Home for the night and away I go....

I arrived safely home from Haiti at about midnight last night. It was an adventure getting home and many changes to my flights but I made it and I slept in my own bed last night!

I had a great time in Haiti with Ronel and it was a MUCH NEEDED time of reconnection for both of us. I have lots of stories and photos to share but they will all have to wait for a week as I am off to the BC Foursquare Kids' Camp today for the week where I will be assisting with Photography & Computer stuff. I am totally looking forward to a week of fun & also a week of seeing God move in these kids' lives. I will be back on Saturday and will then begin telling you about my trip~!

Have a great week!

and I'm off...

Well it is 6:51am and I am packed and ready to go! I just have to make a quick stop at the bank for some US cash and drop my car off at Canadian Tire so that my brother in law can make sure it has an oil change while I am away (He manages the auto service dept.) Then my ride to the airport will meet me at CT and away to the airport I go!!

I'm am so glad to be done and packed!! Last night was a little stressful as the dryer here stopped working after my first load of laundry and it was all stuff I needed for my trip (majority anyways!) It did mean I ended up getting to hang with friends while I did my laundry but at first it just made all my emotions come to the top!!


I will try and update the blog if I can, otherwise you will have to wait till late August to hear all about my trip!! I know many of you will/are praying for my trip and I thank you for those prayers!

Please pray for safe flights & that I make all my connections! Also that any tropical storms/hurricanes stay far away from Haiti & Florida during my trip!

Ok - off to double check that I have everything and then get ready for my day!

Orevwa! M we ou pita!
(Good bye, I will see you later)

blisters...

So I've had a sore throat and this morning it started to really hurt to swallow so when I went to the doctor (previously scheduled to see about my ankle) this afternoon, I asked the doctor to check my throat and it turns out that I have a rather large blister on my throat! I had never heard of such a thing and found it kind of funny! Except that it HURTS - - my doctor gave my a prescription in hopes of it going away before I leave for Haiti in 12 days!

I'm also on anti-inflammatories for my ankle - the same one I hurt in Oct of 2006 when I fell out of the bus a month before my wedding! It has started to hurt again and with me leaving in less than 2 weeks, I didn't want to risk it getting worse while I was in Haiti.

To help you understand the steps....

This is taken directly from the CIC website.... This is the info given to us to understand the application process better and the explanations of the Status

Application for Permanent Residence for Family Class Members Living Outside Canada

This diagram explains each step in the application process.

Status of your application	Explanation
IN PROCESS (A decision has not been made yet.) WE ARE HERE - in one of the THREE different explanation areas......	Application Received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) We have received your application and will review it in order of receipt. We will send you an acknowledgement letter. Documentation Verified by CIC We are reviewing your application to make sure it is complete and that no documents are missing. We will return incomplete applications for resubmission. An Interview May be Required We will review the application and decide if an interview is necessary. If so, we will inform you in writing of the date, time and location of the interview.
WITHDRAWN (An application can only be withdrawn when it is IN PROCESS.)	Application Withdrawn You may only withdraw your application before the Immigrant Visa has been issued. There are no refunds after processing has started.
DECISION MADE (A decision has been made at this point.)	Medical Results Received by CIC We have received your medical results. We will contact you only if additional tests are needed. Approval Status Determined Your application will be either approved or rejected. We will inform you of the decision in writing. Permanent Residence Status Determined If your application is approved, we will send you your permanent resident documentation and a letter saying what we need to finalize your permanent residence.
COMPLETE (This is the last step in the processing of your application.)	Applicant Arrives in Canada and is Granted Permanent Residence You will need to meet with an Immigration Officer who will verify your documents and grant you permanent residence if all is in order.

In Process

Permanent Residence

We started processing RONEL CLEDOMIN's application on June 5, 2008.

This is what I was delighted to see tonight when I logged in to check on Ronel's application status. For weeks it has said - Not Available under status.... tonight it said IN PROCESS! While it doesn't mean that Ronel gets to come home with me in August, it means that SOMEONE has actually looked at his file and that there is progress being made with getting Ronel here, home to BC! I really needed this tonight and I'm so glad that I decided to check. I haven't check for like a week and a half because it was just getting too hard to always see... Not Available. There won't be another status change until the decision is made which could be months away but I will be checking to see if the description (which is what is in blue up above) changes as the time goes on.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us.... please continue to pray for us as the waiting is only getting harder and I think that leaving will be difficult in August. I know that the wait after the visit will be shorter but the emotions of leaving with all be fresh again and so I've been praying that God will give us a lot of strength in that area....


Thank you God for "In Process"!

sorry it's been so long!

I'm sorry that it has been so long since I have updated my blog. Life has been BUSY! Since I've last posted, I've tried to have 2 garage sales, but first time it POURED so that one was cancelled and then finally on the long weekend, we had a successful garage sale - I raised approx. $270 Cdn which will go towards Ronel's immigration costs. There is still more stuff in my friends' garage so there will be more garage sales in my future!!

That weekend was crazy busy with my friend getting her ordination that Sunday and we threw her a surprise "Congrats" party after church. It was a lot of fun. Then on the holiday Monday a bunch of us headed south to go to the Seattle Zoo. It was so much fun and I LOVED it! I can't wait to take Ronel to the zoo...

This past weekend was a little more relaxed with a clean up day at my church and then a craft flea market where I found a couple things at a good price. After that, I got together with a couple friends and we stamped. Sunday afternoon we stamped some more and it was so relaxing and an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

This week I have been getting ready for our church's Ladies Retreat this weekend and trying to figure out what I am going to bring for food for myself as the retreat center can't provide gluten free meals. Then I return home on Sunday and head straight to my youngest sister's wedding! I know - I'm just a tad bit crazy but I couldn't miss a whole weekend away just for a Sunday afternoon wedding! Then yesterday I was home sick for the afternoon as I have been feeling nauseous since Monday and knew that I needed to take the afternoon to rest so that I will be better by this weekend. Today was a bit better but still a bit queasy. (No, there is no reason for the nausea! - that can't happen till July :P )

The countdown is getting closer - it is less than 2 months now and I am getting a bit more excited. In January it seemed SO FAR away and now it is more of a tangible date. Plus I got my summer schedule which helped cement in the fact that I am away for 3.5 weeks!! Now if I could just get some progress updates on Ronel's visa application. The website still says "Not Available" which means that the embassy hasn't even looked at it yet. It is a tad bit frustrating but we've been praying at minichurch that the right person would look at Ronel's file and that it will be approved A LOT FASTER than the 7 - 17 months that the CIC website says that visa applications are approved at the embassy in Port-au-Prince.

Well, I just wanted to update you....

Happy Mother's Day

to each and every one of you! I pray that you will enjoy your day and be surrounded by those who love you! And to those of you who have been a special part of my life - Thank you and may you be blessed as much as you are a blessing to those around you!

good news!!!

I got HAPPY MAIL today! I had an envelope from CIC(Citizenship & Immigration Canada) today and figured it was a confirmation of the arrival of my paperwork but it was SO MUCH BETTER!! It was a letter telling me that I have MET the requirements for eligibility as a sponsor and that Ronel's application for Permanent Residence has been forwarded to the Visa Office in Port-au-Prince. The letter is dated April 14th so that means that it was less than a month since the paperwork arrived and 10 days (not just business days!) since they started processing it! Praise the Lord!! Now if the next step can also go so quickly!
I have included a scan of the letter (with some highlighting and framing of the oh so important part!

ticker changes

Okay - so some of you will notice that the ticker at the top has changed. I did this so that I (and all of you) can see how long our file has been in process, and not just since it has been mailed. So the 36 days countdown for my approval process was only started 8 days ago and that means that IF all the paperwork was in order (and it should be!) that I should be approved to sponsor in just 28 more days - that is only 4 weeks!! Then the file will start the LONG process of getting approved at the visa office in Haiti.

waiting game...

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted anything!

Since mailing the paperwork there really hasn't been much going on. It is now just a big waiting game and I haven't heard ANYTHING from CPC-M (Case Processing Centre - Missisauga) and so I am just waiting to hear if I have been approved to sponsor. Once that has been decided, the file will go to the Visa office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Ronel's application for permanent residence will be assessed.

Okay - so while I was writing the above part I decided to go look at the CIC website and check out the application processing time. Well, there was a link to check your application process and so I went there and one of the ways you could log in was with your receipt number from the application payment. YEAH - so I logged in and this is what it says

We received your application to sponsor on March 13, 2008.

We started processing your application on April 4, 2008.

So the process has started and it says that the current processing time is 36 days for applications received up to March 13, 2008.

I looked at the link they provided about what this all means and my file is IN PROCESS - the following is the explanation given - to me this means that there are two steps in the "in process"

Application Received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
We have received your application and will review it in order of receipt. We will send you an acknowledgment letter.

Documentation Verified by CIC
We are reviewing your application to make sure it is complete and that no documents are missing. We will return incomplete applications for resubmission.

So, now with a little more info that before I started this post, I am still waiting and trying to listen to what God has to tell, show or teach me during this time. (And also counting down the days till I see Ronel in July!!)