Another move!

Most of you know but there are some that do not. Shobi was permanently denied from coming into the states. So there will be no coming back for us. I will be coming back for visits. We decided we can not stay in Karachi. Some of my posts so us out and about but what you saw is what I am seen. Most of the time I am staying home, cleaning, cooking, playing on the internet and hoping the kids will come visit. More outside violence has started up in some area and we feel it is best not to venture out much. With the violence comes people staying home too so there goes the economy! With the economy going there goes Shobi's work. So we decided it is best to move on. I know we had talked about Australia but right now we don't have the money to pursue it and we don't want to wait that long. So we are off to Dubai. I had a job offer over the phone so I will be going over the first part of November and meet with her and see how things are. It is tricky renting a place since in order to rent you have to have a residency visa and you don't get that until you are hired and your employer gets it for you. So we are looking to stay in a short term rental like a vacation place since the hotels would add up to much until we can find a place and get our residency visa. Shobi has been applying daily to different jobs but has not heard back as of yet. He has friends over there that have said they will help him. So hopefully he will soon have something. So here soon it will be a farewell to Pakistan and a hello to Dubai. I am looking forward to doing my own grocery shopping and just walking around. We are going over at a good time as it is cooling down over there. I heard the summer are miserably hot. Hopefully being here without A/C will help me adjust! I will still plan on blogging but just be warned it will be farther in between as my work week will be 6 days a week, 9 hour shifts. Hopefully we both will have the same day off. Shobi has agreed to help out with the housework and some cooking. I will be getting a slow cooker over there since this is going to be the easiest way to make meals. We are looking forward to our new adventure. I will keep you posted.
I will post a few pictures of this I have taken lately. Some have seen these but just bare with the others that haven't.

Well I guess there is just one...... I wonder if she needed a nap or maybe a shower? One way to entertain and keep your child out of trouble.

My Sweet Husband!

I have to give a shout out to my wonderful Husband! He was so sweet to me Thursday. He stayed home with me and helped me clean the house. We got cable hooked up. I had taken a nap that afternoon and when I woke up I found my husband in the kitchen fixing us dinner. He wouldn't let me help him. He made me sit at the table and keep him company instead. He even did the dishes. I thought I better document this moment. Never know when it will happen again! :)

fixing dinner

          

   He got silly when he noticed the camera. It was so sweet of him to make me dinner and clean up. He made us chicken sandwiches. They were quite tasty! One other shout out! Sunday we had his family over for dinner. I made spicy chicken wings and ginger garlic coconut rice. The kitchen was a mess but I left it until Shobi took his family home. I started cleaning the kitchen and doing dishes. We have had problems with the draining from the kitchen sink. So I was using one pan to clean and another to rinse so not to much water was running down the drain. Well I guess that wasn't enough. I was almost done when water came pouring out of the cabinet below. It was disgusting. We don't have a disposal so I scrap everything into the garbage. Well I don't think the people before us did. The smell was so bad. I had no way of cleaning it up because I couldn't get it to unclog. I shut the kitchen door hoping that in time it would drain slowly then I could mop things up and clean. I went into the bathroom to change my pants and clean my shoes. I had had it by that time. It was around 11pm when Shobi got back. I told him what had happened and he said leave it and we will deal with it in the morning. I was dreading waking up! I woke up to my husband cleaning it all up. He had gotten up before me and cleaned out the drain and under the sink and was mopping the floor when I came in. I was so happy to have a man that would do this for me. I have been blessed! The kitchen was sparkling clean when he was done! I love this man!

My daily vistors.

 It took a week before the kids were comfortable with me to come down and hang out. Shani and Tariq had asked me if I would help them with their studies and English. They said they would give me some pocket money for doing it. Since I was spending a lot of time alone while Shobi was working I agreed to it. That next more Hadi, 7yrs old, couldn't wait to come down. Shani said he was bugging her at 7am to come down. He brought his study books and we worked on math and English. He has forgotten a lot of his English but is picking it up fast and he is teaching me a few words in Urdu. He even corrects me. He spends a lot of time with me. The next day Mahi came down. He is 6yrs old. He is a character. Hadi is very polite and helpful, Mahi is crazy and the jokster. Ariba has started coming too. She is 2years old. She doesn't stay long. She is back and forth between our place and hers. She doesn't speak any English. We have fun trying to communicate with each other. Last week at the bazaar I got some colored pencils, markers and paper. They enjoyed that. A few days ago I made play dough for them. They had never played with it before. They have been having a blast with it. So the last few days they have spent hours a pond hours here playing with it. Today I sent it home with them. I was tired of cleaning up play dough! :) I have had a lot of fun with them. There is 2 other boys..... Hamza 13yrs old and Bia 12 years old. Just don't have pictures of them yet. 

Hadi

Mahi mustache

Hadi snowman

Mahi

Mahi and Ariba coloring

Ariba

Shobi watching the boys play with play dough.

Hadi my buddy!

My first month in Karachi!

 Well I made it safe and sound. It was a very long flight but I had good company sitting by me. The longest flight was from Chicago to Abu Dhabi. This flight was 15 hours. It was very crowded and I didn't sleep much. I was sitting by a guy from India that was now living in Abu Dhabi and a girl from the states that was going to Abu Dhabi to teach in jr/high school. On my flight from Abu Dhabi to Karachi I was sitting by a character. Sad thing is I don't remember his name but he is from Karachi but been living in New York for many years. We had some good conversation, laughing and discussing his theory on woman!! Funny to hear it from a man view point..
Shobi was there waiting for me when I came out of the airport. All my luggage made it this time!!!! I was so happy. One of my bags had the lock removed. I am missing a few things but not sure if they were stolen or with all the moving around things in my bags to make weight I forgot them. I guess we will find out when I get back.
This is my new neighborhood. We are in a very safe area. I haven't ventured out to much but will soon. I have been cleaning house, lets just say that when you rent an apartment here it is not cleaned before moving in, trying to get settled in in my new life. The landlords live upstairs from us. They have 5 kids, 4 boys and 1 girl. The kids were all born in America. They have been living in California for the last 15 years or so. They came back to Pakistan 2 years ago for Islamic school for their 2 oldest boys. It is nice because they speak English and are really nice people. In fact the kids spend a lot of time here. I will be posting pictures of them too. Shani and Tariq want me to help them out with there English. Since they were young and have forgotten a lot of it. It has been fun having little kids around. They keep me busy and entertained while Shobi is away.
Shobi had set up the apartment with all the basic things. Bedroom set, dining table and chairs, refrigerator, couch and curtains in our bedroom. We still have a lot to get to make it a home but we are slowly picking things up in the Sunday Bazaar. The pictures below are of the apartment. It wasn't super clean when I took these. And just know we are still getting curtains.                                                                                             

 This is the living room. Very little in here but the couch. Never buy a black leather couch in Karachi. It is always dusty and sticky. Plus he didn't pick out one you want to curl up in and read. :)

 Here is the dining room and entry room. The balcony is off this room.

 Here is my kitchen. Notice only a 2 burner stove top. NO oven!! I was sad. We will look into getting at least a toaster oven if not just an oven. Been a big change to just cook on the stove top. But doing pretty good so far. Learning a few new dishes.

 Here is our bedroom. It is all ornate furniture to Pakistan.

 dressing table.

 The on suite bathroom. The blue bucket is kept full of water just in case we run out of water. It is also my shower. I use the little bucket to dump the water over my head. As you can see there is no shower curtain. It is not a good set up. After a shower you have to squeegee the whole bathroom down the drain that is behind the big blue bucket. I will say I miss my long hot showers. Most of the time the hot water is gone and I have a cold shower. Well if you can that a shower! HAHA

 Just another view of the bathroom. The faucet on the wall by the toilet is their version of a bidet. They Don't use toilet paper like we do.

 This is our second bedroom. The beds are the landlords. It is also shobi's closet/ laundry room. As you can see by the window that is our washing machine. I move it into the bathroom. Which is the door on the right of it. I fill the left side of the washer  up with water, put the clothes and detergent in and plug it in. After the wash I drain it and fill it up again to do the rinse. The right side is the spinner. Then I hang dry then on the line on the balcony. It is a light unit. I had to have him show me how to use it. :)

 This is Shobi's bathroom. I told him he could use the one off the bedroom but he likes his own. He has a smaller bucket to shower with but more room to shower. Just wait for the next picture...

 This is known as a squat toilet. You find them all over Asia. I am glad mine has a regular toilet.

 Here is a water truck that comes and delivers water to the big tank under the apartment. We have to have it filled about every 4th day. Not all areas of Karachi have it this way but how they developed the Defence area this is what you have to do. They have a lot of water problems here. As I am writing this the power has gone out. I am hoping it comes on soon since I am in the middle and don't want to loose it all and I am also updating my iphone too. My laptop doesn't stay charged very long. It might be very interesting.

Here we are....... the happy couple!! To finally have a life together! It has been a challenge and learning experience for me. I am so use to making all the decisions and doing things my way and so is he. We are doing good and working through it all. I am happy being his wife! He is happy with me.... at least this is what he says!! :) He has been really helpful with everything. He helps me clean. He does laundry and he scrubs the bathroom floors. He isn't a normal Pakistani man who usually doesn't do any of this!!! It's the woman's job. Actually the woman don't clean here. They all have maids. I was cleaning as Tariq came by with a friend. He said what are you doing??? I said cleaning. Oh yeah it's the American way to clean your own house. I can imagine what I would do if I had a maid to clean my home. I would probably clean it before they came. It gives me something to do. I can't just sit in a house all day long and twiddle my thumbs. We just got cable yesterday but of course most of it is in Urdu. I think there is 3 or 4 channels in English but sometime the movies they show are dubbed in Urdu. It has been interesting. Lots of changes and a lot to learn in my new life. For the most part everyone is very friendly and helpful. If my husband goes to the store it is much cheaper then if I go. The price goes up 3 or 4 times the amount for me then for him. The only problem is he doesn't always know what I mean when I tell him things so he gets what he thinks it is. He is sweet to run all the errands for us though. He is a good man and I am happy with my husband. I miss family and friends dearly and I really miss Target! The quality of things here are like the dollar store. You can find better quality but it is really expensive!! Other then I lucked out at the Sunday Bazaar last week. I picked up some William Somona bowls for really cheap. They had the price tag on them for $38.00 and I got them for 800.00 rupees which is $7.60 for the 3 bowls. I was a happy camper. Looking forward to going tomorrow to see what I can find. I am having some Sharwal suits made for me. This is the traditional Pakistani clothes for woman. I figured I would blend in more. Once I get them back I will post pictures. So far live in Karachi is going good. I will keep you all posted.

A new life

A few days ago we received word from the US immigration that they are revoking our approval of our marriage. Since they do not approval our marriage, it voids out everything we have been doing for the last 5 years. It has been a very hard couple of days, I mostly am angry! We have spent so much time and money trying to get my husband here the right way, the legal way and with no such luck. They have taken 5 years away from us. The chance for a family. Instead of just coming out in the beginning and telling us we are not letting Pakistanis into the US right now they dragged it along to milk every penny and then some we had. We would get approved just for them just to take away something else. We would file more, doing everything they asked and be approved then all of a sudden that was taken from us. Our marriage was approved back in 2007 as a legit marriage through the eyes of the US government. Now that our hardship was approved they didn't know what to do so they took it away. I swear the only way you can really get into the United States is to sneak in and fight it from here. If you are already in the States they work with you. Our Immigration system needs more then to be reformed! It needs to get out of the hands of people that like to play God and go into a business that have to compete between the two. Maybe if they were under competition with another company it would be done in a fast and fair time period.
I look forward to an adventure with my husband in another country. To be able to have the time to reconnect and start our own little family. Yes little because it will just be the 2 of us and hopefully a dog. As waiting for the government to let my husband over I am to old now to be a mom. The sad part about moving so far away is missing my family and knowing my family will never meet my husband. I just hope that after giving up my life here in the states and moving half way around the world they will let him fly back for a visit. He could not come visit during this process at all, because he was now married to an American Citizen and they didn't trust him to return. America was made up of immigrants. We came from all over the world to make us America. Unless of course you are a Native American. They are really the only "true" Americans. I think we forget as we let others into this nation that at one point one of our own family members went through the same thing. We have become a nation of hate and control. We are racist to anyone new coming in. I hear all the time here in Utah. " We are being invaded with Mexicans". It makes me so sad and mad! Why can't we open our arms and welcome diversity and learn from everyone. The Mexican or Hispanic culture is wonderful. They are very big on family! I love their food and grateful I am among them. I am grateful for all the different race and religion that surrounds me. They give you a change, something to learn about and grow. We can not judge all by one bad apple. Not all Muslims are terrorist! Not all Mexicans are illegal! Not all Mormons are honest! But all Politicians are in for themselves. I asked for help from so many of them and there was only one that said yes. That was Senator Bennett who was pushed out of office. My hope for America is to become a more caring , loving and accepting nation. We do not have it all right! Our own government is a mess! Why do we feel we have the right to tell others how to run theirs. Let's work on our own first. I wish everyone that is dealing with Immigration the best. Find you a good lawyer and PRAY! I prayed and prayed but I really think that my prayers were answered but not is the way I necessarily thought they should go. I'm sure there is a reason I am to move across the world to be with my husband in a foreign country where I do not speak the language. I am very excited to learn a new culture and to dive into their cuisine. I also think God felt it was time for "me". As much as I love my mom and the salon, I have been pulled in so many different directions that I have forgotten to take care of myself. I have had a flare up with my disease, major headaches and have not been exercising like I should. I have a hard time at saying no, so I push on and get things done. I hope I can learn to take care of myself and learn that if I am a mess so is my life. May my new journey be a good one. I know so many have problems with me moving to either Karachi or UAE. I will be fine. My husband is a good man and will take good care of me. Every where in the world is problems. As long as you are smart and know your limits you can be safe.

Memory Lane

Happy Birthday

down

Memory Lane

November 30th Mom will be 83 yrs old. For this birthday I wanted to take her down memory lane. She grew up in Ogden, Utah and it has been a while since I have taken her back up to see where she grew up and to visit the graves of her parents, grandparents, brother, aunts and uncles. I was talking to Anna, one of my clients, asking her what was going on up in Ogden over the Holidays. She told me that they will be having a parade and lighting the Christmas Village on the 27th of November. She also is owner of the Ben Lomond Suites in Ogden. I asked her if she would book us a room, which she kindly did. Shelley, Jim, Brandi, Dan, Lukas and Blair joined us. The hotel was amazing. I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Ogden.

When we got up to Ogden we did a drive by of all of Mom's memories of Ogden. You will be seeing just a few of the places we went. Starting with the Levitt Cemetery.
This is the Mausoleum that Aunt Aldine and Uncle Leo and her cousin Carol
are buried. Mom was named after Aunt Aldine.

Aunt Aldines burial place

Uncle Pauls grave buried in the snow.

Grandma and Grandpa Pauls is buried here too.

This is the house Grandpa bought during the war. It was built by Uncle Earl

They paid $3500 for it. 2 bedroom, 1 bath full basement home. Yeah for plumbing!

In 1936 the Case family moved into this home at 2147 Robbins Ave.

This is Aunt Aldine's home. It is a beautiful home but I must say the owners need to work on curb appeal. I wish I could have walked through this home. Ogden has some beautiful "old" houses. Kristy lets move to Ogden so we can find us some beautiful old houses!

Mom's High School, Ogden High.

This is the chapel Mom was Baptised in when she was 8.
August 12th, 1936
Also she sang in their Leiber Karntz Choir
They sang all over during World War 2.

Since I am not familar with Ogden we stopped to eat at Denny's. DO NOT eat at this Denny's if you happen to be in Ogden. I must say it was the worst place we could have chosen.

We drove up to Pleasant View to Grandma and Grandpa Case's grave.

It has been many years since Mom and I have been up. It was cold so we didn't stay long. Just long enough to get a picture and put their Christmas wreath on the grave. Everyone else stayed in the car. Jim had to stay and listen to BYU lose to the Utes.

This is the house Mom lived in from age 15 to marriage. There was an outhouse, no indoor plumbing at first. It came later as Grandpa was a carpenter and very handy with tools. They did have electric lights that hung down but no light switches. I'm sure it was hard going from indoor plumbing to none. I know with my travels to Pakistan and Kenya what luxuries these are. Mom had a natural stream right outside her window. How nice it would be to sleep to the sound of water.

This home Grandpa Case built after Mom had gotten married and moved out. It reminds me of the house I would go visit Grandpa Case in SLC. He built that one to. Same color bricks. I wish I would have gotten some of his creations he made. He was so handy with wood. He did lose a few fingers to his saws but his work wouldn't show it. I never met Mom's mother. She passed away when Mom was carrying Greg. Grandpa did remarry Carma but she really wasn't a Grandma....

After dinner we went back to the hotel to watch the parade from Shelley's window. She had a great view from her room. Which was really nice since it was so cold outside. I didn't get any pictures of the parade just a few of the Christmas Village. Here is the Ben Lomond Suites display. I must say this Christmas Village was so cute. I think this might be a yearly thing. I found the displays better then the windows at the old ZCMI center.

The Ghosts of the Ben Lomond came to join us in the picture.
(Not sure what happened but I thought it was pretty cool.)

This was the display window from the Lavish Salon in town.

It was to crowded to get a better picture.

All in All it was a great weekend and I was so glad I could share this with Mom. I saw parts of Ogden I had never seen before and learned more about Mom's growing up.

Happy Birthday Mom!
I love you! You are an awesome Mom and best Friend. I don't know what I would do without you. You have taught me to love and care for people. You bring a spirit to life that noone else can. I am so grateful for the time I have had to live with you. I know you say I am the Mom and you are the Child now. But you have taught me more then I could imagine being your Mom. I am proud to have you as my Mother.

A Christmas Angel

You hear of Christmas Angels but rarely does one have there own. This year I have a Christmas Angel. Last Friday this Angel touched my life in ways they will never know. God knew we needed this Angel.
As everyone knows Shobi and I have been going through the immigration process for over 3 years now. Getting our hopes up just to have them destroyed. A year ago I went out to Pakistan for our final interview. We were told at our interview that we were approved but had to wait 2 to 3 months until he was to get his green card visa. Very disappointed I came home at Christmas without him. Happy that we were approved but sad to still be without him. March came and so did new from the Embassy in Islamabad that they has decided to take away our approval and deny him. Without any email just a phone call from the translator I found it very suspicious so I called back the Embassy. Staying up until 2am to do so only to be treated rudely and hung up on. Needless to say we were now told to file a Hardship Waiver. After contacting my Lawyer and working on the hardship papers for 4 months I sent them off to Shobi so he could hand deliver them to the Embassy. They will have it no other way. He bought his ticket to fly and found a hotel only to be told when he got there that they were incomplete. Having a nervous breakdown I called my Lawyer asking her why she said they were complete and them saying they were not. No Real answer from her. So again .... this time I did research myself in what was suppose to be in a Hardship Waiver and realized she had dropped the ball. Her daughter was getting married so I think it was just the very basics she did for me. Anyways 130 pages later and $125 to mail it Shobi has the hardship in hand. The only problem now was coming up with the money needed to fly him there and give him a place to stay for the night. We knew that we would come up with it in time knowing it would just be longer wait for us to be together.
This is where the Christmas Angel comes into play. Knowing how long we have waited and how much longer it will be once we turn in our Hardship papers. This Angel didn't want us to wait and help us out getting his ticket to fly. I can not say in words how much I love and appreciate this Angel. It was very hard for me to accept this generous offer of help but the Angel would not take no for an anwser. Thank you God for sending this Angel into my life. They have touched my life in more ways then one. Shobi thanks you from the bottom of his heart. Shobi will now be flying over this weekend to deliver the Hardship papers instead of sometime next month. We ask for everyones prays that they will accept the papers and send then on to New Dehli for processing and that some how ours will end up on top of the stack and not the bottom. We have waited so long and it is getting extremely hard for both of us. I might put on a strong front but that is all it is. Please pray for us and Thank you my Christmas Angel! Thank you!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving Dinner with LeAnn and Harry

This year we had a rather small Thanksgiving. After traveling for the last 2 years it was nice and relaxing. Yes we cooked for 2 days still and made the normal Thanksgiving dinner. It was very yummy and VERY filling. After dinner we played a few games of cards... I was not the winner of any of the games. But we had lots of laughs and great company. The only thing really missing for me was my Husband. Three years still without him here for any Holiday. Hopefully next year we will be together whether it be here in Utah or there in Pakistan. It has been very hard being married and apart now for over 3 years. One thing I am very grateful for is phones and internet. Without them we would have to rely on snail mail and snail mail in Pakistan means no mail or at least 3 months to get to him. I am thankful for a wonderful loving Husband! He loves me as I am and is very patient with this bossy wife. I am grateful for all the love and support giving to me by so many people during this immigration process. It means so much to me! Thank you everyone!

Halloween 2010

Halloween

Here are a few creatures that came to trick or treat at our house this year.

Batman (Lukas) and WonderWoman (Blair)
Witchy Poo (Alyssa)

Cowboy Kia

Sushi (Stephanie) with some soy sauce (Sal)

with Pirate Isaak and cowboy Kia.

don't know why I didn't have a better picture of Isaak.

Tinkerbell (Alexye) and Witch (Sayge)

Witch (LeAnn) with little witch Angel

Tinkerbell, Grandma B and witch Sayge

I took the last group of kids around to trick or treat in our neighborhood. It was funny watching little Angel trick or treating. Once she figured out she got candy she pushed her way through the 2 older girls with her hand held out. And since she was so little she was able to snag 2 treats out of people. I believe it was Matias that taught her this. :) We had fun and I'm sure the girls would have kept going but Witch LeAnn and I got tired and had to come home. Thanks everyone for coming trick or treating to our place.