Thursday, February 10, 2011

taking care of things - or not taking care of them

this one time i couldn't find my camera. I figured it was at my mom and dad's house somewhere, safe and sound. 
then to my dismay one day i got out of Luke's car and found my camera... neatly tucked underneath the car i drive, right beside the tire.  I somehow managed to drive over it who knows how many times, and because of the weather the case and the camera were soaked through with water.
It was actually pretty sad for me... Since then my cell phone and my computer have also not been working.  it's all kind of sad.  you know what they say - things always happen in 3's.

Luckily i have a husband that lets me use his camera, cell phone and computer when i need it.

Anyways... my birthday was great
candi made me this cookie bouquet


my mom cooked me a great dinner

luke got me a great cook book


i also got a moleskin notebook from my dad - how he knew that i love those, and note books in general i'll never know.


i was spoiled and the best thing i think i got was a letter from US immigration - i could book my appointment!!!!  and so i went on the website and surprisingly there was one day available in February , and the next date was April.  So i took the February date in hopes that everything would work out with my medical in time.  

It did... i flew to vancouver this week


I was fortunate to have my dad book a business trip for the same days i needed to be there - which meant he could pick me up from the airport, i could stay at his hotel with him, and he would have a rental car.  

we went out for all you can eat sushi - and i ate all i could eat. It was really good. And kind of fun to just hang out with my dad for a night.

the jell-o for dessert reminded me of grandma takahashi.

The next morning i headed to my 6:30am physical. 
It was a long morning of waiting, tests, waiting, doctor's and then more waiting. 


Luckily our hotel was across the street and i could go back there and wait for the results to be ready at 1:30.

Before i left for home again, Dad took me to Stanley Park to check out something from my heritage.


The canadian japanese monument.


My great grandpa's name is on it 
"Z.SHIMBASHI"


it was pretty cool to see.

Also cool to see - these little raccoons.


So... up next is a trip to montreal for an interview and then all of this immigration will be behind us. And hopefully better luck with cameras, computers and cell phones is in my future as well.

I do feel lucky i got my appointment so quickly - i talked to a guy that has his appointment the same day as i do, and he applied March of last year - it's taken almost a year for him, and about 5 months for me. Talk about answers to prayers!



10 comments:

Erika said...

I Like this!

SO glad you had a good birthday, wish I could have been there. Also, I liked hearing about your trip to Vancouver- it kind of looked like fun!

I am sad about your camera and laptop and stuff...

Love you and miss you

erika

Sara said...

I know i always say this but i love that you and luke are married. hehehehhe. you look great!! I'm so excited for you and the immigration stuff. not so excited about the camera. rrrreally hope to see you soon. like rrrreally soon. love you both.

Sara said...

also, cool about the japanese war memorial. and i love the roadtrip hoodie jamie is sporting. love you.

Linz said...

I HATED the Racoons out there ... but then again in one place that I lives they used to get into our garbage!!!

KandyJill said...

I love you! I love when you blog. I need to again soon! SO happy about your appt in Van! :) So when can you go to Montreal? And glad you had a happy birthday. SO sad about your camera though :( Perhaps it can be a "Welcome to being a US immigrant" present?

Wilma said...

Glad to hear all the good news about the immigration process! It's quite the ordeal, I'm glad my process wasn't quite so involved years ago.

Candi's cookie bouquet looked professional and delicious! I'm sure it WAS delicious. The black forest cake looked good also, we thought of you and we had black forest cake for your birthday also.

Shel said...

Alanna,
So happy that things are progressing with you immigration status.
I hope that in the near future you have a working camera, laptop & cell phone.
Love you

Burgess Family said...

Wow, so many good things and sad things.

So many personal touches for your birthday - you are pretty lucky to have so many that LOVE you.

And then to go to Vancouver on a date with your Dad.

Thanks for the photos of the monument. Last summer we were out that way for BMX and we were so close to getting there. I was a little disappointed when we couldn't fit it in. So I was glad you were able to see it and share the photos with us.

All the best as you finish all that immigration stuff.

Wilma said...

I agree with Auntie Sheila, thanks for posting pictures of the monument. I would like to go there sometime, and I'm going to find out if I can print from a blog.

 Natalie said...

So happy to see a comment on my blog from you - mostly so that I could link over to your blog! Your hair is getting sooo long and you are endlessly adorable!