Here we go again

Last year (2021) we updated Russian visas; now my husband's U.S. visa has expired.

In the old days he didn't even need an interview in order to renew it. He just mailed it off via a courier there and back. And good for 3 years. 

But 2022. Surprisingly, Covid-19 is not actually the problem. It's diplomacy...or lack thereof. The Consulates and even Embassy in Moscow have ceased issuing visas due to lack of staff due to conflict between the U.S. and Russia. The one in St. Petersburg is completely closed.

If you've lived abroad, you may have relied on your Embassy or Consulate for help with renewing a passport, issuing birth certificates, notarial services, etc. U.S. expats don't have that available to them in Russia anymore. It's so strange because it's not like we're in a war zone or natural disaster area. Just bad international relations. 

We went to the U.S. last year for several months for new passports. It was a good trip except for Andrei needing to stay in Russia for work.

2021 Family Portrait

So now we are looking at countries where Andrei could ENTER in order to apply for a U.S. visa and stick around long enough to get his passport/visa back. It's pretty tricky because countries give precedence to their own residents. You might wait 6 months for an appointment...or you might jump on and see that there are a few slots available in one week's time. But first, you have to pick a destination and indicate that on your application form. You can't choose one country and then get an appointment somewhere else.

And here, coronavirus does play a role, because all countries have different entry/quarantine requirements at the moment AND we can't predict what those requirements will be by the time of the appointment. It could all get cancelled.

Did someone say "Covid"?

P.S. I'm fiddling with the design on my blog, but as you can tell there are some technical difficulties...

And so it begins (Lent and Lethargy)

A week or two ago I felt like I was coming down with something. It was a weird combination of symptoms: fatigue, sore throat, but also a bit of a GI bug.

It wasn't really progressing, but it was the middle of the week and I figured I had picked up something at church on Sunday. I just couldn't get my energy back, though! And suddenly I recognized the feeling. In the spring every year I usually have a period where I'm totally dragging all the time. Not the same as winter malaise, a special springtime variation where the sun is out, everything is good, and yet I just want to sleep all the time. I've been attempting late afternoon couch time, but that also happens to be Sophia's neediest time, go figure...maybe it makes her nervous when I lie down.

I have a few old posts on "avitaminosis"...I just checked them and they were written in May, BUT with the mild winter, maybe things are just happening a bit out of order this year?

To get some energy back, I determined to get more sleep. Sometimes I think it's ridiculous that I don't get enough sleep, since I don't get up early for work, but...it's always something.

Of course as soon as I decided I was going to sleep more, there were obstacles...kids needing a cuddle, or the bedroom being too hot because it was warmer outside and the heat was still going full-blast. Etc. And then finally one night Andrei took over with Sophia, and when David got up early he quietly went about his business...a miracle! And I got some sleep. And then a few more nights after that I got probably 7 hours.

Bureaucracy Update: Roadblocks

My children are 7 1/2 and 3 1/2 and have lived in Russia all their lives on guest visas! They were born in the U.S. and only have U.S. citizenship.

Last fall, the government passed some new laws allowing foreign minors to apply directly for permanent residency on the basis of one parent already having permanent residency. That's us!

As soon as the law came into effect, we began to make preparations to start the application process. From my last few posts about this, you can see how the individual documents can be difficult to get.

One of the things we were advised to do was to switch the kids' registration to our flat instead of Andrei's parents.' Everyone living in the Russian Federation has to have an official address where they're registered, which might not be the place where they actually live...it's confusing. Currently I'm the only one registered in our flat.

We were going to switch the registration to my name, but that was going to be a complicated process via immigration authorities...whereas Andrei could supposedly do it in a different place, since he's a citizen.

Anyway, Andrei went back to the Main Center for more info, and what they told him was that the kids' applications could get rejected completely. Since the kids have one parent who is a Russian citizen, the government could deny them residency and force them to get Russian citizenship.

I guess I don't know many countries where someone might pass up the chance for citizenship, but the thing with citizenship is that it's a lot harder to cancel than a residence permit.

But the other downside is that David could get drafted into the Russian army...and who is to say that they couldn't change the law in a few years to include females, too? The length of the mandatory service can always get changed, too. Right now it stands at 12 months. Putin promised to reduce or eliminate conscription...but when my husband was serving, the term was increased to 2 years, effective immediately; he had to serve an extra year. With many Russian youth looking to emigrate, is it likely that there is enough interest in a professional army in order to end the draft?

January term oddities

One of these days I'm going to do a photo dump and give these posts some visual appeal! Today is not that day...

I was going to write about how weird our schedule is in January, but then I realized it sounds like a normal family's schedule: work in the morning-afternoon, then errands.

It's different for us since Andrei leaves so early. David has been getting up and listening to audiobooks while Sophia and I sleep a little more.

Okay, that doesn't sound so weird, but how about this: since Andrei is teaching an intensive course that fits in all the credits in short sessions a few times a year, he has been teaching for stretches of like 8-10 days, including Saturday and Sunday. It was really confusing at the beginning of the month because there were the holidays, and then Andrei jumped into teaching, so he went from being home every single day (for like 2 weeks) to being not home every single day. So it's very disorienting not dividing up the days according to a work "week."

On Sunday he was supposed to teach all day and then go straight to church, but then he got out early and was able to come get us and go to church together. That definitely helped restore my sanity a little!

Lately I've just really wanted to be alone. I can't really say it's a stressful season with the kids, despite occasional bickering. We definitely have screentime quiet times during the day, but I still get to this point where I just don't want anyone to talk to me or need me! The kids are getting older and more independent, so I can't figure out what's bothering me. Maybe I'm in dialogue with them more than before? What if it just gets worse?

As far as homeschool, we still haven't really started up a full day again yet. But since Andrei is still giving exams (along with the intensive course) for the first semester, we're pretty much just in sync with him. We actually have 2 weeks before we're "halfway" done. David has been asking about some of his subjects, but we've been just doing Language Arts and Math.

Meanwhile, the errands we've been needing to do are related to bureaucracy! I'll do a more detailed post with an update on that. Andrei gets home from work, then we go adventuring in search of the latest form. It's actually kind of fun having an excuse to go and do something as a family. We were going to go to the movies as a reward for getting some medical tests done, but that's been delayed, so we still have that to "look forward to" in February.

Long story short, we're probably going to Finland next week.

Bureaucracy Update- Part 3

Getting the kids registered long-term in St. Petersburg, Russia

News from last time: The process has been streamlined, meaning we can apply immediately for permanent residency for the kids, skipping the trial residency. And, processing time will be 4 months, not 6. That will come in handy...

Big application deadlines. I was trying to get this done by the end of the year, because then there are 2 weeks of holidays, and we need everything to be processed by summer, and we also have to do a border run soon.

I had a time cushion in there for unforeseen circumstances. That cushion is now gone.


1) There was a typo in our passport translations. We can only get them done when Andrei has the chance to go there before/after work, since it's not near where we live. So the translations took a few weeks when they probably could have taken a few days. Even if Andrei had noticed the mistake on the spot, it would have taken an extra day or two to redo since they have to notarize it and bind it specially.

2) Medical forms. This is what made me freak out: we were calling around trying to find a place to put the kids through their medical tests. This is part of why we've put this off for so long, especially with the horror of Sophia's latest shots and bloodwork. It was bad enough getting it for myself for residency, no idea how we're going to walk 2 kids through the whole list of doctors plus blood tests. (on the bright side: since we go immediately for permanent residency, we will only need the tests once unless we apply for citizenship in the future)

Now, TB is kind of a risk in Russia. Most people are vaccinated in childhood and have to get a chest x-ray for work every few years. Kids generally get the skin probe and then the TB vaccine.

I was going through in my head what extra steps we might need for the medical certificate. And I remembered that I'd had to go to another facility to do the chest x-ray. In fact, I was breastfeeding the second time, so got a special low-radiation scan. I started investigating where we could do that for the kids. But then someone pointed out...kids don't get x-rays.

Bureaucracy Update- Part 2

We are back in Russia with new visas for the kids. As usual we met obstacles along the way.

Children's passports expire every 5 years, but you can't travel within 6 months of expiry. So 4.5 years maximum. Meanwhile, Americans can get a Russian visa for 3 years maximum. So it's a constant brainteaser trying to make things match up!

David and Sophia are 3 years into their passports, yet we applied for 3-year visas again as that was the best option for us with two years left on the passports. We were in touch with a visa agency and requested that they issue the visa for the maximum possible time period, within the terms of the passport. Visas cannot be transferred into a new passport.

It all seemed pretty clear and I worked hard to complete the visa application before arriving in the U.S., so we could submit it to the Russian Consulate as soon as possible and enjoy our summer break! A significant goal here was to submit early so we wouldn't have to pay for expedited processing, one of the few occasions this would be possible.

Within a week, we were hearing from the visa agency that we had a problem. The kids' visas were expiring in September since we arrived in Russia on those dates last time due to Sophia's birth. But we normally need to arrive in August due to the school year beginning. Turns out, the Russian Consulate will not accept applications more than a month BEFORE the old one expiring. So, we had to hit that window of submitting a month before for processing time, yet not more than a month before to be accepted. Since we were early, they had to put our application on hold.

Bureaucracy update- Part 1

Currently compiling Russian visa applications for my kids. It feels way more relaxed than with a newborn (apparently I never told that story on here), but as always there are plenty of roadblocks.

I never posted about it, but in February we did a border run to Finland, and in the spring we also met with an immigration lawyer who said the kids could be added to my residency permit. So early one morning we dragged the kids out of bed, and set off for the Immigration Dept...Sophia threw up in the taxi...and it turned out the lawyer had been wrong. Technically, there is a by-law that lets you glue photos of your kids in your residency card (I have pages for it), but it's merely a formality to link you with them. The kids need separate residency permits.

So our options remained:

-keep doing visas every 3 years,
-get the kids their own residence permits, or
-apply for Russian citizenship

The visas are pricey and not the best long-term option, and we're not sure we want to get them citizenship. The main issue with residency (apart from the lengthy process) is that we'll have to declare income for everyone and make sure we have the minimum for each family member. I'm not working right now and my bank balance probably wouldn't cover all of us for the year, so we'll have to combine it with Andrei's income.

We'll have to do a round of medical tests for the kids and make sure we have copies and translations of everything. That would be true for citizenship, also. That's for temporary residency and then in a year or so you do it all over again to apply for permanent residency, which is valid for 5 years.

So anyway, I'm working on getting new visas so that we can enter Russia in the fall after summer travel, and hopefully that will get us through until we've gotten temporary residency for the kids. Kids' passports are valid for 5 years, which doesn't go well with a 3 year visa (the only other option is 90 days). Currently I'm having trouble filling out paperwork because the passport only has 2 years left on it and you're supposed to have 3 years + 6 months left.


I started thinking about what we'll have to get done over the next few years:

Little patterns

Hello! I got bored with my monthly survey, so I didn't do one for April, and in the meantime another month went by. I was reflecting on how we tend to rotate through different patterns of daily routines in our household. Of course there are certain patterns that I would prefer to see more often than others. But I thought I would share what a few of these are. Maybe I would describe a few of them as being "in a rut," but nevertheless there are certain seasons of life and setbacks that we can't always avoid.

1) The Stay Home/Productive Pattern

When Andrei is at work a lot and we don't have other plans, we sometimes stay home and do homeschooling and try to make a dent in the housework. I feel pretty calm on these days, and I think David would stay inside too if he had the choice. But sometimes we drive each other crazy, and throwing a little sister (who actually loves to be outdoors) into the mix can throw us into "cabin fever" territory. So a few days like that are perfect, but we definitely have to at least get some fresh air.

2) The Nice Weather Pattern

Last month, we finally had a thaw and enjoyed long runs of sunny days. We got into the habit of going outside once (or even twice) a day, for 1-2 hours. I would take the kids shopping with me on foot, or to the playground, and we even branched out a few times and met up at a park with another family. This was good, and David made lots of discoveries that made it feel like we were doing something right. However, those times outside definitely take us away from other tasks, and after a few consecutive days of being outside, I end up having a meltdown from being behind. And if we go on a long walk, then I physically don't have the stamina to stand in the kitchen cooking or washing dishes. It would be nice if I could start with a clean house and then just go outside and enjoy the weather.

3) The Up-too-Early Pattern

Pretty much what it sounds like! The kids and/or my husband get up earlier than usual, and then we have to go into survival mode to get through the day. Although it sometimes results in more screen time, we also might be forced to go outside since Sophia won't nap and it's the only way to avoid constant melt-downs when she's overtired. Audiobooks are another secret weapon that I've discovered this year.

4) The Up-too-Late Pattern

This one tends to affect the adults more than the kids. Either we sleep in and get off to a late start, or the kids get to bed late. Then we stay up late ourselves and are dragging the next day. And then stay up late again because we got a late start. Can go on for weeks!

March Survey/Selfie

Made it through March! I'm sure there will be more snow off and on, but seems like the ground is thawing.

Sketchy night kitchen pose. Posting at 11:30 pm, fit it in before the month changed! :)

What I've been...


Reading: Decluttering at the Speed of Life (Dana K. White), more in Love Thy Body (Nancy Pearcey), Mary Poppins and Boxcar Children with David

Watching: When Calls the Heart (I'm only on season 2 or 3), Ultimate Beastmaster with Andrei, Matilda with David

Cooking/Eating: Artisan bread, pancakes, salsa, getting take-out from the authentic Mexican place down the road, trying to learn how to use cast iron

Listening to: Worship playlists, "Listener kids" worship music for kids, Easter hymns

Striving towards: Trying to knock some dreaded adult tasks off the to-do list (as usual). Passed my exam to keep my permanent residency, and will need to get my application in next (this) month.

Looking forward to: See above...moving on with other projects once the dreaded paperwork is complete. Also looking forward to Holy Week, which starts tomorrow for us.

What David is up to: Getting over a virus, more food aversions than ever, still really into watching the Wild Kratts and acting out all the different "creature features" every day! Being a great big brother.

What Sophia is up to: Just learned how to say "No!" Climbing and jumping. Playing dress-ups. Copying everyone! Discovering how fun it is to jump in puddles (along with her brother, of course).



Your turn!

Continuing winter

Grateful for a somewhat normal day (so far).

Sophia finally slept! She woke up like 4-5 times last night but was back asleep within 5-10 minutes, which is basically "sleeping through the night" in our family.

Yesterday we went outside and enjoyed a beautiful sunny snowy day. It was so nice out that I didn't want to cut it short for Sophia's nap. She ended up getting overtired and throwing a fit. It was worth it though because she was so tired she had a good night.

Last night we got more snow. When I woke up the air was still thick with clouds blocking the sun and I couldn't bear the thought of going outside in that. However, the sun is peeking out a bit, so maybe after lunch we will give it a try.

1 week ago we were getting ready to fly back from visiting my parents. I think I read somewhere that jet-lag takes one day per time zone to get over, so we should be almost done!

My mind is spinning from various news stories: a Russian plane crash, Russians in Syria killed by U.S. forces (?), school shootings in the U.S. (!), ensuing political debates, sexual harassment cases, and various sensational headlines. I wish I could watch the Olympics,  but it isn't very interesting on a computer screen and by myself! Maybe when the kids get a little older they will be interested.

I have some thoughts/updates about continuing goals for the year. But in the meantime it's off to finish baking Valentine's cookies (ahem) and read some ideas for Lent (which begins next Wednesday for us).

First Week of January in the Russian Federation

We made it! We had a busy start to the year and I barely had time to breathe all during "vacation" week.

So, just what were we up to? In short, the first week of January is a week of "saying yes" to all social opportunities-usually, going to one another's house to visit and sit around the table with lots of food.

When else would we see our friends? Everyone works during the week, in the evenings we put kids to bed, and on weekends we have workshops and church.

It's intense, though! At one point all the dishes really piled up and I wasn't having time to wash them between guests. Or take a shower (sorry) or do laundry or check email.

Some of the cool things we did:

-met up with some American friends who just moved here and are expecting a baby
-had a visit from some church friends and discussed life and church stuff together
-had a late New Year's AND Christmas celebration with my in-laws since we had taken turns being sick on the actual holidays...
-visited the house that friends are building with their own hands. Inspiring! They are so grateful to have their own space, just on the outskirts of town, that is not an overpriced apartment.

September Survey/Selfie

Seasonal greetings...

What I've been...


Reading: Liar's Winter (Appalachian) by Cindy Sproles, Tanglewood trilogy by Rachael Anderson, Chamomile trilogy by Susan F. Craft

Watching: Zero time for TV!

Cooking/Eating: Homemade salsa (canning recipe), chebureki, mushroom soup

Listening to: Still the same! Super Simple Songs on YouTube-perfect for toddlers.

Striving towards: Being fit (see previous post).

Looking forward to: Decorating for the holidays.

What David is up to: Starting some craft/preschool type classes.

What Sophia is up to: Copying, climbing, getting into everything.




Your turn!

June Survey/Selfie

I was going to post about something else and then noticed that it's the last of the month already!

Chose this one forgetting that I used an almost
 identical one last month! Sophia attacking my hair
while I wait for her to get sleepy. :)

What I've been...


Reading: "Wonder Weeks" by Hetty van de Rijt, Ph.D. "Daffodils" by Alex Martin.

Watching:  Drumroll....nothing! :) Today David and I watched some YouTube videos of people catching large snakes. Pretty wild. :)

Cooking/Eating: Cheesy Chicken Fritters from Natasha's Kitchen...also currently obsessed with Panzanella now that we finally have ripe tomatoes. Today I tried a chocolate-chip muffin recipe for the first time, not bad.

Listening to: Nothing here either, computer's on the blink...sometimes I put on some lively tunes for David to have a dance party.

Striving towards: Getting back to healing my core. Looking 6 months pregnant again. :/

Looking forward to: More family birthdays, and spending time in the U.S. once we get the plane ride over with.

What David is up to: Mixing concoctions in the kitchen, and planting things in some window boxes.

What Sophia is up to: Cruising around the house, often independently.


Your turn!

March Survey/Selfie

Awkward photo. But there's blue sky at 5pm!
Currently up to 13 hours of daylight.

What I've been...


Reading: How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind (stay tuned for a book review)

Watching: Doc Martin season 7

Cooking/Eating: Challah

Listening to: Michael Card

Striving towards: Surviving my daughter's sleep regression.

Looking forward to: Easter and more spring days.

What David is up to: Making up new and creative dance moves! Surprised me, too!

What Sophia is up to: Eating (and pooping) stickers and other tiny, tiny things she picks up off the floor...yay for pincer grasp!



-Your turn!