[return]
Minnesota Update #5
June 28, 2004
Here we are! The fifth update!
First and foremost, hats off to the Flames for a great season! It was disappointing for me to see them not take the Cup home, but considering that all I wanted them to do was beat the Canucks, I'm more than happy. I was able to get many hours of jersey wearing in which was a nice change.
Secondly, thanks to my mom for being so kind as to replace my digital camera. It's amazing how key it can be when keeping in touch with family and friends. This update is made possible by the Kodak camera. Thanks mom!
WEDDING PLANS
Many things have been planned for the wedding. As of now, all the major items have been taken care of.
Cake - we found a lady who makes cakes as a hobby and is going to craft our special dessert for us. Since she does this on her own, it's a lot more affordable than going through a company. Here's a picture of her dog/creature.
Photography - Andrew (who I'm staying with) is going to be our main photographer, which we're really excited about. Initially, we wanted to avoid the friendship-and-business thing, but after doing a lot of thinking, we're much happier with having him do it. He's incredibly talented and we're looking forward to see his photos. ALSO, we're very excited to have Robin as an assistant photographer. Robin - Sarah and I are very excited that not only are you coming, but that we have you ever-increasing photography skill at our wedding. We're looking forward to see all the incredible photos you'll take.
Emcee - Who else? Dave Boyle. Yuh! Jur-bur-ba-lurb! Shweh? Whatevah.
Reception Site - done
Wedding Site - done
Wedding Dress - done
Honeymoon - Sarah's parents were nice enough to send us away for a week at Breezy Point resort as a wedding gift. It's going to be nice having a single week of doing nothing. And hopefully by that time, we'll be done with our immigration stuff as well, which will make it doubly nice. Sarah has stated that the week is going to be a nerd-device-free week. I'm not sure if I'll be able to cope. Eric can feel my pain, right? ;)
Tuxedos - The tuxes have been picked out. You'll want to see the photos too, because the groomsmen are going to look SEXY ! (except for Bissell because he's always 'deeeead seeeexy').
Despite all the stuff we've done, there's still a ton to do, but we're really enjoying the process. Speaking of processes:
IMMIGRATION PROCESS
Sarah and I meticulously filled out the many forms and gathered all the supporting documentation we thought we needed. We then met with Susan, our paralegal and spent a fruitful 3 hours with her as she poured over each form and let us know what we were missing.
Here's a picture of our forms:
(notice the finely machine-woven Persian carpet in the background)
As of right now, we're only missing a few things. One of which is a different version of my Birth Certificate (which is on it's way). Also, we found out that since Sarah didn't make enough money in the last 3 years (because of her being in college), we need to get a co-sponsor for me. We are right now talking with her father to see if he'd be willing to make this big decision.
Once these pieces are done, we can then go ahead and file our applications. We're looking at end of September for my work permits to be granted. Just in time for the wedding! :)
LIVING ESSENTIALS
 |
After looking for a while, Sarah and I have found an apartment! While it was tempting to live with her parents after the wedding, we just couldn't resist this place. Here's the scoop: Since we can only afford 1 car right now, we decided to look for an apartment within walking distance of either or our works (but not both :) ). After a bit of searching we found a place called Braemar Oaks (or Oaks Braemar, one of the two - we can never seem to remember). We looked at the apartment several times and thought about it extensively. In the end, we decided to jump on it and apply. The apartment complex is a very nice facility and is maintained very well. Each unit is also nice. When someone moves out, they do extensive cleaning and ensure everything is "back to normal". What's also nice is that they've slowly been going through all the units and renovating them. The one we applied for was an 'old' unit (they still look very nice) so we had the choice to leave it as-is, or have it renovated for an increased rent. We had to think about that as well, but felt we would be happier with the renovations. What do the renos include?
As you can see, there's a lot of improvements made, which makes our living space that much nicer. As of right now, they say our application went through without any problems and we're just waiting for the lease letter to arrive so that we can finalize the deal. Since they have to do all the work on the apartment, Sarah won't be able to move in until August 15 (they say). That's just fine, because without me having any income, Sarah living in the apartment earlier would have been too much rent. Plus, it gives us the chance to pack Sarah's stuff. |
 |
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST
Let's see what else has been going on:
- Sarah bought a kite. One of those ones that have two handles for tricks and stuff. There's an instruction CD-Rom that came with it. We tried flying it without reading the manual and crashed it several times :)
- Upper Room work has been going well. It's nice because my job doesn't consist of only making videos. For instance, the other week, Sarah and I taped an 8' printout of the San Domingo cross to a wooden cross. That took 5 hours that Saturday. Just today, I spent the entire day working with another guy making 6 7' boards with supports, painted black, to act as a large wall on which people are going to write on it with silver Sharpies. I'll let you know how it went.
- The wall went successfully! In fact, we're using it again this weekend, too. Here's a picture of it and a video I put together for the next service.
- Web Cams unite! Sarah bought us a webcam so that we could truly communicate with others (i.e. Dave right now). Here's the proof:
- Man, it's taking me a long time to get this update out. Last night we used the wall a second time. After the service, we got to destroy the thing and throw it out. I found two volunteers who wanted to bust the huge 7' boards apart. Here's a little clip, if you're interested:
OTHER PHOTOS AND STUFF
What would an update be without a number of random photos? Here we go!
 |
 |
|
| Sarah and I are in the process of church-shopping. This is one church we went to (Grace Church) and didn't quite feel warm and fuzzy. | A wall of water at the Mall of America Chinese Restaurant, with weird sea creature. | |
 |
 |
|
| This is Andrew and I. We're at the Edina Art Fair where Andrew had a booth setup to showcase his photography (behind us). | That bear doesn't look too happy about a little love. | |
 |
 |
|
|
"I could do that". - P.S. |
...Part of our application process requires us to take very specific types of pictures. 3/4 of the head, with the right ear exposed on a white background on specific film, and on and on and on..... | |
 |
 |
|
| Chris Boyle talking to Sarah and I over the webcam... | ...me talking back. :) | |
 |
 |
|
| Yeah! | Sarah and I were at a wedding (not ours) and the reception was at a country club. After dinner we went at walked along the golf course in our bare feet and watched the sunset. | |
 |
 |
|
| More free stuff - St. Paul Saints AAA baseball. The nice thing about these games is that they have so much stuff going on besides the game. So much, in fact, that you barely watch the game. | Such as a giant pillow fight that took place after the game in the outfield. | |
 |
 |
|
|
Even Gandalf was there! |
This is very random, but we found this picture at a site that sold various gifts and party supplied. Oddly enough, these glasses were filled under Wedding Reception Favors. | |