Going to the embassy...

Tomorrow morning (EARLY) Ronel will be heading into Port au Prince to get the last piece of paperwork that the embassy asked for and then he will be heading to the embassy to drop it all off. If he can't get the paperwork in time, he will be staying in Port until Thursday when he can again go to the embassy (they have specific days & times for doing certain things)

Please pray that everything will go well and that he can drop off the paperwork Monday and not have to spend the week in Port au Prince. He has not been feeling well for the past couple of weeks (back pains) and is just starting to feel better and I would much rather he be able to spend the week at home resting rather than in Port trying to get into the embassy to drop off our paperwork!! Also please be praying that this will be all the paperwork they require and that the rest of the process will go quickly!! Please be continuing to pray that they won't require Ronel to redo his medical (it should have expired on November 5th, but they didn't mention him having to redo it in the letter they sent us) Not having to redo it would save us a good chunk of money as well as time!!!

I let you know how it went as soon as I hear from Ronel!

clarity...

Okay - so going over my past posts I realized that I never said where I was moving and so I thought I would explain my new living arrangement!

I have moved in with good friends of mine -- they are like family to me. There are 5 of us in the house (soon to be 6!) There are Eli & Terri along with their 8 month old son Willem (and they are expecting their second son in April), Terri's mom, Lynnette and myself. It is great living here (especially since I spent a lot of time here anyways!!) and is a total blessing!

Terri, Eli & I also work together -- (just to keep it clear!)

finally settling in

Whew --- after a long day of work, most of my bedroom is now unpacked! I only have 6 Rubbermaid bins left to go through and sort into however I decide to store the stuff in there that I end up keeping. (These are the boxes I didn't go through and sort & junk before I moved... I just ran out of time) I am really liking my set up and am thinking about painting my room -- I want one accent wall that is a dark chocolate colour and then the rest of the walls would be a light green colour (maybe like a light olive-y green??) with most of the accents in the room being white. I went to Ikea on Friday night and purchased 2 adorable bedside tables which are white, a new opaque glass table lamp for my bedside table and a new light cover for the main light as it is currently just a plain bulb. Last weekend I got my computer set up and then we got the internet cord down from upstairs (through my ceiling!) into my bedroom. Terri & I had already started to organize the craft room the same weekend that I moved in (We knew our priorities!) and still have a little bit to do before that is completely finished.

It is nice to have my room settled into before Christmas!

status update

So, after doing a little more searching on the CIC website - it seems like we are slowly progressing down the list. Where I have italicized and put in purple seems to be about where we are now. The embassy has asked for a couple more pieces of documentation and would like Ronel to redo his police check and also update some of the documentation since he filled it out a year ago.

So, once we get past this step, it looks like they may then call him in for an interview and then the next step will be the decision! This is where they say they check the medical results so this may be where they tell us if Ronel has to redo his medical exam or not, but I am currently taking it as a good sign that they didn't mention it in the letter they sent to Ronel as it was dated only 6 days before his exam was to expire.

What I am looking forward to is the step way at the bottom in GREEN which is when our application will be complete and Ronel will be here in BC as a permanent resident of Canada!


Status of Application

IN PROCESS
(A decision has not been made yet.)

Explanation
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.

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.

Status of Application
DECISION MADE
(A decision has been made at this point.)

Explanation
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.

Status of Application
COMPLETE
(This is the last step in the processing of your application.)

Explanation
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.

Happy Anniversary to my double cabbage!

Happy 2nd Anniversary Ronel!
I can't believe it has been two years already since I walked down the aisle and became your wife! I wish that I was able to be with you today, but hearing your voice was great! (even at 3am!) I love you and know that someday soon we will be together and not just for a short period of time either, but for the rest of our lives! I know that the future holds so much for us and that we will be stronger as a couple because of what we have been through over these past 2 years. Thank you for your patience, your gentleness, your willingness to follow what you know God has for you & I - even though it has meant being apart for so long. Thank you for your love of ironing!!! Thank you for your smile - it always brightens my day.
Babe - one day soon, I hope that I can have a photo of you with YOUR luggage as you head for the airport on your way to Canada!!!

I love you so much and pray that all our paperwork will be done soon so you can come home and meet all of our family and friends who are waiting for you!

m'renmen ou anpil mari'm e m'ap tann ou!!

toujou madamn ou!

some news from Haiti!

I got a call this morning from Ronel (at 3:18am my time!!) telling me he had some news. Well, since it was the middle of the night here, I told him I would call him back (and he was calling from his cell which was almost out of minutes) So, after school was done (for him) I called him - wished him a Happy Anniversary (which I hadn't even thought about at 3am!) and asked what his news was. Well, he received a letter from the Canadian Embassy about his case. They need a few more pieces of info (basically to update his file - since he filled out the paperwork a year ago) They didn't say anything about the medical exam so I'm hoping that they are just going with the one they have. This means that someone has actually LOOKED at his file and looked over all our paperwork, so the fact that they only need these couple of things is promising to me!

There are a couple of things I need to send to him for him to take to the embassy - copies of my passport pages with the entry & exit stamps of my trips and copies of all our emails - well we don't email anymore, we just talk on the phone so I've compiled all my Skype records to send down. Thankfully, I can just scan & email all those to Karen and she is willing to print them out and pass them along to Ronel which will make the process that much faster (hopefully!)

It made a ordinary day much better and put me in a much better mood (though I'm still trying to pack and move so....)

Happy 2nd Anniversary Ronel! I love you and can't wait till we get to live in the same country!!!!

lack of posts....

I'm sorry I've been such a bad poster! Life has been crazy busy - both at work and at home.
At work - we've been short staffed and have had a couple big events at church which took lots of time to prep for. Also, I'm moving December 1st and so have been trying to pack and go through all my stuff. I've also been making my girlfriend's wedding invitations. They look great and I'm really pleased with how they are turning out as one of the techniques on them is one I hadn't done before!

On a immigration note - Ronel's medical exam has now expired and there has been no progress with his paperwork so now we are at a standstill as we are not sure of what to do and I've emailed the visa office in Port-au-Prince to ask what we're supposed to do and am waiting for a response. This has been hard because it is highly unlikely Ronel will be here before my 30th birthday in Feb which was kind of my "deadline" in my head. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as it is getting harder and harder for us to be apart.

from the heart

I've been avoiding posting anything because I'm having a hard time dealing with being apart from Ronel and I don't really have much to say other than that.

Since I've been home from Haiti, I've been calling Ronel nightly - even if it is only to say goodnight and to say "I love you". I really thought that this trip would make the waiting a little easier but it has now had the opposite effect - We are both totally done and most nights one, if not both of us end up crying before we hang up. If I thought it would help, I wouldn't call every day but I know that it wouldn't help either of us, it would only make things worse! I have even begun checking the CIC application status site daily hoping & praying that the status will have changed from the day before.

I'm having a hard time because it isn't like I don't believe that God is still in charge of this whole process and I still believe that this was and IS God's plan for Ronel & I, but this isn't what married life is supposed to be. I'm not meant to be separated from my husband for more than 20 months, with no end date in sight. The fact that it is getting harder for Ronel as well is also making it harder for me - Ronel has been the one with the most patience and confidence through this whole thing and it is now wearing on him, and it is quite obvious even over the phone. My mom overheard our conversation tonight (it is over my computer and I use a microphone & speakers so anyone within hearing can hear Ronel) and she came back after I said goodbye and asked what was wrong. Without understanding what Ronel was saying, she could tell by the sound of his voice that something was wrong.

I don't doubt that Ronel will one day get his visa and be able to come to Canada, but it is when that one day will happen. I want to start life together with the man I love, I want to start a family, I want to kiss my husband goodnight and to tell him I love him in person. I want to introduce him to my family & friends. I want to go to church with Ronel, at my home church. I want to set up a home with Ronel. I want to come home to my husband after work.

so please keep praying for us and the paperwork process. It is getting harder but that just means that we need your prayers even more!


--- if you made it this far... wow! I know it was a long post and a vent at that, but that is where I am at right now.

And I will get more stories and photos from my trip to Haiti up soon!

adoption

Saturday when I was home sick, I watched a show on domestic adoptions in Canada and learned that there are over 22,000 (yes that would be twenty two THOUSAND) children who are waiting to be adopted in Canada. I cried alot during that show on Saturday and it reminded me of a conversation I had in Haiti with Chris & Leslie who are in the process of adopting in Haiti where they live. Chris really brought back to my attention domestic adoptions and that there are children here who are waiting for forever families. Well, tonight while I was doing some other things online I decided to look up some more info about domestic adoptions in BC especially and the ministry of children & family's website has a list of children waiting to be placed - there are more than a 1000 children right here in BC who need a family! Well, you can pick a name and learn more about the child and reading through some of the profiles I started crying! I just want to take them all in and give them a loving home!! But it really started stirring up my heart and reminding me that there are children right here who need a family! Who knows what the future has in store for Ronel & I but we both are quite open to adoption and we had always thought it would be from Haiti but now who knows!!

Anyways - I just wanted to let you all know what is going through my head and ask you to pray for us that God would reveal quite clearly to us what HIS PLAN for us is in this area (well, really in all areas, but especially in this area!)

Have a great night! (oh and please keep Haiti in your prayers as they are having more rain as there is a tropical low pressure system above them right now! (It isn't yet a tropical depression or even a storm yet but could still cause flooding and other damage to an already struggling country! )

Finally, stories from my trip to Haiti

Okay, so I decided that it is finally time to tell you some stories from my trip.

It started off smoothly with my good friend dropping me off at the Vancouver airport for my LONG trip... first stop was in Dallas, then onto Atlanta where the problems started! I arrived in Atlanta at 1:30am and was scheduled to leave at 6am. I woke up from what can barely be called a nap at about 5am and went looking for a bathroom. On the way, I came across a lady from my previous flight and she asked me if I was on my way to Miami. I said yes, and she said that our flight had been CANCELLED! What! So the two of us went out to the ticket counter and had to wait to see what could be done.

I had been rescheduled for a flight that was supposed to leave at about 2pm. This meant that I was going to be missing my connection in Miami and I needed to contact Ronel and tell him that I would not be at the airport at noon. I couldn't get through to Haiti on my cell so I tried calling my mom to get her to call Ronel on Skype. I bought a calling card and tried to call my mom but since it was only 4am in BC, she didn't answer. But, needing to get through to Ronel, I called my youngest sister and asked her to keep trying to call Mom to get her to check her mesages. Well, it turned out that Leslie had to drive over to Mom's and wake her up. She send me a text message once Mom was awake and I called her so that I could help her get through to Ronel. It was quite interesting being able to hear my mom, sister and Ronel all at the same time but Ronel was not able to hear me. So knowing that Ronel knew I would be late I set out to wait for my next flight.

Well, it got delayed and ended up leaving almost an hour late which meant that I arrived in Miami like 15 minutes before my flight to Miami was supposed to board. So I rushed down to the next gate only to find out that the flight to Haiti was also delayed!! (not that it was a huge surprise! Flights to Haiti out of Miami are frequently delayed! This is one reason I prefer to fly through Fort Lauderdale!) So we finally boarded the plane only to sit on the tarmac as some lady searched for a missing purse. At one point, the flight attendant came on over the loudspeaker and said to everyone that if they didn't all sit down and we left within 10 minutes that we wouldn't be leaving that day! Well that got people's attention and soon we were on our way!

We arrived in Haiti about 5:30pm - only 2 hours after my rescheduled arrival and almost 6 hours after my original time. I was surprised at the changes to the Port-au-Prince airport and was quickly through immigration and at the carousel waiting for my luggage. My carry-on came out quickly (they had gate checked it in Miami) and then one of my two checked bags. I waited and waited for the second and as the bags dwindled, it became clear that my bag was not arriving. So I went over to the counter to report my missing bag and was given a number to call the next morning. I then went through customs and headed for the outside. As soon as I got through the doors I saw Ronel's smiling face and that totally made my day! I was so thankful to see Ronel that it almost made the long journey and missing bag okay! (but not quite!) We greeted each other (I'll spare you the detail! ;P) and then I greeted Jean Jean and Gerald and saw our niece and Ronel's youngest sister (she's 8) who had been visiting in Port au Prince with family. We then loaded into the truck and headed for home. -- funny side story -- When I told Ronel that one of my bags was missing and that it might be brought in the next morning, Ronel asked if I wanted him to spend the night in Port so he could pick it up in the morning. I quickly said "NO" The suitcase was not that important to me! And we'd figure something out the next day but we were definitely heading home together. I know he was only trying to help as it is almost a 4 hour trip to the airport but I just wanted my husband by my side.

We got to Borel about 9pm (which is late in Haiti) and headed straight to the house. This trip we stayed again in the same compound where we stayed after the wedding but a different house this time. This time we stayed in the house where I lived when I first moved to Borel to work with Karen & Kevan. It was kind of nice as it was a familiar space and this was where the previous missionaries had lived so it was quite americanized - fans in every room, it had an inverter (which meant that we had electricity even without the generator - as long as the batteries lasted) so the fans would still work at night and it was fully furnished.

Ronel & I unpacked and shortly after headed to bed. I was EXHAUSTED! and hadn't slept well in 2 nights. It was SO NICE to be back with my husband and just be able to curl up in his arms. Friday morning, Ronel kindly let me sleep in. We started what turned into our routine - just hanging out with each other and enjoying being together. Early afternoon we called the airport to find out that my luggage had arrived and we arranged for Marc (a good friend of ours) to head out early Saturday morning to pick it up for me (by early I mean 3:30am!!) He got the suitcase and got right back on the bus and came home - he got in about 4pm! As I said, he is a GOOD friend and a real blessing to us! When I opened my suitcase, I discovered that it had been opened and items had been stolen - some of which were gifts for Ronel, others were items for me - like my conditioner! Atleast they didn't take my shampoo!!

Friday afternoon about 3pm we headed up to the orphange to see "my kids". It was so fun to see their faces when they saw me. Moyiz just came running down the driveway calling my name with the biggest smile on his face. All the kids were so happy to see me and it turns out that they didn't know that I was even coming to Haiti so it was a total surprise! The staff were also happy to see me and all of them asked me when I was coming back to live and work there. It was so nice to see them but also reminded me that God had called me back to BC and that it was no longer the place that God had for me.

Okay - so that is my first 3 days and I'll be back with more stories and photos....