Our Journal 2005

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February  March  May  July  September  October  December

February 2005

February 10th 2005 (Steve writes): 

It seems ages since we've written anything. But we've made a couple of changes to the site recently which are now live. The first is a new section After Applying which gives some ideas of things to do after applying and while you are in the long wait. The second is a Guest Book - please drop in to this area and say Hi.

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March 2005

March 27th 2005 (Steve Writes):

Well last weekend we went to the Emigrate Show at Sandown Park organised by Outbound Publishing. As usual it was really well attended. We took a couple of pictures of the queue to get in on the Saturday morning. There was no specific reason we had to go, there were no burning questions that we wanted to ask but we wanted to build the dream of our emigration to Canada and this was an ideal way to do so. We did however, got an opportunity to meet up with some of the contact that we've made during the process and to spend some time with them. Ian and Jayne Wisdom from Canilink had offered to made badges for those of us who use their discussion board so that we could 'spot' each other and chat. We spent probably close to an hour talking to Jo & Lee and sharing our experiences.

The queue at the Emigrate Show in Sandown Park

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May 2005

May 17th 2005 (Steve Writes):

Well as usual it seems ages since we have written anything. It's a quiet time at this part of the journey while we wait for news (not expecting to hear anything until the end of this year). Having said that there are a couple of pieces of news.

• The first (and most exciting) is that Karen is pregnant with twins. They are due at the beginning of September. Some of our friends have asked us if this changes our plans - the answer is simply that it strengthens our resolve to make the move. Having said that, we do intend to delay the move a little bit as it would be much easier to move with toddlers than babies. This of course is possible as it is possible to Land in Canada and then return for up to 2 of the first 5 years.
• We had an un-official gathering of like minded friends a couple of weeks ago in Tatton Park. We all have a common desire to live in Canada and we're all associated with Canilink in some way. It was through their bulletin board that we arranged the meet. It was great to meet up and get to know each other and to share stories and dreams. There will be future gatherings so if you want to join us please drop us a line and we'll keep you informed.
• We've added a new page to the site. Time Lines are becoming more and more prominent as we chat to others (or is it simply because we are in the waiting phase of the application). As such we thought it would be good if there was a place where people could see how the time lines are progressing and how long the wait is. This COULD be a valuable resource but only if people send their details in. Please take the time to send your details and I'll sort them and update the page as they come in.

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July 2005

July 13th 2005 (Steve Writes):

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September 2005

September 10th 2005 (Steve writes):

Well our lives have certainly changed in the last 10 days. Karen gave birth to two beautiful baby boys on August 31st. They are called Joshua James and Thomas Sean and (of course) they have their own web site. You can reach it at www.JoshandTom.com. So this now brings us to to task of adding them to our application. Our aim is to get things sorted (passports  and additional forms for CHC) in time for the October Emigrate show at Sandown racecourse so that we can get it all checked by CHC before submitting.

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October 2005

October 14th 2005 (Steve writes):

We are just finalising the paperwork for adding the boys to our application and also including some further qualifications that Karen has gained (HNC). Getting the passport / application pictures sorted was hard work. We drove to the photographers and of course by the time we got there the boys were asleep so he had to take them outside and wave them around in the cool breeze to try to wake them up (eyes must be open on passport pictures). We've filled in the passport application forms and got them signed by the doctor and these have been sent off. We didn't manage to get to the emigrate show as planned - I had planned to go there and back in the day but we had a difficult night before the trip and I didn't feel safe doing the long drive (4 hours each way). We've pretty confident that we've made the correct changes to the paperwork anyway. Once the passports are back we can send all the details, pictures and extra cash off  to get them added officially to our application.

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October 28th 2005  (Steve writes):

We posted the update to our application today so the boys are now officially on the list with us. It's a relief to get this finished. According to the time lines we haven't got long now before we hear so with luck we got it posted just in time.

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December 2005

December 22nd 2005 (Steve writes):

Well we're still waiting but with Christmas and the boys then the time is flying by to be honest. On December 5th we received a standard letter from CHC telling us that they was a delay in reviewing applications and we were not to expect to hear anything before the end of March 2006. To be honest it doesn't up-set our plans as we are not intending to head out until later in the year (at the earliest). With the boys so young and being the first grandchildren on Karen's side we want to make the most of their first year with family. I'm getting quite excited about hearing soon but Karen is (as usual) quite grounded about the whole thing and says that there's no point thinking about it until we hear. Either way - looking at the time-lines we are still on target to hear sometime in the next couple of months (my money's on February).

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