visa and home photos

i spent the ENTIRE day yesterday figuring out VISA stuff. My current visa is set to run out jan 22.
which, is...err....ahhh...fast approaching.

i caught a ride into town in the morning, so at 630am i was off to town in the bakkie (truck). it turns out i DID not have all the paperwork i would need.
did i mention how much i hate the home affairs office?!
after going back to the farm and
calling lots of people,
looking things up online,
writing more letters,
getting letters signed,
withdrawing a TON of money from the bank,
and going back to home affairs
i now* have my visa for TWO YEARS!

a few thoughts on home affairs. this is the now the third time
(out of 5 different visits, in the 6 months i've lived here) i have been told i should just marry someone from south africa and my problems will be solved. i said "sign me up!" (because i'm truly sick of visa issues) at which the nice man said it should be:
"no problem for someone as beautiful as you to find someone on your farm."
i literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD at this comment for two reasons:
1) there aren't single men on my farm. there are single men around, but not living on my farm...
2) i literally was eating while this was going on and as he said "beautiful" i had just finished taking a large and not very lady-like bite out of my chicken King Pie. i also could feel the sweat dripping off my face as it was over 100 outside and i was rushing to get to the building. gross.
all i could think was:
"yeah, i must look REAL beautiful chomping down on my lunch with the rain storm pouring down my face..." *grins*

now that i've digressed on my visa situation...i wanted to share some "home" photos!
when i was home i was able to see SO many people. seriously... i was blown away.
there are only four friends i wasn't able to see that i really wanted too.
well, that live in the "near" vicinity of my house anyway.
(sorry: ken, christina, haub's, and lauren!).

one of the best things was seeing Sarah, and the entire Bowman family.
sarah, abi and i are "blood sisters." no joke, when i was about 7, we
all had cuts, from tree climbing most likely, and well, we mixed
our blood together. i can't believe i just wrote that, that sounds so disgusting!
hahahaha...but we were little and loved each other
and i swear we don't have issues. well...*most* of us don't have issues
hahaha
one of my favorite childhood memories was wearing a lovely navy dress and standing on an alter as sarah said "i do" to Ron...that was 10 years ago last year.
we played outside nonstop when we were little.
always playing house in our trees, or playing cowboys and indians with sarahs brothers...we just played and played, sun-up to sun-down. it was a blissful childhood.

i love that she and abi still get together weekly.
and i love that the three of us were all together for a wee little bit this Christmas.
i LOVE LOVE LOVE that abi and sarah's girls are the same age and play together.

one night SUPER late, Bec and i went to see New Moon. total disappointment. i think it made my mom and dad glad that i disliked it so much because they despise me reading those books. its still hard to tell myself i'm an adult and can make well thought out decisions on my own and if they disagree with my parents, thats ok...i don't have to agree anymore since i don't live at home and am almost 24. hahaha. let me tell you the debates we have over my book choices. anyway, bec and i had fun, freezing fun, but fun together! :)

crystal came over a lot. it was wonderful. actually, the friends i saw the most, just invited themselves to mom and dads. this was such a blessing because i lost the ability to go out mentally, it was just to draining. i don't know why, but i LOVE this photo of crystal and dad playing wii. i still don't like video games at all, but i really love wii. like, a lot. if anyone wants to send me a wii in a care package...i'd be ALL over that! *smiles*

sisters:

we played: who, what, when, where, why on new years eve. that game is too much.

i love this..i love janet's face and i love how joey is falling over laughing. i wish i could remember what linda said that was so funny. o dear..

i love this shot of twila, mom, and bec laughing during the game. So funny!!

the point of the game is that one person writes down "who," then they fold it over and pass it to the left, then that person writes "what," folds it and passes it on, so on and so on...after "how" is written you pass it once more and then read what is told. it is always so funny to hear how the stories either fit or dont fit at all. here are two of our "stories" from that night.

in case you can't read it, it says: abe lincoln, ran around naked, because the moon was full, in the trunk of joey's car, to relieve the pressure in his bladder.

this one reads: linda and lou, licked each others back up and down, till the sun don't shine, at the three bears house, because it felt good.

the stories are always so ridiculous. it doesn't matter how many "games" we own as a family, we always end up playing this game because its so funny. we just laugh and laugh at how everything is put together...

i was also able to spend a day in the city with my sweet lania. we ate at Rachel's Cafe and creperie. it was yummy in my tummy for sure! they had the Amelie soundtrack playing. that is my favorite movie score ever. it reminds me of college and how ellen would play it all the time as she painted and i did homework. i love this little cafe so much.

at 645 the last sunday night i was home, joey said he wanted to go see F&M play in the championship game of their Christmas tournament which started at 8. my family LOVES F&M. i guess, it is passed on from mom and dad since they fell in love there, got engaged there, broke off their engagement their (which was not their choice, thats another story...later to get re-engaged and married), and graduated from there. one of my favorite all time family vacations was when we followed along with the team when they went to the final four one year in virginia. i loved it. it was the glory years of alex kraft. i remember after one game he (alex kraft) slapped my hand and gave me a hug, he was like my hero and i was in love with him (this was 98 people. i was 12). i thought i would die i was so happy. hahaa...but seriously, glenn started coaching when my dad was there and he is the ALL TIME winningest (is that a word?!) coach in NCAAIII ever. seriously, he inspired me so much playing. i love his defense...i love his teams.

anyway...off joey, dad, david tangert (might as well be a brother), and i went to see them play.

GO DIPLOMATS!!!

i was so excited i couldn't keep my eyes open!

they won. it was touch and go for a bit in the 2nd half, but of course...we won!!!

o my gosh! i forgot all about this till re-looking at the photos. the best player on the other team (who happened to be an Aussie! Go southern hemisphere!) was sitting out because of foul trouble (lazy defense) and it looked like he was wearing a snuggie!!! i wish i had gotten my camera out in time, but i was seconds to late. but seriously, i turned to joey and had to ask him if it was a snuggie because it really looked like he got a sudden "cold" and was bundled up. joey told me it was just the team towels, which it was i found out as he stood up. but it was hilarious!! here is the best shot i got of him in his "snuggie."

we had a little Strangarity get together. here is Julian attacking Quinn. i love it!

my sweet baby cousin, ryan and his daughter, audrey. there are 12 of us first cousins within 7 years of each other, ryan is the baby of that bunch. he was 17 when audrey was born. i'm so proud of him (and lien) for choosing LIFE and to keep audrey. so many kids his age do not. it is crazy to see him being a father, but i'm proud of him...we all are...and we ADORE audrey. she is such a cute mix of his cuban-ness and her heritage. crap i forget...is it Vietnamese? anywho...i love watching ry be a dad. ryan and i share a bday. we're cool cousins like that *smile*

colton is the youngest first cousin. sadie is the youngest baby in the family. they are CUTIES!!!

audrey and her uncle jerry. its funny because besides abi and i, there are NO girl first cousins. but all of the first cousins children are girls. seana, sadie, and audrey. i wonder if all of us will end up having girls. that would be funny and weird.

anyway....i have a ton more photos to blog from home, just give me time. *smiles*

*i don't "have" it in my possession yet. but ALL my paperwork is in and correct and in 10 days (so i'm told) i will have that nice visa. i will obviously, keep you posted