Sarah's page

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