Holding Fast to Faith

The past week or so has been fairly trying for Paul and I, but we are keeping the faith. First, however, the report - the Indiegogo campaign (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-love-together/x/5958552) is at $978! THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed so far, we really appreciate your support. However, we only have 36 days left, and a LONG way to go to reach our goal of $6000. But first, some fairy tale joy.....

The more I look around me, and the more I look at what I have with Paul, the more I realize how truly blessed we are. We met when I went into Stop and Shop, and it was like magic. When we met for our first date, we hugged, and it felt like the Universe aligned. Our first kiss was the sweetest I have ever known. When I said I had to leave for 6 months for work, I never doubted that he would wait for me. When I had to tell him I would be gone for 2 more months, my heart broke when he cried from missing me so much. When he asked me to marry him, I thought I might be the luckiest girl in the world. When I did marry him, I KNEW I was the luckiest girl in the world. Over the past few weeks, as we've talked to folks about our goal of being together in Australia and everything we are overcoming to be together, people keep saying "Just go there and be with him. I don't understand why you can't just be there." The situation is this - we spoke with the Australian Embassy in Sydney this past week, just to make sure we haven't left any stone unturned. We asked if I could "just go be with him" in Australia, and file for residency while there. We were told that "You *could* do that, but at any time the government could decide that you entered under false pretenses (ie, entering on a tourist visa with the intent to stay permanently), deport Kat back to the U.S., and ban her for up to 8 year from re-entering Australia. Then you would have to file (and pay) all over again." It just isn't worth the risk. We've also been asked why I don't go visit - the truth is, it is too expensive to "just visit." Airfare alone is in the neighborhood of $2000, so it would defeat our purposes for me to visit, when the goal is for me to stay. We've also been asked why we are moving to Australia. There are a lot of factors that have gone into this decision, and it was not an easy decision to make. First, is that Paul is unable to find work in his field in this country (he is one of the top swim instructors in Australia). He doesn't have a high school diploma, and most jobs above minimum wage in the U.S. won't even talk to him. The few places who could hire him (such as the YMCA or health clubs with swim classes), have flat out refused to speak with him because they feel he is over-qualified and would want too much money - without giving him the consideration of interviewing him and letting him decide if what they offer is what he would accept. He was living in an extremely toxic situation (renting a room from his ex-mother-in-law) and we couldn't afford to rent a place of our own, as my work situation has been erratic at best. Add to that an unstable relationship with his ex-wife who threatens every other week to have him arrested (she's done it before when she didn't get her way), we came to the decision that since I don't have anything really tying me down in the States and he not only has a greater earning capacity in Australia but would be much happier there and I can find work pretty much anywhere, we made the difficult decision to emigrate to Australia. Paul has gone ahead to try to get settled and find a place for us to live while I try to pay down some of my debt and get my visa organized. We've also been asked why it is so expensive - here is the breakdown: $3100 to file for the visa. $900 for the medical exam and background checks. $2000 for the airfare and baggage check (2 checked bags and 2 carryon). We are living extremely frugally, and saving every extra penny we can. In addition to saving for this $6000 (which is what the indiegogo campaign is about - http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-love-together/x/5958552), we are also saving $2500 for the first/last/security for an apartment in Australia, a car so Paul can work the 3 jobs he's managed to land, and continuing to pay his attorney fees from when he divorced and fought for (and sadly lost) custody of his son, and his ongoing child support. There are also some health issues going on, but I won't go into that until I know more about what, if anything, is going on - we're waiting on some test results.

We have said all along that from the moment we met, it has been like a fairy tale, and all we want is to live together so we can be happy ever after. Everyone says it is amazing how the love just shines out of us when we look at each other, and is so incredibly present in the pictures. At the wedding and reception, it was amazing to watch a room full of people fall in love with my husband. If you are blessed to have your soul mate and other half in your life - if you believe in love - if you want to be part of creating a "happy ever after", I hope you will find a way to help us. If you can, please contribute to the campaign (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/keep-love-together/x/5958552). We hope you will tell everyone you know our special story, and of our amazing love that we are blessed to share with each other and our friends. We hope you will share our video that tells the story with folks, to let them know what is going on (http://youtu.be/80KtlCm5E4k). The campaign is set up so you can donate via credit card or PayPal, and PayPal is set up to accept donations in US Dollars, Australian Dollars, and Euros. We hope you believe in love, and we hope you will join us. We have 36 more days to reach our goal - and the Embassy also said that if we can file by March 1st, they might actually be able to process it within 90 days rather than the 10 months we were told initially, which means we might actually be able to be together for our first anniversary. Wouldn't that be amazing?!? With your help, we know we can do it. Thank you. <3