Blog 1st Anniversary

                                                

Well, it's been a year since I have started this blog, The Countdown Begins (1st Post), at the suggestion of a friend and co-worker that had been reading my wedding blog (my first). Thank you for getting me started, you know who you are. I guess its safe to say that with almost 10,000 reads from over 10 different countries in 1yr, the blog has been a success. While I may have pissed off a few people in a few of my posts, the number of positive comments and feedback that I have received have far outweighed any negative complaints. Far! My apologies to those that may not have liked what they were reading at any time for any reason.

Just having the support of my husband has been encouraging alone. A man who has often helped me with my composing during times I had technical difficulties. A man that let me talk about him and our adventures. Thank You Furman...for your undying love and support. Oh, and for helping me with some great content. lol.

And thank you to a dear friend that has been an avid reader and has acted as my in-house editor at times. lol Your tips have been appreciated although I've still had some "Oh no she didn't!" moments. lmao Your encouragement and support has meant the world to me.
Thank you for keeping me going, you know who you are.

Oh, and I have to mention the encouraging praise that I received from my mother. This, was after someone gave her a printed copy of one of my posts in obvious complaint. After she asked if I had written what she was given, she said "You should be a writer!" ROFLMAO I'll never forget it. My mom! With her not knowing anything about computers, I never would have thought she'd be interested in reading what I write. Thank you to the person that shared my blog with my mom. Thank you Mom! It was such an incredible moment.

I knew I was onto something. Nobody could hold me back!

I had to share this song because the words are so fitting..lol

I DID IT MY WAY!!

That being said, I definitely want to

Thank all of my readers from all over the world. 

Blogging has been an amazing experience. Using Feedjit Live and following where my readers were coming from, which posts were more popular than others, how fast after publishing a new post that people were interested in reading what I've written. Oh, and reading the comments for those that took the time to write one, whether it was published or not (Not - because of personal attacks). I feel honored and blessed that people were interested in what I had to say...about anything. That my blog posts often became a topic of conversation whether I was included in that conversation or not. I want to say THANK YOU. You can't make everyone happy but I made myself happy and definitely put some smiles on some faces. Blogging is like an online diary...you feel better once you've written something sometimes. I stayed true to myself and wrote about the positive as well as negative that we/I was going through. I remained consistent and didn't fall off the blog wagon like so many do for this reason or that. I made the time to write..sometimes about pure nonsense...hahahaha But it was nice to know that somebody, anybody, was reading.

So, the last several weeks as the Immigration Process has been coming to an end, I've also been thinking about next steps for the blog. What Happens When.. People have asked. I wasn't quite sure what to answer. End the blog completely and call it quits when Furman is officially Home? Start a new blog completely unrelated? Continue with Furman's adventures and adjustment to Canada? At this point, i've decided to continue. I'm not going to change the URL because people have come to know it and....we like it. But, I will migrate the content and change the style to reflect a new chapter in our lives. 

Keep following....

Hey....it takes about 3 years before Furman can apply for Dual Citizenship if he chooses. 

That's a whole other process. lol  I've updated the counter on the right that used to count up to completion of our Immigration Application. lol Now, it captures how long he has been a Permanent Resident and is able to apply for Dual Citizenship.

Till then....Furman will be Canuckinized. (Stupid word, I know..lol) Slowly learning more and more about this great Country, it's people and how we are so different from America.

Now...if that ain't a reason to keep blogging...I don't know what is. lol

Finally - Allowed to Work in Canada

All set!
Not wasting any time!
Despite the snowy day today, Furman was able to get out to visit Service Canada and apply for his Social Insurance Number that will now permit him to work in Canada. Woo Hoo!
                       Card should be received in the mail in a few weeks.

Crossing THAT off of the To Do List!

For those Immigrating that will be needing to apply.
What you need:
1 - Your signed and stamped copy of your COPR. (Landing papers)
2 - Your Passport
See How to Apply for more details.

Next on the To Do List was Health Coverage!
Word On The Forum-OHIP

We weren't sure how this was going to go. What I mean by that is that many have reported that when applying for OHIP that they were informed it wouldn't be effective until 3 months AFTER the Landing Date. After all, how would you prove that you were here before that time. However, on the website, one of the pieces of ID listed was a monthly bank statement. Well, Furman had that. We had him establish a bank account here last year. So, he's been getting monthly statements. That being said, the thought was that maybe they would allow his OHIP to be effective immediately instead of adding 3 more months of waiting. lol Only way to find out....take everything needed Document List for OHIP (throw in several monthly bank statements just in case) to Service Ontario and find out. So, that's what Furman did.


Low and behold......Furman will have OHIP effective April 25th. Yup...3 months AFTER Landing just like people on the forum said. lol That's just how the cookie crumbles..lol But, at least he's got his application in and everything.
Now....time to work on his Resume so he can join the working world. I know he is excited about that! Hopefully, he can get back into the Travel Industry where he came from. We'll see. Fingers crossed for that.

Apparently, the job he used to have in Miami has an office here in Toronto.
Oh boy...that would be soo ideal!

Staying true to how I like to spruce up my posts...thought i'd end my post by sharing this lovely Disney tune from The Princess and the Frog - Almost There!!

Have a great evening!

Bringing Furman Home! - LANDED

Thought this day would never come!

Ok..that's a lie, but you know what I mean. Lol

It only took 11 Months. Or should I say 51 Weeks. 

Well, it was 360 Days to be exact! Although it felt like forever!

But now...it's over!

Furman is Home, LANDED....A Permanent Resident.

I couldn't wait. lol So, as soon as we got the paperwork we needed I was making plans to get Furman Landed! Decided Thursday that we would make a night of it and take advantage of one of the Travelzoo Deals that I often get in my email for a Niagara Getaway. I immediately took Friday off work. After I booked and paid for a Fallsview Room for the 25th, I found out that it was a blackout date, meaning I could only have a Cityview room. No biggie! We were going anyways! Oh yes we were! So, they refunded my Fallsview Room and charged me for a CityView Room instead. Friday morning...we set out on The Mission. (you know I had to link this classic tune.lol)

We decided that we would hang around Niagara/Buffalo for a while before Landing. We couldn't check into the Niagara Falls Hilton until after 4pm so we had plenty of time to kick around. Plan? Shopping of course! We had our list of items we intended to buy, and found some amazing deals. Of course, for lunch, we hit the best Buffalo Wings in Buffalo....La Nova. That's where Furman took the opportunity to complete the B4/B4A form to declare his belongings that would be following at a later date. Then, we were ready to head to Immigration. We kind of had to get going because we had dinner reservations at Brasa Brazilian Steakhouse at 8:30pm.

LANDING:  

When we got to the Rainbow Bridge it wasn't busy at all. Drove right up to an agent closest to the entrance for Immigration, since we knew where we had to go. The officer asked us a few questions and sent us inside with that infamous yellow slip. He had no concern about our expenses from shopping. Yay! 

Inside wasn't busy either. We went right up to the counter and indicated that Furman was ready to Land as we presented the yellow slip. The officer took Furman's papers and gave him some information before sending him the the Customs counter where they did the same thing. Apparently it would have helped if Furman brought the title to his vehicle with him. We didn't know, just had it listed on the form. So..if you are going through this process, bring your title when Landing, even if you aren't Landing with your vehicle. The entire process took @15 minutes. Woo Hoo!! Done! Caput! Finito! Painless! After a quick high five as we exited the Immigration doors, we were ready to go!

Soo much Ice!

Fallsview Casino

Hotel wasn't far from the bridge. When we checked in, we got an awesome surprise...a FREE upgrade to a Fallsview Room. Oh, but wait...wasn't that the room I had booked and paid for in the first place, and was told I couldn't have because it was a blackout date? lol. I was thrilled! Now we had a Fallsview Room at a CityView price. And, I was even more thrilled when I saw the room they gave us. Two bedroom suite with Jacuzzi, Fireplace, and a great view of the Falls from the 41st Floor (4159)! I couldn't wait to hop in that Jacuzzi. I didn't forget to pack the Bubble Bath either. But first....dinner at Brasa, which was awesome. Always love Brazilian Steakhouses. Clearly, I wasn't tracking calories that day. I'll pay for it later.

Saturday check out was not without incident. Oh noooo! Just our luck, we got STUCK IN THE ELEVATOR! No word of a lie! 30 minutes with 10 other people. Thank God there were no seniors or children or it may not have been a pleasant experience. lol The guys we were stuck with were characters. They let us all know that they had a 6 pack of beer available to ration if we had to. lmao It got a bit warm but nobody panicked and we got out safely. Now, just gotta wait for the credit to our accounts the hotel promised us for our inconvenience. Luckily, we were out in time to head to our first scheduled Wine Tour and Tasting. That was part of the deal that i've always wanted to try.

So, we took the scenic route to Niagara-On-The-Lake to Peller Estates and Trius at Hillebrand. I'm not a big wine drinker (Furman doesn't drink AT ALL), but i'm all for experience and learning something new. Loved it! Got some great pics too.


 

I didn't think to double up on my wine tasting by drinking his, till after I realized I was enjoying the Ice Wine and wouldn't mind more. lmao
It was a great experience!

I swear, our one night getaway felt like we were gone for the entire weekend because we did so much. Was awesome. We'll definitely have to do that again.  Heck, we can go anywhere we want with no stress now...my hubby is a PERMANENT RESIDENT baby!!




Anyways.....the rest of the weekend was great too. Got to be a part of a surprise birthday party for a special friend on Saturday evening, and met some nice people. Oh...and Furman was able to show me the definition of a "Man Cave". lmao The house we were at on Saturday evening had an impressive one of those. Oh boy. Now that Furman is able to get settled, we can start taking serious steps to plan our life.

Next Steps:
Furman was told that he should receive his PR card within about 3 months but word has it that he should get it much quicker than that. We'll see. At some point in the near future, we will return to Export/Import Furman's vehicle so that he can get it registered here in Ontario. That will be another story. First thing's first....next week he is able to go apply for his SIN# and possibly his OHIP. I say possibly because you are supposed to be here for 3 months before it would take effect. Furman has been here longer than that but we really have no way of proving that. So, in getting OHIP, they may not allow it to be effective until 3 months AFTER his landing date from what I've read on the forum. I guess we'll see what happens with that too! Then, he can look into employment and eliminate his boredom. lol No more being stuck in the house. He wasn't really stuck but...like he always says.."Everytime you leave the house you spend money!" lol

Well...I think i've said quite enough about our Grande Finale to this Immigration adventure. I'll start to make some changes to my blog as we close one chapter and start another. I'm no longer BRINGING FURMAN HOME. Thank you all for your prayers and your following of this journey. I certainly hope you continue to follow my blog as I continue to write about Furman's settlement.

God is good. Prayers have been answered. Feeling blessed.

COPR! - Confirmation of Permanent Residence

Praise the Lord with me!      Hallelujah!

You know i'm dancing!!! Listen and dance along. haha

It's here!

When I got home and checked the mailbox and saw the thick ass envelope, I knew exactly what it was!
I couldn't wait to get in the house and give Furman his mail. He took that from me soo fast. lmao Then, he took a moment or two to look for scissors or something to open it up. God Bless him. Smh. Me....I would have torn that thing open. I would have had no regard for the possibility of tearing anything inside. Oh no..my thoughts would have been on one thing and one thing only....getting what was inside the envelope...out! lol

So, there were two forms titled as above that had his Immigration Photo affixed to the bottom where he and the Immigration Officer will both need to sign upon landing. I'm not sure why they requested that he send them the original passport though. We checked every single page of the passport and nothing was different. No stamps. No pages stapled to it like the visitor record. Just stressing us out about the passport in the mail for nothing. Lol. Furman was sooo happy to see his passport back. It's like he was happier to see his passport than the document that will allow him to finally LAND. lmao I understand.

For a day that started off soo cold...it warmed up pretty quick with the sight of that envelope. hahaha

Well, we had to rush off to our Marrieds Ministry class at church so we had to cut our excitement short. But, long enough for Furman to post a photo on Facebook to let our friends know. Me, I just posted a short comment, "It's here!" lol My sister was the first to comment. She knew right away what I was referring to. While in class, the comments on our news were being posted. Words of Congratulations! Did I mention how excited we are? Oh boy. Almost over! (Oh, and we had an absolutely awesome Marrieds class by the way. So glad we didn't miss it for anything.)

Next steps: LANDING!!

The famous question...When? 

Well gee....we haven't gotten that far yet. I'm here blogging trying to let ya'll know our news. I'd love to take a sick day tomorrow and fly to Buffalo but...it's Thursday and not Friday (so i'll be at work all giddy and stuff)...and we have a few things to sort out in terms of Furman's belongings in Florida. Apparently there are a few forms for him to fill out that will list the things he intends to move to Canada. These forms have to be turned in to Immigration when he LANDS. He wont have to LAND with anything at the time, but if he is going home to bring things here he will need to list them upfront on what he plans to bring across the border at a later date. Otherwise, he will have to wait till he sorts out what he will be bringing and LAND at that time. No No No...I think we need to get him LANDED ASAP. We waited long enough for this. He will probably go by memory when listing his belongings on the forms required so we can get his stuff another time. 

Unfortunately, this weekend we have plans that may interfere with any thoughts of LANDING. Unless we just rush across for a few hours and back. But really, I rather make a day of it and better yet, a night of it. Just my thoughts anyways. We'll figure it out and plan. But...that's the last thing we need to do in this process. Then, it's time to Canuckinize Furman!

Oh man....I gotta go!

I got some celebrating to do!

God is soo good.

Getting back to my dancing....Just listen to the tune above...how can you not?

Missing Miami

                                                  

Well, Old Man Winter is certainly alive and well. Not only that, but he is awake and hungry! lol
When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was check the temperature outside so that I would know how to dress for work. Well damn.....was I seeing right?

 

And this is before the WindChill factor. Grrrr

Now don't get me wrong, I am aware that there are other places that got it colder than this. The temperature in Burk's Falls (1st Canada Day Weekend) is -36 (-32F), without the windchill. Oh, and notice that is not too far off from the temperature I shared below of the North Pole! (Notice the "Feels Like"..lol -54, really?) I just had to check it. Yeahhh....No! I'll complain about our -20 and stay far away from Burk's Falls..and the North Pole for that matter. lol I'm just soo happy my car started this morning with no problems, although I miss the remote car starter I used to have.

The North Pole

-40

°C

• °C
• °F

A few clouds

• Feels Like : -54
• Wind : W 15 km/h

• Humidity : 61%
• Pressure : - 
• Visibility : 14.5 km

• 
  
• 
  

The trick to dealing with this weather is to layer up! So, that's what I did. For me to go to the gym will be like unpeeling an onion. lol It's hard enough just making trips to the bathroom. Oh well. I'll probably go get my workout on anyways. No slacking off...for any excuse. 

I definitely recommend that people refrain today from the temptation to do this:   

                                 Like seriously!  

If you want your tongue...keep it in your head!

While we are keeping ourselves warm by layering up, turning up the heat, staying indoors....one cannot help but think about the homeless. Prayer for Homeless  

Absolutely breaks my heart. I just can't imagine. I posted a pic because it NEEDS to be seen. It's an epidemic, everywhere. People are freezing to death. Not only do we need to pray for the homeless on these mean cold streets, but we also need to pray for the outreach workers and volunteers that are trying to bring them inside.

I remember one time when we had Church in the City (where we feed the Homeless with a group from church), there was a problem that prevented us from using the building we normally used. What made it worse was that there was a snow storm that evening. It was cold too...but not as cold as today. My daughter wanted to cancel but I wouldn't let her. I reminded her about how the homeless don't have the same option afforded to us. Many of them have to be out there every day because they have nowhere else to go. So, the least we could do was feed them a warm meal in the cold for a few hours. That's exactly what we did. I know she wasn't happy. lol I'll never forget it. We took turns sitting in the car to warm up. The homeless lined up to get a meal being served to them from outside a small bus while it snowed. It was crazy because the snow got worse into the evening. Me...I was on hot chocolate duty that night while my daughter helped with desserts.

Of course I had to take some time out to clown around. After all, when you are facing the cold you gotta make it fun. If you can, right? lol (And no...I wasn't really putting my tongue to the serving utensils. Was just posing for a silly photo)
The desserts were being served out of a smaller van.

No clowning around today. Oh no...it's wayy too cold. I know for a fact that Furman will NOT be heading outside to run. He is probably missing Miami very much right about now. lol I know that I am. :) Nope, no need for him to leave the house till this evening when we head to our Married's Ministry class. Then, he'll get a taste of the crispy crispy air. lol
Welcome to Canada!

Makes me laugh thinking about all the people that have asked us why on earth is Furman moving here? Why are we not moving there? Today, i'm asking myself that same question. lol Although I understand that here, braving this cold weather, is the better choice. If we suffer from frostbite or hypothermia as a result of this cold weather...well hey, that's where free healthcare comes in handy. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

But I am missing Miami. I need a pick me up. A good dose of vitamin D.
And not to mention a kickass southern meal cooked by my motherinlaw! lol

Stay warm people!
And remember....say a prayer for the homeless.