Warten auf meinen Pass - waiting to get my passport back

Again I am waiting but this time it really should be short. My interview at the embassy went  well and my visa papers with my passport should be on the way.
Bob is busy preparing for our wedding on 30th August 2011 . Finally we are inviting a few friends and even maybe some of Bobs children might come.

I am happy that Bob decided to have the wedding at his old church in Bridgewater in Beaver County.

Tomorrow I will write something in German .. its too late now ..

love
Martha

Okay .. es sind zwei Tage draus geworden.
Heute kam schon mal nichts an, deshalb gilt es weiter zu warten, naemlich, dass die Amerikanische Botschaft meine Unterlagen abgeschickt hat. Mein Interview ist gut verlaufen und ich bin schon mal darueber riesig froh.
Bob ist beschaeftigt unsere Hochzeit auszurichten. Es wird .. wenn ich hoffentlich rechtzeitig ankomme .. ha ha .. am 30. August stattfinden. Bob hat die Kirche in Bridgwater ausgesucht, wo schon seine Eltern geheiratet haben.

Ich freue mich, wenn es endlich soweit ist und ich abfliegen kann. 

visit in Frankfurt

Yesterday I was in Frankfurt to get my physical which is needed for my visa. I got it! Gosh .. was I scared. First of all of the traffic to and in a big city like Frankfurt. I am a country girl and love nature so I felt a bit like Heidi.
The good part was: I found a friend there and she took wonderful care of me.

Out of my sight it was a loving sign of God that he is helping me. Out of nowhere I found that long lost friend Waldi, actually she found me on facebook. So facebook has very good parts too.
She is living on the outskirts of Frankfurt in a nice little house together with her old age mother. So I went there on Sunday evening and we had a wonderful time chatting to make up for the lost years, and I guess we are not ready yet .. ha ha ..
anyway, I have to go to Frankfurt at least once more for my interview at the Embassy and sure enough I have to go a day ahead again. I would not make it by car or train to be there in time. So God cares, nevertheless I was complaining because I did not see much help of Him in the past .. when my patience run low.

Bobs letter with the affidavit arrived yesterday, so I am ready for the next step.
The physical went well too .. no problems so far. But dear, you have to be healthy to immigrate to the States and lucky I am.

Bob send me some pics with his new camera  and they look great. The garden is prospering and I dont know how Bob did manage all that being hooked on oxygen all the time.
My poor car is totally neglected and I hope the warm weather is lasting a bit longer so I can take the top off and zoom around with it in fresh air.

I am more confident again that I will make it .. I lost it on the way.

es gibt neues zu berichten

wenn auch langsam, aber es geht voran. Inzwischen kam die Nachricht von der US Botschaft, dass ich einige Formulare ausfuellen muss und auch eine medizinische Untersuchung in einer Arztpraxis in Frankfurt brauche.
Es ist echt eine Prozedur bevor man nach Amerika darf.
Wenn ich nun noch meinen Termin bei der Botschaft fuer ein neuerliches Interview hab, kann es nicht mehr so lange dauern, aber wer weiss das denn???
Bob hat Hoffnung, dass ich um ca. Mitte August ankomme .. oder frueher??
Eine alte Freundin, die ich erst vor kurzem in facebook wiederentdeckt habe, ist die Loesung und ein Geschenk Gottes. Sie wohnt direkt in Frankfurt und sie bot mir an, bei ihr zu uebernachten, dadurch muss ich nicht in aller Fruehe mit dem Zug oder Auto im Stress los fahren.
Der Termin beim Arzt ist am Montag. Es dauert ca. 2 -3 Tage bis es zur Botschaft kommt. Vorher passiert gar nichts. Auch warte ich noch auf einen Brief von Bob, der beweist, dass wir verlobt sind und wirklich heiraten wollen.
Ich melde mich wieder.

Gruss von
Martha

if only we had known

I should actually write a story about our latest situation.
Bob and I live together since April 2002. First in Obersontheim, then in Gaildorf.
In July 2010 Bob went back to the States because of his health problem and bought a house there for us to live together.
When I joined Bob in October last year, after I came back from India, where I work in a charity, I went on a regular ESTA visa. Since in Germany we did not think it necessary to get married, we never thought it will become a problem in USA.

Soon we found out there is no possibility to extend a ESTA visa, so we went to Pittsburgh Immigration office. There a officer told us to get a tourist visa at Frankfurt, which I did immediately after arriving back in Germany for my visit to India. This was on 19th January 2011.
Telling the truth about our situation, that I want to stay with Bob and want to go back asap since his health is in a bad condition with needing oxygen 24/7, the consul in Frankfurt US Embassy denied me the tourist visa, telling, I am no Tourist. I begged and pleaded to let me go since Bob needs me .. he was unable to do it. For what reason?? because I was too honest, so he said you need to immigrate. I told him I have my business here, my apartment .. and don't want to immigrate .. he did not believe me.

Then the trouble started.
It is not possible to go to the States once you got a denial. What was to be done??

Bob could not come back in his health condition, so we could have got married here and left for the States as his wife.
Next best would be to ask for me as his fiancee. This we did.

Bob put in his health record from his Lung Specialist. On 8th March 2011 we got permission of expeditious procedure from the UCSIS in Vermont where we applied the I-129F Fiancee Visa K1 end of February.

Then some evidence was missing which Bob sent to them immediately but it took more precious time. Finally on 30th June the petition was approved for the K1 Visa file Number:  EAC 1190127292

It went first to the National Visa Center in Portsmouth. A nice person from the Embassy in Frankfurt told me via e-mail it will take about one weeks time from there to go to the Immigrant Visa Unit in Frankfurt and will be handled proiority. I am very happy to have heard at least its progressing.

Lately Bob got very upset on waiting for such a long time. Every small chore turns out to be an ordeal for him, since his lungs are not working well and he gets out of breath after a few steps. He needs me badly.
 I try anything to get attention because the waiting is eating up our nerves. More over we are losing precious life time. More then 6 month we are separated now and when I left him in January I felt bad for leaving him only for 2 month. But I need to check on India at least twice a year.
Lucky my administrator Bindu in India, is a very capable woman and she can manage quite well for some time without me and we are in contact via internet at all times.

So many people pray for our situation and thank God, we managed till here, but it gets more and more desperate by the day.
It should not take too much longer now, but I have no idea what else it needs until I can join Bob again.

I need to get a ticket too as soon I have the permission to leave .. its no good to get it before, even they are terribly expensive right now.

I had to write that down now .. I am so disappointed and desperate  because I expected mail from the Embassy latest today. The constant waiting is making me so weak, that sometimes I feel I cannot manage any longer. The worries about Bob almost kills me. If I could not trust in God, that He will care for both of us .. I would have given up long time ago.
If only we had known the terrible ordeal .. we sure had married a long time ago, since we love and miss each other dearly.

I sure hope I can write a positive message here soon.

Thanks to all of you who care and pray.

Martha
and Bob

warte immer noch - still waiting

If I counted right, there should come a message from the Embassy in Frankfurt telling me what to do next. They told me in a recent mail, there office will take priority care. But who knows what is priority??

if you look close, there is a beautiful hummingbird drinking

below the deck?

Day lilies along the garage

Rose of Sharon

unser eigener Wein!!!

hier ein paar Eindruecke aus unserem Garten. Bob schafft daran, aber es kostet ihm unendlich viel Kraft und er sehnt sich, dass ich bald komme und ihm helfe.

Eigentlich sollte diese Woche noch Nachricht von der Botschaft in Frankfurt kommen.

waiting again - weiteres warten

The letter arrived .. but the waiting is not ending yet. The further instructions told us to wait for an answer from the US Embassy in Frankfurt. So here I am again: WAITING!

Its an endless story .. and still I hope to go and join Bob soon. We are longing for each other ... after being separated for more then 6 Month now.
Tough times go but tough people stay.

Der Brief ist angekommen, aber das Warten hat immer noch kein Ende. Nun muss ich auf Antwort von der US Botschaft in Frankfurt warten.

Es ist die unendliche Geschichte und ich hoffe sehr, dass ich bald bei Bob sein darf. Wir vermissen uns sehr nachdem wir nun mehr als 6 Monate getrennt sind.

Harte Zeiten gehen, aber starke Menschen bestehen.
Freunde haben mich eingeladen, die Zeit zu verkuerzen ... Danke

good news

Es ist tatsaechlich geschehen: Die Immigrations in Vermont haben unseren Alien-Fiancee Antrag genehmigt!!!
Angeblich wurde es am 30. Juni an Bob geschickt. Da heute ein Feiertag ist - 4. July Unabhaengigkeits Tag- kann es fruehestens Morgen ankommen.. Bob ist jedoch noch sehr skeptisch, da die US Post eine snale mail ist.

Also noch etwas Geduld, bevor wir eindeutig wissen, wie es weiter geht ...  auf jeden Fall ist es schon mal GENEHMIGT!!!

Ich bin happy. Meine Hoffnung ist nun, dass die weitere Prozedur nicht unnoetig kompliziert wird .. . also weiter Hoffen und Beten.

Es duerfte aber nun abzusehen sein. :)

here the original message:

On June 30, 2011, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

Now we have to wait until the US Post will bring the letter. I cant tell how happy I am.
Praise the LORD.