Becoming a U.S. Citizen

An important milestone happened in my life last week.

Getting our Certificate of Citizenship

I became a U.S. Citizen!

I know that most of you are born here in the U.S. and do not know what it takes to become a full-pledged citizen of this great nation.

Our story wasn't tainted with any drama or sad story (luckily), ours was simple and definitely almost the same as anyone else's who came to call this country home - we wanted to have the BEST LIFE we could possibly provide for our family.

Our Welcome Packet

To make a long story short, my husband came here first in 2004 on  a Working Visa, I followed in 2006 on a separate working visa. My husband eventually qualified and changed our visa to an O visa (visa for extraordinary ability), and eventually we applied for Permanent Residence Status (Green Card Status), and then finally 5 years after that, we applied for our Citizenship.

So you can imagine how long our wait was. 

But then again, you may be wondering WHY would we want to change our citizenship in the first place? True, we could continue living in the United States for as long as we wanted legally with our Green card, so why?

Welcome Letter from The President

Aside from the fact that as a citizen we can now VOTE, the United States is now MY HOME TOO.

And I want to participate, contribute, gripe and complain as much as anyone out there!

I want to live my life to the fullest and best way possible with all the unalienable rights that go with it! I know that the certificate is just that, a certificate, but it is the validation of  everything we've worked so hard for for this country and it's people.  

We had our ceremony in a small town High school in Illinois, attended by some friends and the sophomore class of that same high school.

We weren't expecting much with the ceremony, but it ended up being a very beautiful, meaningful and poignant day for all of us sworn in that day...

Parade of Colors by the Junior ROTC

Lovely songs sung by the Mascoutah HS Choir
"Star Spangled Banner", "America the Beautiful" & "God Bless America"

There were 61 immigrants (10 were physicians) from 28 nations that day.  There was a refugee, now citizen, Guest speaker who gave a wonderful speech about making her "Set-BACK" into a "Set-UP". 

The Judge had us all speak one by one, briefly of course,  about who we were, where we came from and how we felt.  And when my turn came, I almost cried (some did too - you can watch it HERE if you want to see).

Of course, though I consider myself an American now, I will always be a FILIPINO-AMERICAN.

My Filipino heritage is ingrained in ME, in who I am.

 I am just lucky and BLESSED to be both!

Welcome committee from the Daughters of the American Revolution welcoming
us with gifts and greetings.

First Selfie as an American with our friend Dr. Garrido who became
a citizen that day too

And now that the Oath is done and everything is official, I hope that I, along with my family continue to contribute, give and serve this great country we call home!

GOD BLESS AMERICA

VEL

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The Trouble with Juju Hats...

I love Juju Hats. No doubt.

Source

That is why I put it in my beloved's nursery in the first place.

 However, after a few months, things started happening.... pink dust kept accumulating on the crib. And I saw, it came from the hat...

.. it was corroding :-(

I searched the internet on feathers and juju hats and maintenance, and I couldn't find any. 

So I finally moved the hat downstairs...

... where sadly, it still continues to corrode... :-(

It's not obvious yet when you look from afar and in the photos, but the middle part is 'balding', and I don't know how long it will last! 

Uuuggghh!

But I still love it anyhow, just a bit of warning to people who are considering getting them. If you know of ways of minimizing or stopping this from happening, please let me know and share away! 

And  if you ask me if I regret getting the Juju hat? 

Nah - I don't regret getting this fabulous head piece, but I will never put it close to a bed from now on, maybe a place like this where I could easily clean it!

Kids are on Spring break so far I think I am too!

Have a Great Week !

VEL

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

Favorite Brass and Acrylic pieces

Hello Friends! Sorry I've been a bit of a slacker when it comes to blogging, but things have been very busy in our household lately, and plus, it's SPRING BREAK, so momma kinda thinks she's on it too! LOL! Anyway, I hope to catch up on my reading and for today I am sharing something beautiful for everyone.

I know that like many of you, we have an obsession on anything brass and lucite.

It's literally everywhere right now, and even stores that normally do not carry such pieces, carry them now! And I think it's not just  a trend that will simply go away, I think, it's here to stay. And for Brass and Acrylic lovers like me, that,  is a very good thing... ;-)

 1) Oscarine Lucite tables, 2) Blackened Brass Parsons desk, 3) Jacques Lucite & Brass Console, 4) Dahlia Marble Desks 5) Oscarine Lucite Bar cart, 

What's not to love with the pieces above?! Makes me wish Sophia would grow up fast so I could change my coffee table.

                1) Jacques Bench, 2) Lacquered Regency Three Drawer Dresser                             3) Emerson Counter & Bar Stools, 4) Modern Banquette Bench, 5)  Willis Brass Bench,

I would love to change my bar stools in the kitchen now if I weren't thinking of those sharp edges. And sorry I had to put the dresser in the seating collage, since I didn't notice it there until I started making this post,  it is a favorite though. ;-)

1) Brass Mirrored Trays,  2) Puccini Shelf, 3) Still Arylic Wall art, 

4) Shadow Box Frame, 5) Luci Acrylic Wall Bin

I would love to use any of these in my home, just oh-so-lovely, and the bins and boxes have lots of possible uses too!

1) Acrylic Column Floor Lamp, 2) Karl Stacking Wine Rack,3) Floating Brackets, 4) Theia Table Lamp,  5) Milo Acrylic Ceiling Fan, 6)  Lucite & Brass Doggie Bed

The fan is fabulous, but thinking of cleaning it all the time just makes me want to look at it for now. The lamps are all gorgeous, and that doggie bed? In love.

Lastly, I found this at Ballard Design....

 Acrylic Drapery Hardware

I've always wanted these and either the cost or the DIY is a hindrance, but now I no longer have any excuse! This one is I think comes at a reasonable price and the perfect look.

So very pretty. Can you guess where in my home it will be going in?

Anyhow, hope you enjoy browsing thru all these beauties!

So, any of your faves I missed? Do share.

Have A Wonderful Spring Day!

VEL

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...