For the last two or three weeks, which have felt like a lifetime, the first thing I’ve done as soon as I got home from work was call the National Visa Center hoping to get confirmation that Jenny and my petition had been received by them. Constant “no’s” followed by the script that it could take up to 6 weeks in spite of the original 1-4 weeks stated everywhere led to a lot of anxiety and heartbreak. Summer is annoying enough with the heat and being away from Jenny. Now, a stranger is rejecting me on the phone every evening.

Then we got some good news, finally. Exactly a month after our NOA2, the NVC received our case! The woman on the phone told me it could take up to 2 weeks to have a case number assigned.

Pfft. I called back the next day because everyone else I’ve followed on Visa Journey has gotten their numbers quicker. After about a 40 minute hold on Thursday, the longest I’ve had since I began calling the NVC each day, the man on the other end asked me to confirm Jenny’s full name, date of birth, and my full name. As soon as he asked this I knew the number had been received and I anxiously gave him the information while happily jumping up and down. This clearly was not a good decision because my feet now hurt really badly. How old am I?

The number in hand, we were able to schedule the interview with the Manila Embassy. Jenny wasted no time, braving a slow Internet connection, scheduling the interview for next month. Later, she also booked flights and hotel stays along with registering for the medical exam. It was a busy Friday night for me and Saturday morning for her with the end result being that we’re practically all set for the next step in being together.

All we have to do now is gather up our papers for everything. We could present these to them in crayon, but it’s likely frowned upon. I already have my tax forms printed and copied and all else I’ll need for the affidavit of support. I just need a letter from my bank which I ask about every week to confirm it’s easy enough to do. I’ll get it next week then ship it along with everything else across the world to Jenny. Thereafter, we’ll just have her practice memorizing my zip code which quite honestly nobody ever remembers in the US.

Only a few more steps to go and we’ll be together. We’ve already celebrated by breaking our faux diets multiple times. I think I created a new number with the amount of calories consumed since Thursday’s news. Who cares how fat you are though when you’re with the woman you love?