Anyone still there?

Yeah, it's been a good long while. There have been lots of new things to talk about. I guess I'm not so much into sitting down and writing about it though. Much more time is spent making announcements of status via Facebook.

Suffice it to say that I love my wife and my son, and I love watching Owen develop. I'll post some video of the boy-O exploring the floor of the pediatrician's office before he got his swine flu vaccination yesterday.

Until next time, Happy Thanksgiving!

Recent Developments

A Good Weekend

Good day, reader!

I have some fine news to share. It was Agata's birthday this last Friday so I took her out for dinner at a nice little German restaurant in Multnomah village. Afterward on our way home, I thought that we should stop and get the mail in case there was something special there....
There was.

Agata received notice from USCIS that her request to have her conditions removed was approved and she'll receive her new 10-green card in about 60 days! YAY!

I have to say that we were pretty certain that everything would work out how we wanted. We're legit after all. We were peaceful and unworried the whole time. I even tried to get nervous about it a few times and failed. Oh well.

Yep

Good day there, reader. I hope you're enjoying the weather there. I thought I'd mention that I'm older today. 33 is a strange one for me. It seemed more of a mature age when I was 20 than now when I am 33.

Regarding Agata's case status, we're still waiting to see what happens next. I check the case status online every week, but it's still "received and pending".

See you next time!

News

Hey sorry I didn't post this sooner. It's been very busy for us this week. Since it's Sunday morning I'll be brief. Agata had here fingerprints and photo taken (again) by USCIS on Friday morning. It went fine. No big deal.

Now we wonder what happens next? If they have her new improved prints and stunning photo, all they have to do now is send her a new green card with the conditions removed, right?

Wonderin

Can regret translate or evolve into motivation? I guess it depends upon what a person regrets.

Important Notice of a Historical Event

HE IS RISEN!!

Immigratory

We started a new immigration process for Agata on Wednesday: applying to have her conditions removed from her permanent residency. Her permanent residency for the last two years has been called "conditional" because she received it on on the condition of marrying me. Now that time has come to an end and we had to apply to have that removed so she'll have a 10 year green card. It included sending a bunch of proof that we are, indeed, legitimate in our marital union. That fact that we have lived together for 2 years and produced a son should help :p

We don't know how long this will take but naturally hope it won't be a long time. Please pray for God's blessing on the whole of this business.

Latest Tricks

Hi reader. Thanks for checking back on us. Sorry it's been so long. I just get crazy on the weekends and find myself not in front of the computer.

Owen is 6 months old now, and boy is he growing. He's a mad-crazy roller and really enjoys his rice flakes. Cheers!

This is Soooo Cute

Presidential Thoughts

Do you have any idea how much life you can hear from the first time you hear a baby's laugh, or the "magic" in watching him observe life around him? It's truly incredible. Those are just 2 things that I say are simple blessings of being a parent. Sure, there's other things like an endless campaign of feed, change the diaper, and cutting back in your personal life. But this little boy, in our case, is our personal life.

Psalm 127 says that children are an inheritance from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward, and like arrows in that hands of a mighty warrior so are the children.

Today is a very historic day for the United States: our first president of color will be inaugurated. And isn't it ironic that this man who claims to be a Christian supports abortion and intends to allow more founding for it through reversing the Mexico City policy which President Bush "that prohibits U.S. money from funding international family planning groups that promote abortion or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion services. It bans any organization receiving family planning funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development from offering abortions or abortion counseling." (from http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/19/obama.abortion/) Also, the man has not signed legislation that blocks partial-birth abortion because those proposals had no allowance for the protection of the life of the mother.

One more thing that depicts a great irony. The new president is black. He supports abortion. Statistics show that the majority of abortions are performed for blacks, and 80 percent of Planned Parenthood clinics are located in minority neighborhoods (from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,348649,00.html).

So while it may be amazing that we have our first president of color, and that we have had a democratic transfer of power that had not one running for their lives, the fact remains that all men are found filthy before the holiness of the Lord God. All of us who deny any of his truth revealed in his holy word are found judged as we stand. Sinful man will continue to prop himself up as god and judge over his affairs and over the unchanging word of God, but in the end he will be shattered unless he repents and embraces the full-breathing understanding of the truth revealed to us through Jesus. I say this here because Mr. Obama has said that knowing when life begins is "above his pay grade." I submit that for him to say that should logically mean that he should fight for the existence of all babies until he learns differently. Instead he promotes the opposite.

I'll state again here that I will pray for President Obama to have submission to the personal God that has given us so much mercy, and the wisdom to fear his Son. And to all who marvel at the democratic process I remind them that this process owes much thanks for those principles to the Word of God. Kings (though Obama is no king) are raised and put down by the authority of the Lord.

What Do I have to Do Around Here?!

OK. I really don't understand. I truly know that some people are reading or checking this blog from time to time, but after all the high quality posts I did recently, I really don't know if it is worth the effort. This is really impressive stuff and yet no comments. What should I do next? Quote something applicable from Gary North about the state of the economy?

Early Morning Fun

Trying to be Cool

This is how cool I am:

"Nie kop pana, bo się spocisz!"

Behold my coolness. My movie intelligence is international.

Glad Tidings We Bring!

2

I forgot to mention that last Tuesday the 11th was the second anniversary of our marriage. I didn't forget to do something special, of course. I just forgot to post a blog about it. Life comes at you fast.

Agata, I thank God for you. You're more than I could have hoped for.

Not Exactly on Topic

So we have a new president now. I have to say that I'm less than excited. Totally not what I was hoping for in this election. I guess that proves emotion, millions of dollars, the media in your back pocket, and vague, "something better" kinds of speeches can garner power.

But in these moments of disappointment, I must remind myself (as I consider buying a "Not My President" sticker) that God is the master over all of these events. We did not elect a new God. The Lord never changes. God is still God, and I'm still not. As a son in Christ, I need to have faith in him that as I pray for his kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven, that he will accomplish that. We have to believe in this faithful God. There is no other road to travel that will provide fulfillment of hope or any sort of safety. I'll pray for our new president, that he'll be wise and surrender to the holy word of God for the sake of his judgment before the Lord Jesus and this country.

Pray with me.

There's a New Man in Our Life

Our son, Owen, was born a healthy child at 3:13am Saturday. He weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces, and was 21 inches long. Agata was induced at about 7:30 Friday morning and labored throughout the day. She finally decided to accept an epidural at about 6pm Friday and started resting while having contractions (weird).

Laurel, my sis in law, was a great help throughout the process, and I can't thank her enough for being there. She helped me too when the epidural was being set: I was kneeling in front of my hard-working, heroic wife while she sat at the edge of the bed as the anesthesiologist set-up the epidural. This guy was very forthright and verbose about what he was doing. In my opinion, way too chipper of a personality to have around someone having a baby and the customary pain associated therein. So while I was kneeling, I started to feel a familiar sensation in my head: blood draining from it. I turned to Laurel and said "I'm not OK right now". She misunderstood what I meant and barely caught me as I lost consciousness. The next thing I knew, I was shaking, couldn't really control my limbs, and being held up and shouted at to lay down. It was lame. I was laying on the floor in front of my dear wife in need of some attention while she was needing more attention. The nurses leaped into action and took care of us though. I think they've seen this kind of tomfoolery before. I was totally fine afterward, and very thankful I was kneeling when it happened.

Later on, the doctor on call felt that Agata had not made a enough progress due to the many hours of labor, her not having eaten a substantial breakfast, and Owen's big head. He started implying that if better progress were not made, then a C-section would be necessary, although he didn't say it plainly. Laurel and I prayed for this and the Lord God who is our jealous king and deliverer answered and gave Agata to strength to make up the progress.

Agata finally made it to 10cm at around midnight and started pushing. After about 2 hours, the same doctor believed that Owen was not going to make it out without some help via forceps (I DON'T THINK SO, DOCTOR!) or a vacuum cup on his head to help pull him out. In the end, Agata was spent and we decided to use the vacuum which was secured to his head and used.

Then came all kinds of encouragement and shouting to Agata to give it all she had with all her pushes. She was so awesome. With the help of the vacuum cup fishing lure, Owen finally emerged at 3:13am Saturday! Praise be to the Lord God child and mother were ok and I didn't pass out again after witnessing this common miracle of childbirth. I even cut the cord.

I was so amazed. We could finally see my son...and hold him. I was shocked how big he looked when he came out. And since we had only agreed on a girl's name and had 2 possibilities for a boy, we had to get decisive quick. So after 5 minutes or so, Owen Marek had a name.

Now after 2 restless nights in the hospital filled with repeat pressure checks and questions of "what's your pain level", we are safe and sound at home. I'm writing this now after a mostly sleepless night here at home. Owen has not been very understanding to his wore-out parents. Apparently, he has the opinion that he must express himself wildly. My poor wife really needs to get some sleep. She's been doing so much. I quite thankful that as I have written this, my son has not uttered a peep. Owen means young warrior. So far it's been a war against rest. But anything good is worth fighting for. By that I mean, we love our son and we will, by God's grace, be good parents to the blessing he has given us.

If you know the words to the Doxology, now would be a good time to rehearse them.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him all creatures here below!
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Amen.

Thanks again to Laurel, and to my parents. Mom and dad busied themselves while waiting by fetching grub for us at the hospital, and waited the whole night to meet their new grandson.

Come out, come out wherever you are!

Good morning, reader. Agata is now 9 days past due for the birth of our first child. So this morning at the shining hour of 7:10 she will be induced.

The lease is up, kiddo. Time to move out and take your part in the world! Time to meet that wacky family of yours.

We're very excited to welcome our blessing from the Lord. It was amazing to think last night about how our relationship has changed from the language camp to the present. We're going to be parents!

Everything's packed and ready to go. Talk to you later.

Yes, I have Something Worth Saying

Hello dear reader! Yes, I know it's been quite a while. It's been dull in some ways, and in others very intense.

For example: we now have a charcoal grill! Well, that's sort of intense. In other news, the second coming is nearly upon us in the glorious visage of our savior Barak Obama (Praise be unto his name). In distinctly more exciting news, We have only 2 weeks until our first born child is due to appear. I think we have most everything ready for the critter. Our nerves and stress level might go down soon, I hope. I have to keep remembering the most obvious thing: God is good and loves us jealously. Are we not much more valuable than birds? The answer is yes.

Another lesser but very significant life change is that I applied for a day shift position at work about 3 weeks ago and finally learned last night that I got the position and will be changing to that shift on September 8! That's a real blessing. It's been 2 and half years since I had a normal day shift position. Now I have to train everyone all over again about my hours of work. That's really a small price to pay for being able to enjoy the evening with my family, taking pictures during the "magic hour", meeting people for studies or going to mid-week church events, and more! It's kind of surreal right now.

I think now I'll leave you with a note about the scan at the top of a great fortune cookie that I got a month or so ago when we met our pals Eric and Jonathan for lunch for Chinese. I don't believe in those things of course, but in the sovereignty of God, I received one that was quite appropriate. Catch you later, reader!

Hey man. What's New?

Well, we moved to a nice 2 bedroom apartment with lots more room, Agata has a bigger baby inside that is pretty active, I turned 32, and then Agata got a little older too.

We received an air conditioner from my parents last year, but we never installed it at the old apartment because the windows slide from side-to-side. Plus we only had about 4 days of summer last year. Well, that was last year. Now Agata is prego and that's rough on a lady in summer. So Joel came over and helped get it installed. YAY! Unnaturally cool air!

So, does anyone read this anymore? I know a few people do. But really, folks, this only works if there are comments. Come on, play along so we can all have fun.

I wonder what the average blog life cycle is now?

Beg Your Pardon?

I would appreciate it a lot if the big important news reporters, congressfolk, and activist-types would stop referring to Americans as "gasoline addicted." It's hardly my fault that fossil fuels are the only viable option available to us right now.


This is not Europe. We don't have as dense a population per state or country as Poland, for example. That makes the use of trains and mass transit for criss-crossing our state or even counties slightly not cost effective.

So I guess we should annex much of the west to Canada and Mexico and have all the present residents west of Illinois move east!

Got to Keep on Movin

Greetings blog reader. I thought it might be time to check in with you to mention that we moved to a nice 2 bedroom apartment 2 weeks ago. We got tons of help from church, as well as some dear old friends. It was all moved within about 3 hours, and without any injuries to belongings or other. So now all we have to do is unpack and arrange. That's about as lame as packing.

No, it's actually worse.

The new place is just about 2-3 miles south of our previous mold-infested home. Lots more room and storage too! We can finally take the stuff we've stashed at my brother's place so they can use their own storage areas. We've got a little 3 foot high brick planter box in front of our living room window that is currently empty, except for kitty deposits. Yes. Super extra lame. But a church family was very nice and gave us some flowers to put in there. So Agata is ready to rock on that little project.

No pictures for you today. Besides, I don't want to post anything really good and then have someone steal it and sell it and then I'd see it in expensive ad campaigns everywhere.

Thanks for stopping by. Sleep well. The Coombses are doing pretty good, thanks to the Lord.

"May I have Some Privacy, Please?"

Yesterday (the 22nd) we got to go look at the critter on the ultrasound thing. I tell you, that is incredible! Everything appears to be perfect. I have to say I was overwhelmed with the sight of our child moving around and grown to about 6 inches since the last time we took a peak. I cannot wait to see our child, and to hold him/her at last.

No we don't know the gender....on purpose. We look forward to the surprise.

Pictures were taken on some cheap, black and white-recording piece of Soviet-era garbage. So I'll touch them up in Photoshop and add color, hair, and make-up to add to the serenity of the image...not. I will post them someday soon, though. No promises when since we're moving this weekend, and time is very short.

In much lesser news, one of my favorite metal bands, Living Sacrifice, is getting back together after a few years in second retirement to record new material for a 2008 release. Guess who's going get his ears filled with that? That's right. Your humble author.

Wiggle wiggle

Agata felt the little Coombs moving last night. That's way cooler than some dumb old picture of a flower, eh?

Fun with Raw

I was trying to get the right shade of dead red from these rose petals. I like this version. Thanks for the formatting help, Eric.

Fine, Thanks

Yes, I'm well now. Thanks for asking.

So Lame...

4 weeks and counting on my illness, if anyone's taking any bets. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I only had a couple of days of actual normal cold-like symptoms. The rest of it has only been some light congestion, coughing, and that general feeling of "I'm not well."

Yes, I went to the doctor last week. Got some "real" sudafed and syrup with codeine to help me sleep. Hasn't really helped, I think.

Is there anything more lame than a guy complaining about being ill on a beautiful day while his wife is 3 months pregnant. Not much.

From the Dark Side

"And all you can see is eclipsed by a mooooon."

I managed to get a decent shot or 2 of the waning stage of the eclipse on Wednesday. My supervisor was nice enough to let me have a long break to shoot that sucker.

In other news worth mentioning, we heard our little Coombs' fast-beating heart today! That's so amazing to hear. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here on this. It just makes it more and more real. Thank the Lord God for His goodness. He's the one who gives and preserves. He truly is a gift-giving God to unworthy slime.

Critter Picture

This is our little bean. Yes, the white object in the lower portion of the black penguin.

Guess What?

So, I was trying to think what might create some excitement among our readers hear at this humble blog, and I had a great idea: post a life changing picture of my wife's pregnancy test!

Happy New Way to Write your Checks Day!

Happy new year's day to you all! May we all find new ways to surrender our wills and deeds to the living Lord God so we may live in closer fellowship with Him and bring greater faithful strength to the gospel of King Jesus.


I hope that if you made any new year's resolutions they were sane and realistic. I realized this morning as I took my first shower of the new year that I didn't bother making a resolution. Oops. I guess that means I know my true character. I don't remember if I made one last year. That makes this year easier already!

Don't Forget

Merry Christmas. Jesus is Lord!

More Pics

Boy am I a slacker or what? 3 weeks without anything new. That must be really boring for you. I think I'll add some eye candy to dazzle your synapses. Deal? OK. By the way, has anyone read any good books lately?

Giant Spanish olive

Freedom Place, Poznań

Poppa Szmyt monitoring the world

Weseli Rodzice

Ul. Półwiejska, Poznań

The Word for the Day

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers.

Give thanks unto the Lord.

Post-Tripping

Hey! We're back. I hope you all didn't mind too much that I didn't post any updates while we were gone. I didn't really have much time to sit and write about the trip because we were most often traveling to see relatives. Also, mom and pop Szmyt's computer is pretty slow.

So, how was the trip, you ask? It was like a red and white blur of Polish. It was very good to get over there and see the fam and for Agata to spend some time with them, but it was too short of a time to get in all intended visiting. the weather in Poland in November is not pleasant for anyone either: cold, wet, windy. The sun starts to clock-out at about 4pm too, so the day is short and all you really want to do is lay around and sleep (maybe that was just me). So there was no chance or desire for sight-seeing.

The first week we spent most of seeing relatives in Wronki. It's so wild for me to say that I have relatives in Poland now. We stayed at mom and dad's house in Wronki and enjoyed their great hospitality.

However, the first week was very difficult for me, something of which I had an expectation. Agata had to talk as much as possible with all of her friends and family as soon as we made contact. Many of them know little English. If they did know some, it was not the time to have lots of English conversations since others would not be able to follow along. Everyone was asking Agata questions constantly so she didn't really have a chance to translate for me. She had to be a real motor-mouth in Polish most of the time. So that left me alone with my thoughts for most of the day unless someone wanted to know something directly from me. I knew it would be kind of like this but I wasn't really prepared for how hard it would be. I know just enough Polish to catch some thoughts and conversations, but not nearly enough to follow a conversation. That is incredibly frustrating. That meant I would greet people and then sit and try not to look offensively bored while the conversation took place for a few hours. I brought my MP3 player with me just in case as well as a book I've been enjoying so far ( The Last Sacrifice by Hannegraaff and B), but I didn't want to sit there listening to The Screwtape Letters while everyone is having a conversation and risk being a seriously rude punk. So I endured and looked for the rare moments when I was sure of the conversation's topic so I could add some comment, or busied myself taking pictures if there was enough light. I took about 400 pictures. I also busied myself with Tetris on my mobile.

We spent our actual anniversary with the church in Poznan at the pastor's house. That was a great day for me because I know some people there and they were more able to have a conversation with me. It was great for both of us to see the brothers and sisters there, even if we didn't really do anything special for our anniversary.

During the last week we spent the first couple of days in Wronki finishing up some visiting, and the last part of the week in Poznan.

We got back on Friday the 16th after a few delays. I officially hate the return trip. We flew from Poznan to Frankfurt to Washington/Dulles to Portland. The last third is always the hardest because we're just wanting to be home in our own bed, but first we have to endure this 6 hour flight on which we can't really sleep and our eyes are too dry to watch the movie. But praise be to God that we made it through customs with no snags, and all of our baggage made it back unharmed.

We've already decided that the next time we go, we need to spend a little more and go in early fall or something.

Overall, it was definitely a good time visiting the family, and I got to know my in-laws a bit better. Thanks to all of you who prayed for us on the trip. Now I'll show off some pictures.

Mom and Pop Szmyt receiving gifts

Mom Szmyt salivating over the potential tastes
to be released from the mushrooms in her hands

Wronki, Poland

American and Polka with traditional smiles

Storm's comin

Hey Mister! Whatchya Doin?

Well, right now I'm trying to keep my breakfast down. Yeah, I'll bet most of you reading this right now (if there's anyone reading this right now) are at LEAST 10 times more calm than we are right now. For some reason, going to Poland has that effect on us. Can't imagine why.

I didn't get excited until yesterday after I finished an Excel exam online. Now I'm really interested.

I think we're all packed. It's all over but the stressing over "I know I forgot something". See you on the other side, everyone! I'll try to add some updates here when I can tear myself away from the great conversations I'll be having in Polish...while I'm asleep.

A Brief Aside

I'd like to take this moment in time to make it known that I think Oregonians should reject greater governmental intrusions by voting "no" on measures 49 and 50.

49 is a sort of an easy since it's an attempt to reject the already-approved by voters measure 37.

50 is bad, I think, because it's more nanny state, and something like 65% of the money raised by this amendment is not even designated for the poor little children who it's supposed to help.

I must say that I decided I would vote no on 50 a long time ago. It's kind of an instant buzzkill that all of the major advertising against measure 50 is sponsored by Phillip-Morris! Major downer. How would you like to have a deep-pocketed financier like them but also know that their very name means evil and death to most people?

Lazy Fingers

A complaint was lodged recently with the Public Affairs office here that the blog was getting stale and needed some excitement.

I fully realize that there have been far too few blog postings here in the last few months, but it's only because we're busy being married, doing married people stuff (driving, talking, eating). Besides, I spend enough time in front of the computer as it is that I could easily sell "Computer Use" credits to nerds who have found themselves pushed outside in search of sun and visual delights. I spend most of my time at work in front of some database or spreadsheet, and I also spend most mornings in front of the compy at home working on my Excel 2007 online class that I'm taking through PCC.

Do I write strangely now? It's because I'm getting sick. I hope it's not too much of an illness. I'm glad I have it now and not in 2 weeks: right as we're leaving for Poland.

We're getting really excited about going to that Baltic state, by the way. It should be really good times. It's too bad that it will only be 11 days actually in Poland. So many opportunities, so little time. I'm just thankful that God provided miles and money for us to do this.

Alright now, let's have a flurry of rabidly excited comments.

This is a picture too!

PIX MIX

From the Coombs'

Hello everyone. How are you? We're doing good. Agata is officially here and in the matrix (she received a Social Security Number 2 weeks ago). We're enjoying getting to know people at our church more and more. This Saturday we're going to another international wedding reception. I'll be shooting the couple and the husband's family (Digitally, people!).

And we're coming up on a year of marriage. So what to do? OK, I'll not make you wait in curious frustration. We're going to Poland November 3 - November 16.

Yeah, we're totally stoked. It'll be sweet! They were cheap tickets too since I had enough frequent flier miles to redeem for 1 free ticket. Niiiiiiccce.

OK, nekst question: Does anyone still check this blog for updates? I know there have been scant few for a while. But now is your chance to make it live again! C'mon everyone! Who's with me? Most of you should know that blogs live and die by comments. I mean that if we don't know you're reading (comments), we have no reason to post (blog put out to pasture).

Remember: We are dependent on God for everything. Catch you later.

And Now a Break...

Agata received her green card on Thursday June 28. Cool, eh?

Hey! What's that smell? Oh! It's sucess!!!

We're house sitting in Hillsboro again, but we stopped at the apartment to get the mail on our way here tonight. We're exhausted from lots of stuff in the last 2 days and going to a great wedding today. I opened the mail box and found a letter from our pals at USCIS.

Begin interest.

Then we noticed the envelope had been opened then taped shut.

Begin ominous feeling.

We got into our place and Agata opened the letter, and it said the adjustment of status request has been approved and she has been granted Conditional Permanent Residence status that is good for 2 years!!!

Finally!!! Praise God. You are so good to us. After all our stumbling in the dark trying to do this, we can again confess that all things are in your control. By your will alone you have caused this to happen, Lord.

Agata will receive her card in the mail in about 3 weeks. Then we'll have to be more creative on this little bloggy.

Again, thanks so much to all of you who have read and prayed for this to happen. This isn't the end, but it's a big step forward. Catch you later!

Muzak

Man this blog is boring right now. This beautiful picture may help while we wait for a letter from USCIS.

Could This Be It?

We made it to a civil surgeon yesterday and got Agata's vericella (chicken pox in the common tongue) vaccination. We went to a traveler's clinic near NW 23rd and waited around for about 1.5 hours, but it finally got done. It only cost $95 too?!?!? The doctor there is kind of an old guy who must meet lots of different people from different countries . He tried to speak a lot of Ruskie with Agata. She even had to teach him how to ask if someone was pregnant in Polish for his future reference.

Seriously, it was pretty uneventful. Just lots of waiting for a 5 second shot and then for the doctor to type on the form and seal it in an envelope.

So today we envelopized it and sent it off to Portland USCIS by certified mail. Thanks be to God we got that done pretty easily. So please pray that this part is done and Agata finally gets her card now.


In other news, I finally decided not to take a closer look at a job opportunity in Prairie City. It would just be too much change for too little stability in the position. It was really hard for me to say no because I really want to live there and be closer to my family. But on the other hand, it would be really hard on my wife, there was not a good sense of longevity in the position, and it just didn't seem like the right time. But I wanted it to be the right time soooo very much! God's care and providence will be my confession.

"Hello? Left Hand? This is Right hand. How's everything?"

Greetings, faithful readers! We finally had the big initial interview this morning. It was at 8:30 this morning, so I left work a little early last night so we could get up and be downtown without having to worry too much about being late. As you can imagine, we were both battling our nerves...especially me.

After we left our invitation letter in a little "Letter Tray", we sat and waited in a large, mostly featureless, but comfortable room with no tube or magazines. There were 2 other couples and 3 individuals waiting there too. I think we were summoned forth at about 8:45 by an officer lady and went with her back to an office and sat together across from her. She swore us in and began shuffling papers and asking questions. It was pretty simple stuff that she asked us: how did we meet, how many people were at our wedding, what's our religious background. Poor Agata was so nervous she missed the date of our engagement by 5 days :( But we recovered from that.

The problem came when she asked for Agata's vaccination supplement (and the congregation said "Aaaawww man!"). She said that they only had the hand written one that was sent from her doctor. Faithful readers of our humble blog will recall how we dealt with this in January by going downtown to the same office to ask if they wanted some special form for this supplement and showed them this handwritten document. They said that handwritten document would be OK and that there was no special form. Well now the officer wanted an official form ("Oh brother!! I feel sick."). So we told her about our previous meeting when we were told it would be OK to use that.

She had to ask her supervisor if that handwritten document was OK. I sat there and prayed. God said "Yes", so the supervisor said it would be OK. The only problem was that there was nothing on there that said Agata had ever had or been vaccinated for chicken pox. Agata wasn't familiar with the term so she wasn't sure if she had it or not. So the officer finished fattening her file on us and told us to pick up the vaccination form on our way out, visit a Civil Surgeon, have that person give Agata the vaccination or see if she ever had it, have him or her complete the form, and then we mail it to USCIS. After that they'll either ask for more information or mail Agata her permanent residency card. Wouldn't that be great?

Now I'm looking at a list of these civil surgeons and getting ready to make some calls. So now all we have to do is get the card done and send it and we'll see...again.

Thanks so much for your prayers. Even though we have these little problems, we recognize they are little. It's just frustrating that we can't find a clear list that shows all the needed documents and forms. Please keep praying. Catch you later, but not much later!

Keep On Truckin

Today marks 6 months of marriage. For many of you loyal readers, that's like nothing. Well, for us it's amazing. I can't believe 6 months ago I said yes to my lady and she said it back to me. Where has the time gone?

We have so much to do still with regard to immigration, making our home, learning how to be mature Christians, learning how to manage money, learning how to be married. So often I feel lost in the woods because there's so much I don't know about or need to do. I'm planning to go back to school this year too. That will be a huge challenge. And there's many more like that ahead. But we don't walk alone. God has given us this life to enjoy and to work joyfully unto him in all we do. I have found great joy in knowing that my life in Christ is not about getting saved, then waiting to go to heaven. It's so much more than that! He's given us this amazing planet to enjoy and take care of, along with the command to work in all it's different forms.

But we also need to enjoy life. That's why Agata and I are celebrating this 6 month mark tomorrow by going to Multnomah Falls and going out to nice restaurant in Milwaukie (yes, Milwaukie). It's a place I took her to back in 2005 when she visited. Cool memories. Can you believe how sentimental I am?

I hope and pray for many more fruitful years with my wife.

May 31: Initial Interview

We finally heard from the Immigration folks. They have scheduled an initial interview with us on May 31 at 8:30 am. They want us to bring a lot of documentation (that I think we already gave them a few times before. Oh well). It looks like they want to ask us about our relationship, what we've been doing, etc.,-essentially validate that we're STILL not fakers seeking her Change of Status request.

I'm already nervous. That's not new. So I'll remember all the things God has already done for us.

So we'll be busy getting ready for this next step. Please pray for our nerves and that all will go well. I hope all ya'll are doin good. Thanks for praying.

Historic Tradition

Hey sportsfans. We're heading east for the weekend. It's our first journey that way since Agata and I were married in the USA. It will be great to go over there and see our friends and catch up. Joel and his merry (Lord willing) group of skaters will be doing a skate demo at the new skate park in John Day this Saturday too. This is the first time I'll have seen them do their thing. I'm hoping it will be a good chance for me to practice some action shots with my fancy camera.

Happy Easter in advance my brothers and sisters. Don't let the Easter bunny angels and colored eggs make you cynical. Remember the facts: dead and helpless sinners, a holy God takes action and selects many for himself, the Lord Jesus lives the perfect life for us, gives Himself as the perfect sacrifice, and then defeats all death to secure life for us!

HE IS RISEN!!!

No Big Whoop

So the appointment on the 20th was a piece of firm, simple cake. We went in, filled a form, took a number, Agata went to another room, got finger-printed by a man afraid to provide instructions verbally, got her picture taken, and that was it. In and out in 30 minutes. Now we're waiting to see what happens next.

Keep on praying, please. See you soon. I need to put up some pictures sometime. This place is kind of looking boring.

The Government Officials Want to Talk

Greetings friends. Sorry to leave you hanging like that for so long. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. We moved back to our apartment after about 35 days of housesitting, then my parents visited, and...well I guess that's it. Anyway, it looks simpler than it was. Not that there were any problems or anything.

Enough back-peddling. To the point at hand. USCIS has sent us 2 notifications this week. The first was an appointment for Agata to get fingerprinted and stuff on March 20th (part of the adjustment of status process), and a notice of receipt of the adjustment of status application. Kind of funny that one came before the other. Oh well. I was starting to think happy thoughts when I saw they had cashed our big, rubbery check.

So thank God like usual. They have it and they are processing it.
Other than that, we're just trying to clean up the apartment and get organized, and save more money here and there. It's like we're a normal married couple learning how to live together. How cool is that?

Courtesy of U.S.P.S. online

We sent the adjustment of status packet for Agata by certified mail, and here's what happened:

Detailed Results:

	Delivered, February 19, 2007, 9:44 pm, CHICAGO, IL 60680
	Arrival at Unit, February 18, 2007, 1:17 pm, CHICAGO, IL 60680
	Acceptance, February 16, 2007, 12:25 pm, HILLSBORO, OR 97123

So they got it. Time to wait some more and trust God as usual.

Steps Forward...

Hey ya'll. We finally sent all of the necessary forms to adjust Agata's status. After I checked it 120 times we sent it this morning by certified mail. I guess in about 30 days we should hear if they like us or not. Keep on praying, please. Thanks to you who have. God is so good to us, even when we're faithless. But I guess that makes sense since He chose us to be His even while we were dead in sin. I love God.

Not Leaving

We just got home from going downtown to our meeting. I'll spare the details for now. The basic answer is there's no problem. The woman there told us as long as we got married we have 6 months to file for a change of status. Or something. Essentially I was waiting to hear that we have no problem and Agata and I would not be separated...and that's what I heard.

It would be so great if they documented this process better. Anyway, praise God!!!

Tap, Tap, Tap

Does anyone read this blog anymore? It's like this: A blog is like Tinkerbell. If people comment, the blog lives. If not, just like Tinkerbell not hearing people clap, the blog will feel unimportant and die.

Uppers and Downers

Time for an important update! First the good news...

I should have checked the last posting to see what is current knowledge or not. Anyway, Agata's mom, Grazyna, contacted the doctor's office in Wronki to see if they had Agata's vaccination supplement, and they said they did and she could come get it on Friday (January 19). So she went there on Friday with an envelope all ready to go. When she got there and asked, though, they said they didn't have it and that Agata should have received it when she was 16 and going to high school so Agata could give it to the school. Well, that school has been on a 2-week winter vacation so no one was there to ask if the papers are there. They opened again today.

Part of a week passed last week until Alicja (Agata's sister) talked to the neighbor lady who is a nurse at one of the doctor's offices Agata went to when she lived in Poznan. Agata had 2 doctors there: the first one was the one their neighbor worked and then a second doctor's office. But still the nurse was willing to help. You see in Poland, parents usually get a small booklet in which they record their little one's medical history, and that includes their vaccinations. So Grazyna brought Agata's little book to the nurse, the nurse took it to the second doctor, and the second doctor copied the vaccination stuff from the book onto another paper in Polish, English, and Latin and signed it. And that was put in the mail this last Saturday (January 27). So we have a vaccination supplement coming! YEAH!


Now the bad news....

On Friday the 26th, Agata and I were going to work on all her change of status papers. I was looking at some instructions for another form online when Agata said: "Bert, I think we have a problem." She was filling out the I-485 and it asked for the expiration date of her visa. It's March 19th. But then we also realized the date written into the visa by the immigration officer in Chicago was really soon: Feb. 17. Because of how things were worded, we started to get confused. So I called the USCIS help line. During that call, the hammer of understanding hit my head hard. We found out that for almost a year we misunderstood the timelines and processes of the K1 Fiance visa. The correct way is this:
The visa is good for 6 months (Agata's was issued on September 20th 2006)
As soon as she entered the US, she had 90 days in which to marry me and file all the necessary forms to change her status. The USCIS person I talked to on the phone said about 30 days after we filed all the forms we would receive notice of her case as "pending" which means that they were going to process it and she would be ok until she received her 2 year residency card. She also said that there was no chance to extend the time limit on her visa.

So as of Friday, we had 29 days to file her papers but we couldn't since we didn't have all the needed papers (vaccination supplement).

PANIC!!!

Then I called USCIS again to be sure of as much as possible. The first time I called on Friday I didn't take the time to explain all of our circumstances. So this time I asked every question twice and also explained in as much detail as possible our situation. This helper told me that given our situation we should go to the local office and get an extension of Agata's status so that she doesn't go out of status while we're waiting for all the papers to be processed. I asked again to make sure I understood her right and she said "Yes, of course they should extend it. What else can you do?"
We now have an appointment to go downtown again to the local immigration office on Wednesday, February 7th (earliest we could get one) at 9:45. This time I imagine there should be less snow!

In the meantime, we're going to get everything done as much as we can and sent before the appointment. We've definitely learned that we can't have short phone calls with USCIS when we call them. It's so frustrating. If you go the USCIS website and try to find clear answers and specific timelines or "first this, then this"-style instructions, you'll be disappointed.

Please continue to pray for this whole process, for our next appointment that we'll meet with some reasonable, caring person and that Agata will receive an extension. Because as you can imagine, we don't want to be separated.

Is There a Vaccination Record in the House?

Greetings, english-reading people! It appears the Lord has blessed us....again. Yesterday we had our appointment in downtown Portland to get a few questions answered, most importantly of them being: How should we get Agata's vaccination records from Poland to here?

Well, some of you may know that yesterday morning, Portland stated to look like a city in panic as the fluffy white stuff descended from the heavens to coldly kiss the ground. We got up and enjoyed the sight then realized what this was going to mean for our drive. I turned on the TV and saw the usual inexperienced drivers all over the roads and in the ditches and colliding with other cars. And we had to drive right through it. Awesome.

So we left at about 8, passed several news crews making on-the-spot TV reports, cell phone drivers, and sideways cars and got downtown without incident. Then we had to deal with another dastardly foe: the new Portland parking meter! I unsheathed my debit card to pay for some time in the convenient device and stabbed it into the machine..and the machine grabbed it with its fatty entrails! Only about a quarter inch of the card was available to grasp. We both tried to pull it out but it was being gripped by the machine. I finally got the thing out...then tried again! (all together now: WHY?!?!) The same thing happened again. We got it out again and my dear wife and I finally realized it was time to use quarters to pay the $1.25 an hour sum.

We got in the government building with 10 minutes to spare. We asked our questions and left. No problemo. It looks like all we have to do is get Agata's mom to contact the clinic in Wronki to get the records from the doctor there and have that mailed to us. No special forms or anything. So as usual, the monsters in my head were much smaller in reality because they were only big shadows on the wall.

Then we made it back to the apartmiente de casa without any trouble.

So we'll get to work on all the things we can for Agata's status. Thanks for praying. God's so good to us, and faithful to the faithless.

Updatus Majorus

Greetings, loyal readers! As you know it's been a long while since we made a new post here. A lot has happened since the last one, as most of you know. But it's good to record it here for the sake of memory and such.

So we got married in Prairie City on December 2. I now have another date for which I must be accountable. Everything was a great blessing. The ladies there threw a bridal shower for Agata (that's not a Polish tradition at all), and I went along for moral support. It was so awesome that all these ladies came and gave her good gifts and encouragement and welcomed her to America...even though only a few of them knew her and we will be living and going to church in Portland.


The church was well decorated by friends, and the ceremony went very well. Joel's hand was even healed enough that he could play "Be Thou My Vision" on his guitar while we had communion. Pastor Dave had a very good sermon for us too. It's so good to have it done by a good friend who knows you well. As for the guests, I'm sure they all had a good time. Especially considering all the work our dear friends did in preparing the teen center, the church, and food and then serving that food at the reception! I keep saying it again and again: We were blessed over and over again by the practical love we received during this time. We're so thankful to know such good people. Seriously. It's awesome.

The only downer I can think of right now is that my vest for my wedding uniform disappeared sometime between when we dropped it and Agata's dress off at the cleaners and picked them up.
We didn't notice it was missing until we got to Prairie City. I was more interested in making sure I remembered to bring the marriage license. Anyway, the suit still looked good in spite of it's contents. And of course, Agata was beautiful in her dress.

Then I went back to work on December 4th. That was weird. After a month off and spending every day with Agata, it was strange to leave her at the apartment and go do something else. Work was the same old thing, but I'm not going to take time here to complain. I'll just be thankful that I have this job.

Agata has been trying to make order out of this former-bachelor's apartment. It's kept her VERY busy. There's still some to be done but it's a lot better now.

We got a used oak dining table for free! No more eating from the coffee table!!

We stayed in Portland for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We decided it would be best for us to have our first Christmas on our own so we can have our own memories and try to start our own family traditions. Agata was in the kitchen for 3 days straight, I'd say. She made a great feast that was a mix of Polish and American customs. It was so awesome you don't even understand. I love that woman.

I had the week of Christmas off of work since the plant normally closes for that week through New Year's day. So we got lazy. We also went to Seaside on the 27th to be sentimental and celebrate a year since I proposed to her down by Lake Abert. I can't believe it's been a year. But then again, I guess I can.

We're now sharing a cold in the new year. We're really married now. As my dad would say, "You share everything when you're married."

Now we have to work on Agata's status in the USA. I finally succumbed to my paranoia and called USCIS to find out if there's something we needed to do now that we're married. DUH! Of course there is. Agata's fiance visa is good for 6 months after she entered the USA. We need to get her status adjusted with form I-485. This means lots more paper work and supporting documents, of course. Unfortunately, both Agata and I missed the fact that she needed to bring her vaccination history with her from Poland. The doctor she saw for her appointment said she didn't need to take anything like that, but she only meant for the visa not adjustment of status. DANGIT! So I've now made 3-4 phone calls to USCIS to find out how we can get this part of the I-485 requirement satisfied. I finally found out that we have to see an immigration officer here in Portland to figure out how to take care of this. We have an appointment for January 16 at 9:30.

So that's the prayer request: Please pray for us as we play federal form fun (FFF) to get my wife's citizenship secured. That's the long-term goal. Right now we just need to figure out how to get this vaccination information taken care for the I-485 so she can (Lord willing) become a permanent resident.

OK, one last thing: Many of you know or may have assumed we would stop posting on this blog now that we reached the goal of marriage. Well, that's changed. Since we'll have many more news-worthy items with regard to this process of citizenship, we've decided to keep the blog going so you can stay informed. I hope that we'll be able to keep from waiting 2 months between posts :)

God bless and keep you all, and thanks for your prayers.

Came to America

Remember that great song by James Brown "Comin' to America"? Well Agata are now experiencing that in the past-tense form. We are now in the good old USA after some time in southwest Poland and saying good-byes to family and friends. Everything has gone extremely well. God really knows how to spoil us, even if we don't realize it. The only bummer has been that the day before our wedding in Poland Agata starting getting a cough that only got stronger through our time there. The last Thursday we were in Poznan, A friend/doctor was kind enough to give a house call for Agata. The great part is that he asked if we could delay leaving Poland for 2 weeks so she would have a chance to rest and get well. We laughed and then he gave her some anti-bi's. She's doing much better now.

The flights back to the US went just fine with only minor delays that were later compensated for with strong tail winds. All our bags arrived safely with no smashed contents. God is so good to us. Now we are kind of in limbo since we don't have any place to really unpack Agata's clothes and stuff. The bedroom is stacked with bags now. It's no fun for both of us since we like to have some order. We are just trying to be patient right now until we can spend the time and money for some furniture.

The last 2 days have been full of buying food and other things a single man wouldn't think of buying until he realized his wife would need it. We had to buy lots of food since I ate almost everything before I left for Poland. I din't want any food to grow legs and get an attitude while I was gone.

We now have a doormat!

In order to give Agata more rest, we decided to stay in town for Thanksgiving instead of traveling across the state to be with the fam. We'll be enjoying the good company and hospitality of some good friends.

Since it's Thanksgiving, I'll say a few things. Thank God alone for giving us such great mercy in the Lord Jesus when all we should have had was condemnation. I love you, LORD. Thank God for my wife, who You provided in such an unexpected way. And thank God for the way He provided for Agata and I through the great generosity of family and friends. I'm overwhelmed with all the blessings that have been poured out on us!

God bless you and keep you. Happy Thanksgiving! Get off the computer and go enjoy your friends and family!!!!!!!!!!! Time goes fast. Appreciate what has been given to you.

Post Wesele

Well, here I am after one of the biggest events of my life. It's 14:27 now as I write this. The ceremony went very well (I didn't weep like a water fall or pass out), Agata looked beautiful, we had a virtual paparazzi of photographers for the ceremony, Pastor Andrzej's sermon was much enjoyed by the Polish-speakers, and Agata and I were finally married.

After the ceremony, Agata and I left with my new in-laws, Mieczyslaw and Grazyna, with my parents and Dave following behind with Marek, and Darek (another photographer providing his services) to 1 of 2 photo op locations. If the weather were good, we would have gone to the "fake lakes" in the forest area near Wronki. The fall leaves were very nice there and the light was nice, but it was raining. So we went to a castle in Szamotuly. It was a great idea Mieczyslaw had in case it was raining.

The party was quite good too. Lots of various food and drink available throughout the night of dancing and visiting. I didn't think my parents would stay there very long, but they stayed to 11:30pm. They even danced a few times with each other and Grazyna and Mieczyslaw!! I've seen everything now.

As usual, I was quite shy about dancing since I can't. But I knew that if I didn't try to I would regret lost opportunities for the rest of my life to shake it with my dear wife and my new Polish family.

Speaking of regret, I didn't get drunk either:)

So we got back to my in-law's house at about 3am 11/12 after the party and hit the sack at about 4. Of course I coudn't sleep. I just got married. Agata and I are still in shock. After all this time and a crazy week, here we are. I wonder if everyone feels that way just after the marriage ceremony? Anyway, We are really looking forward to some much-needed rest in Karpacz 11/13-11/16.

Some day we'll get the thousands of pictures and hours of video tape prepared and re-live it a bit. Our great thanks goes to all the people who had a part in yesterday. And our greatest thanks is to the LORD, Who made us and this institution of marriage for us to enjoy to His glory.

Now we just have to pack, get back and have the U.S.A wedding!

Here We Go!!

I am now an official groom. I've had about 4 hours of sleep last night, Agata probably had less, the church is almost ready for a holy event, and in about 3 hours, Agata and I will be married.

After all the planning and stuff, it's tempting to say that today is the easy part. All we have to do is recite our vows of life-long promise, have our first kiss and stay awake for most of the night into the early morning for the wedding party in Wronki. I know there will be other "surprises" today, but the reality is that this is a day I've waited for most of my life. I want to enjoy it as much as possible with no regrets about accidents that happen today. And I really hope Agata enjoys this day at least twice as much as me. I know she has all kinds of extra stress compared to me. But I sincerely pray that she'll enjoy this day for what it is: our binding together for the rest of our lives before God; a holy insitution given to us by our loving, wild, and amazing LORD.

This is the day the LORD has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!

American Invasion Part 2

So the invasion of Poland continues. I know have reinforcements from my parents, with air support from Pastor Dave.

Thank God, as always, for a great trip for them. I can't believe my parents are here!!!! Dude, it's incredible.

BEEP!

Hi, you've reached Bert. I'm in Poland now getting my dear fiance Agata, so it will be some weeks before I can reply. But please leave a message and I'll get back to you. Thanks and have a super-cool day.

Check Please!

Here's what's on my mind:

1 week from today I'll be in Poland again, my second homeland. Awesome!!
2 weeks from today I'll be married to a beautiful woman who is so wonderful I don't even realize it completely right now. It's a good thing we'll have our lives together for me to learn.

I'd like to say that one part again here, if I may: I'll be married in 2 weeks to a beautiful, godly woman who is willing to leave her country to be my wife. Dude, that's incredible!

And this is my reality check for today. Praise God! He is so good to me.

If you read this, I think you should make a comment. And I hope you remembered to set your clock back an hour tonight :)

From Far Poland :)

Dear Friends,

I just want to let you know how things are going on the other side of the ocean.
First: the dress is ready :) I also bought a veil lately.
On Friday I ordered a tie for Bert :)
Things are going well.
I just need to order flowers and say "good bye" to my friends ;(

See you very soon :)

Big Tents and Open Vents

Are you confused by the title I made for this posting? Well, it has to do with things being in action. Part of the confusion you may have felt upon first reading it is also intended to create a sense of wonder in you, slightly similar to the wonder I have felt lately.

I know: I'm very talented and a very gifted writer.

It's been quite sometime since Agata or I made an update here, so here we go.

It's been a huge blessing to see all the plans come through that Agata and I made based on the hope that everything would work out ok for her visa. The day after Agata sent me an SMS that she received a visa, I asked for 30 days off of work, and was granted that time off. That was very important to me since we'll need that time to get married in Poland, have some time together, come back to the US, rest, let Agata start learning about "normal" American life, get married again, and then start all the other paper work.

Next, I got tickets for a pretty good price for the time that we wanted. I'll be leaving November 3 and arriving in Warsaw at about 9a.m. November 4th. From there Agata will meet me and we'll travel by train to Poznan. The wedding will be on November 11 at 11a.m. with a good wedding party in Wronki at about 4p.m. Then we'll come back to the U.S. on November 20th, rest a bit and get married (legally) in Prairie City by the most awesome and highly cool Pastor Dave on December 2nd. Then I'll go back to work on the following Monday.

Other things completed: I bought a nice suit finally at JC Penney for a great price. Thank God! I just have to buy some good dancing shoes. I hope I can do a little dancing. I'm nervous about it since I sprained my left ankle REALLY nice on 8/31, and it's still sore and unstable. I will find some way to at least dance with my dear wife! All her relatives will have to be patient with me. Slow dances only :)

Dude, I'm getting married 30 days from now!! OK, I just had to say that.

Agata has gotten a lot of things done on her side of the planet too. Reservations for hotels, restaurant reserved for the wedding party, announcements and invitations completed and sent out, made plans for a hairdresser and stuff for a good price, and a lot of other stuff I can't remember right now. I'm proud of her, of course. Please pray for her as the time gets closer for the wedding. It's pretty stressful, you can imagine.

And now the most recent, surprising news: Pastor David will be escorting my parents to Poland on November 8-14!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it? I was so happy when Dave called me and told me about it. It's so incredible to me that they would be willing to go through the challenges of international travel to see Agata and I get married and meet her family. It will be so surreal to see them there in my other home country. I'm very proud of them. I'm so happy about it I don't know what to do with myself. Please pray for them too as they hustle to get prepared, and for their trip.

So to sum up: God is faithful when we are faithless, and we should always remember that the best way to please God is not through a brilliant plan with no holes in it, but through faith. God is still God and I'm still not.

This Is It

OK, are you all ready? Here it is:

Agata Szmyt has been approved to receive a fiance visa!!!!!

I can't believe it's actually here. I'm so tired now I don't know if I should cry or scream. I think I'll just go to sleep.

But first, I must give all thanks and praise to my merciful living only true God of all for answering our prayers. He alone is worthy to receive the praise for this occasion. Father God, you have given so much to me already in your love and mercy. But now I want to thank you for saying "yes" to this visa, so that this lovely woman you brought into my life can become my wife.

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him all ye creatures here below!
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
Amen.

Waiting

Hi. Right now Agata should be in her Visa interview in Warsaw. Her appointment was at 8:45 (23:45 here in Portland). If you can imagine, I'm excited, stressed and nervous. I am pretty tired right now but I just want to know that my lady has her visa! Of course, that won't help me sleep at all. It will make it much worse....but in a good way.

It's really wild to think how long we have been waiting just for this day. I have not seen her since January 8. Lord willing, I'll see her in less than a month.

So I'm just sitting here eating cheese and crackers waiting to pass out or to get a message about the results of her interview.

Don't worry. I'll let you know as soon as I do!

Something REALLY Important

Greetings, Dear Readers. Time for a very significant update to this little bloggy-loggy. First, Pastor Dave made it back from Poland ok with a large bag of stuff from Agata(thanks again, Dave). It's just some books and clothes, but it's kind of weird/cool to have some of her stuff sitting in the corner of the bedroom.

Now for the big update. It's the moment we've all been waiting for: an actual date!!! Today Agata received the invitation for her visa interview at the Warsaw embassy. It will be on September 20th!!!!!!! This is the big one, folks. As far as I know it will be during this interview that they will decide if Agata may have the fiance visa or not. So please be praying for us as we try to get everything prepared for Agata's interview, and pray for Agata to be calm for that time.

So, if all goes according to plan and Agata gets that visa, the next update I post here will be about when the weddings will be. Isn't that incredible? I'm shocked, to be honest. It's a good thing I'm very tired today or else I'd be going crazy. But praise be to the Lord for His love and patience toward us simple humans. Thank You, Lord, that you have brought us this far and we can easily trust you for what is to come.

The Paper Flies Over the Ocean

Greetings, all. Some significant events have taken place in the last few days. So I should mention them here.

First, Pastor David flew to Poland on Monday and took with him a copy of the original I-129F petition and the I-134 Affidavit of Support to pass on to Agata. (Thanks like crazy, Dave!!)

Second, once she knew that the documents were on their way through Dave, Agata faxed some WRW-1 form to the Warsaw embassy. This form is one that she received over 2 months ago and has been waiting for me to get that support information back to her. Basically it looks like support documents are not exactly required but the officials there may ask for it. After they process that form they will send her an appointment package that is supposed to explain everything about when will her appointment be, what to bring, and other stuff. According to the information site, the average wait time for an appointment is 6-8 weeks.

But why am I explaining all this to you? Why don't you go read that stuff? I assure it is a most entertaining, brief and captivating read. Here's the address: http://warsaw.usembassy.gov/poland/Fiance_Visas.html

In the meantime, Agata is in Switzerland this week singing it up with her choir. Man, what a rockstar!

Keep praying. Like we keep saying, it's getting closer!

Communication

I love Skype.

Skype allows Agata and I to talk for FREE from my computer to her on her generous friend's computer (thanks Ela!) through the Internet. What's really great besides saving piles of money is that the sound quality is at least 5 times better than what we can have on a phone call.

See? The Internet can be uesful!

Bank Update

Greetings, faithful readers! Just letting you know that I finally got the letter I needed from my bank...mostly. It's a long story that is quite frustrating. Basically, there was a great lack of communication from my bank as I kept trying to special order these letters that had very simple information about my account. I ordered it 4 times over the last 7 weeks. I know, I know: I'm too patient or something. What can I say? I'm shy and modest. Anyway, it finally became clear to me that the office that was supposed to complete this kind of special document order was not going to do this task. So I got it from my local branch. I would have done this to begin with, but I was led to believe they couldn't.

As you can guess, since there was no communication from them to me during this time, I'll be looking for a new bank. What was really great was the last time I called customer service. They told me they couldn't give me a simple document that shows my deposits for the last 12 months. After that they told me that I was pre-qualified for a great credit card offer and was asked if I wanted to sign up for some great rates of interest! Obviously, if they can't take care of my basic banking needs, I don't want anything else from them.

So, now that I have those papers, I'll print out my stock account info, my retirement account info, write up an estimate for my assets, copy it all, have it notarized, then give it to the Phantom Pastor who is flying to Polska in a couple of weeks who will kindly give it to the one and Agata Szmyt. How was that for a too-long sentence?

In short: praise God! It's getting closer!!! Thanks again and again to all of you who are praying for us. We are very grateful.

The Big "1"

Dear Agata,

Today marks a year since you answered "yes" to my question about if we could be more than friends. Looking back on that time now seems strange because of all that has happened since that time (for example: us getting engaged!).

I know that everyone who reads this will think it's strange or something, but I just want to be very public and say that I thank God every day that He led me to you to be my friend, and then to be my bride. I was praying for you before I even knew you. God knows our needs and desires far better than we know since he ordains all things. I love you completely, Agata, and I pray that King Jesus will be the Lord of our home when He wills us to finally have a home together.

Sincerely yours,
Bert

Update...

Hi everyone of you. Thanks for looking here occasionally to see if there's some news. We realize it's been some time since there was some kind of "official" developments. There have been some that I failed to get posted here earlier.

About a month ago or more, Agata received notice from the Warsaw embassy that she needed to start preparing documents and forms to send back to them. One of those forms is actually one that I must complete. Actually, the form I have to complete, and Affidavit of Support, must be sent with a document from my employer and a document from my bank. The document from my employer, which I received about 2 weeks ago, needed to explain some things about my work. The document from my bank needs to state certain details about my account with them.

I have not received the document from my bank yet. I ordered it from them about 3 weeks ago and it had not arrived yet. It was only supposed to take 5-7 days for me to receive it. So last Monday I called them to see what happened. It appears that the first person I talked to there made some mistakes and never actually got the order completed correctly. So I had to make another order. I'm fairly confident it was done correctly this time, and I hope to receive it some time this week. After I receive that, I must complete the Affidavit of Support by listing things from the 2 documents and my assets, swear to its authenticity before a Notary Public, and finally send it to Agata so she can continue the process.

Please continue to pray for us, and we thank you have been praying for us. We'd like to ask that you pray for this part of the process that we can complete it soon and accurately. Cuz, you know, we want to be married and stuff!!!!

Thieves stole my stuff

Wow. Look at all my stuff sitting there. What in the world happened?

Well, sometime Saturday I came home and found that all my belongings were gone. I was already suspicious because many of my possessions had been disappearing during the week:My TV, surround sound system, clothes, CD's and tapes. I was pretty upset, as you can imagine. I really value that stuff, especially the CD's I have some REALLY hard to find stuff from some of my favorite bands.

There were some pretty sneaky thieves getting in there and taking my stuff, and now it was all gone! Thank God I saw one of their vehicles-a blue GMC van covered with graffiti and stickers-just going around the corner from my street. So I jumped in my car and followed them. I pursued them at a safe distance so they wouldn't spot me and get scared. I did lose them for about 40 minutes but I managed to see that same blue van as I was canvassing the neighborhoods of Raleigh Hills, a suburb of south west Portland. It was parked in a small apartment complex's parking lot. The van doors were open and no one seemed to be near it, so I drove into the lot and parked, intending to snoop around and find those dogs and where they were putting my stuff. I parked and got out of my car and walked toward a short passage way that led through the lower level of the apartment complex. Before I could get to the passage, I heard someone in an apartment above me shout: "Dude! He found us! Let's get outta here!" Then I heard a lot of heavy footsteps overhead hurrying to a door, I assumed. Three white men then came running down a staircase in front of me. They stopped for a moment and then rushed toward me. The first one over-powered me and threw me to the ground. I could tell he'd trained in some kind of advanced multi-discipline martial art. Normally I could stomp a hole in punks like this, but not this time. Then the remaining 2 ran past me, all of them rushing to the blue GMC van. They started it and raced out of there as fast as the old van would take them.

Since they were all gone and I'd seen earlier that the van was empty, I reasoned that all my stuff was in an apartment upstairs. So I got up, dusted myself off and went up the staircase. I came to a door through which I could enter 3 different apartments. I saw one of the doors was left open and guessed that was the one. I went through the door and down a couple of steps to number 8 and entered. That 's where I found everything. It was all there. Thank God! I was so glad.

As most of you know, I've been looking for a new apartment to prepare for when Agata and I are married. This place looked pretty nice and was in a nice area. Also, I had all of my things here in this one bedroom apartment already moved. So I decided to stay. Now I just have to unpack and get organized.

Hello :)

Well, I'm older too. I wanted to write it yesterday but I was very busy. Yes, yesterday I had birthday. It is very important year of my life because I will marry Bert :) A good year of many changes in my life.

See you soon :)

Let's See That Again....

It's good to refresh the memory after 5 months.

Someone Old, Something New

I'm 30 now. I'm older. That's new for me. I'll save the long, passionate speeches. I'll just say thanks to the living, one true God for his eternal love and protection.

Quickie but Important

Hello, I've an update to the process. I just got an sms from Agata that she has received a letter from the embassy telling her to start collecting documents to prepare for her interview and stuff.

Praise God the process is still going and nothing was lost in the mail. Please pray for Agata as she prepares for this part of the game.

1 Step Closer...

I just got a letter from USCIS stating that the petition has been approved and sent to the National Visa Center for processing. After that it will be sent to the Warsaw embassy for them to interview Agata and decide if she'll finally be approved for a visa.

1 step forward, 2 more to go!

Remember on the previous post when I said I was really excited? Well, you can guess what happened to me after I read this letter.....I was a lot more excited!

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise God all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

May 3 Update

Greetings, marriage fans! I checked the USCIS (immigration for short) website this morning and had a wonderful surprise.

You may remember that for the last 2 months all the thing said was that the last time anything had been done to the petition was on February 27, which is when they received it. So it's just been sitting there until they get to it since there are other people before me.

Well today the date that shows the last time some work was done on it changed significantly. It now shows that the last time they worked on it was....TODAY! YEAH! It looks like they are FINALLY working on it. Now it's really, really official. And I'm just a little happy. OK, I lied. I'M A LOT HAPPY!

Please continue to pray for us as we await God's time for our marriage.

Odometer Reading

I just checked the meter and realized today marks 4 months since that happy day in December by Lake Abert. I know, I'm horribly cheesy and totally in love...so what?!?! I'm having fun with it since it's my reality. I'm extremely happy and thankful about the fact that Agata Szmyt will be my wife in God's time.

General Good News

He is Risen!

Car:1 Bicycle:0

I just want to take this time and space to say thank the LORD for his mercy and his protection. He is the giver and taker of life and health and I love him completely for his work on the earth and in me: a fellow heir in the blessings that are mine in the Lord Jesus.

It's a lovely day today so I took a ride on my bike...and got hit in the rear wheel by a car coming out of a parking lot. They never even stopped. Either they didn't notice me RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM or they were afraid of trouble once they kind of ran into me at 5 mph. I didn't get plate number or anything because I was in shock that they never stopped, but kept going. My rear wheel is bent now, and so is my attitude.

So I had to carry my bike home, counting my blessings of working legs, arms, head, and all the rest. Now when I go to the bike shop for repairs, I'll be buying a new helmet and one of those crazy orange "NOTICE ME" vests.

Now let me remind all of you to please be careful when you are driving. Bikers are hard to see sometimes.

News Flash (OW! My eyes!)

I checked the USCIS website this morning and discovered that they are making some progress.There's a section that lists, according to the date they were received, the forms and applications they are working on now. Right now they are working on I129F petitions they received on January 3, 2006. They received mine on February 27.

Thank God that some movement has happened. It's getting closer....

Good things come to those who wait

I don't have any news to report about the petition right now, I'm sorry to say. But this blog-dog is about more than the petition. It's about everything on the way towards the time we walk down the aisle.

So with that in mind I report some other significant items about other things I've been doing to prepare for that happy day.

I sold my drumset!!! I know, it's quite a surprise. Well, it was a hard decision to make, but it was an easy one too. On one hand, I have been playing drums for over 13 years and loving it. On the other hand, I kind of hit the wall creatively and have not had the motivation to play very much (if any) in the last few months. So it seemed time to let that part of my life go. So I sold them for a good price (sniff) and used that money plus a surprise Earned Income Credit refund from the IRS to pay off a large part of my car. I hope to pay it off in a couple of months. I can't believe I'm still paying for it!

Some of you may be wondering what this has to do with our marriage and the price of bread in Pakistan. Others of you know it's quite significant because you know that weddings and marriages require....MONEY! So if I get out of my debts, I'll have more to save up for the big Polka Party and more to provide for my new family. I'm sooo responsible (and narcissistic).

Another thing is I started looking at suits today for the wedding. Pretty scary stuff for a backwards country boy like me. But I'm a grown man now and a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Anyway, it may be a bit challenging to get this done because I have to find a style that's good and try to make it match-up with Agata's dress.

That's all for now. If you remember us, please pray for us. The petition is important, the wedding will be tricky to plan, but those are not the biggest difficulties in my mind. This process will be a great challenge to Agata and I in so many ways. We have some idea what some of those will be, but there are so many I'm sure we cannot guess. So we must remain faithful to the one living God whom we gain all blessings and trials from. Blessings are fun, but trials ain't. That's pretty obvious. But I want to love these trials because I know that the Lord Jesus has more glory to show us through those trials, and I'll trust more that I have a hope that doesn't disappoint.

New passport :)

Hello everyone!
Reading your comments I can see that some of you are very impatient ;) So I thought that I'll let you know that last week I received my new, shiny passport :) Now I'm ready to go. I need ONLY a Fiance Visa ;) So please pray for us and for all procces before us.
Bye for now!

Rings of Power!!!

Agata said earlier that you should see these. Well, here they are. A very fine job of modeling by Agata too. 

For the Curious Among You...

Dzien dobry, Wszystkim. I've had very little to report lately, and I couldn't even talk about wedding preparations. I'd talk about the costs of good suits and prices I've compared but I've been immobilized by my back. So I can't say I've done too much about that.

What I can say is that my lovely wife-to-be told me about some chain of events for the petition/visa process she saw on a website. I didn't know about it and so I investigated and learned of it too.

Dzięki, Agatko! :)

So for the rest of you furiously curious, here's an official website that talks about the process and so on:


http://warsaw.usembassy.gov/poland/Fiance_Visas.html

Info from USCIS

I discovered today that I can check the status of the petition on the USCIS website. I can also receive status updates by e-mail. Duh. It's the information age, so of course I can have these kinds of "high-tech"updates.

So what I learned today is a general sort of timeline. I know many of you will most satisfied with that particular word "timeline". I am too. It looks like they give a general timeline of of 60-90 days for them to complete processing just the petition.

Wow. 2-3 months. It's good to know something, but it's hard to look at 2-3 months with a straight face. But God gives this time just like any other time however long or short it really is, and he is the master of it.

Notice to Viewers

Greetings all. I discovered a few days ago that if someone wanted to make a comment on this blog, they must have an account. Well, I think that's not necessary for this blog. So I changed it. So, dear reader, if you want to make some comment, you may do it without having an account. Please identify yourself though.

I don't have any new things to report about the marriage process now. I do plan to call the USCIS tomorrow and see what the status is of the petition.

You should see this :)

Yesterday I went to jewellery shop where I received our wedding rings. I don't need to say that they are just beautiful, do I? :) Mine is very small (have you ever saw my hands?) and Bert's is normal but the difference is huge. It just looks funny like "baby ring" and "mama ring" ;)

Notice of Action 1

I just returned from beautiful Prairie City a few minutes ago. It was nice to get over there for a little while. I won't be able to do it so easily now that my work schedule has changed. Man, I'm tired. Anyway, on my way in the door I checked the mail and discovered that I had a letter from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service!!! I was scared because it's so doggone official. It's an official notice from them stating that they received my petition for my lady, they've assigned a case number, and they are processing it. I can now call them with this number to see how things are going. So thank God another good thing happened. :) Good night

Wedding dress :)

I've bought nice material and lace and... I'm ready to sew a dress :) But I'll not sew it myself. I know some very good dressmaker, pani Ela and she will do that job for me. One of the reason I chose that way is fact that I hate shopping :) and it's cheaper that buying dress in a shop. And pani Ela is REALLY good :) You will see! :D

Ok. And now my turn :) It's me, girl with cool accent ;) Hello everyone! I just want to let you know about my part of preparations in my beautiful country called Poland. February 27th I applied for a new passport so I will have it in a month. And next Monday I will have our wedding rings which I ordered two weeks ago. So far so good :)

You've got mail...

I sent the petition via certified mail so I could track when the good people at USCIS received it. I checked just now and it appears it's been delivered. :D

Step 2 is complete. Now I just have to stay cool and like I'm mellow about it all.

Bert and Agata being blown into the Pacific Ocean

  

So Far...

I know I'm late on this part but stay with me and we'll all make it.

I need to establish a timeline for the relationship between Agata and I for you so you can see the progress as we head toward marriage. I could start back in 2002 when we first met, but I think it would be better if I start at December 27, 2005. This is when Agata and I were driving from Prairie City to Redding to visit Julie. It was during this drive that I had a ring in my pocket screaming at me that I needed to put it on Agata's finger. So we stopped at Lake Abert and I proposed to her. And she said yes! I could say the more interesting version of the whole story but it would take too long the way I tell stories.

When we were in Redding we had a great chance to relax and also start thinking of the realities of this decision. Planning an international wedding that depends on the government deciding to grant her a visa is not very easy.

January 8, 2006 is the last day I saw Agata. Since then I've been working to get the I-129F petition for Fiance Visa prepared. There's lots to do with that. I wish I had finished it sooner.

Today I finally finished the I-129F and all it's supporting documents and sent it to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services for them to start working on it. I was so nervous with it because I wanted to make sure I had everything there. So I checked it about 10 times before I sent it. It's also very exciting because now things will really start to happen. Before it kind of felt unreal that I am engaged to Agata. But now that there will be government things happening that will move us closer to an actual wedding date, it's more of a reality.

I wait for this reality like the last day of school. The anticipation of finally having my dearest friend and companion as my wife is building.

Make Yer Point, Son!

So why has Bert Coombs decided it's time to blog? Am I a hypocrite or something?

No, actually it's because I had a revelation about how a blog could be useful: to have a journal easily accessible to friends and family about the process for Agata and I to get married.

Yes, you read that right. I, Bert Coombs, being of sound mind have been lead by the Lord's infinite mercy to a wonderful woman named Agata Szmyt and we are engaged to marry. There will be some extra, super fun involved too, because Agata is of the Polish persuasion. I mean she's from Poland. And she's there now! So that makes all this normally boring and simple business of marriage a lot more interesting and exotic and exciting. But my Bible tells me that my God is the Lord of all things known and unknown, and that if he takes care of stupid, lazy animals shouldn't he take care of his dearly bought children? So I'm going to do my best to have faith and believe that he is able to accomplish more than any of us could hope or imagine.

Anyway, the point of this blog is to journal the path Agata and I share up to the time she is here in the U.S. and we are married. After that, I plan to retire the blog. So if you find yourself up late at night wondering and worrying about how things are going, and isn't that punk ever going to get married to that sweet, adorable woman with the cool accent, then find your way here and check for an update. Then pray for us and get some sleep. You need your rest.