Girl Scout Cookies

Good evening. I hope all is well with you!  :-)

As mentioned in my last post, I have decided to make February my 'turn-around' month in terms of diet and exercise. So far I've done pretty good. In only five days I've lost about two pounds and even made it to the fitness center today. Of course, I have been working all weekend (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) on twelve hour shifts which doesn't leave much time for the gym, but I made sure to go there this morning, instead. After I got home and had showered, B pulled out some Girl Scout cookies (Girl, 2013) that he had bought from a colleague at work yesterday. That's when it happened. Game over. *SOB* I ate my entire day's worth of calories in Tagalong peanut butter cookies and they're not even my favorite! (I'm mostly fond of the Samoas with caramel and coconut.) Bleh! And now I am disgusted with myself and totally regret even tasting a single cookie today. Boo! That was not cool. But -- tomorrow is a new day and I'm sure that I can bounce back from this little screw-up. Right?! Yes. By the way, this upcoming Friday, February 8th, is National Girl Scout Cookie Day.  :-)

The Thought for the Day:

This morning I found a fun little message in my Facebook inbox. I tend to take part in prize drawings and such on social media as well as other blogs and this morning I was informed that I had been selected as the winner for one such drawing.  :-)  I won a wall sticker of Iceland that I was seriously thinking about purchasing before today. So, to me, this was great news. *YAY* The company sponsoring the drawing is an Icelandic clothing labeling company called Imprimo Fatamerkingar (Imprimo, 2013) stationed in Akureyri, located in the northern parts of Iceland. The sticker is really cool looking. Here is a picture of it from the company's Facebook page.

My new Iceland wall sticker:

2013.01.28 @ Imprimo Fatamerkingar, ehf.'s Facebook page

Description: Isn't that super?! Heck, yeah! Although this image contains a white Iceland with black glaciers, I have decided to go with the black Iceland sticker with white glaciers. That'll look awesome somewhere in our home. It's always fun to have something from the homeland in one's residence overseas. I'm really excited.  :-)

As I have already mentioned, I am from Iceland... So, this morning I noticed an awesome video on Facebook that made me exceptionally proud to be an Icelander. In this video, made possible by the Inspired by Iceland (Inspired, 2013) campaign, local celebrities, authority figures, and the general public are openly inviting the world to come and partake in traditional Icelandic activities. Not only are the people of Iceland offering to show visitors the true Icelandic way of life, but they are also openly inviting others to come into their homes and get to know the people of our country. I think this is wonderful! And I think that this will become a hit for tourists. *BIG SMILE*

Inspired by Iceland's personal invitation to you:

 

2012.02.28 @ Icelandic President's fan page on Facebook

Description: In this video you will see the Icelandic president, the mayor of Reykjavik (the capital city of Iceland), and other Icelanders officially invite you to come into their homes and experience Icelandic daily life. Get to know the real Iceland! I'm telling you -- it's great!

This evening I decided to try to make some home-made soup for the first time and it went surprisingly well. I was impressed by own 'throw-something-together' recipe for soup that I've never made before. Here's a picture for ya.

2013.02.05 @ G's Potato Soup with Carrots

Description: There you have it, my brand new potato soup. Recipe card coming soon!

And after I made that soup, little A took a nice, long bath. He hasn't taken a bath for a while. He's been too busy to spend that much time in the tub so we've gone with showers, instead. *HEHE* But tonight he wanted a bubble bath which was great. He is too cute!

2013.02.05 @ The Bathtub

Description: Mama's little man in the tub tonight. What a cutie-pie!  <3

Maybe it's time to get off of this computer for the night. Hubby is home and I wouldn't mind spending a moment with him before I head to bed. Have a great night and happy hump day tomorrow!

-- Gigi


References:
Girl Scouts of the United States of America. (2013). Meet the cookies. Retrieved from:
          http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_cookies/meet_the_cookies.asp
Imprimo Fatamerkingar, ehf.  (2013). Sidan er i vinnslu - vinsamlega komid aftur i 
          heimsokn! Retrieved from: http://www.imprimo.is
Inspired by Iceland. (2013). Home: All. Retrieved from: http://www.inspiredbyiceland.com

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

Welcome to Our Blog

Howdy! Welcome to our new family blog!

I am going to use this blog to write about the things that happen in our lives as well as posting recipes that I use and interesting things that I come across on the web. I hope that you will enjoy our page as much as I will enjoy making new additions to its content, such as...

The Thought for the Day:

Maybe I should tell you a little bit about us. We are a family of three -- B is father, G is mother (the blogger), A is 4-year-old son, and J is our dog beagle. We currently live in an apartment here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. What's funny is that neither B or G is from the area. We just kind of met here... For which G is exceptionally grateful.  <3  B means the world to her and A.  :-)

Our Funny Dog J:

2012.06.30 // J -- Funny Dog Dance
Description: Thought this was funny and wanted to share... As we were sitting outside this afternoon, B started to scratch J's back and his legs began to shake. Weird, huh?! We're not sure if he is ticklish in that spot or if this is some sort of reflex. But, nonetheless, massively funny. Check it out!  ;-)

I will be using this as an outlet to share our thoughts and experiences, goals and ambitions, family life and yummy recipes, dining adventures and travel stories, film reviews and book summaries, funny stuff from the web, research articles, photos and videos of our family, and all of the other wonderful things that I can think of. So... That being said -- Come back and visit again soon.  We look forward to sharing with you and reading your comments.  ;-)

Have an awesome day!

-- Gigi