The Passport Process

I went and applied for my passport today. Have I mentioned that I'm leaving the country? Yes. I'm running away. I can't take it anymore. I can't take it, I tell you!! AAAAAAAAAAiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!!

Nah. That's not it. Actually, I am going to China sometime in the next few months with my mother. She and my father are adopting (again) a child from China, and I'm going with her. They have adopted twice before. I have two younger sisters that have been added to the family just in the past 4 years. This time, Dad is not going to go with her, so I am going instead to help her. At least, I hope I can be a help. My Dad actually learned Mandarin Chinese before he went. So far, all I can remember is how to say "thank you" and "watermelon". Not exactly the most useful words, but I plan on bringing a book of useful words that I can point at and gesture over. And I'm really good at charades. There is also the possibility that Dad will decide to come because he has begun to envision my mother and me in China... alone... with a new and often crying two-year-old.

Hmm...

I'm not scared, even though I should be.

However, today was just the first step in the process for me. The passport. While my parents have been pouring over mountains of paperwork and phone calls and fingerprints and home studies and governmental red tape, I was doing the same 'ole same 'ole. Life. But since it takes 4 to 6 weeks for our wonderful U. S. of A. to let me out of the country, I decided I really needed to get in gear.

First, I looked it up online. The internet is great for this kind of stuff. The Department of State explains exactly what you need to do. I thought I could just zip-zap fill out a form, send in a picture, and be on my merry way without leaving my computer chair. Um. No. Silly me. First time passport applicants must apply IN PERSON.

Ugh. There goes my warm chair.

Okay then. I'd better gather up what I need.

Driver's License.

Copy of my Driver's License (front & back).

Birth Certificate.

Checkbook.

Photos.

Wait. Photos? OH goodness. I need two copies of a photo of me that are 2" x 2". Seth isn't home to help. Could I trust Noodle to take the picture? Uh uh. Do I want to drive 40 minutes into town to find a place that will do passport pictures? No way. I grabbed my trusty Nikon and my tri-pod and headed outside.

The requirements also involve having a plain white background, so I taped a large piece of paper to the side of my house (having a friend who gives you lots of paper comes in handy--thanks Jana!) I set up the tri-pod about 4 feet away from the paper, set the timer, ran back in front of the paper, and... CLICK!

Great! Well, mostly. Not the best picture ever of me, but it will work. Now time for Photoshop.

The requirements also state that your face must be between 1" and 1 & 3/8" from the top head to the bottom of your chin. (Picky, picky.)

I used the ruler/measure tool to figure this out:

Multiply that number by 2. (In this case it was 3.3 So multiply 3.3 x 2 = 6.6) Since my photo must be a 2 by 2 square. First, I'll crop it with a 6.6" by 6.6" box.


Then, I changed the image size to 2" by 2".

Woohoo!! I have a passport photo!

No wait, let brighten it up a bit.

Last thing. Open up a new 4x6 document and copy/paste the photo into it six times (it fits perfectly!).



Now I have six passport photos for less than a quarter (depending on where you print it).

I brought two of these photos, along with the other items on my list, to the Clerk of Court's office. Thankfully, this was only a few miles from my home. There, I filled out the two-page application, paid the $100 fee, and walked out with...



well, nothing.

I still have to wait 4-6 weeks. (Maybe I can learn one more word in Chinese during that time.)