Dave & Tammy

The long wait is finally over!!!

2010-07-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Great news... This Sunday (July 25th) Tammy arrives in the USA!!! I'll be heading to Seattle to pick her up and I am sooooo excited!!! The long wait is finally over. This time she gets to stay for good. :)

The paperwork joyride isn't over yet though... Once she arrives we'll have to file for her permanent visa status and she'll have to apply for a green card. Then there's the whole citizenship process. The great part though is, we can be together through it all.

What a journey this has been! Quite an adventure and process! Thanks again everyone for your love and prayers. God is good!!! :)

Dave

Update!

2010-06-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I know it's been too long since my last update. I manage several websites in addition to this one and work a full time day job so sometimes it's hard to keep up with everything.

Just wanted to give a quick update for anyone following this blog about Tammy and I. Just last week Tammy's visa was finally approved!!! YES!!! That means she will finally be moving home with me in the USA in the very near future. We have to raise enough money for the flight (which looks like is going to be around $1500 US) and then will also have to figure out an arrangement to get her personal items moved here as well. International moving companies are rather expensive so Tammy is selling or giving away whatever items she absolutely doesn't need and can live without, while we are looking into option to ship the rest of her things here when we can afford it. Please keep us in your prayers. There's still plenty of work to be done.

I also still have to get the second car fixed. It needs a new transmission. I found a mechanic that can do it for around $1,200 but that's a lot of money when you don't have it right now. We'll get there.

All in all though, everything is moving along just dandy and I am excited that my wife will finally be coming home to stay!!! :) I'm so thankful to Tammy's folks for all the help putting together the wedding and for letting Tammy hang around for a few extra months while we waited for paperwork to go through. I love you guys!

And thanks everyone else for your love, prayers, and support! It means the world and I'm so happy we could share some of this experience with you.

I still have a lot of Australia footage to put up one of these days. Unfortunately, editing takes a lot of time that I just don't have right now. I will get something together one of these days though, I promise.

You all have a wonderful day!!!

With much love,
Dave & Tammy

NEW VIDEO BLOG!!!

2009-09-10T20:52:00.001-07:00

Hi guys! I'm so excited, the BIG day has finally arrived and it is the eve of my long trip to Australia! I just purchased a nice little HD video camera that I'm taking with me and plan to do daily video blogs. It will be almost like taking you all with me! :) Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel so that you can get daily updates when the new video comes available! I hope you enjoy it! CLICK HERE to visit the video blog.

The Big Day Is Almost Here!

2009-08-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!! I am soooo excited! The big day is almost here and I will soon be wed to my sweetie, Tammy!!! You might have noticed I have completely changed most of the information on the site and I've also added a NEW page that will feature photos and video clips of our wedding day after the event passes.

Thank you soooooo much everyone who has visited the website and sent along thoughts, congrats, prayers, cards and gifts. We were able to raise the money needed to get married! There's still a lot of work to do from here, but at least the event will absolutely happen on schedule!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!

We don't have a gift registry at this time, so if you'd like to show some love, check out our wedding "virtual money tree" and THANKS again! From both of us "WE LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE YOU SO MUCH!"

Good news!!!

2009-05-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!! GOOD NEWS! I got my plane tickets ordered!!! I'll be flying out on September 11, 2009 and returning on the 30th. The Wedding, as you know, is September 19th.

I am so excited (as is Tammy - hehe)!!! Everything has been falling right into place. I have my passport, my Australian ETA visa (is on the way), and now my plane ticket!

There still are some expenses left. I still have to pay for the fiance visa ($455) and still have to buy my suit and the suits for the other 4 guys in my groom party. I also still desperately need a new car. My van is on its last leg. I was planning to buy my mechanic's car, but I needed to get the plane tickets out of the way so I paid for those instead.

Thank you so much, everyone, for your love and prayers and for the financial help! In all truth, the response on the money side has been a little light (except for a good burst there at the beginning). That's ok though. I know that everyone is going through tough times in this economy. Still, thanks to all of you who made the extra effort to show some love in this way. We both really appreciate you!

Have a great week everyone!!!
Dave

Thanks for visiting everyone!!!

2009-05-12T22:53:00.000-07:00

Hi guys and gals! A special hello to my "Mafia Wars" family too - all 1,000+ of ya! For those of you unaware, Mafia Wars is a statistical-based game you can play on Facebook (so if ya play, come on and join my family already! hehehe). My character's name is "Johnny Pizano" (named after the wig-wearing, horrific crooner in the comedy movie The GodThumb).

Wedding plans are coming along, but finances are still sluggish. I'm right in the middle of having to find another car to drive because my wonderful van turned out not to be so wonderful after all (I guess I can't expect much though when I paid less than $600 for it). I took it in for an alignment and to fix a tire (that was nearly ripped off from the alignment being out of whack) and it turns out the whole front end underneath is a mess and would cost more to fix than the car is worth. The brake hoses are now leaking too and the steering is going out. Ugh... I gotta find wheels fast so I'm riding this van out on its last leg. My mechanic has a decent car he will sell me if I can come up with $1,100. I'm seriously considering it.

I so much appreciate the cool notes you guys have left and, of course, both Tammy and I appreciate the donations too. It helps so much!!!

Thanks again and have an excellent week!!! Please tell your friends about this site too. Spread the love. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Dave

Update

2009-04-28T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! :) Sorry that I'm a little behind on updates... Thanks to all of you who have sent along encouragement and assistance. Special thanks to Stephen and Sonia of Weddingtechnology.com who have donated the photography for our wedding! WOW!!! So cool! Thanks also to all our friends who have let us know you're actually going to make the trip to Australia to see us tie the knott!!! Again, WOW!!!!

Money is still tight. Due to a series of recent car problems, I've had to dump a lot of my cash into getting my wheels fixed so I can continue getting back and forth to work. Ugh! The mechanic tells me it will cost $1,500 to fix the front end of my van (which has serious alignment problems), but I cannot afford that nor is the van worth dumping that much money into. I would settle for a reliable scooter even right about now. Anyway, (anyone who's in good with the Man upstairs) please pray that I can find some reliable transportation. I live about 20 minutes from work and reliable wheels are a necessity as the bus doesn't come out that far. If anyone can help out in this department I would sure appreciate it.

The good news is that much of the wedding plans are set and my passport should be coming along in the mail any day now. I have yet to buy my plane ticket (but I'm planning to take care of that this weekend) and still need to pay for the fiance visa (which is $455 bucks and needs to get filed in the next couple of weeks). I also have to buy my suit for the wedding (and for the groomsmen). Those, along with the car, are the most important needs right now anyway.

Thanks again to everyone for your kindness, the hugs, and the help. We love you and appreciate you soooooo much!!! God bless you!!!

Sincerely,
Dave (and Tammy too)

Update

2009-03-02T10:16:00.000-08:00

Hi all! :) Thanks again for visiting our page and for all the nice comments you've sent. Thanks also to everyone who has helped us out with donations. I recently had my car break down on me and had to find something quick to keep me able to get to work. I found a decent minivan on Craigslist.org for just under $600. It has a few issues, but runs great and will get me from A to B while I get the other car fixed... and, hopefully, it will work out to be a great car for Tammy to drive when we return home after the wedding. It's thanks to the donations provided by our friends that I was even able to get this car. I'm keeping on track, saving money, and still working hard for my goal of getting to Australia in September. If anyone can help with even the smallest donation, I would greatly appreciate it as I have to secure airline tickets soon. Again, thanks everyone for visiting, for the nice comments and encouraging words, and for your donations. You all rock!!! :)

Quick update

2009-01-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Sorry I'm a little behind on posting an update... Not really used to keeping up a blog... I'll try to do better. Things are going well. Thanks again to all who have donated or sent such nice e-mails. I'm working on some new updates to the site, but having some trouble with the code so my buddy Sean is going to help me and I hope to get things updated soon. Bear with me... I actually have a life outside of www.davidandtammy.com... I know you're probably thinking, "huh? Are you sure?" ;) Yep... pretty sure. But a few more donations I think would really convince me. ;) hehehe.... I kid, I kid...

So far, because of the help you all have given, we've been able to spend a little money to secure a nice little place to hold our reception. On the agenda now is: I'm working on getting my passport and still saving for my ticket. I also need to get fitted for a suit. The plan is to purchase a suit rather than just rent a tux because Tammy would like us (Tammy and I) to wear our wedding formals for the America-side reception that my mom and sister are organizing (since most of my friends here will not have been able to make the trip to Australia for the actual wedding). We're also going to need to save up for deposit on a decent apartment or house to move into when we get back... You've seen my room right? ;) We can't possibly live in there! hehe

Another need we have is for a car. Nothing fancy, but something dependable. My car is falling apart but still gets me from A to B. It's getting to be a money pit though and I really need something better. Tammy is going to need wheels too when she gets here because she is going to look for work too. So we have a lot to prepare for yet.

Please keep passing on our site to friends if you can. Even if you've done it once, please consider sharing it again. Words can't describe how thankful we are for your kindness EVERYONE!!! God bless you all soooo much!!!!!

I feel the love! :)

2009-01-09T14:21:00.000-08:00

G'day everyone!!! (see, I'm under the Australian influence already - hehe) Wow, the website's only been up for a few days now and already so many people have visited. Over $500 has already come in along with some wonderful, encouraging e-mails and I am overwhelmed by people's kindness (many of whom not only contributed whatever they could afford, but also took the time to share a note of encouragement and congrats). Thank you so much everyone! If I had big enough arms I'd give you all a HUGE hug!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Tammy thanks you all too! She was so surprised when I told her last night how people are responding. I promise to keep y'all posted on the progress and I'm working on some videos and more t-shirt designs to get up on the site soon. God bless!!!

New YouTube Channel in the works!

2009-01-07T14:37:00.000-08:00

Hi again friends!!! We're working on a new YouTube channel to share some fun videos and keep friends updated on our fund-raising project. We also plan to share videos of my upcoming trip to Australia, the wedding, and so on. Get signed up on our channel now!!! The site is http://www.youtube.com/helpusgetmarried

2009-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone... If anyone is having problems viewing the website, I do apologize. My web service provider somehow mistakenly deleted all of my files! They are working now to restore everything and it should be back to normal soon. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused and thanks for your patience. Have a great day and thank again for visiting!!!

Dave & Tammy's Story

2009-01-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

Hi all! Welcome to Dave & Tammy's blogspot! Thanks so much to all who have taken a few minutes to check out the site and hear my sob story (hehe). I've already received so many great e-mails from people sending their congrats and encouragement to us and it really does mean so much! Today I just posted a new t-shirt design that is available for purchase to anyone interested (just click here to purchase). We wanted to find some way to tangibly say thanks to those who also want to contribute to "the cause" and so we came up with this shirt. Approximately $10 of the proceeds from the shirt will go to our marriage fund to help get me to Australia to my sweetie. Thanks again everyone!!!