I got back our approval notice from USCIS today! They have forwarded our I-130 paperwork to the National Visa Center!

Here is our check sheet for our immigration process. The strike through's are completed steps.

1. USCIS will send our lawyer a receipt notice sometime in the next few weeks confirming they received our I-130.

2. In approximately 3-5 months the USCIS will make a decision on the I-130 and will forward our file to the National Visa Center in New Hampshire.

3. The NVC will then send a packet with instructions to complete our I-864. (There will be a fee.)

4. Once the packet is returned to the NVC, they will review everything and within 45-90 days they will forward the packet to the U.S. consulate in Manila.

5. The Consulate will send a packet with instructions for F.B. to complete a medical examination & obtain a police clearance certificate prior to scheduling his visa interview.

I emailed our immigration lawyer today to ask what other paperwork I need to get together. (USCIS sent our lawyer a receipt notice as well.) Let's hope things keep moving along. *Fingers Crossed*

Other blog entries about our immigration process:

The Waiting Game...

Moving Along In Our Immigration Process

1st Meeting : Immigration Lawyer

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia.

Four of you entered and three of you got all the questions correct except one! I had to use a random number generator to determine the winner!And the winner is.... Jacki from Keeping up with me!

Congratulations Jacki! Please email me your address to: tunaymahal8279ATyahooDOTcom so I can ship your prizes to you!

Here are the answers to the quiz and where they could be found on my blog:

1. Where did F.B. & I meet online? Lindsay Lohan Forum

2. What does F.B. stand for? His father’s initials: Felicisimo Bernardo

3. How many years have F.B. & I been in a long distance relationship? 6 years

4. How many trips to the Philippines have I taken? Four

5. The first thing I said to F.B. in person was? “You’re not so short”

6. My favorite drink at Starbucks is? White Chocolate Mocha.

7. F.B.’s favorite thing to eat is? Ruffles Chips

8. Date we were engaged? 01-10-2007

9. Our legal date of marriage is? 12-18-09

10. F & I like to watch this cartoon? Spongebob Squarepants

11. How many tattoo’s do I have? Two

12. I am obsessed with this theme- when it comes to books? Tudor Dynasty

13. How many rats have I owned altogether? 14

14. What does ‘Tunay Na Mahal’ in Tagalog mean? “True Love”

Last August I won the 1st Asian Aisle blog giveaway! I wasn't expecting such a big prize package! Because I wanted to thank Cindy for the great prizes, I picked out a few treats for her while I was in the Philippines. Today she featured 'Clover Chips'. Head over to Asian Aisle to check it out!

Other Asian Aisle Posts:

Choc-Nut Feature

Taste Testing

Wow!

A few weeks ago I took Basil to the vet to find out about getting him neutered. May 20th, I dropped Basil off at the vet around 8:30am. I was able to pick him up at 2:30pm. Poor Buddy is now neutered. They used surgical glue on him and he has to take SMZ-TMP antibiotic for 2 weeks. He also has a recheck visit at the vet on May 27th. He won't take his antibiotic in the oral syringe, so I have to mix his medicine in baby food. When I brought him home Thursday night they had given him pain killers, so he had some Strawberry Ensure and then zonked out in his igloo in the cage. (This is his incision if you're squeamish don't click!)

Total vet damages... $334.00. Ouch... (thank you credit card.) at least recheck visits are free. I called just about every vet in the area and only my vet and another more expensive vet did them, so I really had no choice. And because of his aggressiveness towards his brothers, he had to be neutered. In 4 weeks Basil should be able to move in with the girl ratties!

Basil a few weeks ago eating a necco wafer candy. (Ignore the baby food on his tail, hehe!)

P.S. My awesome new bumper sticker! (The middle sticker)

There is also a new page I created on my blog called: My Pet Rats. You can find it in the top right column.

Time for a Blog Quiz Giveaway! If you've been a long time reader of my blog you should probably know most of the answers to these questions. If not; try utilizing the search bar on the upper left hand corner of my blog or the 'contents' list (keywords) in the right hand column of my blog. The person who answers the most questions correctly wins a $10 Walmart Gift Card, a 1.7 Fl.oz. L'Occitane Verbena Body Lotion and a Philadelphia souvenir light up key chain that I picked up at 30th Street Station!

Prizes:

How to enter:

1. Please email your quiz answers to: tunaymahal8279ATyahooDOTcom Subject line should be: Blog Quiz Giveaway

2. Leave a comment on this blog, saying you've emailed your answers. Both these steps are required for your entry to be valid.

3. This give away is only valid for USA & Canada residents because of the Walmart Store Gift Card. Friends & family are allowed to enter because it's my blog. :-p

Good Luck! Giveaway Ends: May 31st, 2010! Winners should be announced June 1st!

Quiz Questions

1. Where did F.B. & I meet online?

2. What does F.B. stand for?

3. How many years have F.B. & I been in a long distance relationship?

4. How many trips to the Philippines have I taken?

5. The first thing I said to F.B. in person was?

6. My favorite drink at Starbucks is?

7. F.B.’s favorite thing to eat is?

8. Date we were engaged?

9. Our legal date of marriage is?

10. F.B. & I like to watch this cartoon?

11. How many tattoo’s do I have?

12. I am obsessed with this theme- when it comes to books?

13. How many rats have I owned altogether?

14. What does ‘Tunay Na Mahal’ in Tagalog mean?

This post will have a future date until the giveaway is over!

UPDATE! The Rats have been rescued!

5/25/10 Via Brittney from Star's Rat Rescue: So last night we got home around 12:30AM and where loaded to the roof in our car, the smell was SO bad that our eyes where watering, you could barely breath, the conditions where terrible and I can only imagine how all the rats felt. Staci from Capital City Rat Rescue who also assisted us in this very large rescue took 70 rats last night!

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I am re-posting this for one of my good friends; Brittney from Star's Rat Rescue. She runs and operates her rescue in Winner, South Dakota.

Below is a re-post from Brittney on the Rat Chatter Forums.

Breeder who is re-homing 300+ rats, Donation Link-Help Us Help Them!

Yesterday I had an email in my inbox from someone who had sent me a Craigs list ad about some rats needing help. Once I checked out the link I just couldn't believe my eyes "Large Rat Breeding Colony". (shakes head) I went onto read and this is what the ad said

I need to get rid of my rat breeding operation. So if you have a lot of snakes this is a must for you over 350 rats also have frozen rats all must go cages,water bottles,bedding,food everything is here you need.

This is not what I was expecting what so ever, I had thought that it was a couple of rats in need asap. Not the case at all here. I have been in contact with the people through text as that is what they stated on the ad. I have also talked this over with CCRR in NE about this and Staci and her rescue are willing to take in 10 females or 2-3 litters of babies. Which is a huge help and so sweet of her to do as about a year ago we also helped her out when she did a massive rescue of I believe 96+ rats and if anyone can imagine just how overwhelming that must have been for CCRR.

Now the problem is the private party does NOT want to give any of them away for free nor to a rescue. As sadly this is a business to them and they don't want to lose any money. The other problem being if we do decide to take in any of the rats it would almost just be helping the breeder as she would just keep having babies as no one is going to want that many rats. The breeder also stated she wanted $1000 for the live rats. Which is just insane.

Now the question is "What to do". The thing that kills me is no matter what even if we are able to save 30+ rats it would mean the world to those 30 rats. But on the other thought if the breeder still has females as I stated before, this will never end.

So we can use everyone's help right now rather it be suggestions, fostering, adopting or donations! As we do plan to also contact our local shelters, humane society etc. to see about getting more rats out of there.

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Update: We are not giving up on the 300+ rats. We have tried and tried and can not get them to go for free or cheaper. Which means we will have to pay to get them out of this situation. Right now we are working on getting all females and babies out of their so that there will not be any breeding going on. Then we can go back and get the males.

I have started a Chip-in link for anyone wanting to help by donating. Just $5 dollars will help save a rats life. Please Click here or below to donate!



Mrs. Rattitude from Rat Chatter is having a fundraiser to help out Star's Rat Rescue! She is donating all proceeds for her Rat Art Digital Pictures to Star's Rat Rescue. If you would like to help out, you will get a fantastic picture of your rat, other animals or even humans! Let's all help Star's Rat Rescue! Please click the link to help out!

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Update from Brittney on 5/17/10: Just want to update on our large rescue we are working on right now. As of now the lady has not be willing to work with us at all on selling the rats as they are wanting to sell it all in a whole or in pieces so that the breeding can continue. We are still in contact with them trying to get them to give the rats to us or as many as we can get for $350 and so far she only wants to give us maybe 34-40 rats for that price, which as we all know that is just crazy. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that they decide to work with us. We where also told the prices for the rats individually and for some reason they are playing games right now only wanting to sell the rats with cages and no other way. We even counter offered and still nothing.

I have been working with a friend of mine who also adopted from SRR and she has also tried calling and this breeder is just not willing to work with us. We are told we have til Thursday and then someone is coming to buy everything for $1500, which I know that is very untrue. So right now we are waiting to see if she calls us back and go from there.

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UPDATE 5-23-10: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! We are just overwhelmed with all the help we have been getting, you all rock!! We have talked to the breeder and have a set time to meet them at their house and pick up ALL rats tomorrow evening!! Which means we will be driving a 5 hour 1 way trip tomorrow and bringing back lots of rats!

Please feel free to re-post! Brittney's chip-in donation is until May 28th!

I was craving stir fry chicken this evening, so I decided to make some. I always use my own recipe when it comes to making the sauce. The sauce was just something I threw together when I was younger and I've called it 'Ginger Stir Fry' ever since. I can't wait until my husband is able to taste this someday once our immigration is finished! :)

Now, I don't really measure when I cook... I just guess a lot of the time, lol! But, I thought I'd take a stab at it and write down my recipe to share with you guys! And since I usually guess when measuring you can add/decrease to your taste any of the ingredients below.

Sarah Lynn's Ginger Stir Fry Chicken

Stir Fry

2 Packages: Perdue Short Cuts Chicken (Grilled or Original Roasted)

1 can- Water Chestnuts

1 can- Bean Sprouts

1 can- Mushrooms

1 bag- Oriental Frozen Veggies (Broccoli, Carrots, Snow Peas, Etc)

*You can mix or match any vegetables you want in this stir fry*

Sauce

Soy Sauce- 1/4 Cup (More if needed)

Olive Oil- (or other cooking oil) 1/4 Cup

Worcestershire Sauce- 2 Tablespoons

Brown Sugar- 1/2 Cup

Crushed Dried Red Peppers- (Give it a few shakes).

Ginger- (Powdered kind) 1/4 Teaspoon

Goya All Purpose Adobe Seasoning- 1/4 Teaspoon or give it a few shakes. (I get the red bottle)

Cooking Instructions

1. Mix Sauce Together

2. Cut up Chicken throw into a wok or frying pan on medium heat.

3. Pour a little of the sauce over the chicken- stir while cooking.

4. Add veggies and pour rest of sauce over everything.

5. Mix and cook on high until chicken & vegetables are heated thoroughly.

6. Don't forget to make some white or brown rice to go with your stir fry!

(You can always add in a little extra soy sauce while cooking if it looks like it needs it. You want enough of the oil & soy sauce to coat everything.)

Makes enough for a family of 4, with a little left over.

Enjoy!

My Mom & I usually go out for Mother's Day the day before so there are less crowds. This year we took the train downtown Saturday to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to visit the Mutter Museum. I've been there before but my Mom had never been. It is a medical oddity museum.

30th Street Station:

Mutter Museum: (Sorry no pictures allowed inside!)

The train was actually pretty crowded because there must have been a Phillie's Game that day, (dozens of people on the train were wearing Phillie's Jerseys.) it was "train day" at 30th Street Station and there was some regatta on the Schuylkill River.

After the the museum and the train ride back we went to 'On The Border' for Mexican Food. I had beef empanadas and a soft chicken taco. Picture of our yummy sampler appetizer:

We also picked up a box of Cinnabon to take home after 'On The Border'. Mom had never tried a Cinnabon!

Friday afternoon Basil had a trip to the vet. I took him to find out about getting neutered. Basil has been really aggressive with Barley & Fennel. He always wants to attack them, even when I introduce them in a neutral area. A few weeks ago when I had them on the bed trying to introduce them Basil went after Barley and I mistakenly put my hand in the middle. Basil ended up biting me rather badly by accident. (You can click here to read about it.) I won't post a picture on my blog, (there is a picture in that link) but I now have a 1 inch scar on my left palm. Also if you don't wash your hands after handling the little boys, Basil will try to bite you. Basil has never bitten anyone otherwise.

Buttt... since my accident and because he doesn't seem to want to get along with his brothers I took him to find out about getting neutered. If he can't live with his brothers, at least he will be able to live with the girls. I'm hoping he will be able to live with my girls since he will be less territorial and every time I've held Basil in my lap all the girls have come up and sniffed at him and given him love bites. (Never let him play with them though! Not until he's neutered! ). He's my ladies man. He loves to watch the girls run around in the cage! Basil will be getting neutered on May 20th. I took off work for a few vacation days that Thurs, Fri and Monday so I'll be able to be with him after his surgery on the 20th.

Unfortunately.... it's $300.00. I called just about every small animal vet in the area and most did not neuter rats. Only my vet and another more expensive vet did them. But I'm hoping it will help his aggressiveness and that he will be able to live with other rats once it's done and over with! (Though he can't live with the girls until 4 weeks after he's neutered!)

Basil says this to being neutered, lol!

Oh... and I picked up a cute light up Philadelphia key chain while at 30th Street Station on Saturday! Stay tuned to my blog because I'm planning on having another giveaway either in May or June and I'll be giving away the key chain with some other prizes!

Not too much going on lately. Here are some spring pictures I got of the girls/boys this weekend. (Ginger with her tumors isn't well enough to take pictures outside in the trees.)

Saffy:

Ivy:

Holly:

Fennel:

Barley:

Basil:
Pepper:

Poppy:

And Ginger says: " I don't know about these flowers Mom...."

Pictures I took Friday afternoon. We have a lot of flowers blooming around the yard right now.

And Basil in a tree. He looks like he's holding on for dear life from the angle, hehe.

I have A LOT of people say to me, "You must be heart broken. I don't know how you bear being away from your husband now that you're married." My cousin & I were talking about this on Saturday....

F.B. & I have been in this long distance relationship for 6 years now. We had never seen a picture of each other when we started talking. We've settled into a pattern, a way of handling the long distance. We meet online every weekend. And every day on my lunch break he signs onto Yahoo Messenger so we can talk for a little while. Of course some days he may want to sleep in or I may want to, but we make it work. (12 hour time difference!)

When we are together we try not think about when we'll be apart. I think that is the worst... especially when we are together every day for 2 months. It's hard for the first week or so after I come back to the USA, but then we settle into our routine. Chatting online, phone calls, emails, letters...

We've been doing this so long now, that we are used to the long distance. We do miss each other and miss spending time with each other every day, (he is my best friend!) but we don't fall apart, sink into a depression, etc. It is a bit weird being married now and still living apart, but we make it work. Just like we have every day for the past 6 years. This is what we've known for so long, what we are familiar with. It is tough, but it's like 2nd nature to us. We've mastered this long distance relationship stuff!

I think what will be weirder is when F.B. is in the USA, when we're finally together. Getting used to living with each other every day, 365 days a year. It will be so nice to finally be together, but it will definitely be a big adjustment for both of us. Especially for F.B. moving to a new country and culture.


P.S. ♥♥♥ We've been married 4 months today! ♥♥♥