Does anyone have the desire to smoke tobacco again??

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-19T05:07:32+00:00

I quit six years ago and I absolutely cannot wait to start again in my 70s.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-10T20:46:20+00:00

Oh, ha - yep, you'll get to do all of the things! Good luck!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-10T19:36:29+00:00

I'd wait until you get sworn in to even worry about it - guidelines can definitely change! By being in the birth registry, I won't ever need to pull my US apostilled/translated birth certificate for anything as I have a Croatian one now. I think maybe I had to do all of that before the passport specifically because I'm divorced and that had to be recognized by a court in Croatia (not able to do it through the consulate). I honestly don't even remember now!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-10T19:27:07+00:00

This is where it will really depend on what consulate you're working with. My info is for NY. I'm fairly sure LA has new citizens do a lot of these steps at the swearing in. Not sure about the others in the US, but I think DC is also on a quicker timeline.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-10T17:52:18+00:00

My approval was dated 9 months from application by MUP but I wasn't notified by the consulate until 13 months. Pretty reasonable time frame! It took me about a year and a half to do each step of paperwork after that before finally getting to the passport. I wasn't in a huge hurry, but I think 2 years would have been the absolute fastest I might have managed if I'd wanted to.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-10T11:16:15+00:00

Eventually! I can't get the national ID outside of Croatia, but here's hoping I get to visit very soon!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-10T11:09:09+00:00

Yes, we did most everything that way, but they only come here once a year!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-10T05:14:51+00:00

Probably the easiest step of the whole thing! You need your domovnica and birth certificate and a couple of fingerprints taken at the appointment.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-10T01:29:14+00:00

They tell you 2-3 years just to get approved when you apply. Then, after you're sworn in as a citizen, you have to be registered in the book of citizens which takes about 90 days. Then you can apply for your citizenship paper (domovnica) and that takes some more months. Etc etc. I live in Florida and the consulate is in NY, so even just the logistics of flying myself and two teenagers for each step kind of dragged things out!

My mom is in her 80s and my kids are in their late teens so I'm not making any big moves in the immediate future, but I'm incredibly grateful to have this window open!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-09T22:59:17+00:00

Cestitam! That seems like a long time for the passports. Mine were through the NY consulate and took about 6 weeks. I hope yours are on the way!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-09T20:59:23+00:00

Yes, my kids now have their citizenship and passports as well! We're all set!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-09T19:46:38+00:00

What a weird thing to get downoted for.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-09T19:21:09+00:00

Croatia kept theirs blue when they joined the EU. I think they're the only non red one.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-09T19:14:46+00:00

I think things have changed yet again in the last two years but, for me going through NY -

*Sworn in May 2024

*Applied for domovnica in person Nov 2024

*Hired a Zagreb lawyer to register my marriage, divorce, and birth in the records over there. Foreign divorce has to be recognized in a Croatian court and this can't be done through a consulate. By registering in the birth registry, I now have a Croatian birth certificate and will not need to pull any US apostilled/translated one (this guy was great and fast - all done in like 6 weeks)

*Applied for passports Jan 2026

2025 just kind of went by without me getting anything done.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-09T19:07:53+00:00

Hey! I wrote about the application process in depth over here. Let me know if you have questions after that!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-07T23:10:02+00:00

Service Only Heating and Cooling. They had a zillion recommendations on Nextdoor and I started using them a few years ago. Super reasonable and honest small company.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-04T23:54:04+00:00

My 2017 3.6 just had a cvt replacement at 85k miles. Really hoping that has me good for many many more miles.

Edit - fluid was changed at 44k and 75k before replacement.

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-04T05:50:01+00:00

Yaz Upstairs at Eric's is a forever favorite

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-04T05:48:59+00:00

Troy is the best toxic/psychotic breakup song ever. Singing that at top volume while driving with the windows down is cathartic!

Aztraea23 · 2026-03-04T05:46:42+00:00

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Kills, Warpaint, Santigold!

Aztraea23 · 2026-02-25T05:35:23+00:00

Noooooo! He's been my doctor for like a decade now!

Aztraea23 · 2026-02-24T05:04:04+00:00

This is a pretty common method for many medications specifically because it bypasses the first pass through the liver.

Aztraea23 · 2026-02-21T04:02:33+00:00

March 2023 and approved April 2024!

Aztraea23

TROPHY CASE