Little life decisions..

Today is the day that I buckle down and officially start our “visa journey.” I can honestly say that right now I have no idea where Martin and I will be one year from now. I had no idea one year ago that I would be here in London with him. And we have about a thousand obstacles in our way to get him to the US, but I have to be honest and say that right now, life in the States sounds easier than life in Europe. Both of us could earn a decent living, where as in Europe a lot of the economies are doing pretty poorly and don’t pay vets or photographers very much. The cost of living in the cities we would be interested in is not astronomical (unlike London). I have friends and family in the US, which is more important that I realized. The downside is that poor Martin isn’t from America and doesn’t have family (though he likes quite a few of my friends). And getting him there is proving to be a really difficult process. As far as the visa is concerned, I’m very thankful for VisaJourney. Lots of good info, referred to me by a friend that just went through this exact process.
The other major hurdle is getting Martin’s Veterinarian License valid in the US. We recently discovered that he will have to take and pass a 3 step exam process (the CPE) to be approved by the ECFVG to get approval to take and pass the NAVLE and then the state board exam for whatever state we would choose to live in. Sound confusing? It is. And did I mention that all of it will cost thousands of dollars? It does. And these exams will not be easy. If the first test doesn’t go well it’s $7000 out the door. So, maybe it would be best to wait and do some serious studying…which would put him behind in the whole career advancement thing. Frustrating to say the least.
So, that is where we’re at as of right now. If anyone with experience should happen to magically stumble upon this blog advice is welcome.
In more positive news, we recently got to go to Hawaii for me to shoot a friend’s wedding. Here are a few photos from the trip.


I have to admit that sadly my Czech classes have fallen behind with the traveling and decision making, but I’ll be back at it ASAP. Who knows, maybe we’ll wind up in Czech Republic for a while and I can really study. Na shledanou!