Happy New Year

Hi there...!!

Yes. I know, I know. Here I am wishing you a happy new year when January is practically over. But -- this is only the first post of the year.  ;-)  I also know that it's been way too long since my last blog entry. Although, I have been working on some recipe cards that I plan to share on the site as well as making music videos for some of my favorite songs that include lyrics. I have actually made quite a few changes to the page since my last post. We now have several tabs with cool new stuff and lots more things to look at.

Anyways... How about a little update of the Hadleys' lives since last time...?! B and G got married in a cute little park in downtown Wichita, KS, called Naftzger Park (City, 2013). We had a judge come out and perform the ceremony for us on a wet Friday morning in late August. The park has pretty waterfalls and other likable scenery for photos and it ended up being the perfect spot for us. Considering that we had not even been by there beforehand to check it out, we were very content with the outcome.  <3

A few photos from our wedding day:

2012.08.24 @ The Hadleys' Wedding Ceremony

Description: These three photos are taken at our wedding ceremony at Naftzger Memorial Park in downtown Wichita, KS, USA. The first photo is of G and her father, approaching the gazebo in the park where the actual ceremony took place. The second photo is one of G and B sitting on a waterfall inside the park after the ceremony. And the third photo is one of the first photos of the new-found Hadley Family with little A included. It was a beautiful day and we had great fun. Thanks to everyone who made it up there and shared in our special day!

In the week following our wedding, I finally got to start my new job. I now work at a local hospital with my sister-in-law M on an Orthopedic floor. M is a nurse there and I am currently working as a nurse technician. I hope to go back to school to finally get my nursing degree. And now that I already have a Bachelor's degree I should be able to enroll directly into a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at a university. But our biggest problem right now is funding this new expedition so, unfortunately, it may have to wait a little while longer. Not to worry... It will happen. Oh, believe me, it will happen!

Not long after our wedding last year, B's grandmother passed away. She was a wonderful woman full of life and love and she will be dearly missed. Grandma Bee was severely ill and fought hard for a long time. Although the Bee is no longer with us, she will forever be in our hearts as we continue to think about her and share in her memory. Rest in peace, Grandma Bee.  <3  In honor of her memory, I have chosen a special reminder for today's post.

The Thought for the Day:

A also turned five years old in September. Five years old -- I can hardly believe it! Now how old does that make me...?! *HAHA* B and I started by taking A out to lunch on his birthday, then we visited Chuck E. Cheese's. Who doesn't love Chuck E. Cheese?!  After spending all of our tokens at Chuck E. Cheese's, we headed to Braum's for ice cream cones, and then we ended our fun-filled day at this super cute pumpkin patch (Pumpkin, 2012) right across the street from our apartment complex.  ;-)

Photos from A's birthday:

2012.09.23 @ A's 5th Birthday Celebration

Description: Up there at the top you can see B and A playing Guitar Hero at Chuck E. Cheese's. I think the funniest part about that picture is that they are both wearing black pants and blue plaited shirts. Too cute! Then we have A chowin' down on his yummy ice cream cone he got at Braum's. Last but not least, Mommy's little man posing for a photo at the pumpkin patch. Isn't he handsome?!  :-) 

Shortly thereafter, B's sister K and her fiance got married. This was in October. They also married in Wichita and had a lovely ceremony at their church. Family flew in from all around to come and be at their wedding and it was great fun meeting all of these people. There are many of them that I had not gotten a chance to meet before. Another great day of memory-making with the Boyle family.  :-)

After K's wedding came Halloween and then, of course, came Christmas. Christmas is no doubt the most fun time of year. A got so many cool toys that he had been wanting and, although I had to work Christmas Eve, we got to spend Christmas day together with Uncle G and Auntie M. The two came over to our place for dinner and presents. It was great. 

Ever since the new year, I have been working on immigration papers for myself and A. I am currently applying for a change of status for the two of us which should -- if all goes well, which I'm sure it will -- grant us permanent residence (USCIS, 2011). The last thing that we have left to do is to get A to his doctor's appointment on Friday so that he may get a quick check-up and receive three vaccinations that I have not yet taken him in for. Once that is done, the packet is off and the dreadful wait for a response begins. I'm just kidding. It can't possibly be that bad.  ;-)  If I end up getting a response stating that my packet was completed correctly and all that good stuff, I will probably go ahead and put up a little tutorial on here that will lead people through the various steps of getting this done. But like I said, I won't do that until I know for sure that I have completed my own paperwork correctly. At that point, I can create a Green Card Application Process Tutorial of some sort.

Wow. I have blabbered on for too long today. I'll write some more tomorrow, maybe. Make the most of your afternoons and evenings and have a happy hump day!

-- Gigi

References:

City of Wichita. (2013). Naftzger Memorial Park. Retrieved from:

          http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Park/Parks/Naftzger

Pumpkin Town. (2012). Pumpkin Town now open. Retrieved from:

          http://www.pumpkintownok.com

USCIS. (2011). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: Green Card (permanent 

          residence). U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved from:

          http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a

          7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ae853ad15c673210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

          &vgnextchannel=ae853ad15c673210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

Our August Wedding

Good evening to you!

It's been another hot day in Oklahoma... Wild, I say!  ;-)  And here we are -- Planning an outdoor August wedding. *LOL* Yup. We're crazy like that. But it's going to be fun! So... We have now set the date for our big day. B and G are will become Mr. and Mrs. H on August 24th, 2012. We are very excited for 08.24.12 and are beginning our wedding plans. We are not having a big old party wedding but more of a get-together with our closest family members and possibly some friends. I went dress shopping with my sister-in-law M on Monday and found an absolutely stunning wedding dress that I instantly fell in love with. I have been forbidden to show B the dress until the day of the wedding.  <3  He is going to love it!

I have also found out that she will not have to retake the CNA/CHHA course again. Or at least hopefully not. Apparently, all I have to do is to retest in order to become certified again. But I only have one shot at the test! If I do not pass it that first time, I will end up having to retake the entire course over again and paying that huge amount that we had talked about in the previous post. *UGH* No stress, right...?!  :-/  Yesterday, I went and got my CPR for Healthcare Providers done and am already signed up for a Medication Administration Training (MAT) course for Monday and Tuesday of next week. Then hopefully next week sometime I will get that letter from the Nurse Aide Registry that states my eligibility to retest -- Then I can finally start work somewhere. *YAY* More than likely, I will be working at a local hospital with Auntie M.  :-)

The Thought for the Day:

Anyway... There's this cool website out there if you are interested in downloading free music -- The legal way.  ;-)  If you go to the DatPiff website (Idle, 2012) and create an account, you can start downloading free copies of mix tapes from various artists in the hip hop and r&b genres. Some of the mixtapes are sponsored so that you don't even have to be logged in to download them. Pretty cool stuff! There is one young and upcoming artist that I am especially fond of. His name is Robert Lucido and he is half-Icelandic. I am from Iceland, too.  :-)  Robert sings r&b and he's pretty darn good at it, too! You can download his full album called Trials and Tribulations on DatPiff if you're interested in hearing more of his music. My favorite song so far is called Take My Devils Away. Here is one of his music videos:

Robert Lucido - Satisfied:

I wasn't feeling too good this past week and now it appears that B has taken over the illness around here. Hopefully he will be feeling better by tomorrow so that we can go and visit a co-worker of his to hang out. I am also headed out of town tomorrow morning with my brother to look at a car for our dad. Maybe it's time to call it a night and go cuddle a bit before bed.  ;-)

Have a great Friday night, y'all!

-- Gigi

References:

Idle Music, Inc. (2012). DatPiff: The authority in free mixtapes. Retrieved from:

          http://www.datpiff.com

Deadly Heat Wave

Good morning and happy Monday!

Hopefully your day is off to a good start just as mine is. The sunrise this morning was beautiful and I really enjoyed watching it this morning as I sat outside with the day's first cup of coffee. Breathtaking! I am currently reviewing some old photos that have been taken over the past few months and thought it might be nice to share a family photo with you all. So here goes...

Our Family Photo:

2011.12.17 @ Rhema Bible Church's Christmas Lights Extravaganza
Description: Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow, OK, has an annual celebration of lights "...designed to provide a safe, peaceful, and fun atmosphere in which people can enjoy the Christmas season, and to point visitors to the love of Christ and the real meaning of Christmas" (Rhema, 2009). It really is a sight worth seeing if you're ever in Oklahoma around the holiday season.

On the Today show this morning, Al Roker mentioned that 74 people have been killed in 14 states as a result of this crazy heat wave that had taken over the United States for the past few weeks. How unfortunate is that?! Crazy. But, on a lighter note, we are finally going to get some relief from the heat wave this week. Here in Tulsa we have been seeing temperatures in the triple digits for several weeks now. This week's forecast is great, though. Low 90s... Awesome!

Our Local 7-Day Forecast (Scripps, 2012):

I have been job hunting for several months now but still have not been able to find a job. I have gone in for a few interviews but am beginning to lose faith... *HMMPH* This is not good. In May, I graduated with my Bachelors in Psychology with an emphasis on Mental Health from a local university butam having the hardest time finding a job! So far I have submitted applications and resumes to 45 different employers -- with requests for more than one position at the majority of these places -- and still nothing. Frustration is setting in...! Please, please, please let me find something soon. *CROSSES FINGERS* Something good has to come from all of this... Right?!

While browsing YouTube the other day, I came across a bunch of musical talent that I had never heard of and now I would like to share some of it with you. Today we will start with a band that call themselves The Paper Kites. They are from Melbourne in Australia and play beautiful music. There is one song in particular that I just fell in love with. It is called Bloom and tends to be replayed around our house quite a bit these days. The video for the above mentioned song is here below. If you like what you hear, you can click your way on over to the band's webpage and download one of their tracks for free. All you have to do is to sign up for The Paper Kites' mailing list and you will receive a link that will allow you to download their song Woodland off of the Woodland album at no charge to you (Paper Kites, 2012).

The Paper Kites - Bloom:

And now for some serious talk -- weight loss and exercise! This is disgraceful... I worked so hard for such a long time to lose weight and now have been gaining a lot of it back. I was down 54 pounds from my original weight and have gained 16 of those pounds back. Eek! A change in diet and additional exercise must come into play now. This is not working out. As of this morning, I am 160.7 pounds but my goal is to reach 140 pounds. Blogging about my weight loss goal and journey may help to serve as further motivation -- or at least that's what I like to believe.  ;-)  If you would like to make a change of your own in terms of your health, feel free to join in and we can make this trip together!

I'm wondering if I've said too much already today?! Maybe this would be a good place to stop. As I call it quits for today, I will leave you with this...

The Thought for the Day:

Now get out there and enjoy the rest of your Monday!

-- Gigi

References:
Paper Kites (2012). The Paper Kites - Heavy Reins Tour. Retrieved from 
          http://www.thepaperkites.com.au
Rhema Bible Church (2009). Christmas Lights Extravaganza (par. 5). Retrieved from
          http://www.rhemabiblechurch.com/index.php?
          option=com_content&view=article&id=173&Itemid=192
Scripps TV Station Group (2012). 2 Works For You: 7-Day Forecast. Retrieved from 
          http://www.kjrh.com/generic/weather/7-Day