Our Wedding Date
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Our days are numbered...
Well, Franchesco physically has his visa in hand (after 8 months...it feels like a miracle!) and in another 10 days we'll be making our way back to the United States!
We'll be spending this upcoming week in Araxa, and next Monday we'll be flying to Sao Paulo to spend the last couple of days there visiting with friends. Our flights leave from Sao Paulo to New York on Wednesday 7/27, and we arrive in New York on the morning of the 28th. Unfortunately we have to go on separate flights, since the flight I originally booked before coming to Brazil is now ridiculously expensive...like 'close-to-three-thousand-dollars' expensive! We're planning to rent a car at JFK airport and spend the day in/around NYC, and then drive back to PA that evening. Hopefully we're not too tired from the overnight flight!
Engagement party is planned for that weekend while we're back in PA :)
Save-the-Dates and lots of stamps have been ordered and will be going out in the mail the first week of August when we get back home to Minneapolis, at which point there will only be 6 months until the wedding!
Things I'm looking forward to about being back in MN:
We'll be spending this upcoming week in Araxa, and next Monday we'll be flying to Sao Paulo to spend the last couple of days there visiting with friends. Our flights leave from Sao Paulo to New York on Wednesday 7/27, and we arrive in New York on the morning of the 28th. Unfortunately we have to go on separate flights, since the flight I originally booked before coming to Brazil is now ridiculously expensive...like 'close-to-three-thousand-dollars' expensive! We're planning to rent a car at JFK airport and spend the day in/around NYC, and then drive back to PA that evening. Hopefully we're not too tired from the overnight flight!
Engagement party is planned for that weekend while we're back in PA :)
Save-the-Dates and lots of stamps have been ordered and will be going out in the mail the first week of August when we get back home to Minneapolis, at which point there will only be 6 months until the wedding!
Things I'm looking forward to about being back in MN:
- Bringing my kitty Gabby back home (BIG shout out to Alicia, Amanda and Steph for taking care of her for me the past couple of months and for letting her stay at your apartment! I wouldn't have been able to take this trip without you - I owe you!!) --- also Happy Birthday to Gabby!! She turns 2 today :)
- Getting settled back into my old apartment and getting all my things out of storage and organized
- HAVING FRANCHESCO BACK WITH ME :) :) :) :) :)
- Using my cell phone again!
- Finding a new job
- Buying a car
- Enjoying the beautiful Minnesota summer weather! (Yes, I've been in Brazil the last couple of months...and the weather is nice here, but it's winter. Average temps are in the 70's during the day and much cooler at night...jeans and sweatshirt weather...not summer shorts and tank top weather)
- More wedding planning! And I miss my wedding books/magazines so I can't wait to look at all those again...
Friday, July 8, 2011
VISA APPROVED!!!
We just got back from our interview, and Franchesco's visa was approved! We are so happy!! :)
The whole process only took about 2 hours, a lot less than I was expecting. Our hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the US Embassy (we didn't even realize that when we booked the hotel, so we got lucky!) We arrived around 6:45am and waited outside until it was a little closer to our 7:15 appointment and the security guards allowed us to go inside. Turns out we were the only people there for a fiance visa today, so we immediately got to go in a small room to have one of the officers check that we had all of the required documents. We had to fill out a couple of new papers and check that all the forms were in the correct order for the officer to review them.
After they checked our papers, we thought it would be just a very short wait until our interview, but we sat in the waiting room for about an hour or maybe a little longer. Finally Franchesco's name was called for us to go into the interview room. We went inside and they took Franchesco's fingerprints, and then he was asked if he swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; to which he answered "Yup." I have to say his first response was starting to make me nervous about the upcoming questions!
The officer then asked how Franchesco and I met, what Franchesco studied at the University of Minnesota, where he plans to work when he's back in the US, and also asked me about my job and what I plan to do when we're back in Minnesota. Just 4 questions....and then he said we were APPROVED!
Such a relief! Now we just have to wait a maximum of 10 business days for Franchesco's passport and visa to come in the mail, and he's free to enter the United States anytime :)
These past 8 months have been a long wait, but definitely worth it!
The whole process only took about 2 hours, a lot less than I was expecting. Our hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the US Embassy (we didn't even realize that when we booked the hotel, so we got lucky!) We arrived around 6:45am and waited outside until it was a little closer to our 7:15 appointment and the security guards allowed us to go inside. Turns out we were the only people there for a fiance visa today, so we immediately got to go in a small room to have one of the officers check that we had all of the required documents. We had to fill out a couple of new papers and check that all the forms were in the correct order for the officer to review them.
After they checked our papers, we thought it would be just a very short wait until our interview, but we sat in the waiting room for about an hour or maybe a little longer. Finally Franchesco's name was called for us to go into the interview room. We went inside and they took Franchesco's fingerprints, and then he was asked if he swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; to which he answered "Yup." I have to say his first response was starting to make me nervous about the upcoming questions!
The officer then asked how Franchesco and I met, what Franchesco studied at the University of Minnesota, where he plans to work when he's back in the US, and also asked me about my job and what I plan to do when we're back in Minnesota. Just 4 questions....and then he said we were APPROVED!
Such a relief! Now we just have to wait a maximum of 10 business days for Franchesco's passport and visa to come in the mail, and he's free to enter the United States anytime :)
These past 8 months have been a long wait, but definitely worth it!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
INTERVIEW TOMORROW!!!!!
Our interview for Franchesco's visa is tomorrow at 7:15am! I can't believe it! We thought this day would never come! We've been waiting over 8 months and now we're almost there.
We should have an answer tomorrow, so I'll update everyone as soon as the interview is done, but we will most likely be at the U.S. Embassy all morning.
Sooo excited but also feeling nervous!
Wish us luck :)
We should have an answer tomorrow, so I'll update everyone as soon as the interview is done, but we will most likely be at the U.S. Embassy all morning.
 |
| US Embassy in Rio de Janeiro |
Sooo excited but also feeling nervous!
Wish us luck :)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Message Boards
Today I discovered the Central Pennsylvania message boards on http://www.theknot.com/. I could REALLY spend a lot of time there! Everything from venue/vendor recommendations to items for sale from past weddings. So fun!
Another random thought, but I LOVE this eye makeup for my bridesmaids. I think it would look lovely with purple bridesmaids dresses, what do you think?!
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Another random thought, but I LOVE this eye makeup for my bridesmaids. I think it would look lovely with purple bridesmaids dresses, what do you think?!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
1 Month Left
Only 1 more month until we're back in Pennsylvania...
p.s. - Check out this picture of us from Valentine's Day that was posted on a local website here in Araxa:
http://www.agitoaraxa.com.br/coberturas/copa-bar-e-restaurante/1647
p.s. - Check out this picture of us from Valentine's Day that was posted on a local website here in Araxa:
http://www.agitoaraxa.com.br/coberturas/copa-bar-e-restaurante/1647
Monday, June 27, 2011
On my mind - Part II
Update on wedding plans...
Where to begin? Well, the past day or so I've been starting to stress a little bit about travel plans for Franchesco's family and friends in Brazil. We need to try to figure out who/how many people are coming, when they are coming, where they are visiting (Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota) and how long they are staying, etc. Not very easy stuff to figure out! Franchesco and I talked about it all yesterday and started looking at flights, so we're working on it but I'm sure it'll be a while until all the details are nailed down. As if wedding planning wasn't difficult enough, throw in international guests and long-distance planning from Minnesota! I'm confident we'll figure it all out eventually!
After we know when and where our guests will be traveling, we can start to figure out the dates and locations for other events like the bachelor/bachelorette parties and the rehearsal dinner. We also need to figure out invitations, but I think we've decided that we will get all the invitations printed in English, but include additional information with a translation and flight information for everyone in Brazil. Speaking of invitations -- I should be ready to order Save-the-Dates any day now, and I'll be sending them once we're back in the US :)
Another detail we're still working on is the ceremony location, but I'm definitely leaning toward doing both the ceremony and the reception at The Cork Factory Hotel. It just seems to make sense since we don't have a connection to a church in the area, and it's going to be winter and would be so nice if everyone could go inside and stay inside for the entire evening. I think it would be really beautiful if we lined the aisle with candles for the ceremony, perfect for a winter evening!
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I swear that I had more things on my mind earlier today, but I think I've forgotten some of them :) I'll leave you with this for now, but expect to see more updates soon!
Where to begin? Well, the past day or so I've been starting to stress a little bit about travel plans for Franchesco's family and friends in Brazil. We need to try to figure out who/how many people are coming, when they are coming, where they are visiting (Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota) and how long they are staying, etc. Not very easy stuff to figure out! Franchesco and I talked about it all yesterday and started looking at flights, so we're working on it but I'm sure it'll be a while until all the details are nailed down. As if wedding planning wasn't difficult enough, throw in international guests and long-distance planning from Minnesota! I'm confident we'll figure it all out eventually!
After we know when and where our guests will be traveling, we can start to figure out the dates and locations for other events like the bachelor/bachelorette parties and the rehearsal dinner. We also need to figure out invitations, but I think we've decided that we will get all the invitations printed in English, but include additional information with a translation and flight information for everyone in Brazil. Speaking of invitations -- I should be ready to order Save-the-Dates any day now, and I'll be sending them once we're back in the US :)
Another detail we're still working on is the ceremony location, but I'm definitely leaning toward doing both the ceremony and the reception at The Cork Factory Hotel. It just seems to make sense since we don't have a connection to a church in the area, and it's going to be winter and would be so nice if everyone could go inside and stay inside for the entire evening. I think it would be really beautiful if we lined the aisle with candles for the ceremony, perfect for a winter evening!
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