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So, Illya and I were taking a drive the other day near the Columbia Gorge and we ended up on these country back roads. We turned on one road, and there was a road sign of a cow, letting us know that cattle could be on the road at any time. Illya laughed at that. Then, he got confused at the next road sign, which showed a man riding a horse.

When he asked what that was for, I said, "To let us know that there could be men w/ horses on the shoulder of the road."

Illyas face twisted into confusion as he asked,"You mean men have to carry their horses on their shoulders when they're on this road?!"

I laughed my butt off!! I explained, again, that the side of the road is also called a shoulder. Once he realized that, he had a good laugh, too, as we both pictured cowboys stopping, hopping off their sadles and then throwing their mustangs on their right shoulder like a backpack.

Just how cute is my husband?!

No, really this is awesome!...

Poor Illya is bored all the time since he can't work yet. He gets BAD cabin fever. So, after work, he and I will take off and go somewhere for atleast a few hours. We usually try to do things like see new parks, hiking trails, look out hills, etc. to get fresh air (and because they're free=). But, today, we went to this Russian store (it's more so Ukrainian, actually) so he can buy some food from back home, and rent some Russian movies.

Well, a few days before that, we saw a few other stores while driving around. So, today, we decided to go see what they have there at the other stores. As we were trying to find the stores again, we found several more! There must be atleast 5 stores (one with a movie rental place attached to it) in the Portland area, and a couple retaurants! We've also seen a Russian Christian bookstore and also a clothing store (we haven't made it into that one yet).

It's amazing! Every time we go to the library, we hear people speaking Russian all over the place...in stores, on the streets, even at Crown Point a few weeks ago, there was a whole family of 8 from the Ukrainian there as well.

I LOVE seeing this. To see their culture here, even if it's just a small portion of it. I really think it's helping Illya being here away from Ukraine, too. Well, atleast the food is helping his Ukrainian stomach!!

I just love how we call this place, "The land of the free". It doesn't feel so "free" when you have to legalize a spouse to be here. Trust me, anyone who's been through this process, especially w/ the K-1 visa, will know exactly what I'm talking about!

I knew when we were going through the visa process that getting him here would be hard. I also knew that our trials weren't over just because we got his visa to marry here. I knew that there was more pain and heartache to come. But, come on!! I'm just now seeing the big picture here of how much this is going to suck.

We, went down to the social security office just a few days ago. That went well enough. We were told that he'd get his SS# in the mail in 10 days. Not to shabby! But, our friend, who's going through this same process, said that number is only a temp number. It expires in 2 months. So, you're trying to tell me that not only is that stupid "temp working visa" he got when he entered U.S. is worth crap (since no one hires anyone w/out a SS#), but now, in a few month, this number is crap too?! What the?! If this is true, why is it this is the first I've heard about it?! Why didn't they warn us this at the SS office?!

Oh, and then there's the blessing of haveing him going through the INS to get his green card. We were going to do that first, instead of going to the SS office...then we heard it costs over 500 dollars just to apply. Lovely!! Let's see...500 bucks that we don't have or his SS# for free (even if it lasts only a few months) so he can atleast start working... Man, that's a hard one!!

But, once we DO apply for his green card (because we WILL have to do that step), it's still years of interviews, surprise drop ins, and again, more money. All of this, just to stay in a country that we don't plan on living in for more than 10 years.

After all said and done, it'll be over a couple thousand to get him through this process. So much for the "Land of the FREE"!!

I think it's hilarious how obsessed my husband is w/ this blog. He'll wake me up for work and tell me right off,"You need to see what I did on the blog!" He'll show me a new time clock here, or better background there. When I ask him how long he was working on it, he'll say,"Just a couple of hours." A COUPLE OF HOURS?! HOLY CRAP!!

The funniest to me is that of all of this time he spends perfecting it, I'll ask him,"Did you write anything on the blog?" to which is reply is,"No," w/ a sheepish smile.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that he's doing it. It's amazing how much he's taught himself just by playing around w/ this thing. Plus, to me, it's a modernized journal. As long as we keep up w/ it, it's a great family scrapbook. But, for me, the blog is more like a distant friend you email back and forth to. You like to keep in touch to know what's going on, but there's only so much you can talk about before you need to sign off. Illya can write everyday. But, me, I'm happy w/ writing to our "friend" every few weeks or so. So, enjoy my husbands obsession and I'll write in a few weeks asking how the weather is there. =)

Sarah

yes, i know, i turned a mrs. a week and a half ago, but i haven't had time to come on and shout it out to the world yet...well, the blog world that is.

the wedding went awesome! it was so amazing to be in the temple, getting ready for illya and i to be married. it was strange, too. in my head, i kept on saying,"is this really happening? am i really in the temple right now, about to get married?!" even after we were told we were man and wife i didn't realize it. it wasn't until after we were married, when we were sitting in the celestial room by ourselves did it hit me that this man i was staring at was my husband. it was so nice to be able to hug and kiss and take a moment alone before the madness hit.

i couldn't have ever gotten married anywhere else. i told myself when i was 8 years old that getting married in the temple was the only way i was going to get married.

we had quite a scare a couple weeks before the wedding, though. illya didnt have a renewed temple recommend, but my bishop couldn't give him one until he got his records over from here from russia. we thought that would only take about 5 days. we found out just 5 days before the wedding that because of red tape that the governments have set up for us getting church records from one country to the next, it could take anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks!

the only option we could think of was calling the moscow office to see if they could push it along from their end some how. if not, then we'd have to do a civil ceremony outside of the temple.

for me, i knew that wouldn't happen. don't get me wrong, i was stressed out! but, when i thought of marrying illya, i could never see it anywhere but the temple. i knew something would work out.

well, we got ahold of someone over there and once he heard our situation, he was more than happy to help us. well, we didn't know until we talked to our bishop the next day that when the man said "help out" it meant "illegally send it to you"!! i guess our bishop got chewed out from the offices in salt lake because they thought it was our doing! once bishop told them that we had no clue what was going on, but it was the man over there in russia, they relaxed a bit. i guess both the lawyers of the churh from the u.s. and the europe side where mad and putting the blame on eachother. the people over here were just happy to know that it was, actually, THEIR fault over there, not ours over here!

illegal or not, i didn't care! THIS was a blessing. we were suppose to get married there and The Lord saw to it to make sure it happened!

so, thank you, kind brother in moscow, for putting your butt on the line for us and for helping us to have the wedding we wanted. you're our angel!!

love~

sarah plaksey =)

yes, I know, Illya is so much better at updates then me (trust me, I hear it from him all the time!). But, life has been SO busy!!

First off, Illya finally made it here. I can't believe w/ all my luck that the day Illya would've came in would be the same day that the east coast decides to have the worst snow storm in over 75 years! I told Illya that it's a good think I know the Lord wants us to be together or else I'd see all these delays as a sign for him to stay in Ukraine!!

But, he made it and it was amazing to see him coming! My mom, dad, sister and 2 neices made it to the airport w/ me, all w/ signs, flags and even my dad in his fur hat we got him from Ukriane! As soon as I saw the top of his head come through the security airport, I ran to him and almost knocked him over. He could tell I was emotional and he told me to not to cry, so I did my best to obey! =) I couldn't stop touching him though. I had to have one hand on him at all times, just to make sure he was actually there that it wasn't a dream.

As soon as he got here, we began the move to our new home. What a sucky, stressed out time that was! And Illya was such a good sport about it too. He helped nonstop, even when his back was killing him. My family couldn't help but love him after that (my dad starting calling him,"slave boy"...that didn't fly too well w/ Illya =).

With all of this, Illya and I had a scare w/ his records from the church in Russia being sent over to my ward here in Portland. We needed it here to get his temple recommend renewed for the wedding. But, even my bishop didn't know that it could take anywhere from 3- 8 weeks (we had less than 2!). Through a miracle from God, though, we were able to get his records here (somewhat illegally) and I'll be getting my endowments out w/ Illya by my side the day before the wedding (talk about cutting it close!).

Add to all of this tying the loose ends up for the wedding and reception and you got one hell of a headhache!!

But, my boy is worth this. It hard at times for both of us to adjust w/ Illya living here now (more for Illya, as I'm sure you can imagine). But, we just hold eachother as much as we can, knowing this will pass and we'll be in normal life soon.

I am amazed at his sacrifice to be here just for me. I don't think I could be that strong. I don't feel worthy of it either. But, I'm so happy he's here. It sounds corny, but I finally have found I can take a deep breath. It's as if my whole life has been waiting for him so it could truly begin. I can say, at this point, my life is complete

Sarah