My visit home to South Carolina started with a bang….or maybe I should say…a baby! My mom picked me up in Charleston where we stayed for 2 nights with Brad, Suzanne and Augusta Clare. My mom and I were on babysitting duty so we had fun playing with AC, giving her baths, and all of the other fun stuff that you do with babies. I love being an aunt!!
Do I look awkward holding a baby?
Splish Splash I was takin a bath
Then my mom and I went back home to Columbia and the headed off to an event hosted at the home of the President of the University of South Carolina in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer who were visiting the state for the SC bar convention meeting.
USC President Pastides speaking, standing beside his wife, Patricia-Moore, US Senator Linsdey Graham and South Carolina's former Attorney General Henry McMaster
Not only is Michael generally a fan of Justice Scalia, but Scalia actually also started his legal career working as an attorney for Jones Day, SO Michael sent me on a mission to meet him and get a photo at the event.
With my parents meeting Justice Scalia!!
Mission Accomplished.
Finally, I was able to snag a night out in Newberry with my grandparents and my Aunt Sheryl. We went to Delamaters for dinner, one of my old favorite restaurants, and enjoyed amazing She Crab Soup, Shrimp & Grits, and family time. 🙂
Nan and I with our matching scarves that Sheryl made! Thanks Aunt Sheryl! 🙂
I miss you all already but am so glad we got one final trip in! 🙂 xoxox
Ash
Why is February 14th, 2012 going to be so special?
Because it is Valentine’s Day perhaps?
No, not exactly.
Because it is Arizona’s 100th birthday?
While monumental, it still is not the answer.
Because…
BECAUSE IT IS THE DAY THAT WE MOVE TO SAO PAULO, BRAZIL!
Michael and I can finally confirm that, God willing, our Visa will be ready to picked up next Tuesday, one week from today, and we depart that evening to our new home! Praise God!
We received the last of our papers yesterday (thankfully the Atlanta documents didn’t take as long to process thanks to a couple key phone calls 😉 ) so the photo above is Michael and me this morning, first in line, waiting for the doors of the Brazil consulate in SF to open so that we could present all of our papers.
Today is a very happy day for us. And February 14th, 2012 will surely be the most memorable Valentine’s Day EVER.
During this time of transition, one of the hardest questions for me to answer is the question of: What have you been doing all this time? (Because to be honest, I’m not really sure.) In some ways it feels like we’ve been waiting forever, but at the same time there has been so much to get done that I have always felt pretty busy. Either way, it has been a blessing to Michael and me that this transition time has allowed us to spend more quality time with both of our families, as I know we will be missing them dearly from Brazil and visits won’t be quite so easy.
As I’ve said, after we moved out of our apartment and left San Francisco on Jan 7, we stayed with Michael’s parents in Arizona. I took a week-long trip to South Carolina to see my family but I’ll post about that next. For now, take a look at some of our Arizona highlights:
1) First, let me say that while I clearly cannot post a photo of this, it was SUCH a highlight for me to be there when Michael’s oldest sister, Christy, bought her wedding dress!!! The wedding is in July so you will see plenty of photos then, but she looked so stunning and I’m just thrilled that I was there for that moment!
2) Michael ran the Phoenix Rock & Roll Half Marathon with his other older sister, Lise! It was so much fun cheering them on I am so proud of them!
Team Harper Cheer Squad! Me, Sharon, Kennedy (and her mom, Janey, who was behind the camera), Christy and Ollie.
Michael and Lise at the half-way point coming through Sky Song - stopping to say "hello" to their number 1 fan, Kennedy - and looking great!
Champions!!
3) Phoenix Symphony with Sharon & Ollie — amazing!
all cleaned up!
4) Hiking around Phoenix
Ollie took Michael and me on his favorite hike -- great views!
5) Our trip with Sharon & Ollie to THE GRAND CANYON! Michael hadn’t been to the Grand Canyon in years and I had NEVER been so it was definitely on our list to-do. To ensure that we got the full experience, we took the train from Williams (a small AZ town) to the canyon. The train was full of entertainment (i.e. we were “held up” and “robbed” on the train, were entertained by a guitarist and an accordion player, etc.) but the best part was absolutely the view. We were in the “dome car” so we were on the second story and the ceiling was all windows. You could see for miles around and we passed tons of wildlife including herds of elk and antelope!
On the ride to the GC in the dome car!
"Entertainment"
We arrived at the Grand Canyon station
Ollie and Sharon looking fabulous!
and then just had a quick, 2 minute walk to the historic El Tovar Hotel where we stayed the night. From the time we arrived until we left we were constantly amazed by the incredible nature of the Grand Canyon. It was cold and a little icy so we weren’t able to hike down any trails, but we walked a lot of the rim and enjoyed amazing views at every stop. Michael and Ollie even saw 3 California Condors!
Such incredible beauty and wonderful memories. It was hard to say goodbye!
BIG thanks to Sharon and Ollie for hosting us for the past few weeks and for all of the fun fun fun that we had together!
PS – Notice anything else different?? Apparently working remotely has some other perks…Michael decided to grow a beard!
I posted exactly one week ago today that out Visa had been approved in Brazil and that Michael and I were hoping to have it in hand and be on our way in 10-14 days. Then, a few days later, we were thrown a major curve ball.
Basically, obtaining a work Visa for Brazil is a huge PROCESS but here is the short version:
Step 1: Get a job there (check — as of October 2011 when Michael’s firm confirmed his transfer to the Sao Paulo office)
Step 2: That company has to file a work Visa application on your behalf with the Brazilian government (check — as of November 2011)
Step 3: Visa application gets approved in Brazil and is ready to be processed at your local consulate, which for us is in San Francisco (check — as of last week and should be ready tomorrow or Thursday in SF)
Step 4: Preparation of all sorts of documents to present to the consulate in your jurisdiction when the Visa is ready
Step 5: The consulate processes the Visa along with the documents and grants the actual Visa that sends you on your way.
Basically, we are in the midst of Step 4 and have everything ready EXCEPT for one document that threw us for a MAJOR loop. For some reason our marriage license needs to get “legalized” (aka signed off on) by the consulate in Atlanta since we were married in South Carolina and that falls within the jurisdiction of the Atlanta consulate. Not only this, but the Atlanta consulate only accepts documents through the mail and their website says it can take up to 20 business days to legalize, with no way to expedite the process nor gauge how long it will actually last. WHAT???? 20 business days?? THEN we will have to get it mailed back to San Francisco, take it to the consulate here with all of our other documents, and wait another couple of days for the actual Visa. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! (PS – check out how NOT user-friendly the Atlanta Consulate website is)
It’s a long story as to why we didn’t know this sooner, but suffice it to say that Michael and I were DEVASTATED when we realized that we may not be as close to getting there as we thought. As of right now, the Atlanta consulate has our marriage license and we are PRAYING that the approval is VERY SWIFT! (Theoretically it could happen in a matter of days and then we would be right back on track but there is no way to know.) Separately, we had already been scheduled to come back to San Francisco today to legalize some documents at the consulate here (which, in San Francisco, takes only a couple of days and is easily done in person) and pick up the Visa, so we went ahead and flew to SF today, but now we’re not sure how long we’ll be here waiting. We do know, however, that we will not be leaving here until we have Visas in hand and are boarding a flight to Brazil.
The move has already been an emotional process (and we’re not even there yet!) but we are trying to keep in perspective that this is not something bad, it is just the delay of something great. We are just SO ready to get there and had no idea that there would be so many issues and delays that would come up, but I have faith that we are CLOSE and that we will get there soon, in God’s perfect timing. So, on that note, if you want to pray for us, please join us in praying that the approval from the consulate in Atlanta would be very quick and that no other issues would come up. In the meantime we are back in SF as we continue living out of suitcases, working, studying Portuguese, etc.
Please picture us walking through the airport today with alllll these bags... Thankfully they all made the trip. Now we're ready to take them to BRAZIL!
PS — We have actually done a ton of awesome stuff recently including a trip to the Grand Canyon, a visit home to SC (me), a half marathon (Michael)…and I’ll write more about that soon. Just wanted to share the news…
…from Jeans & A T-Shirt!!!
This morning Michael and I received the AMAZING news that our
VISA is APPROVED!!!!
It is such a relief for us to get this news as we have been unable to plan ANYthing without the approval, and you never know if there are going to be issues, delays… Now that we are approved, I think this means that we will likely head South to BRAZIL in 10-14 days. WOOOHOOOOO!!!!! Thank you God!
So grab a drink – it’s time to Celebrate!
Cheers!
Some of you may be wondering, “What are they waiting for? Why aren’t they in Brazil already? What’s going on?” Well, to help answer these questions that are no doubt keeping you up at night, here is a little update on the status of the move…
TIMING:
We are all ready to make the move and are just waiting on one final detail…our VISAS. Such a process but the short story is that the expected timeline is for them to be approved late January (at the latest) so we are hoping that we’re in Sao Paulo by Feb. 1. However, because the approval could literally come any day now, we made the decision to go ahead and leave our apartment in SF when our lease ended Jan. 7 and we’re now staying with Michael’s parents in Phoenix as we wait. (Thanks Sharon and Ollie!!)
PACKING:
We separated our belongings into 3 groups
1) Stuff that we are packing on our person = 4 checked bags, 2 carry on bags and 2 backpacks — mostly clothes, computers, necessities
2) Stuff that will be air-shipped to us and will probably arrive a few weeks after we arrive in Brazil = 11 boxes — more clothes, shoes, and random other items we may want/need as we wait for…
3) EVERYTHING else that will travel on an ocean freight. Average wait-time on receiving these items is around 3 MONTHS due to Brazilian customs — c-r-a-z-y. (I just heard of someone who waited 8 months on their shipment so crossing my fingers for just 3.)
(As we wait for the visas to be approved, the air and sea shipment is being held by our movers and they will send it out as soon as we are approved.)
HOUSING:
A lot of people ask if we know where we’ll live once we arrive in Sao Paulo. The answer is yes and no. When we arrive, we will start out in furnished, corporate housing. In fact, I think we will be staying at the George V Hotel in Itaim. What do you think of it??? I think it looks kind of cool. During this time we will look for an apartment into which we’ll move once our stuff gets there! (Again, est. time 3 months)
So…it’s all a little up in the air at this point but we’re making the best of it. Michael is able to work remotely and I am working full time on studying Portuguese. 🙂 We are enjoying spending time with his family and I will actually get to make one more quick trip home next week too. That being said, if you have any good books to recommend…now is a great time! 🙂
OK friends – thanks for caring about us! xoxoxo
Jeans & A T-Shirt 