Virtue Conference 女青年美德大会

2013年8月17日 Virtue Conference

        Lacey支联会在去年8月组织了“美德长跑”，也不知道应该怎么翻译好，Virtue Run。说实话我当初听说这个活动时，真的不是很愿意参加但作为女青领袖只好硬着头皮去跑。平时很少运动，而且最讨厌跑步，记得上高中时跑800米都觉得很极限，如今也是一把年纪了，竟然让我跑5000米。。。整个暑假都和我们支会的姐妹们相约着练习跑步，其中当然有特别能跑的，我们自己的女青会长就是在当时的活动中第一个冲过终点线的。活动的目的当然不是要折磨不爱运动的女青领袖了，（although at times I seriously doubt it），目的是要让我们的女青年们知道一个事实，就是：I'm strong, I can do hard things. 去年的活动当然很成功，所以今年的Virtue Run 才会演变成为Virtue Conference, 声势之浩大，看看上面的照片就能知道。
        9个支联会的女青年和领袖齐聚Lacey, 共1100+人，这个仅有人口4万多的城市可曾见到过这样的一支充满美德的女青年大军。这次的活动更有前任总会女青年会长Elaine S. Dalton姐妹和Diana Hoelscher姐妹，以及华盛顿州Tacoma传道部会长的太太Weaver姐妹加入我们，这些姐妹的分享和参与，她们的美德的榜样都让这次大会充满了灵性。

        由于是我们Lacey支联会“做东”，当然有东道主的义务，例如跑步和吃饭都是我们的女青年最后，这虽然是小小的谦让的行为但也体现了我们支联会女青们的美德。除了义务，我们更有主场优势。大会正式开始的前一天，我们支联会的各个分会就获得了单独与三位杰出的姐妹们单独见面的机会。

  我们支会的女青们漂亮吧~~ 

        和Elaine S. Dalton姐妹这样近距离地谈话让我了解到“在自己的容貌上刻上神的形象”*这句话的意义。你可曾有过和总会领袖甚至是先知见面的机会吗？当你看着他的眼睛的时候，你知道他认识神和他的爱子，不需要任何语言的交流，你能感觉到甚至几乎能看到他们的影子。Dalton 姐妹也让我有这种感觉，让我感觉她认识我，更认识神。经文中要我们 “起来发光。”** 人又不是灯泡，如何发光？就是要充满真理与圣灵，Dalton姐妹就是这样，充满了光。不仅如此，她同时也对每个素昧平生的弟兄姐妹们充满了爱。在当天晚上的炉边聚会结束之后，有太多的青少年想要与她交谈，合照，她不厌其烦与每个人谈话，询问他们的个人进步计划的进度，听他们分享生活中的琐事，笑吟吟地拍照，夸赞他们的笑容或服饰或头发。是的，Dalton姐妹对我的头发大加赞扬，我感动得都哭了。

         开玩笑的~ 透过她和Hoelscher姐妹的当晚的分享，让我受到很大的启发，同时也感受到天父对我们每一个人的爱。Dalton 姐妹和我们的小姐妹们分享她在完成了个人进步计划后，又通过各项服务获得了8个Honor Bee, 并鼓励她们要认真完成她们每个人的个人进步计划。

*摩尔门经 阿尔玛书 5：19
**教义和圣约 115：5

DIY Tank Top Tote Bag

I found this tank top at a clothes exchange, sort of like the print on it. I saw lots of tutorials on shirt refashioning, and thought this is so easy! Even I could do this! Though I did make small changes on how to make the bag, it is still very simple. So here we go, let's turn this tank top into a tote bag.
旧背心变包包啦。超级简单的DIY！

My shirt is very stretchy, so if you decide to work on a stretchy tank too, make sure to not pull on it while cutting and sewing. The two straps are going to be the handles of the bag, so I don't want that extra part on the back. Cut along the line, make sure to leave a 1/4 inch hem.
我们要把肩带变成包包的背带，所以要前后一致。记得留1/4寸的布料做缝边。如果料子是有弹性的，缝的时候尽量不要用力拉。

I used a serger, and then pinned the hem down and sewed along.
我用包边机，边裁掉多余的边包边。再把缝边用缝纫机咱上。

I used extra piece that just cut off to make a pocket. Cut off the two pointy parts on both side.
用刚剪下的那块布做个小口袋。

I serged along the edges, of course you can skip that part. Fold in the hems, and sew along the edges. There, we have a little pocket. You can totally skip the pocket if you don't need one, I just thought it'll be useful to have it~
用包边机咱一圈，当然不是必须的。用熨斗烫过，缝边约1/4寸，再上缝纫机咱一圈。当然啦，不要一整圈都咱上，还是要有开口儿的。如果不想要有口袋当然可以跳过这个步骤了，这样做起来就更简单快速了。

To sew up the bottom, I used some seam binding to keep the bag from stretching out too much. I didn't have a color that would go with it, but it's not going to show so I just used what we have. You can cut the tank shorter if you want a shorter tote, I just left it the way it was since I can never have enough room in my bag... : -) and there you have it. A super simple yet useful project for our old tanks!
如果想要一个小点的包包，可以把背心剪短。为了防止包包被撑太大(我的这个背心的料子太有弹性了)，我在缝背心底部时用了seam binding, 用缝纫机缝好，成了。家里多余的旧背心这下可有用武之地了！

My Agonizing Journey Toward Immigration Part 3

There are five basis for J-1 waiver, the one that I got was the No Objection Statement. Besides the paperwork for Department of State, the No Objection Statement is provided by your home country's government. For Chinese citizens, there are five Consulate General of PRC, check the chart below to find out which is the one you need to turn in your application for the NOS. There's not much for me to explain, it's basically very straight forward, here's the webpage http://www.sino-education.org/studyabroad/J1.htm. Follow the instructions on this page, and make sure you sent it to the Consulate that's over your state.

  

中国驻美国大使馆	中国驻纽约总领馆	中国驻芝加哥总领馆
华盛顿特区 　　　　特拉华 　　　　爱达荷 　　　　肯塔基 　　　　马里兰 　　　　蒙大拿 　　　　内布拉斯加 　　　　北卡罗来纳 　　　　北达科他 　　　　南卡罗来纳 　　　　南达科他 　　　　田纳西 　　　　犹他 　　　　弗吉尼亚 　　　　西弗吉尼亚 　　　　怀俄明	康涅狄格 　　　　缅因 　　　　马萨诸塞 　　　　新罕布什尔 　　　　新泽西 　　　　纽约 　　　　俄亥俄 　　　　宾夕法尼亚 　　　　罗得岛 　　　　佛蒙特	科罗拉多 　　　　伊利诺斯 　　　　印第安纳 　　　　衣阿华 　　　　堪萨斯 　　　　密执安 　　　　明尼苏达 　　　　密苏里 　　　　威斯康星
中国驻旧金山总领馆	中国驻洛杉矶总领馆	中国驻休斯顿总领馆
阿拉斯加 　　　　北加利福尼亚 　　　　内华达 　　　　俄勒冈  　　　　华盛顿	亚里桑那 　　　　南加利福尼亚 　　　　夏威夷 　　　　新墨西哥 　　　　太平洋岛屿	阿拉巴马 　　　　阿肯色 　　　　佛罗里达 　　　　佐治亚 　　　　路易斯安那 　　　　密西西比 　　　　俄克拉何马 　　　　得克萨斯

Look at me, I'm so domestic!

As things start to ripen, we take more trips into the garden to pick veggies and fruits. At first we get a few of different things, then they turn into a couple hands full, very quickly there are buckets of produce piled outside our backdoor. The joy of eating freshly picked seasonal vegetables and fruits soon became old news, and the reality is daunting -- It's canning season.
Mom Bowles has been canning for 30 years, so she knows exactly what to do, and all I do is follow her lead. All the yummy jam and preserves are our sweet payoff. Literally, very sweet. Today, we are battling rhubarb. 

 Don't I look domestic?

 Didn't touch it, I swear! Just posing for the camera~~

There was a lot of stirring...

I love this guy!

We made two kinds of jam, and a BBQ sauce. I know, rhubarb BBQ sauce sounds weird, but it tastes great! There's still a ton of rhubarb in the bucket, I don't know what Mom Bowles is gonna do with it...

Yum~~

My Agonizing Journey Toward Immigration Part 2

J-1 Waiver- J-1 签证豁免

I'm a citizen of the PRC- People's Republic of China, and entered U.S. with a J-1 visa as a student. I thought it was just one of the many kinds of student visa that gets me here to study, and never! never have I heard of a "2-year foreign residence requirement." That apparently comes with it. If I tell you all about how and where and how long it took me to figure this out, that will probably take up too much of a disk space and they'll have to shut my blog, but here is what you need to know.

• Find out if the 2-year rule really applies to you. (1) Check your visa and see if you can find: 212 (E) TWO YEAR RULE APPLIES. If you don't have it printed on your visa, even if you are a J-1, the 2-year rule has nothing to do with you. (2) If you do have it, you may still not subject to it, and there's a way to find out. It's called the advisory opinion. I will talk about it in depth in another post.

• How much time do you have to get the waiver? On your I-94, which is the little piece of paper that got attached onto your passport, or a J-1 admission stamp in your passport (no card), depending on when you travel to the U.S. and where you arrive. The admission stamp or I-94 care record the date of your entering the country, your immigration status (for example, J-1 or J-2), and authorized period of stay (indicated by "D/S", meaning duration of status). You can basically work on your waiver as long as it takes if you don't have an exact date on it. But you should always try to get it done as soon as possible. 

• This is where you start: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_5503.html 

• Depending on the basis for which you request a waiver of the two-year rule, you will need to have supporting documents sent to the Waiver Review Division by others as applicable.

• Waiver Basis	Organization (Third Party)
  No Objection Statement	Your home country's government
  Request by an Interested U.S. Federal Government Agency	Interested U.S. federal government agency
  Persecution	USCIS
  Exceptional Hardship to a U.S. Citizen (or lawful permanent resident) spouse or child	USCIS
  Request by a Designated State Public Health Department or its Equivalent (Conrad State 30 Program)	Designated State Public Health Department or its Equivalent

• Most of the people I know, including me have applied for the No Objection Statement from home country's government, so I have most of the information you need on how to obtain a No Objection Statement. For other waiver basis, I'm sure there's other resources you can find.

Step 1 - Complete the online J Visa Waiver Recommendation Application


J Visa Waiver Online is where you complete an online application for a J-1 waiver recommendation. You will need to frequently come back to this site to check your status. Once you have completed the application, you will print it out and mail it.


Step 2 - Mail your Waiver Application and Fee Payment


Make sure that you keep the last page for your record, which includes your case number.

 Here's a copy of my packet assembly checklist for the waiver, if you are also applying for the no objection waiver, you should get the same kind of document at the end of your online application. As you mail out your application, make sure you have all the required document for packet 1 which is to be sent to the Department of State.You'll also need to send a packet to your Embassy, with the Third Party Barcode Page, which also comes with the online application, make sure you follow the detailed instructions on that page.


Step 3 - Submit supporting Documents

No Objection StatementYour home country’s government must issue a No Objection Statement through its Embassy in Washington, DC that it has no objection to you not returning to your home country to satisfy the two-year home-country physical presence requirement and no objection to the possibility of you becoming a U.S. lawful permanent resident. The No Objection Statement must be sent directly to the Waiver Review Division. (Note: The No Objection Statement cannot be provided to you, the waiver applicant, to submit to the Waiver Review Division.) You must contact the consular section of your home country’s embassy in Washington, DC to make this request. The No Objection Statement may alternatively be issued by a designated ministry in your home government and sent to the U.S. Chief of Mission, Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy within that country. The U.S. Embassy would then forward it directly to the Waiver Review Division.Note:  U.S. law does not permit foreign medical physicians who acquired J-1 status on or after January 10, 1977, for the purpose of receiving graduate medical education or training to request waivers under this basis.

I will have another post for Chinese students with the details of receiving the No Objection Statement. 


Step 4 - Check your Waiver Request Status and Update your Contact Information.


Go to the J Visa Waiver Online webpage and selecting "Check the status." After you have entered your case number, the system will indicate if your application, fee payment, and No objection Statement have been received.

Step 5 - If the Waiver Review Division Needs More Information from You

They will contact you using the contact information you provided on your online DS-3035.

Step 6 - Wait, and wait some more...

The processing time does NOT begin till the Department of State get your No Objection Statement from your Embassy. Once it's received, Department of State send a recommendation to the USCIS, and you will receive a copy of that recommendation. USCIS is the final waiver authority, and most likely will issue you your waiver once you have a favorable waiver recommendation from the Department of State. The usual processing time for No Objection Statement is 6 to 8 weeks. If you are lucky, you may get it sooner.

Good luck! 

My Agonizing Journey Toward Immigration Part 1

 I know that there is a great amount of us trying to immigrate to the U.S. We all have different reasons and why we want or need to move to "the land of the free and the home of the brave." For me? I fell in love with the most amazing person I've met and married him. And of course, he's an American. And so, I need to immigrate. It hasn't been easy for me, I'm still in the process of getting a green card after trying for over 2 years. I know that nobody thinks that there's an easy way, that's definitely true. But there's a few things that I wish I had known, and knowing these things would have made my process easier, and I want to share what I have learned with whoever that's out there trying to figure out the system. Hopefully, by sharing my experience I could save you some headaches.

Step 1.   Understand your situation

By that I mean, know your visa type, the regulations associated with it and how are they related to your native country. For me, I married a U.S. citizen and went to the International Students Office of my university for information,  and went home with a piece of paper with a long list of forms and fees, and thought "Alright! I can do this!" Even though we really don't have the kind of money they're asking, but if we eat nothing but roman noodles and cabbages for a few months, we could make it.
Until half way through the I-485, they ask me this question:

Have you EVER been a J nonimmigrant exchange visitor who was subject to the 2-year foreign residence requirement and have not yet complied with that requirement or obtained a waiver?

The first thing that came to my mind was - "Crap! What does that mean?"
So make sure that you know exactly what is needed for you to complete your immigration paper work.

Step 2.   Go see an Immigration Officer - This is probably not helpful if you are outside of U.S.

It's free, and it will save you so much trouble. If you go to the USCIS home page, you'll see a side bar on the left, just under Case Status is InfoPass - Schedule a free appointment. Click on it, you will be taken to this page. After choosing the language you need, you will want to click the "make an appointment" button, put in your zip code, they ask you why you need an appointment. I think what I did was selecting the one that says I need more information. After selecting a time for your appointment, you will want to print out the last page with your appointment address and time, with your pin number also. You need to show that piece of paper when you have your appointment. The people who work there are very helpful and friendly, they will tell you what to do and give you all the forms you need. Ask any questions you may have, and you'd want to write them down, cause there's just so much information to remember.

Step 3. Read all instructions for all the forms you fill out

 This is such a obvious thing, but since there's so many pages of instructions, I personally am very tempted at times to just skip them and go straight to the forms. Reading all the instructions will help you to give the correct information, which will save you time in the end.



It's pretty straight forward once you get the information from reliable sources, but my biggest problem was the waiver for J-1 visa, which took me a year half to get. Good luck to us all~~

Zucchini + Eggs

This is a super easy stir fry recipe, a good way to use up all the zucchini that our garden is producing. You can substitute the zucchini with cucumbers, and it's equally delicious.
You will need:

• zucchini/cucumbers *
• eggs*
• onion
• soy sauce
• salt & pepper

*Generally you will want to have more veggies than eggs, that's just the way my mom always  made this dish. But you can always adjust the proportions between the eggs and veggies according to your preference.
One thing about stir fry is fast. Once you got the wok heated, it goes fast so you'll want to get all ingredients ready to go into the wok before turning on the stove. You'd also want to try to slice your zucchini or cucumbers evenly. Having unevenly sliced veggies will cause the thin ones to overcook, while the thicker ones are still undercooked. 
Add a pinch of salt to the eggs, and scramble. I'm sure that Chef Ramsay doesn't approve my scrambled eggs, but this is Chinese stir fry, his scrambled eggs are way to soft for my taste. Anyways, set aside the eggs, and oil the bottom of the wok, you will want to give the oil a few seconds to heat, then throw your onions in, keep stirring them till you can see a slight change of color and can smell the appetizing aroma produced by cooked onions. Dump all the veggies in, stir, add about 2tbsp of soy sauce, keep stirring, the veggies will shrink as being cooked, add the scrambled eggs in. Add salt and pepper to taste. And, you are done.
This is such an easy dish to make, surprisingly, everyone in my family loved it.