Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Canada	I have a surprise!	ok we have some bad and good news lol First off, our home inspector found Mold in the attic..Blech!!! Considering i'm allergic to that and Penicillin its kinda a big thing for me. Not to mention the furnace returns runs through attic and is busted open so its drawing spore filled air into the rest of the houe..joy Good news is we asked for a closing cost credit to help pay for it since it was their fault. They redid the roof half assed and covered up all the vent holes and let all the exhausts go right into the attic. Well, i was expecting them to say no but they said yes to the funds. WOOT. So now i know..even if its a short sale etc you CAN still ask for stuff and get it. Our bank asked Me to get a paper notarized saying i have no 2009 usa tax return since duh i moved here in 2010. The letter i wrote of explanation wasn't good enough sigh...they wanted it on THEIR paper notarized. Soooo we were suposed to close tomorrow..now will close monday or tuesday. Parents are going to florida this week, so we should be moved out by the time they get back..and then we have a week off to unpack and unwind. This is a great anniversary gift Especally since our 2 year anniversary was yesterday!!...Oh and hubby took me out for Lobster etc which i have not had in years....it was soo good..cost a fortune but well worth it.. I cannot wait to move!!!! lol. so exited!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-04-12 07:26:00
Canada	Administrative Processing?	Well tell you what. I had nothing but crazy mix ups through out the initial K1 process. From packets being sent to wrong countries to medical mix ups. But TRUST ME, once you get here the administrative end of things gets a lot easier. So, be happy knowing this junk is almost over and AOS and ROC are a lot easier Unless your me LOL. My k1 was a total muck up and then so was my AOS...i can only hope ROC goes smoother. I really dont wanna get congress involved..again..for like the ohh 4th time? yeahhh...did i mention i really really hate USCIS??? Edited by Kimbear, 20 November 2011 - 09:38 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-20 21:37:00
Canada	Husband owns House... should my name be on Deed?	Hi VJ'rs, I would appreciate experience /opinions on this subject: We just got married, and we don't know whether it would be advantageous or even possibly a disadvantage to have my name on the title to the house. It has a mortgage. Before bothering to consult a lawyer with his own agenda, I wondered what advice I can get here... Thank you! Well it would look great for Aos Purposes. I know here in Illinois i cannot be on the mortgage papers but i can be on the (title) Deed. Course if you divorce, according to Illinois law the wife gets 50/50 no matter what lol something my loan officer told me just in case she said lol. Honestly, it was a nobrainer for us..we're married, so ya our names will both be on it lol.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-28 13:30:00
Canada	missing Hockey night in Canada	Love love love Uverse. For years all we had for cable providers here was Crumcast. I hated them with a purple passion. It got to the point my bill was almost $300 for TV, phone and internet. I never got the speed of internet I was paying for and was constantly hiccuping, they throttled me three times for going over the '250GB limit'. The cable had issues the entire time we had it. The only thing good about the phone package was Canada was free to call. The AT&T guy said I'd notice a difference with my TV and internet. Because Comcast compresses their HD so much that the quality is effected, and everyone knows that cable is a 'shared' connection. I thought he was blowing smoke up my #### until I turned on my TV. It's awesome to watch hockey in true quality HD on an LED TV!! Just read your post to my husband All i could say when he facepalmed was BLAME VJ!!! he has no idea what hes in for...lol	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-01 09:56:00
Canada	missing Hockey night in Canada	Ok so we hooked up the new xbox to the new led tv and our live gold membership i did all the d/l for espn updates etc. was watching some highlights etc on it..guess i'll find out tonight if i can actually watch hodkey eh? hubby is already crying that he wont be able to play halo:reach cuz i'll steal the xbox from him ROFL..noooo i wont..honest!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-01 09:54:00
Canada	missing Hockey night in Canada	Versus comes with the mid tier package with Comcast, since Comcast owns every freakin' thing. (GE/NBC Universal etc) I also have Versus and NHL network with the $65.00 AT&T Uverse package. Anyone who reads this, check into AT&T Uverse. If it's available in your area. I switched from Comcast and I get better service, faster internet, more channels and it's $100 less a month! Well whenever we get a house LOL, we already decided on probably U-Verse, alot of people we know say good things about it and i hate hate hate with a passion Comcast. Hey Kimbear, About the Xbox thing, You need to be a Xbox Live member and have a ESPN3 affiliated internet provider. Here is the link to check it out... http://espn.go.com/watchespn/xbox Oh ho...wonder if there is anything extra, the xbox we got was the 250g bundle with 3 month gold membership. It should come today along with our new Samsung "cough" LED LCD....i just could not refuse the price we got it at lol. I told my husband this is the problem with me working again I just love me some good electronics A/V style LOL Actually, the "Hockey Night In Canada" theme was never actually the Hockey Night In Canada theme. It's actually called "The Hockey Theme", and CBC wasn't willing to fork over the money required by the copyright holder to renew the license. They apparently offered a million dollars. CTV outbid them, and the theme has been for TSN's hockey coverage for the past three years. And TSN's hockey coverage is really second to none. Honestly, that's one of the things I miss most about living in Canada. I'm on TSN's website a few times every day to get all my hockey news. I never liked CBC, and still contend that the only good programming they've ever had has been HNIC, and Kids in the Hall in the '90's. I tried to watch Being Erica when it first came out, but three or four episodes in, I realized it was pretty crappy too. ^^^^^^OMG i soo miss kids...used to watch it every Friday before going out for Midnight Bowling. Hubby doesn't quite get it when i pinch my two fingers togethers and say " crush your head" And dont get me started on my fav char..Buddy the barfly!!! lol	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-30 09:33:00
Canada	missing Hockey night in Canada	Streem2watch http://www.stream2watch.me/ has all the games free, it works about 80% of the time and its the canadian feeds most of the time. I know for somting like 160 you can do it for the year at nhl.com and get all the games and all the feeds all the time, and direct tv wants somthing like 250 for nhl center ice and its the same thing all the feeds all the time id like to know how to do the xbox though since im still in AOS the hockey package is a needless expense lol ya still trying to find a hosue so thats my issue..trying not to spend that..although my part time job i used as an excuse to buy us a new tv to replace the old crt..	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-28 21:32:00
Canada	missing Hockey night in Canada	See what cable companies in your area carry the CBC feed. I'm a bit closer to the border and one of my local channels frequently carries the CBC feed for hockey games... Chicago doesn't back the Blackhawks? ya they do but the games are only available on two channels..and barely if at all. Versus, which you can only get with those higher end packages or a specific comcast sports channel. and i refuse to pay 100/month for freaking cable...my only other option is to listen to it on the radio but again..its not the same Thats were a VPN comes in handy--watch it online i did this during the immigration process so i could watch hulu etc..but i can't seem to find the reverse possibility for Canada..tried all sorts of proxies. and justin tv half the time its just a black screen i get NHL center ice sometimes airs the canadian feed, but it'####### and miss, and NHL network often carries hockey night in canada games (complete with Don & Ron during the first intermission ) My husband has turned me into a Sens fan and I do so much love to hear the canadian feed (Dean and Denny crack me up!!) People here don't care about hockey either ( we live in Indiana) I'm from Michigan originally so I was born and bred on the Red Wings, my family teases me that I had to marry a Canadian just so they could understand my hockey obsession! I almost started humming the hockey night in canada theme song today at work..LOL. I grew up in Montreal with a big brother and a father who were absolutely NUTS for montreal canadiens...i actually scared my hubby's family the year teh hawks won the cup...i watched the games at their house and i was all yelling and swearing and freaking out...lol	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-28 21:30:00
Canada	missing Hockey night in Canada	Oh please tell how you do that??? !!!!!!!!!!!! i concur...how??? we just bought an xbox	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-28 15:46:00
Canada	missing Hockey night in Canada	So i've tried to watch hockey here, the announcers suck and half the games are not televised, or they are on really late like 10pm here. I'm used to watchign them at 7pm and i realized the announcers are extremely lackluster. I've been forced to watch old clips of Ron Maclean and Don Cherry lol. I've tried to watch cbc utilizing some proxies etc but i can't seem to get anythign to work I miss the excitement i got from watching it on CBC, and anyone i try and talk to says "we dont care about hockey! and it makes me very sad	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-28 13:40:00
Canada	Folks from Ontario (or Toronto): Police Check Question	I had mine done in Windsor, by the locals, and they said it would take 2 weeks, she called me two days later..I can't remembre the price but it was like 20 i think or so. Hey guys, I'm preparing for my NOA2 (CR-1), which I will hopefully be getting by the end of this month. I haven't had the time to get my police check done.. work, school.. blargh, anyway, I need to get on it asap Where did you guys go to have yours done? I ask because I'd like the most up-to-date information as all my search results were ancient threads. I'm assuming in Toronto I can go to the main TPS building at Yonge & College and request it. I just have to make sure they check CPIC/Canada wide search and they know it's for a U.S. Visa application, right? How much have you guys paid for yours? I don't think the RCMP has an office here, since when I checked their website they asked for prints to be done at a police station, we toss in some of our information then mail it off to Ottawa. No bueno. Most importantly, how long does it take to get your results back? I had to do the really basic name search ($22) for my current job, and that took exactly a week which was good, so I'm hoping the full CPIC check isn't much longer. Thanks everyone	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-02 07:14:00
Canada	Canadian/U.S words & pronounciations	Good luck finding good sausage here that is all I can say. I'm from Kitchener Waterloo and I grew up thinking everyone had german style fresh pork sausage or smoked sausage.....uh no! Johnsonville Brats are about what you get or maybe sweet or hot italian sausage (which BTW I am sick of after 4 yrs). In my quest for good german sausage in VA I have eaten many poor substitutes. Sage breakfast sausage just doesn;t cut it. What I wouldn't give for a good Schneider's Oktoberfest sausage My sister in law introduced us to a nice polash deli, out in the nw subburbs of chicago, its about the only place i've ever seen decent sausages. Italian sausages are really blech after a while, and the johnsonville ones are not the same.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-02 09:32:00
Canada	Canadian/U.S words & pronounciations	As someone else mentioned, pretty sure garbage disposals are illegal, at least in ON...but I can't find anything on google that proves that - they certainly aren't available at RONA or Home Hardware that I ever saw. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the garbage disposal, what a super way to get rid of food garbage, rather then the landfill. I ahd a few incidents when we first moved here where the dish cloth got lost and it turned out it had been sucked into the garbage disposal Not quite sure how that happened???? All this stuff must be regional (or personal preference) - my husband and his family always take shoes off, even our teenagers. Mind you his best friend drives me nuts and never takes his shoes off until I finally asked my husband to remind him to do so - he didn't even wipe his feet on the front rug before walking in . Back home we obviously took boots off for a good 4-5 months of the winter so you kind of get into the habit! ya know..my mother in law refuses to use the thing..she complains about it getting dirty and greasy...she even has one built into her maytag dishwasher and prewashes food sigh...she insists everything go in the garbage and stink up the house after a few days. and ya i found out what it was when i flipped the switch while a spoon had fallen into it. Boy did i almost have a heart attack!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-19 09:54:00
Canada	Canadian/U.S words & pronounciations	el oh el..i drive my hubbys parents nuts with that..i'm always taking off my shoes vaccuming dusting cleaning they do it like once a month! and walk all over with shoes on these nice hardwood floors andit absolutely drives me batty!!! hubby loves that i kept our apartment so clean. we also have dogs so i need to dust / vaccum like almost eveyr other day. i dunno..but i like a nice smelling house lol. Edited by Kimbear, 17 November 2011 - 04:06 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-17 16:05:00
Canada	Canadian/U.S words & pronounciations	Has anyone else noticed that garbage disposals in the sinks are pretty common in the US? Or is it just that where I used to live in Canada they weren't popular, or I never noticed? I actually asked my husband what that thing in the sink was when I first visited him in the US... I swear I'm not sheltered My husband teases me for how I say foyer because I say it the "french" way... Foy-ehhh, when he says foy-errr. I never understood the wearing shoes inside your house thing... besides tracking dirt everywhere, isn't it just uncomfortable? Fortunately my husband is a socks person as well Never saw them myself up north. I knew what they were but figured it was for richy lazy people lol no offence !!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-16 17:28:00
Canada	Canadian/U.S words & pronounciations	so the other day we were discussing the radiator lite that keeps flashing on the dash..and we ended up arguing over the pronunciation of it lol. we argued back and fort for 5 minutes about who was right LOL. quote from David: yeah you said Radiator as Rah-dee-ayeterrather than Ray Di ator I find it interesting that they don't seem to build their houses with front or backdoor closets and foyers. Where does everyone put their boots and coats but out there in the open where everyone can trip over them? Any closets I have seen are not near the entrance and are really tiny. It drives me a little batty. i know what you mean. i dont get it. when i asked David about it it he just said use the bannister on the stairs..... Edited by Kimbear, 16 November 2011 - 01:58 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-16 13:57:00
Canada	Pregnancy & Benefits in the US vs. Canada?	Thank you for all the kind word adn thoughts for my friend megan.. She appreiciates them. Her son is now 2 weeks old and growing like a titan. lol BUT she just got her bill from the hospital, $11000. EEK!!! This is what she wrote: "Just got the hospital bill. Almost $11,000. My question is this.. How can they charge so much if I did all the work!!!! I pushed out the ham I should get paid!" LOl luckily she still has a sense of humour. Oh and i never said but this is of couse in Illinois..Chicago Subburbs.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-08 15:34:00
Canada	Pregnancy & Benefits in the US vs. Canada?	My friend just had a baby a copule weeks ago. She had to quit her job during pregnancy as the stress almost caused her to have a couple of miscarriages. she did not get any sort of benefits, and she ended up losing the job completely. Now the birth was very hard and she went in to labour a few times during the last two months, which the hospital mananged to stall with some drugs or something. Shef inally gave birth 100% naturally no c-section etc, to a beautiful 9lb baby boy. But the bills she got nailed with were outrageous. she was refused for health insurance, and she tried to get some sort of family aid, was refused at first for making too much money, now she got refused again. She has had miscarriages in the past , and her medical bills from the pregnancy make me want to cry. they area good people, that just wanted a baby and tried for many years. now they are struggling to even pay rent. and she is unable to go back to work for a while as she lost alot of blood and is very weak according to her doctor who wont even let her drive a car atm. Its a shame that the government does not value families as much as they say they do.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-30 11:54:00
Canada	Internet phone services	I"ve never used any of those, i just use google talk and as long as the chat program is open on both pcs you just click call. Worked for us and still does no matter where we are. You can also hook up a webcam to it and have a video conference call etc. Its a bit similar to skype i guess.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-03 17:49:00
Canada	Homesickness	I do . I enjoy sending and receiving cards and letters from my friends and family. I always send out Christmas cards too. Allow a week to 10 days for them to get to Canada from the US, though. That's how long mine always seem to take. One thing I am definitely going to miss is how my Dad used to cut out newspaper clippings and odd sorts of announcements and photographs from back home and then send them to me. It was always fun to receive that envelope stuffed full of clippings with the notation on the front addressed to Customs: "Newspaper clippings - no commercial value" Some of them would have his 'commentary' written on the article or editorial and it felt so nice to have something arrive in the mail from home - like I was being brought up to date on all the important news that isn't addressed in the US. Sadly, my Dad passed away 2 weeks ago so I won't be receiving any more 'newsy' envelopes. This is a different type of homesickness. While he was still alive I knew I could always go back 'home' for a visit. Now that is no longer possible. 'Home' won't be there anymore. Kathryn i'm so very sorry for your loss. I remember you posting a few times the clippings your Dad sent you, and i can imagine the smile it must have put on your face each time.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-18 07:42:00
Canada	Homesickness	I still miss alot of things about Canada. I never had any friends really that were close and i was never close with my mom or sister. But alot of the things i miss are either food related, or goverment related. Also up north i was never afraid of anything, now that i've been in Chicago for over a year and a half, i'm scared of alot of differnet areas and some people. I'm scared of taking public transit unlike when i was in ottawra, TO or Montreal. Of course this could just be me manifesting all the fears my hsuband tells me about the south side and seeing murders etc every day of the week in the papers. House hunting has really made me miss Canada alot. And i am not too fond of the people here. I Find them terribly ignorant and rude to say the least. If we could, i'd move out of here. But my part time job and hubbies job just does not make enough money in this city. Its so expensive to live here. I wish he could get transfered to another office i really do	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-11-16 17:38:00
Canada	POE by car	Moving my stuff by car was a breeze..although they moved stuff around and made a mess and i kind of had to repack stuff. I tried shipping a few boxes via Canada Post..my advice? dont..its freaking expensieve..so was UPS on my work account..and some of my boxes came damanged like my 7.1 pioneer surround receiver..grrr that really ticked me off..it was bashed in on the top..still worked but the metal was all dinged and i even over protected the thing with tons of foam and packaging Edited by Kimbear, 16 December 2011 - 09:48 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-16 21:47:00
Canada	Bringing goods from Ontario Unaccompanied	My husband did this for me a few weeks ago and crossed the Ambassador Bridge with no problems. Just make sure that he has a copy of your K-1 visa, I-94 Card and a list of your inventory as the customs officer asked him to read off all the items (and it was a full uhaul ). They x-rayed the UHaul but didn't search it. Overall it went very smooth and was painless. I actually find the Customs Agents friendlier at the bridge than the tunnel and before I moved to the US, I crossed 2-3 times per week. Same for me.. i lived 6 months in Windsor and David and i went back and forth across the bridge, they got to know us and started asking us when the visa was gonna get here lol. Make it real easy to go through after a few times and in 2ndary as well.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-02 14:18:00
Canada	Kinder Suprise	i found knock off Kinder Surprises in the store yesterday..i was quite surprised. They are called something completely different and are made in China but they were chocolate eggs with a toy inside. And of course for the life of me i can't remember the brand name..sigh. It was in Valli produce, which is a sort of multi cultural grocery store; as in they have aisles for oriental, mexican, german, greek. etc. so at least here in Chicago you can find those ones. Course i doubt they taste very good but we only used to get em for the kids to get the toy.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2011-12-30 07:58:00
Canada	Selective Service SNAFU	Yeah, that's been my experience too! Now that you mention it, we just had a horrible customer service experience with Cox Cable, causing us to ultimately cancel because we couldn't even get a higher-up on the phone. Seriously. We were told all supervisors were too busy to help us and to expect a call back in 48 hours... I hadn't really thought about it, but I think it IS endemic to the U.S. I don't remember having so many "go up the ladder" issues in Canada...or maybe I'm just wearing maple-colored glasses? Nah your not wearing glasses..lol honestly..and i know its stereotypical but i think we (Canadians) honestly are nicer when it comes to custoemer service anyway. Most of the times up north be it with Bell, hydro etc, i always got SOMEONE who really wanted to help solve whatever issue i was calling about. Down here, its like they are too busy and just dont care. Cable companies imo are the worst..i got the same line from comcast about no supervisors then they xfered me to another country FFS! Or they say they are not equipped to xfer me to a higher up and tell me to call one with another number so i can sit on hold for another hour....Right... And they hung up on us multiple times. After two months of this i said to heck with em and cancelled and amazingly got a nice person who gave me all my money back and then some.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-06 08:54:00
Canada	Selective Service SNAFU	Thanks folks -- going up the chain worked! I sent a lengthy, detailed email to the Director of Central Financial Aid, and within three hours, she called me directly to apologize for all the inconvenience. She confirmed that I was correct about having all the proof they needed to process my student loan, and she personally went into the college's computer system and pushed everything through. Needless to say, it's a big weight off my shoulders! I really couldn't be happier with how this was ultimately dealt with, though I hate having to resort to contacting "higher-ups" about things. By the way, Flames9_RN: I'm going to Tidewater Community College for my Associate's degree, then will likely transfer to Old Dominion University (or possibly Norfolk State University or College of William and Mary) for my Bachelor's degree. Hate to say it but from what i've noticed in 1.5 years of being here..this is the only way to get stuff done. Whether its with Immigration, Comcast, Comed, or my landlord, seems you wont get anything sorted out unless you go to the higher ups...	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-05 16:45:00
Canada	School Shooting discussion gets my son in trouble??	I understand that American and Canada are very differnt places..trust me I do. However how each chooses to react and the differnt regulations the schools put in place and the way of thinking is still very different. In 1989 in Montreal, when i was 16 and in high school the scariest thing happend. A guy armed with a gun killed 28 people in a school in downtown. That was the Montreal Massacre at Ecole Polytechnique. http://en.wikipedia....hnique_massacre Now that was a hell of alot worse than the Columbine incident btw. Since then, people are encouraged to talk about it and remember it so that it does not happena gain. We do not pretend it never happend or get in trouble or searched becuase we asked if it could happen at our school. Hell in fact the school coumcellors encouraged us to discuss it. Now I know for a fact as i was still in school and continued to be in school for another 10 years, that if i were to ask a question or talk like your son, that they would never think i wanted to kill poeple, or say i had to be searched for guns. Now i hope and pray its not the case of your family just being new to the area. I know you only recently moved there, but to single your son out and think OMG he might be a killers cuz your new..well I agree you go down to that school and do some serious growling. I know I would do more than Growl....	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-06 11:08:00
Canada	School Shooting discussion gets my son in trouble??	Wow that is just nuts. I mean ####..i'd want my kid to ask a millions questiosn about ANYTHING. Hell i'd ask those same things..and i have no idea what columbine was or is. I remember the massacre's in Montreal many years ago at Polytechnique, i remember reporting a kid when i was in grade 7 cuz he had a gun even though it turned out to be a fake one. your child is just askign the same questions you as a parent...or any parent for that matter would ask. if he was going to do something stupid like what they are insinuating,why ask before he does it? he is asking so he understands it and to make himself feel safer by hopefully getting a good response from his teacher. god...stupid people are stupid!	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-06 09:02:00
Canada	Rye	I picked up a Revel Stoke whiskey last night, it's a spiced whiskey, and it was really nice. I would recommend it as both a sipping whiskey and one to try in a drink, I had it with Schweppes (as the Canada Dry was all sold out) and it took off the sweetness of the pop nicely! What is it about american pop that makes it so darn sweet? Do they put in twice the sugar?? its the high fructose ####### they put in it. i can't even drink fountain drinks it makes me almost gag. the stuff just sticks in my throat. i have to buy sierra mist which is like a 7up / sprite i guess..made with sugar. i'd love to drink mexican coke which is the same as canadian but they want over 20$ for a case of bottles. the little ones. its out rageous.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-13 17:05:00
Canada	health insurance company recommendations	once you move permanently into the US you lose your Canadian medical benefits... when you quit your job and move you lose everyting the work one and the provincial one.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-13 16:05:00
Canada	health insurance company recommendations	Wow...see when i was in Canada with family coverage it only costed me 1200 / year..100% vision and 80% dental. so when i saw his went up again i was fuming. the stupid thing is..with just him on the plan its 300/year..but i apparently cost 2700/year....thats the part i dont understand. And i think its stupid you can't Tailor the pakcages like you can tailor a car or anything else for that matter. no wonder half the country doesn't have or want health insurance. just trying to figure out where we can cut costs..sine we foudn out we have to PAY the IRS now. i dont evne work..but we have to pay them money. i just hate how 40% of his paycheck gets taken away for stuff we will never see, nor can we deduct on tax returns sigh.i miss my gst cheques. Edited by Kimbear, 13 January 2012 - 03:32 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-13 15:31:00
Canada	health insurance company recommendations	Hey folks, was wondering if anyone has experience with a health plan that lets you tailor it rather than forcing stuff on you that you dont need. My husbands work plan aprently went up without us knowing and im freaking at the 3k a yar cost for 2 people here. its gone up almost a thousand and i find that rediculous and when i told him to change and remove stuff he said he can't that hes stuck and its either this plan or that. i mean ####### should i pay for stuff i'm never going to use? i can't get pregnant or have a child so why am i paying for all that? just as an example. if he takes just the basic stuff for him its 25$ month..300...a year..thats 1/10th what we are paying now...this is total BS...and i'm frustrated as hell right now at how much things are costing us here in chicago...	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-13 11:53:00
Canada	Social Security Card - ID Requirements?	I brought my passport with valid i-94 in it, birth cirtificate and marriage certificate. in and out in 15 mins. Edited by Kimbear, 17 January 2012 - 07:45 AM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-17 07:45:00
Canada	Venting	Thank you everyone for being so kind and empathetic. Some days are harder than others, as we all experience. I am very grateful to have VJ with all its wonderful participants. IRL, people just don't know, and why should they? I wouldn't wish this on anyone, and I certainly have a new and enlightened view of immigration and its personal effects. Last night we started to talk about initiating the process for me to become a permanent resident in Canada. At least if we have that ball rolling, it will feel like we've regained some control and have some choices. Canada, of course, has their own process, and Quebec is even more particular, but I'd rather be working toward something than waiting. (Even in traffic, I'll go out of my way to continue moving rather than sit at stoplights!) I'm going to have to take some protective measures to save my sanity around the kid-issue. For example, there appears to be a cabal of SAHMs on my facebook, and they just hang out all days with their litters and on one hand, there's cutesy pictures of them at the local kids' museum, and OTOH, they're complaining all day about the kids. I've gotta hide them off my feed or I just sit in resentment all day. And people...I know they mean well, but they just don't understand the horrible things they accidentally say. There was a thread a little while ago detailing some of the things friends and family say/do, and I could really relate there. Ah well, folks, it is a new day. Try as we might, we still don't have a clear understanding of what brought on AP, and all we can do is wait it out. We stay busy. We stay in touch. I've got the house, three dogs, a job, my running, knitting, and friends, and I make do. We're luckier than most, and I do appreciate that. Thanks again for the nice support and sharing your own stories. I wish nothing but the best for everyone here in their own lives and daily struggles. What I bolded from your post is what i had to do with certain new parents/friends. They have no idea what a blessing they have and every day during the pregnancy and past the birth they were b1tching. Made me want to reach through my monitor and punch them lol.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-24 09:12:00
Canada	Venting	I've been here for 1.5 years now. i just turned 39. Our visa process was anything but easy or fast. We almost broke up twice. And now, we are currently living with his parents, while we wait for our house purchase to go through. (thats another long story in another thread and it has been going on for over a year It's been over 6 months we have been living here and its the 2nd time we have had to live with his parents. We wanted children. My husband still does, but i'm 8 years older then him. And to be honest, i dont think its possible anymore. My mom was 35 when i was born, and it was hell growing up. I dont want to do that to a child. And yet here in Chicago, every week I see poeple just abandoning their kids in stores, or kiling newborns, or worse, and then watching as other people have one night stands that turn out to be twins and then they are on social aid for the rest of their life when they had no business having a kid let alone twins, not to mention drinking and drugs through the whole pregnancy. One of the kids has already bene hospitalized for being "accidentally dropped"....grrr Just talking about it makes me so mad and upset. We have tried since 2008, and to see ####### like that happen around me It depresses me, it angers me. But i won't risk the medical issues that would come up from continuing to try and have children. And we can't afford any medical services to help us have children. sigh. Never mind the privacy issues we are facing... Living in limbo does indeed suck. Sometimes i wonder why I went through all this hell when i cannot seem to have the life i thought i'd have. I love my husband very much. But there are days when I think, i'm being punished. At least you are still younger than I am. And hopefully everyting will be settled with your visa soon so you CAN get on with your life. Hopefully you wont go through something similar like me. I post this just to let you know your not alone, and you can vent to us. We're here for you. Even if its just to read your pain and to offer some sort of advice or a friendly shoulder. Try and keep your chin up, I know its hard. But it will work out and you will both be together soon to start your life. Hugs.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-23 12:41:00
Canada	NOA2 Nov..not in Montreal yet?? exp in march? panic	my approval was in November ( well reaffirmed approval) and we had sent some documents back in december then again i got a package in late january or early february? we ended up having our interview in montreal march 30th. all noa2's expire. however the consulate automatically renews them so i would not worry. what you can do is call NVC and see if they sent it off to montreal and when. I'm not sure if they still send it by DHL or not but it used to be you could track it from NVC to the Consulate by doing a few tricks. However a few things have changed so i'm not sure if that would still work. Now correct me if i'm wrong but aren't all the packets now on the consulate website and done online now? i know back when i did it it wasn't but i thought i had read some recent threads saying it was all online. Edited by Kimbear, 05 January 2012 - 04:43 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-05 16:41:00
Canada	Paying Canadian bills from the U.S.	USPS will not give a money order in Canadian funds. I went down that road with them when trying to get a money order in Canadian funds for Canadian passport renewal. I had a money order from Canada sent to me for the renewal. The International money order they refer to is issued in US funds. Odd..like i said i do ebay stuff all the time and i always got usps money orders in canadian funds. maybe its just the office where you live? either way wont kill anyone if the op goes to his office and tries.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-22 10:31:00
Canada	Paying Canadian bills from the U.S.	Where can you get a money order in Canadian funds? i used to do ebay stuff and the post office was always able to do money orders in both funds..and for cheaper than a bank.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-21 10:53:00
Canada	I134/I864	One note..you dont need to do the i-864 for a K1. You do the i-134 only. Once yoru married in the states and filing for AOS then you do the i-864.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-29 11:52:00
Canada	For fellow Ontarians	Can anyone recommend a good place to get U.S. regulation visa photos taken? I just had my Canadian ones done for my passport renewal but Canadian passport photos are larger than 2x2. Thanks! When i was in Windsor I had them done at Walmart. I can't quite remember how much it was but it was under 30$ for them.Just make sure you specifiy the size..if i remember they let me see them to make sure they were ok. I think i even printed out the requirements for them showing how much space etc had to be around the head. Edited by Kimbear, 28 January 2012 - 06:17 PM.	Kimbear	Female	Canada	2012-01-28 18:16:00