feeling physically unwell is one more thing you don't have to worry about.
I make sure to get some exercise, be it a walk around the block, lifting weights, sports... anything to get the blood flowing and endorphins released, at least 5 times a week.
It's been over a year since I've stopped drinking and although I do miss those fruity little drinks, drinking is not as important as remembering the days I have with my family and friends. From ages 19-25, I drank like a filthy fish! I also don't smoke weed anymore. I don't have a problem with it, but personally, it unhinges me. I can't handle it. It gets me high and when I come off the high, I sink like a cement block.
I do things that make me happy. That's an important thing in life. I don't let little stresses get to me.
I am a fortunate individual because I do not regret ever having depression and going through this. It has made me a brick wall. I am strong as hell. It broke down my self-esteem, my confidence, my life, and I picked myself up and rebuilt a whole new me.
I am happy, I am joyful, and I have attained more patience and compassion than I would have, had I not prayed to God to take my life every night.
I ditched Christianity when I was 19 for something that makes more sense to me- Pagan Pantheism. Maybe not for everyone, but it works for me. No offense, Jesus.
I am no longer angry, lost, confused, or hopeless.
I am happy.
I am a white female who grew up with a loving family in middle class America. I never needed anything. I was never traumatized as a child.
I somehow became depressed. It's a chemical imbalance in your brain. it's not a racial or social status related disorder. It can be hereditary.
Depression effected me in more ways than I realized at the time. During my first and longest period of depression (which was about 2 1/2 years), I wanted to do nothing but sleep. I was so tired all the time. I didn't eat much. My entire body hurt. I got aches and pains all over. Everyday I had a headache, maybe that's why I wanted to sleep a lot.
On March 21, 2012, one of my closest friends, Anthony Trevino, lost his battle with depression and substance abuse. I miss him everyday.
If you are or you know someone who is or may be depressed, please get (them) help. It may save your life or theirs.
2. Depression makes you selfish. It's very hard to think of other people when you're wrapped in a prickly blanket of sadness, and all you can think about is your own pain. Be proactive and take the steps you need to heal.
3. Depression is experienced as anxiety 65 percent of the time. Make sure you get an accurate diagnosis, so you can get the most effective treatment available.
4. Persistent irritability can be a symptom of depression. If the world, your life, or your loved ones constantly tick you off, the cause might be something that's going on inside of you.
5. Chronic pain can be another symptom of depression. At the same time, being in continual discomfort can cause you to become depressed. When you are depressed and in pain, it can be hard to know which came first.
6. Alcohol is a depressant. So are marijuana and a host of other recreational or street drugs. Self-medication is not going to get you better and will surely make you worse over time. Remember that all medications, including anti-depressants, have side effects.
7. People don't choose to be depressed, but they do make a choice about how to deal with it. You can choose to do nothing, but denying that you have a problem will only make you feel worse.
8. The origin of depression can be situational and/or bio-chemical. If you are experiencing mild to moderate situational depression (resulting from the loss of a job, for example), counseling will help you. Most bio-chemical depressions that are moderate to severe are best treated with a combination of medicine and psychotherapy.
9. Depression can be as hard on your loved ones as it is on you. Those closest to you may start to feel unloved, and may distance themselves so they aren't pulled into your pain. Remember that others are counting on you.
10. Exercise is the easiest and least expensive cure for depression. Just walking 30 minutes a day will help you and sometimes completely alleviate your symptoms. For this very reason, many therapists take walks with clients instead of doing "couch time."
| 11. |
Of the estimated
17.5 million Americans who are affected by some form of depression, 9.2
million have major or clinical depression
|
| 12. |
Two-thirds of
people suffering from depression do not seek necessary treatment
|
| 13. |
80% of all people
with clinical depression who have received treatment significantly
improve their lives
|
| 14. |
The economic cost
of depression is estimated at $30.4 billion a year but the cost in human
suffering cannot be estimated
|
| 15. |
Women experience
depression about twice as often as men
|
| 16. |
By the year 2020,
the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression will be the
number two cause of "lost years of healthy life" worldwide
|
I had a really great childhood. I was always kind of the ''weird one'' in my group of friends, but I still had some really great friends throughout middle school and high school. I was bullied a good bit but it never really got to me, I guess because I knew the people who were doing it were not worthy of my tears or fears.
When I was 16, about the time that I started dating my school sweetheart, Chuck, my world completely changed. I think many people blamed him for it, but it was just bad timing I guess, that he entered my life in such a way when I was faced with it.
Previously, I was a very devout Lutheran. I went to church and Sunday school every Sunday, youth groups, retreats, anything that I could do to be involved with my church, I'd do it without question.
Around the time Chuck and I started dating, I became depressed. At first, I thought I missed summer or something, since it was taking over my mind in the late fall.
It started out by me feeling like I no longer had enjoyment in things like going to church, or playing tennis (on my high school team), and eventually my friends started dropping like flies. About 3 of them seemed like they cared.
As the months went by, I became rather antisocial, really only wanting to hang out with Chuck and my only friend at the time, Katie.
I had a few former friends who thought Chuck had gotten me into drugs or something, I guess because he fit the part of the stereotypical high school ''druggie''... in a band, long hair, raggedy clothes, and he got around town via skateboard. Honestly, I never intentionally did drugs during my high school years, nor did I even drink alcohol. Chuck was very much against that and he really talked me out of trying pot for the first time when I was 17, so I just ended up not caring whether or not I tried it.
I started lashing out at my parents and teachers, I stopped caring about.... everything, really. At one point in time, I was failing every single one of my classes in school. And I just didn't care. I had lost all motivation to do anything.
My parents got concerned because all I'd listen to was Nirvana. I had a 5 disc stereo and every cd I had in was Nirvana. For some reason they didn't like that, I guess because I previously listened to upbeat Christian music.
One night, I called my childhood best friend who I had sort of grew apart from a bit because of this. I told her that I was feeling suicidal. Her response to that was, ''Jimmy (her boyfriend) is coming over in a few minutes, I can't talk now.''
12 years of best friendship and that's what I fucking get?
Some friend.
After that, I became angry at her and all of our mutual friends who sort of took her side after we completely split ties.
No one tried to find out what was wrong with me, they just didn't like my boyfriend, without even talking to him.
By the end of my 11th grade school year, I had attempted suicide 3 times. Although I still fiercely believed in God, I prayed every night that I wouldn't live through the night to see the next day. And I got angry and frustrated when I'd groggily open my eyes.
I hated myself.
Whenever I looked at myself in the mirror, I wanted to gouge my eyes out, pull my hair out, punch the mirror and slice my throat with a broke piece.
I absolutely hated being Dara.
I hated my family, I hated the people who used to be my friends, I hated everything and everyone. I'd constantly fight with my parents, who I'd ALWAYS had a wonderful relationship with.
I stopped taking care of myself. I'd shower maybe once a week, and slept as much as I could. I had a job that I worked after school during the summer and winter (fall was tennis season and spring was track & field season), I'd get home from school around 3 and had to be at work at 4, which was across town (like a 10 minute drive). I'd get home and go to sleep up until I had to leave for work. I wouldn't eat for days, until I felt like I was going to pass out from low blood sugar. I just... didn't give a fuck.
I lost all hope for a future. I always said that if I made it past the age of 18, I'd be surprised.
I finally saw a counselor who told me that I was depressed, and I'm not sure why I didn't think of it, I thought I was just going through what normal 16 year old go through.
I had no motivation though, to help myself. I just wanted to die.
No one understood it. My parents didn't know how to deal with it. My friend. I didn't even know. I remember the thing that made Chuck and I so close was that we were both depressed and we sort of fed off of each other's depression, and somehow that made me feel a tiny bit better. You know, knowing that SOMEONE gets it. That SOMEONE knows how it feels to wish they'd have died during the night.
If I had told that to someone who didn't understand the feeling, I can't even imagine the looks and comments they'd give me.
I felt like I was in an altered state of consciousness. I did not feel like me. I did not feel human. My heart was beating and my blood was running, but I felt dead. And I wanted to be.
By mid-12 grade year, I had another 4 more suicide attempts to count for.
I just wanted to get out of high school. I was sick of the people, sick of the teachers, sick of everything. I was sick of being told, ''just be happy!''
I finally graduated.
I busted my ass, but I graduated.
Barely.
In mid-summer of 2005, I began to see light at the end of the tunnel.
I was wanting to get out into the world and free myself of the restraints of childhood and adolescents.
I wanted to explore and meet people.
After a while, I realized that I was hopeful.
I ended things (only to be on again/off again for another 6 months) with Chuck because as I was seeing the light, he wanted to keep ahold of me and my depression.
If I had stayed with him, I would surely not be here writing this. I would have made sure I'd have done it right.
At age 19, I moved to Texas and soon after, I started dating a guy with whom I worked. Bad idea. He introduced me to heavy drinking and drugs. I was on and off with him for 5 years, with other equally bad influencing boyfriends in between, one of who was a schizophrenic whose medicine was alcohol and cocaine.
When I was 20, I was diagnosed with cyclothymic bipolar disorder. That is when you experience the high highs of mania and the low lows of depression, but not in such a severe way as the first two levels of bipolar disorder, and it's more sporadic. It's a sub threshold of bipolar disorder.
I have had 3 other temporary periods of depression, all lasting about 5-8 months each.
Now I know what to do to keep my head above sinking level, even though I still (all too) often become manic, I haven't had a depressive period for over 2 years.
I eat (rather) healthy, I exercise, I avoid alcohol and drugs, and I live life to be happy.
I became a vegetarian at a young age and a vegan age 18. Staying away from dairy helps me really keep my mind sharp and focused. When I add into the equation actual healthy eating, it's multiplied by 10000. Clean eating is a definite bonus when struggling with mood disorders because feeling physically unwell is one more thing you don't have to worry about.
I make sure to get some exercise, be it a walk around the block, lifting weights, sports... anything to get the blood flowing and endorphins released, at least 5 times a week.
It's been over a year since I've stopped drinking and although I do miss those fruity little drinks, drinking is not as important as remembering the days I have with my family and friends. From ages 19-25, I drank like a filthy fish! I also don't smoke weed anymore. I don't have a problem with it, but personally, it unhinges me. I can't handle it. It gets me high and when I come off the high, I sink like a cement block.
I do things that make me happy. That's an important thing in life. I don't let little stresses get to me.
I am a fortunate individual because I do not regret ever having depression and going through this. It has made me a brick wall. I am strong as hell. It broke down my self-esteem, my confidence, my life, and I picked myself up and rebuilt a whole new me.
I am happy, I am joyful, and I have attained more patience and compassion than I would have, had I not prayed to God to take my life every night.
I ditched Christianity when I was 19 for something that makes more sense to me- Pagan Pantheism. Maybe not for everyone, but it works for me. No offense, Jesus.
I am no longer angry, lost, confused, or hopeless.
I am happy.
I am a white female who grew up with a loving family in middle class America. I never needed anything. I was never traumatized as a child.
I somehow became depressed. It's a chemical imbalance in your brain. it's not a racial or social status related disorder. It can be hereditary.
Depression effected me in more ways than I realized at the time. During my first and longest period of depression (which was about 2 1/2 years), I wanted to do nothing but sleep. I was so tired all the time. I didn't eat much. My entire body hurt. I got aches and pains all over. Everyday I had a headache, maybe that's why I wanted to sleep a lot.
On March 21, 2012, one of my closest friends, Anthony Trevino, lost his battle with depression and substance abuse. I miss him everyday.
If you are or you know someone who is or may be depressed, please get (them) help. It may save your life or theirs.
Friday, February 21, 2014
CR-1/K-3 Visa Process- the lovely little process that took us 11 months.
I realize that it's been quite some time since I've posted anything.
I've been quite busy.
By quite busy, I mean I've been quite lazy.
Well now that we finally arrived in Austin, TX, finally got settled in, and I finally got a job, I have a bit of time to tell this story.
I call it The Story of Time Standing Fucking Still.
Because that's what it felt like.
So it starts out in November of 2012, in La Florida, Santiago, Chile.
Felipe and I decided that despite us loving Chile, the United States was just a better choice for us.
I didn't know Spanish at the time, and Felipe is fluent is Spanish and English. I couldn't get a job there, Felipe could easily get one in the US. So we made the decision.
The day we made a final decision, we told his mom in his backyard and she started crying. I felt so bad. I felt like I was taking him from everything he's ever known, his entire family, his only friends.
But he was very excited.
So December 2012, we made a journey to the US Embassy, in the center of Santiago. We asked what we needed to start the process. We had a very nice lady tell us what we needed to do, although in retrospect, she was not of much help.
By mid-January, we had filled out and sent all of our paperwork for Felipe to go through the immigration process. I had to fill out a I-130 (petition for alien relative) form and a biographical information form, Felipe only had to do the biographical information form. We had to include 2 passport sized photos of each of us, and a payment of like $400 USD. We didn't have the money and even if we did, we couldn't send it to Homeland Security because they didn't accept electronic money orders and they didn't accept money from a non-American bank. So I am thankful my parents had the resources to help us out there.
On February 5th we got notice that the USCIS receive and had accepted our case.We were sooo happy and naive little us, we were celebrating and thought ''yeah, we'll be to the US by June!''
No.
So we played the waiting game for about 4 weeks, one week more than we should have for following information to the next step of the process. After 6 weeks, we called the USCIS and they kept telling us that there was a request for evidence (RFE) but they couldn't tell us what exactly it was. We thought it was to prove our relationship was genuine or something.
We kept waiting.
It was not until 4 months later, because we had never received the forms in Chile, I had to change my address to my parents in the US, THEN they got the forms, that we were notified that we somehow either didn't include two photos of each of us or they weren't the specific size. I'm not sure which it was. So we were delayed 4 months for fucking pictures.
We send the photos to my mom, she sends them to the USCIS in Chicago, and then within a week, in mid-June, we got information, a to do list, of what needed to be completed for the net step: NVC stage.
We had to pay the fees online and had to send my packet plus my parents' packet together and then Felipe's afterwards. My parents needed to provide a packet because they were the co-sponsors since I had no money, thus they were sponsoring Felipe to financially care for him for at least 5 years (legally, so he couldn't receive welfare benefits). So it included tax information, paycheck stubs, letters from employers, yada, yada. Mine included only tax information.
This stage is only supposed to last one month. We sent our things in around the middle of July, so of course we thought we'd be done by mid to late August.
It lasted until the end of September because:
With ALL of this paperwork we had to fill out, I didn't add my full name (by that I mean I didn't add my middle name, because there is a plethora of Dara Boyds in the world) to one area in one paper. So they notified my mom, which was who all the paperwork went to since Coree de Chile sucks and never delivered our shit, I had to change my mailing address to my parents' in Austin, TX.
So my mom added my full name and sent it back in, they sent it back saying that they needed my full name AND my updated signature after I added my name. Well hell.
So there was a lot of emailing and scanning at that time, well.. the entire time, but we had to do that to about 5 or 6 times.
We were at the beach, I believe it was September 18, for the Chilean independence holiday, and we got an email that finally said that we had a sufficient amount of evidence financially to move forward with our case.
Finally!
We had to sit tight for two weeks-they said, for an interview date at the US Embassy.
So we waited.
More.
And waited.
In mid October, like two weeks after they said we'd receive a date, we finally got one.
November 27, 2013.
I did probably an entire 24+ hours of emailing the Embassy, who were the NICEST and most patient people with me, from the time we received our date up until we left for the US.
We had to take an entire day to get Felipe's medical stuff done, which we got done about 3 weeks before the interview. We had to go to 3 different places in Santiago, luckily they were all very close, within walking distance of each other. Everything was fine with that, that was an rather easy process.
So interview day arrives.
We are scared and nervous and excited.
Almost puking our faces off with nervousness and I was more nervous because I wore shoes that had a little height on them (anyone who knows me knows that I can barely walk without shoes and watching me walk in heels is painfully hilarious).
As we drew closer and closer to the Embassy, somehow I became more relaxed.
I thought, ''We got this.''
So we entered and were the first ones there.... well, we were about an hour and a half early, haha, for fear of being late, I guess.
We sat there until our number was called.
When it was, we went to a window, like a bank teller except with a window in front of it, and it was an interview who asked some questions about how we met, our families, and our plans in the US.
Then she gave us some papers on spousal abuse....
We sat back down and waited to be called on again by the Consulate, who was the would who'd determined if it was a yay or nay.
After pretty much the same questions as the interviewer, it was a yay.
Yay!!!
So we had a few ''fiesta de despedida''s and they were a lot of fun, I cried at them! I was happy to return to the US, but as soon as I realized that I was leaving Chile and my family there, it really started to make me sad. We will see them again soon. Hopefully during the (our) summer (their winter)!
So we started packing and selling some of our things and we left Santiago, Chile at 3:30am on December 16, 2013. We had a layover in Panama City, Washington D.C., and finally ended in our destination- Austin, Texas.
We are finally here!
Now, in mid-February, we both have great jobs that we enjoy, planning his family's visit, and have a move back to Pennsylvania in mind to open a ''normal people'' spa... one that's affordable to everyone!
But until then, we will keep working and enjoying life together!
With Veda :)
I want to put this out there...
If you are going through the process, or any visa process, don't hesitate to ask any questions you have. I'll answer them the best that I can!
I've been quite busy.
By quite busy, I mean I've been quite lazy.
Well now that we finally arrived in Austin, TX, finally got settled in, and I finally got a job, I have a bit of time to tell this story.
I call it The Story of Time Standing Fucking Still.
Because that's what it felt like.
So it starts out in November of 2012, in La Florida, Santiago, Chile.
Felipe and I decided that despite us loving Chile, the United States was just a better choice for us.
I didn't know Spanish at the time, and Felipe is fluent is Spanish and English. I couldn't get a job there, Felipe could easily get one in the US. So we made the decision.
The day we made a final decision, we told his mom in his backyard and she started crying. I felt so bad. I felt like I was taking him from everything he's ever known, his entire family, his only friends.
But he was very excited.
So December 2012, we made a journey to the US Embassy, in the center of Santiago. We asked what we needed to start the process. We had a very nice lady tell us what we needed to do, although in retrospect, she was not of much help.
By mid-January, we had filled out and sent all of our paperwork for Felipe to go through the immigration process. I had to fill out a I-130 (petition for alien relative) form and a biographical information form, Felipe only had to do the biographical information form. We had to include 2 passport sized photos of each of us, and a payment of like $400 USD. We didn't have the money and even if we did, we couldn't send it to Homeland Security because they didn't accept electronic money orders and they didn't accept money from a non-American bank. So I am thankful my parents had the resources to help us out there.
On February 5th we got notice that the USCIS receive and had accepted our case.We were sooo happy and naive little us, we were celebrating and thought ''yeah, we'll be to the US by June!''
No.
So we played the waiting game for about 4 weeks, one week more than we should have for following information to the next step of the process. After 6 weeks, we called the USCIS and they kept telling us that there was a request for evidence (RFE) but they couldn't tell us what exactly it was. We thought it was to prove our relationship was genuine or something.
We kept waiting.
It was not until 4 months later, because we had never received the forms in Chile, I had to change my address to my parents in the US, THEN they got the forms, that we were notified that we somehow either didn't include two photos of each of us or they weren't the specific size. I'm not sure which it was. So we were delayed 4 months for fucking pictures.
We send the photos to my mom, she sends them to the USCIS in Chicago, and then within a week, in mid-June, we got information, a to do list, of what needed to be completed for the net step: NVC stage.
We had to pay the fees online and had to send my packet plus my parents' packet together and then Felipe's afterwards. My parents needed to provide a packet because they were the co-sponsors since I had no money, thus they were sponsoring Felipe to financially care for him for at least 5 years (legally, so he couldn't receive welfare benefits). So it included tax information, paycheck stubs, letters from employers, yada, yada. Mine included only tax information.
This stage is only supposed to last one month. We sent our things in around the middle of July, so of course we thought we'd be done by mid to late August.
It lasted until the end of September because:
With ALL of this paperwork we had to fill out, I didn't add my full name (by that I mean I didn't add my middle name, because there is a plethora of Dara Boyds in the world) to one area in one paper. So they notified my mom, which was who all the paperwork went to since Coree de Chile sucks and never delivered our shit, I had to change my mailing address to my parents' in Austin, TX.
So my mom added my full name and sent it back in, they sent it back saying that they needed my full name AND my updated signature after I added my name. Well hell.
So there was a lot of emailing and scanning at that time, well.. the entire time, but we had to do that to about 5 or 6 times.
We were at the beach, I believe it was September 18, for the Chilean independence holiday, and we got an email that finally said that we had a sufficient amount of evidence financially to move forward with our case.
Finally!
We had to sit tight for two weeks-they said, for an interview date at the US Embassy.
So we waited.
More.
And waited.
In mid October, like two weeks after they said we'd receive a date, we finally got one.
November 27, 2013.
I did probably an entire 24+ hours of emailing the Embassy, who were the NICEST and most patient people with me, from the time we received our date up until we left for the US.
We had to take an entire day to get Felipe's medical stuff done, which we got done about 3 weeks before the interview. We had to go to 3 different places in Santiago, luckily they were all very close, within walking distance of each other. Everything was fine with that, that was an rather easy process.
So interview day arrives.
We are scared and nervous and excited.
Almost puking our faces off with nervousness and I was more nervous because I wore shoes that had a little height on them (anyone who knows me knows that I can barely walk without shoes and watching me walk in heels is painfully hilarious).
As we drew closer and closer to the Embassy, somehow I became more relaxed.
I thought, ''We got this.''
So we entered and were the first ones there.... well, we were about an hour and a half early, haha, for fear of being late, I guess.
We sat there until our number was called.
When it was, we went to a window, like a bank teller except with a window in front of it, and it was an interview who asked some questions about how we met, our families, and our plans in the US.
Then she gave us some papers on spousal abuse....
We sat back down and waited to be called on again by the Consulate, who was the would who'd determined if it was a yay or nay.
After pretty much the same questions as the interviewer, it was a yay.
Yay!!!
 | |
| Interview Day! |
So we had a few ''fiesta de despedida''s and they were a lot of fun, I cried at them! I was happy to return to the US, but as soon as I realized that I was leaving Chile and my family there, it really started to make me sad. We will see them again soon. Hopefully during the (our) summer (their winter)!
 | |
| Cony (youngest sister-in-law), Jorge (father-in-law), me, Felipe, Fabiola (mother-in-law), Nathalia (sister-in-law) |
So we started packing and selling some of our things and we left Santiago, Chile at 3:30am on December 16, 2013. We had a layover in Panama City, Washington D.C., and finally ended in our destination- Austin, Texas.
 | |
| Us in the Dulles airport in DC |
Now, in mid-February, we both have great jobs that we enjoy, planning his family's visit, and have a move back to Pennsylvania in mind to open a ''normal people'' spa... one that's affordable to everyone!
But until then, we will keep working and enjoying life together!
With Veda :)
I want to put this out there...
If you are going through the process, or any visa process, don't hesitate to ask any questions you have. I'll answer them the best that I can!
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