Visa Interview Date!!

The U.S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro has received our approved visa petition and has FINALLY assigned us with an interview date:

JULY 8th, 2011!!!!!!

We are SO excited! Franchesco should have his visa in hand just a few days after that and will finally be able to come back to the United States! :) :) :)

First Two Weeks

Hi everyone! Tudo bem?!

I've been in Brazil for 2 weeks now and I've been very happy here :) Life here is more relaxed, the people are very friendly and family-oriented, and of course I love being close to Franchesco again!

Franchesco and I spent the first few days in Sao Paulo visiting with some of his friends and mostly taking it easy. We were also able to get some of the visa paperwork out of the way -- Franchesco had to see a doctor who is certified for the visa process (he couldn't do this in his city, so we're lucky he was able to take care of everything while we were in Sao Paulo), and get a few shots before he comes back to the United States. After Sao Paulo, we spent a week in Rio de Janeiro. The weather was cloudy/rainy most of the week, but we still got a couple good days of beach time at Copacabana and Ipanema beach :)

Cafe com leite at a famous padaria (bakery/cafe) in Sao Paulo -- Bella Paulista. You can see some traditional Brazilian foods in the glass case in the background :)



Enjoying coconut water at Ipanema beach -- Rio de Janeiro

After our week in Rio, Franchesco and I traveled to his city of Araxa in a state called Minas Gerais. His sister and brother-in-law picked us up at the airport and we arrived to his house close to 1am Saturday night/Sunday morning, where we were greeted by his parents. We all had a snack and coffee/hot chocolate before going to bed. Not only were we greeted by Franchesco's parents, but we also got to meet a new addition to the family, a little kitten 46 days old that they got just a couple of days before I arrived :) :) :) They told me that I could name her, so after a couple days of thinking we went with the name "Peach" since she kind of looks like a fuzzy round peach! As an added bonus, now everyone knows the English name for the fruit! She's smaller than she looks -- the hair is deceiving!



"Peach" -- also fondly known as "the baby," "bolinha de pelo (little ball of hair) and "fofinha (fluffy)"

 As I said, everyone here is very family oriented. The first day I was here, we went to a birthday party for Franchesco's cousin's daughter (Alicia, 5 years). The party was at his uncle's farm, it's common for families in his town to have another house a little further outside of town where they have a small farm with plants and animals. I got to see avocado trees, coffee, pineapple, mango, sugar cane and more...it was pretty cool! My favorite were the avocados (they are huge here!)...I wanted to bring them all home with me! Aside from the party we have spent the last couple of days hanging out around Franchesco's house. His sister and brother-in-law come over to the house everyday for lunch during their break from work, and they come over in the evening sometimes to hang out too. The other day they taught me a card game that is very popular here...I'm looking forward to playing again!

Avocado tree :) Mmmmmm

This was a pretty quick update of what we've been up to, but I promise to update everyone with more details and pictures later. Tchau!

Making Progress :)

Reception Venue......check!
Food/Drinks/Cake......check!
Photography......check!
Flowers......check!
Dress......check!
DJ......check!

Feeling good :)

The Weekend

I am so happy today knowing that the first big step of our visa application process is over! Now we just need to have some patience, but in the next couple of weeks we will know when the interview is scheduled for so we can know when Franchesco will be able to come back to the U.S. finally begin to plan our future!

That's not to say that i haven't been planning all along....because I've been thinking about our wedding a lot :)

Next up for today: I'm hoping to go to Lancaster again today (long drive...but totally better driving there from Harrisburg than having to make a trip out from Minneapolis!). I have an appointment with Tony Gibble Photography and I'm stopping by to talk to the florist (Splints & Daisies) again. I also plan to stop by the Park City Mall and the Lancaster Outlets while I'm in the area :) The rest of the weekend will be filled with family and friends, with a party at our house tomorrow and plans to go out downtown with all the cousins! It's my last couple of days before I go to BRAZIL!!!

Here's a few pictures of floral things that I'm super excited about :)

I love this picture (above) because the flowers were done by Splints & Daisies, the picture was taken by Tony Gibble Photography, and it was from a wedding at The Cork Factory Hotel :)

I showed Tara, from Splints & Daisies, the above centerpiece picture and she has done something very similar, with small tealight candles hanging from the branches in little holders. It's going to be so pretty!

Thanks for reading!!

Our visa petition was approved!!!!!!!!!

I just got an email from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at 11:15pm tonight saying that our Visa petition was approved!!! After 6 months of waiting!! The official letter went out in the mail today!!! I'm SOOO happy! :) :) :)

This doesn't mean that Franchesco has his Visa yet, but it means that our paperwork will be sent to the National Visa Center and from there sent to the U.S. Embassy in Rio de Janeiro where they will schedule an interview for Franchesco. On the day of the interview we should find out if he will get the visa, and a few days later Franchesco will have his visa in hand and be able to travel to the United States :)

There is an average of 18 days between our petition approval (NOA2) and the Consulate recieving our information from the National Visa Center (NVC).

Then there is an average of 66 days until the actual interview date. However, the average for applicants from Brazil is actually a little shorter than the national average, with 46 days between the Consulate receiving our information and the interview date.

Based on the averages, and if all goes as planned (which hopefully it will!), Franchesco should have his interview in Rio de Janeiro by July 8th! It will only help our case that I will be able to attend the interview with him (think Sandra Bullock in "The Proposal" hahaha!)

We are so happy!!!!!

9 months :)

Only 9 months left until our wedding!!

I'm back home in Pennsylvania this week and I've been meeting with vendors and working on getting some planning out of the way before I go to Brazil. On Monday, Mom went with me to Lancaster to see The Cork Factory Hotel with me for the first time, and we also met with Leslie Gilbert Photography (www.lesliegilbertphotography.com/) and a florist called Splints & Daisies (www.splintsanddaisies.com/). Leslie Gilbert actually photographed Graham Spanier's (the president of Penn State) daughter's wedding in Paris! All of her pictures are beautiful!!

I am also hoping to meet with Tony Gibble Photography (http://tonygibblephotography.com/) this week as well as find a location for our wedding ceremony. I was busy today making a lot of phone calls :)