Turbo - Keep us Posted . . .

[Turboguy]

Thanks Voyager.   I have a feeling the smiling and very helpful faces at your local office were about as smiling and helpful as the ones at our office.

I did not ask about the SS number requirement but it was listed on the web site as a "requirement"

How about this for goofy.

To get a learners permit for a drivers licence you must prove residency.  According the the PENNDOT website ways you can do that are bank accounts showing that address, bills for utilities in the name of the applicant going to that address however cell phone bills won't count or  Magazine Subscriptions.   Huhh,  A cell phone bill won't work but a subscripting to Readers Digest will,  come on.

[Voyageur]

Yes, Ray  the rules for a PA Learner's permit were actually pretty tough. As I posted before, the key to starting everything off on the right foot was to obtain the Social Security Number.

It is tough to prove residency when your sweetheart has only been living in this country for a few weeks. My wife wanted to start to learn to drive immediately because - where I lived - public transportation was not a real option and she understandably did not want to be cooped up in the house or to depend on someone else to take her places when I was at work.  I think I changed the cable bill to both our names (lucky for us they had a capability to show two names on the bill) and a bank account in our names and got a sympathetic person at the DMV (no joke here  ) and we were set.

We laugh about it allot now, but I remember at the time we were going through this, I was not so funny.

[catzenmouse]

Bank account and utility bill are paramount in getting the residency status started. The sooner you do this the better it will be in the long run. Think of the difference between "in state" student fees compared to "out of state" fees!

Ken

[Turboguy]

We hope to get started on the Learners permit right after the first of the year.   I do plan a joint bank account but as close as we are it seemed to make better sense to wait until after the wedding and not have to change the name.   I agree with you creating proof of residency is important and it is not something we want to dally on very much.  I am enjoying all the fooling around that it takes but it is a pain as well.

[catzenmouse]

I don't know what your wedding schedule is but it is very easy to change the name on a bank account or utility bill. Being December now the soonest you would be able to get the year residency for better school rates would be the beginning of the January semester so now is a good time to do it.

Ken

[Turboguy]

I agree that it is not that big a deal to change a name on a drivers license.   Our big day is December 15th and we have only had the social security number for a few days.    As close as that is it seems to make more sense just to wait a few more weeks and do it with the new name from the start.  I could say I have 12 days and some hours of freedom left but I think the freedom happily flew out the door a while back.

That date was picked because the Russian superstition says it is better to be married or to start anything new, even a diet on a growing moon which starts a few days before the 15th.

As good as her English is she wants to learn a bit more before starting her formal education.   I would guess next Fall is the earliest I see her starting classes and likely a little longer.    She still spends hours every day practicing.   It was funny, we just getting ready to start teaching her cursive writing and went for the Marriage license.  They wanted the application signed with cursive writing and did not want to accept her print like signature.   Finally they gave in.   That showdown makes me think back to Voyager's post about the helpful people.

[jj]

early congrats to you T/G and VWRW.  The 15th is around the corner.  I will always remember your anniversary because it is on my birthday.  Now, if I can only remember my own anniversary of October 9th, I will be doing good.   

I also got some glasses for Marina and Tatiana,  they were a little resistant to wearing them at first but then they
realized they could see better on the computer, and at night.  Being an  eye O.D. , I checked them out real good, and made sure they got a "european look" frame. 

I hope you will be as happy as I have been, but theres not a moment to spare.   She is downstairs tonight looking for a good deal on line for some curtains!   She almost made up here mind one time! 

best of luck and happiness to  both of you. -jj

[Voyageur]

Turboguy,

It is really true, in our experiences a surly DVM or Social Security clerk can really ruin your day (or even worse). After a bad DMV experience at a facility nearest home, we could not use any logic or reason to prove that we had all the paperwork. So we just headed down the road 10 or 15 miles to the second nearest DVM where we found a more sympathetic clerk and got the license.   No difference in anything  as far as paperwork or proof, just a change in the clerk was enough to get the desired result.

[Turboguy]

Voyager,  Sometimes when it is necessary to deal with our government it really makes you wonder how this country manages to survive but I guess it is because dealing with most other governments is even worse.

jj, I am glad you will remember my anniversary.   I will wish you a happy birthday in advance.   I have a pretty good chance of remembering it myself since it is the day after my birthday.

[KenC]

Turbo,
Wishing you and VWRW the very best on the 15th!

The glasses thing is kind of funny to me.  I noticed when Lena arrived she was constantly squinting when looking far.  Had her eyes checked and she desperately needed glasses as she was nearsighted.  Her first comment after putting them on was a classic.  She said. "Wow, America really is beautiful!"  Of course that was years ago now.

You need to know that you may have created a monster with the glasses though.  I think Lena buys at least a couple of pairs a year as fashion changes rapidly in the eye glass world.  And then there are the perscription sunglasses.....  These RW really do have a good sense of fashion, even in glasses.
Kenc

[LiveFromUkraine]

Turbo,
Wishing you and VWRW the very best on the 15th!

The glasses thing is kind of funny to me.  I noticed when Lena arrived she was constantly squinting when looking far.  Had her eyes checked and she desperately needed glasses as she was nearsighted.  Her first comment after putting them on was a classic.  She said. "Wow, America really is beautiful!"  Of course that was years ago now.

You need to know that you may have created a monster with the glasses though.  I think Lena buys at least a couple of pairs a year as fashion changes rapidly in the eye glass world.  And then there are the perscription sunglasses.....  These RW really do have a good sense of fashion, even in glasses.
Kenc

I just introduced my wife to contacts.  She never realized how dirty Odessa was until she start wearing them.   

I still laugh when she puts them on.  Her eyes are narrow and makes it more difficult since she can't open them enough to insert the contacts. 


Thomas

[Muj]

T & V,

We'll remeber your data as ours is the 20th .  Congratulations 

[Voyageur]

T/G and vwrw;

It is your big day today. I am sure you have better things to do than to post here    but we remember, and wish you and vwrw a great wedding and a long lifetime of happiness together.

Tom

[BillyB]

Tis the 15th and is my son's birthday! What else is going on? TG and VWRW, may you two have a long and happy marriage!

[Bruce]

Best of luck to the two of you together, forever!

[Simoni]

Congrats, guys!  We are happy for you!

~Si & Marina

[Gator]

Shhhh!  Remember, VWRW is Russian.  No congratulations until afterwards.  So best to wait until they give us the good words.

[KenC]

Shhhh!  Remember, VWRW is Russian.  No congratulations until afterwards.  So best to wait until they give us the good words.

And we do not have verification that the event actually happened!
KenC

[Turboguy]

Thanks for all the good wishes and congratulations.   Yes, we are officially a married couple now.   I will post more later.  We must both be RWD addicts to do a quick check of posts on our wedding night.  We are thankful for RWD because it played a big part in our relationship.

[Gator]

Finally...what did it take, 10 years.  Coming here tonight is indeed strange.

Congratulations, you stary kozel.  And best wishes to the gorgeous and intelligent Mrs. Turbo.

A toast to the new life that begins for the two of you.  May it bring all the happiness and joy that you have dreamed about.  Now where is my glass.

[Photo Guy]

How do you write it in Cyrillic?  .....'Gorka'!!

[Bruno]

Thanks for all the good wishes and congratulations.   Yes, we are officially a married couple now.

CONGRATULATIONS... some interesting funny quotes related to marriage :

"After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together."
-Hemant Joshi

"An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her." -Agatha Christie

"The man who says his wife can't take a joke, forgets that she took him."
-Oscar Wilde

"A man is incomplete until he is married. After that, he is finished."
-Zsa Zsa Gabor

"There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage."
-James Holt McGavran

"Marriage is give and take. You'd better give it to her or she'll take it anyway."
-Joey Adams

“Why does a woman work ten years to change a man's habits and then complain that he's not the man she married?” -Barbra Streisand

“My mother said it was simple to keep a man, you must be a maid in the living room, a cook in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom. I said I'd hire the other two and take care of the bedroom bit.”
-Jerry Hall

"Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays."
-Henry Youngman

Some of the Turbo's wedding cake toppers :

[KenC]

Best wishes and good luck to you both!
KenC

[vwrw]

Bruno thank you for the expressions. It was cute.
In Russia we call the marriage and the faulty/deficiency by the same word – брак. And there even is an expression with meaning that if a marriage is something good than why people refer to it as “faulty/deficiency”.

Thank you for kind wishes and congratulations.
If I was asked to describe a Russian person what constitutes American wedding, I could say that it is somewhat like Russian funeral but with a strange woman who came in white dress.

In Russia, there is a custom to invite a tamada to amuse wedding's guests. The tamada is a person who performs function of a clown- planner. S/he makes the guests laughing by telling them different funny story associated with wedding usually, and organize guests to participate in wedding's activity.

I remember when Turbo said in office that Russian weddings usually are lasting for two days everybody had so amazed faces "How it is possible? What do they do for two days?... Drinking?" Now after I experienced American wedding I can understand why everybody had so amazed faces in the office.

In beginning I felt uncomfortable or uneasy because I felt responsible that everybody seemingly looked bored in comparison with how guests looked at Russian weddings

I was greeting guests at the door. Frankly, greeting guest at the door was just an excuse, in reality I simply wanted to be able to stop Turbo if he decided to sneak out.   People seemed to be surprised to see that we did not follow the tradition that a groom should not see his bride before wedding. "Come on guys, one of the advantages of intercultural relationship is that we can choose tradition of which culture is more beneficial/comfortable to follow!" In Russia, it is groom who takes bride to the place where they become lawfully wedded hence groom can see his bride before the ceremony.

Then there were the ceremony, the dinner and me making attempts to have everybody dancing. The attempts were almost successful and in the room appeared not simply smiling but people really having fun. "Well," I was thinking, "I have done everything what was in my power and each who hoped to have fun is having it."

We were fatigued when we came home.
Maybe my wedding was far away from being perfect. But I am so much satisfied and happy with my new life beside Turbo that I m ready to go through the process of wedding and being bride for 10 times more, to continue to live in the bliss I live in. I am so much happy that I even scared of this state.

[Turboguy]

VWRW wrote her view of our marriage.   Now I will write mine.   I thought her comparisons of an American Wedding to a funeral were interesting.  I have to think in the case of American weddings when the bride is an AW has to have some valid comparisons.   OK, it is hard to write much that is of any interest on a wedding but here goes.


KISS  

No, not the liplock kind,  I was talking about the “keep it simple stupid” kind of kiss.  Our wedding was pretty simple.  It was a small wedding with about 35 people, no horse drawn carriages, stretch limos, or fancy anything, just a nice get together where we all had fun and in the end we ended up just as married.

THE UNINVITED GUEST

Planning a December wedding in PA is never a sure thing.   The uninvited guest I am talking about is old man winter.  The weather forecast for our wedding day was terrible and we worried a lot about our two guests that had long trips, both RWD friends which were SOC and Viking.  Fortunately the bad weather held off until they arrived.   Winter did come in with a fury and we had to go at a snails pace to the ceremony through icy roads that were snowy and icy.

WE ORDERED TAKE OUT

Most wedding are held in one location and the reception in another.  One of the things we did that turned out to be lucky was to get the minister to come to the reception hall to perform the ceremony.   With the weather that turned out to be a wise move.

HOKEY POKEY

One of the things that never seemed to find its way to Russia is line dancing.   I think if it ever makes it’s way there it will be a big hit.  VWRW really enjoyed trying all the line dances that she had never even seen and did a great job of picking up the new steps.   I gave her a few lessons in the Electric Slide, otherwise it was all new.  

MARRIAGE TO A RW

Most everyone here thinks RW make great wives.   Otherwise they wouldn’t be here.   I have to feel that when you find the “right” RW it is beyond great.   I have found and amazing and wonderful woman and she has made me the happiest man in the world.  We had a small but wonderful wedding and we are both willing to work hard to have the happiest marriage any two people could have.   Thanks for all the good wishes.