Kerrick's Gettin' Hitched :D

On Saturday, February 13th, at roughly 5:30pm, I asked Veronika to marry me.  And she said 'yes'!!!   :flower: :dance:     I proposed at one of our favorite spots which we dubbed "Veronika's Beach."  It was also at the same location that I had first asked her to date me almost a year ago.



It was an absolutely beautiful day with a gorgeous sunset in a place that is very sentimental for both of us.



It's a super exciting time for both of us, though it's also going to a difficult one.  As you may know, she's not a US citizen and therefore the paperwork process is full of bureaucracy, waiting, frustration, and more waiting.  Also, she flies back to Barcelona (where the school is that she's getting her PhD at) this Wednesday and it'll be a few months before we see each other again.  (The plan is for me to live out that way for a few months.)  So your prayers are greatly appreciated!

We haven't posted on Facebook about it so for those of you who are my "friends" (and I use that term VERY loosely... ), please hold off on posting anything about this there until we've made the announcement.    But I wanted to let y'all know now.

Congratulations!  Good luck with the red tape.  Hopefully it will go well for you!

Absolutely fantastic!!! I am always happy when a fellow engineer can snag a girl that is way out of his league (like I did).
Congrats to you both. I hope the government red tape doesn't make it impossible for you to bring her here to the U.S....assuming you are going to live here.

Can I stick my nose where it doesn't belong and ask if you did the manly thing and ask her father's blessing first?

Well done, ol' chap! Well done indeed!

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So many emotions right now. ^^ I'm glad everything went well. Hugs.

Awesome, Kerrick!  Now, be sure to fly this youth pastor over there and I will perform the ceremony!!!!

Seriously, though, I am proud and happy for you two.  You make a cute couple!

Congrats!

HUZZAH!!!

Just SO beyond cool ! I am SO happy for you both ! When it's the right person, you just know. And others know too. Lisa and I both agreed (after visiting with ya'all) that you two were made for each other and will go the distance.

Just remember, times will not always be as great as they are now, and it's then that your union will be strengthened. So when those really rough times come, keep this in mind.

Again, very happy for you 2, and quite proud of ya !

Thanks everyone!!!  

Staybrite wrote:

Absolutely fantastic!!!  I am always happy when a fellow engineer can snag a girl that is way out of his league (like I did).
Congrats to you both.  I hope the government red tape doesn't make it impossible for you to bring her here to the U.S....assuming you are going to live here.

Can I stick my nose where it doesn't belong and ask if you did the manly thing and ask her father's blessing first?

Hahaha yeah it'd seem us poor engineers are genetically predisposed to have a difficult time with the opposite gender.  But by God's grace sometimes we sneak through. 

The red tape shouldn't be too bad.  There are a few options but we're taking the safest route by doing the fiancee visa.  It'll cost some $$$ and we'll have to wait a while for it to process (the average is around six months) but it's not too risky.  We just gotta prove to the government that our relationship is legit and that she's not just seeking a green card or whatever.  We've got tons of pictures and will be able to get letters from people we know to back us up.

As for doing the manly thing... yes, I did.    Though that caused one of our bigger disagreements haha.  In her culture, that is not common or expected.  But she was not appreciative that I went behind her back and informed others of my intention before her.  Now, we had been discussing marriage for a while before that, but still.  Anyways, it's a bit of a funny story of me asking her parents' permission because I don't speak Slovak and they don't speak English and I had to do it very early in the morning before Veronika woke up.  It was a bit awkward but I'm very glad I did it!

Ninja'd. 

Aww gee, thanks Jim!  I think with all the government crap we have to deal with, the future difficulties are definitely felt even now and I'm sure many many more will come our way.  It's not fun to think about but wise.  Thankfully, we have both built on the solid Rock foundation of Christ and trust in Him to carry us through - whatever that may look like.

kerrick wrote:

...

As for doing the manly thing... yes, I did.    Though that caused one of our bigger disagreements haha.  In her culture, that is not common or expected.  But she was not appreciative that I went behind her back and informed others of my intention before her.  Now, we had been discussing marriage for a while before that, but still.  Anyways, it's a bit of a funny story of me asking her parents' permission because I don't speak Slovak and they don't speak English and I had to do it very early in the morning before Veronika woke up.  It was a bit awkward but I'm very glad I did it!

Well despite any disagreement over the issue with Veronika, the entire incident will likely make a great story for your kids year from now. I remember asking my father-in-law for his blessing as was nervous as heck (he was an intellectually intimidating guy).

I posted it on Facebook but congratulations!

Well done, sir!

That's awesome news kerrick.
Congratulations.
Is she coming to the US now?

Thanks all!

rockerVu2 wrote:

Is she coming to the US now?

Well, that's a tricky one...  Short answer is 'yes' but not right away.  Her 90 days [the maximum allowable time for a non-resident to be in the US without a visa) is up and I had to take her to the airport yesterday to go back to Europe.    The longer answer is this:  We're gathering stuff now for our application (for the application) for the K1 fiancee visa which I'll submit as soon as possible.  That entails a handful of forms that need to be filled out, $340 application fee, some other random stuff, and "proof" of the legitimacy of our relationship.  That proof will be pictures, ticket stubs, and letters of people who know us saying that we're legit and not just trying to get her a green card.  It takes the government ~six months to process this.  Meanwhile Veronika will be gathering a ton of stuff on her end (including police reports from every city she's lived in for the past five years or something).  Then once they decide that we're legitimate, then there's a whole interview process and more red-tape before we can get married.  And once they finally give us the green light, she can move here and we can get married!  I'm planning on moving out to Barcelona for a few months in the middle of all this and then she'll probably come back out here for a bit while we're waiting for the application to go through.

Got here a bit late (been away) but Congratulations Kerrick.  Really pleased to hear the news.  Also, you picked my birthday to propose on, so that's pretty cool.  And like you when I proposed to my wife I did it at the same spot that we had our first date (for me it was exactly the same day a year later), although to be honest, on the day I proposed there were three of us... me, my wife to be and a drunk.  He didn't show a lot of interest though... 

Great photo too!