I haven't posted a lot lately.  I've been entertaining my love.  However, today I had to drop him off at the airport in Seattle.  Very characteristically of Washington, and my mood, it was raining all the way to the airport and all the way on the way back.  The last time I dropped him off in Seattle it was raining as well.  It's just the weather matching my mood I think.

Matt's trip here was amazing.  I don't even know where to begin.  I was a bit nervous about spending the month with him here.  I mean, we've spent time together, but not just doing normal things.  I knew (and still know) he's the one I will be with, but it was nice having him here for sort of a trial run.  It was nice to come home to have him here in the house.  Nice to have him fold the laundry and put it away :)
I know it was only a month and a whole lifetime is a lot different thing.  But, we didn't need him here to know that we are going to work.  It was just the opportunity to spend time together.  Every day when I thought about going home from work, knowing he was waiting there for me, was the most amazing feeling.  Everything about it was amazing.
The only thing that wasn't was his episode in the kitchen sniffing up his nose and moaning and complaining about the smell of the Molasses! (He claims it smells like cod liver oil...)  Other than that one point, I never really got to the point where I was going to strangle him :)
It was so hard dropping him off at the airport this time... It was hard because it was the 3rd time we've had to part ways and be unsure of when exactly we'd see one another again.  I know he will be here soon.  Once we get the rest of the immigration under way, we can set a date for the wedding and get everything going for him to move here.
The only thing that made it bearable to leave him was to know that it was the last time we'd have to leave one another. 

Sitting in my house right now is pretty bad...  I hate walking through it and just seeing little things he left... I teared up over a rolled up Hershey's Kiss wrapper...  I'm exhausted, but dreading going to bed.  I hate that first night of sleeping in the bed alone after being used to curling up to him.

First off, I totally yanked this icon from someone on my immigration website!  I think it's pretty perfect!
Secondly, immigration sucks.  The whole process is one big, giant... for lack of a better word... clusterfuck.  (I love that word/s!)  There is so much to do on this next step it is so overwhelming.
And of course, it can't just be cut and dry.  Like Step 1: Fill out these forms.  Step 2:  Send them here.  Step 3: Bring these with you.  Nooooo...  There's like secret forms that I had no idea about until someone else mentioned them to me.  And all sorts of other crap that goes along that I just happened upon by chance.  I know that it's the US government, so they have to makes things difficult, but do they have to make it THIS difficult?
I know in the long run that it will totally be worth it.  I have to keep telling myself that every time it gets really overwhelming.
To top it all off, Matt's parents are being turds about the whole thing.  That's about as nice as I can put it.  The crappy thing is, I got along very well with them!  But his mom is freaking out about him coming out here.  Now, not without good cause.  He is an only child, and she worries about him.  I get that.  I 100% get that.  But, it seems that sometimes she's just being downright mean about the whole thing.  Saying things to him that really upset him.  I feel bad too because there's nothing to do, and at the same time, my family is uber supportive and is thrilled about the whole idea.  I know I'm not the one moving, but I got both my parent's blessings if I should happen to be the one moving.
On another note, Matt may be coming here in December (fingers crossed.)  He's requested the time off work, so we're just waiting now to see if they'll give it to him.  He'd be coming for a whole month, which would just be amazing!  But, I'm not getting my hopes up too much.  Don't want to get all excited and then have it not happen.  But, everyone hope for us!

I just got the NOA (Notice of Action) in the mail today from the USCIS!!!!!! We have a case number now! Yay yay yay!!!!!  I've registered on the website and now we can check the status and I also signed up for e-mail alerts for anything regarding our case!
We are SO on our way!

OMGOMGOMGOMG  It was delivered today in California!!! They now have the immigration paperwork in their hands :)

Label/Receipt Number: 0308 3390 0001 1415 7317
Class: Priority Mail^®
Service(s): Delivery Confirmation^™
Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 7:01 AM on June 10, 2009 in LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA 92607.


Detailed Results:

	Delivered, June 10, 2009, 7:01 am, LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA 92607
	Arrival at Unit, June 10, 2009, 6:58 am, LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA 92607
	Processed through Sort Facility, June 10, 2009, 1:40 am, ANAHEIM, CA 92899
	Acceptance, June 08, 2009, 3:43 pm, OAK HARBOR, WA 98277

I just got back from the post office.  What was I doing there? 
SENDING OUT IMMIGRATION PAPERWORK!!!
Yay!!!!!!!
I got the last package from Matt that I was waiting for today.  It had his photos and his copies of the biographical information in it.  Which means that with the exception of my photo, we had everything we needed.  So I went to dad's house, made copies of everything so I could have an identical file of everything I sent them, and then headed to the camera store to get my picture taken.
Then, off to the post office to put it in the mail.  The guy asked me if I needed insurance on it, and I said no.  The only thing worth value in there is all the time and effort and backbreaking sweat that Matt and I put into doing the whole thing!
And now we wait.

So, I've nearly got all of the immigration paperwork done.  I'm just waiting on a few bits of information from Matt.  I have to write a cover letter and an explanation of how we met, and I'm good to go on my end.  Matt just has to send the G-325A form to me, as well as his Visa photo and then copies of his boarding pass and what not, and we're golden.  :)
I'm excited, but nervous and scared, all at the same time.  I have been researching this process for so long, that I hope that everything goes smoothly.  It's already an incredibly long, hard, process, that I don't want there to be any uneccesary snags in the whole deal.
I just want to be with him.  I want to hold him in my arms again and know that I don't ever have to let him go.  It's what keeps us going... Knowing that after all of this, we will be together.
We just have to be patient... (So, NOT my best trait!)

Ummm... Help?  Please?  I've read so many things today that my mind is just in a complete whirl of hazy confusion.
It doesn't help that we don't know where we're going to live.  Even then, it'd still be a whirl of mass confusion.  And I know, I know, I'm jumping the gun.  I'm always jumping the gun.  But, realistically, this is a long process.  Or, it can be a long process.  Work visas, regular visas, fiancee visas, marriage visas, all of it.  There's so many ways to approach it, and none of it really seems cut and dry.  

The problem is, it seems that the only way one of us can be in the other's country for an extended period of time is to be on a visa that doesn't allow us to work while we're there.  Clearly, that presents a problem.  I've been over the US and the UK site, and I don't see any way that two people, who are madly in love can just live together and not be married AND work.  There are ways for us to be together while we're engaged, but we have to be married within 90 days (in the US) and within 6 months (in the UK).
There's so many forms and fees and all sorts of things that I really don't know where to begin.  Well, I do.  But what is the best route to go?

I just wish that I knew someone who had gone through something similar so that I could ask questions without having to talk to a lawyer or something, which would cost money.

So... Anyone out there that could maybe answer some questions for me regarding the whole thing?
I'm just really stressed and overwhelmed.  And I know its really early to be looking at all of this, but I also know that it can be a long process, and I don't want things to get hitched up, or not go right...  I'm a planner.  I stress myself out.  I can't help that....