O, say can you see...

After over 5 years and mounds of paperwork - we made it though. Yesterday I took the oath of allegiance and now am officially a U.S. citizen. The moment was rather bittersweet for me as I am no longer a citizen of Ukraine (unfortunately Ukraine doesn't recognize dual citizenship), but I am glad that I am a citizen of this great country. The ceremony itself was rather short, about 15 minutes, but due to 6,000 other people getting their citizenship it took me a little under 4 hours. Jeff wasn't able to attend as he was away on business trip, but even if he was able to come, I probably wouldn't advise him to - the crowd was too much and he wouldn't have been able to sit by me, but would have been tucked somewhere in the far corner. During the ceremony we all had to stand up and pledge allegiance to the country, we promised to be abide the law, as well as be willing to bear arms when the law required. We then watched a short patriotic video and listened to the anthem. Here's a tiny section of people being sworn in.

Послее более 5-и лет подачи документов и собеседований я получила Американское гражданство. Вчера я взяла присягу (с 6000 других людей) и получила официальный сертификат гражданства. Церемония сама по себе была достаточно короткой - приблизительно 15 минут - но из-за толбы - весь процес от начала до конца занял почти 4 часа.

Me with my newly obtained certificate of citizenship

Я со своим сертификатом

Ann and Rich sent me these beautiful flowers - thank you

Анн и Ричард прислали мне этот красивый букет с поздравлениями