Approximately One Year - Another Anniversary

Below is a snippet of a conversation I've had about a hundred times in the last year:

Person: So you're not Canadian?

Me: Nope. I'm an American.

P: What brought you to Canada, then?

M: I married a non-American.

P: So you married a Canadian.

M: Actually no, he's German.

P: Why aren't you living in the States then, eh?

M: My husband doesn't have a green card, so he can't work there.

P: But he married you. Isn't he guaranteed a green card?

M: Actually, it's not that simple...

A lot of people seem to think that when you marry an American, the Department of Homeland Security comes to your wedding reception and slips a green card into the gift box. Ha! It has taken a year for Oliver and I to get through the interviews and paperwork. Lucky for us we were able to live and work in a different country together... otherwise 2007 would have been a looooong year. Anyhow, the hassles are behind us now because last week Oliver got his green card in the mail. Woo hoo!

We're free and clear now! Well, sort of free. For the rest of his U.S. resident life, Oliver has to notify the Department of Homeland Security every time he moves. Isn't that a little creepy?