Visa Approved! England, here I come!

It only took 4 days for them to process my visa application. I got an email on Tuesday and received the visa in hand on Wednesday *insert gigantic smile here*

This coming week will be my last at work and then I will be very busy packing and getting ready to go. I've started Koda's paperwork and he will fly out a week ahead of me, so in 3 weeks I will put him on a plane (and bawling my eyes out) and then i'll follow the next week. The reason is he going before me is because there is a heat embargo, he can't fly if it's above 85 degrees outside (this is also the reason we are going sooner than originally planned, because it's already that temp now) so by sending him a week ahead it gives us that week to wait it out in the event it's too hot on the day I plan to send him.

I'm so excited and a bit overwhelmed - soooo much to do! but it's good stuff and a very long time coming!

UK Visa - Applied For!

I applied for my visa online on Friday, my biometrics appt is today at 11am, then i'm off to mail this giant packet of paperwork. When I say giant, I'm not kidding! I used a 3inch 3 ring binder and it's completely full, then you have to make copies of everything and send that too.  This is not going to be cheap to overnight lol but I dont care, it's worth it! I'm so excited/nervous/anxious. Cross your fingers for us and say a prayer, I'll keep you posted when I hear anything!!

You had Craig call your dentist? FROM ENGLAND?

This is the response I get when I tell this story, and it always makes me giggle. The day it happened, it was not funny at all! 3 weeks ago Friday I had a tissue graft done. My gums that cover my bottom front teeth was receded badly, so it was an unfortunate necessity. Normally you have to go to a specialist, but my dentist does these on a regular basis so it was no big deal. I know it's gross, but basically they "harvest" tissue from the roof of your mouth, and attach it to your gums where it's needed. I'll be honest here, I'm not the best of patients. I do feel I have a high pain tolerance and I wasn't freaked out by this procedure at all, I guess If I had of been, I wouldn't have been able to have it done. That being said, I was in great denial about the recovery process. I believe I chose to ignore it completely until the time came. The procedure was fine, I even planned to go back to work the same day! That is until the numbness started to wear off and the real pain began. I went home and and after drinking a milkshake (eating was impossible the first 2 days) my mouth filled with blood. Doctors instructions - DO NOT spit. DO NOT pull your lip down and look at it. You can imagine my horror! Yes, I had to swallow it. It promptly filled again. And again. This time I could feel a big...something that felt like tissue. It was big enough that I was convinced the tissue he attached had come undone. Somehow I had caused it to come off and I had no idea what to do! Talking was difficult anyway, because of where the graft was placed, my lip rubbed against it making it painful to talk. I sent Craig a txt and told him what happened. I asked him to call my dentist. Now this was about 5:30pm my time, so 11:30pm for Craig hehe (it's ok, he was at work). He called and my dentist, who said "she thinks it's come out? well that'll be the first one in 32yrs!" (lol!) then told him he would call him back. When Craig told me this I said baby...did you mention to him that you are in England? He wont be able to just redial your number. He hadn't, so we waited 30min and he was going to call again, but my doctor called me and asked what was going on. He believed it was a blood clot. A BLOOD CLOT? WTH? (I'm thinking) and I tried telling him how big it was and he said now, I don't want you going and spitting, just let it come out naturally. I will call you tomorrow and check on you and if need be, I'll meet you in my office. Well, that was a horrible night. Knowing this thing was in my mouth (and I was still convinced its the tissue itself) and I'm not allowed to try to spit it out. The next morning I WAS allowed to spit, gently lol and I can't say I was excited to do this, I was terrified of what I would see, but this thing needed to come out, no matter what it was. It was a blood clot LOL! It was fine. Craig rolled his eyes and laughed, as did my dentist when I went in for my scheduled check up a week later. So I'm happy to report I'm much improved and I'm even able to go without the mouth guard now. Yay!

Flying My Fur Baby

I think one of the most stressful parts of planning this move, is Koda. Well, not only has it postponed the move due to having issues finding a rental that will allow him, but I was not quite prepared for the cost of flying him. Pets flying internationally HAVE to go cargo. Even if he was a 3lb terrier who could fit under the seat, he still must fly in cargo. I expected to pay alot, I was estimating the cost to be around the same as my ticket or less. Definitely not more. I've done loads of research to make sure I have all my ducks in a row, and to make sure he get the best of care, because let's face it, he IS my baby, and this isn't his choice, it's mine, so I want to make it as smooth and comfortable for him as possible. After loads of reading i've decided to fly him on British Airways, they have a good reputation in the pet transportation dept and they are so helpful when I call with my endless questions. His ticket for flying in May is $2064. Yes. I know. I nearly fell outta my chair too. Its had some time to sink in, that was weeks ago, so it doesn't sting quite as much as it did at first, it's just something I have to budget for. If he has the best experience he can during this, and they take good care of him, then i'm happy to pay it. He will not have to be quarantined, he will travel under the pets scheme with a pets passport. Cute huh?! He will need a new 15 digit ISO microchip (the one he has now is only a 10 digit and not internationally recognized), and his vet paperwork in order with a certificate of health. That will be the easy part. The hardest part (besides cost) is his kennel! Dakota is an escape artist! He IS crate trained, but his crate is a HUGE wire one so its pretty open, and he's not in it alot. The kennels approved for flying are the plastic kind that he absolutely hates. He can push the gate open, bending the wires, and let himself out (he's done it). But after more research I found we can get zip ties to help secure the door and that made me feel much better. I ordered him a Sky Kennel Ultra with 4 point locking door (I figure he needs all the security he can get since he'll have alot of time to figure out how to escape lol). This one has good reviews and i'm hopeful it will be fairly escape proof. They are pricey, for his size (XL) it was $149 with free shipping. The first kennel they sent I had to return, it looked used (?) and did not come with the live animal stickers it was supposed to have. It also had a part where the door slides into that was coming loose. The company was so nice, they sent me a new one the next day and I returned the old one with no problems. I was worried the new one might have problems like the previous, but it didn't, it was brand new, came with everything it was supposed to, and had no weak spots. I really think the other one they sent me was very old or something, it didnt really look much like this one. So I put it together and left the door off the first few days to let Koda get used to it being around without fear of being shut in. Even with the door off he would watch me to make sure I was far away from it before he would go in and inspect. I am trying to make him LOVE this kennel. He doesn't mind his other one, but he doesn't love it either. I want him to feel happy and relaxed in this one so his trip will be more comfortable for him so i've been tossing lots of treats inside and feeding him in it sometimes, and then I did put the door back on and he actually took a nap in it on sunday YAY! I'm so relieved and I feel so much better about it now. I will continue to research ways to make him more relaxed for his trip, he's a rescue dog so he gets really upset and nervous in strange situations. Maybe a thunder shirt, it's an anti-anxiety vest that has mixed reviews but mostly good. I will ask his vet what she thinks about it. When I was googling ways to make your pet's flight more comfortable it brings up the good, the bad, and the ugly. I know it doesn't always go smoothly and I know, tragically, death happens, but I did not want to read about it just from searching, but of course I did and then I was crying so hard. In my heart I feel like Koda will be fine, I wouldn't risk taking him if I thought otherwise, but reading some of those things upset me to the point where I had to pray really hard and think deep about what was best for him. When I left work that day I had to go to walmart and I was walking around the store and still crying my eyes out lol! oh well, its walmart, who cares! After I had a good cry I came home and did more research. I felt much better, there are many more rules and regulations now than in past years and pet deaths during flight are actually pretty rare. The kennels were a big part of why there were accidents and escapes and I think the new regulations have really helped that. I dont want to dwell on this too much because I have to stay positive and know that he will be fine. I just wanted to update everyone :)

and because he's so cute.......

Final Answer (really!)

Don't roll your eyes at me lol, but yes, we have changed our minds again. We are applying for me to go to the UK and i'm beyond happy! When Craig and I talked about it, it just seemed silly to wait 1yr to be together, for him to only be coming for 2 yrs and then us go back to England. We've been apart so long already, and if we want to settle in England anyway, it's silly to keep waiting if we don't have to. It had its advantages, saving money before we move to England being one (with the goal of buying a house), but at the end of the day we really just want to be together. We still have the same obsticle of finding a property that will rent to us with Dakota, but i'm praying and hopeful we will find something. So i'm getting my paperwork together to apply for the visa in the next few weeks, praying it will get approved (of course), and figuring out what all I need to do to get ready for the move. I'm going to post seperately about the challenges in moving a pet internationally!

My Next Career - Immigration Specialist!

Ok that's a joke. But seriously, I think after all the research i've done, i'm now a psudo-expert on the topic. We are filing the petition for Craig to come to the US. You have to file a petition first, wait for that to be approved, then they contact you with his number in line basically, for the visa process and you fill out yet more paperwork, send more money, and wait. For a long time. The best estimate seems to be 6-12months but for some it takes years. I'm praying that wont happen with us, especially since our plan is for him to come here for 2 years and then we will move back to England. The plan is in place, I just hope we will be approved while i'm still young enough to have children :)

When we researched the UK visa process, it seemed fairly straight forward. It's one form for our situation not several "if this, then you fill out that, and if that you fill out this" confusing!! At least now I feel fairly confident in what is involved in both processes. I just wish the US process was a little more streamlined. I supposed it's because of the sheer amount of applications maybe?

In other news I started my scrapbook! I got a new one for the wedding photos for Christmas and for some reason this one didn't seem near as intimidating to me as my other one. I need to get some more paper and sleeves but this one will be done soon, i'll post pics once i'm finished. Then I will do the other one. I think the other is harder because it will tell our love story and It has to be perfect! The wedding one is pretty easy as it's mainly our wedding invite, save the date card, wedding pics etc. Not alot of planning involved. The other one will include emails and cards and souveniers from our various trips and explorations.

Speaking of trips, since our visa process might take a while, I was hoping to go visit Craig this spring. I looked up airfare and o m goodness! there is a fairly small window, with the olympics coming up (I had forgotten!) the airfare has nearly doubled the closer to summer you get. I knew it would be higher but my eyeballs nearly fell out of my head!

Happy New Year!

Craig's visit came and went. It was bliss and I must say i'm getting better at the 'after a visit blues'. I cried buckets, but I feel ok. The next time we see each other will be when one of us moves. We have a few more weeks to look for a place in Stroud that will allow us to have a dog, and if we don't find anything then Craig will be applying for his visa to come to the US. We cant keep waiting on it. So that's the plan. I want to go there but it might have to wait a bit, at least this way we'll be together and he will be here to help with the move. And if we get a place then..well..i'll manage on my own lol I have to say the big move scares me! Not the new country part, but the packing and paperwork etc. but it will all be worth it!

I cannot tell you how happy Dakota was to see Craig! for the first several days he was here Koda and I were vying for position to sit by him LOL it was really funny. I told Craig he's going to be worn out by the end of his visit, having to cater to both me and Koda! I'm serious when I say Dakota did not leave that man's side the entire visit! Well..when we were home at least!  Here is a picture of Koda the day Craig got here:

So he came in on the 22nd, a Thursday. I had to work on Friday but only till 3pm so I went home at lunch and got Craig and brought him up to work with me to meet everyone. Saturday we had to do some last minute shopping and then Sunday was Christmas at my brother's house which included my mom, sister Rene, her 3 kids, my brother Robert (of course), his 2 kids, and his ex wife Tammy. The following week I worked Tues-Friday but I was off the second week of Craig's visit. For NYE we put Koda in the doggie hotel at petsmart and went to my other parent's house. My dad is gone, most of you know, but my step mom Charlotte is married to Don so they are my other parents. It was a great visit, we stayed the night and played games and had Charlotte's yummy cooking! Then on Sunday my sister Cathy came over with her husband and we visited with them for a while before having to head back to Dallas. It was a great visit, I dont see them often enough. Craig really enjoyed meeting everyone he's heard so much about.

So more about Christmas...Craig and I were trying to figure out what kind of tradition we wanted to set for Christmas, since this was our first one being together physically. We opted for 'if it's midnight, it's technically Christmas' LOL so we did!! We opened our presents to each other and the ones from Craig's family around Midnight Christmas morning. Poor Koda had to wait until a few hours later (we are such mean parents) but he had a present to open from his Auntie Clair and his stocking I bought him that had I think 5 toys in it. Craig bought him lots of treats and presents too but we didn't wrap those, we just gave them to him. He was soooo cute, he was so excited and he opened them all by himself! Here is a pic of him chewing on his favorite present, the bone from Aunt Clair!

 So Monday we rested lol we were tired from the travel and getting home late. Tuesday we went to see Sherlock Holmes part 2, it was GREAT! and we saw it at the movie grill which I love! and they don't have those where Craig lives so it was a treat for us both! Wednesday I took him to the Fort Worth Zoo. I went on and on about how great this zoo was, and only half the animals were even out! it was still a fun day but I was a bit disappointed. Then, in spite of my staying awake as long as possible-so Thursday wouldn't come, it came and it was time for Craig to pack and us say goodbye. boo!

I think that's all I have to tell for now. Happy New Year everyone!!! I'll keep you posted on our plans!