Rockwell Handmade is now called: From Lebow With Love.

This pretty little winter ballerina is from Rockwell Handmade. A shop started by one of my childhood friends Leah. She makes handmade dolls, bowties & whatever else strikes her fancy, from pretty vintage fabric she finds.

You can even customize your doll orders with what colors you prefer. I wanted our ballerina doll to have black hair. :-) And she is so gorgeous in person! And much larger than you would think. She is approx 17" tall.
 
I ordered the Winter Ballerina for my little one year old niece Zia in the Philippines. (My Sister in law's blog.). So we will be shipping this dolly off in the New Year as a belated Christmas gift.

 

It was F.B.'s birthday yesterday. It's the 2nd birthday he's spent in the USA. We went to a Chinese Buffet near Franklin Mill's Mall for lunch.




September 28th, I contacted our immigration lawyers again. It will be time to remove the conditional status from F.B.'s permanent resident card soon. Last August I asked how much it would cost to rehire the firm and was quoted $1,200. So that's what we saved towards. I also know it will cost $590 to file the form with immigration.

When I heard a reply back a week ago I was told the cost to rehire the firm was now $1,950. Wow... $750 dollars more than we were expecting. I really love our immigration lawyers and they did an amazing job last time, but that price jump definitely made me feel a bit sick in the stomach. So, I found the email where I was quoted the $1,200 and forwarded it just to ask why the fee's had increased so much. I wasn't really expecting much, just an explanation. But thankfully, (and this is why they are great lawyers!) They changed the paperwork to reflect the $1,200 we were quoted last year. (Save your old emails!)

In mid November our lawyer will begin all the paperwork. Immigration will not allow the forms to be submitted early. It has to be submitted 90 days before F.B.'s permanent resident card expires or else immigration could reject everything. Rules... rules....


We've also had to collect paperwork that proves our marriage is valid and that we live together. Some of the paperwork I've gathered is:

• Federal & State Tax copies filed jointly.
• Bank statement copies with both of our names
• Copy of our lease for our apartment in both our names
• Copy of insurance declaration in both our names
• Copies of our driver licenses showing our current address.
• Photos with family.
• Letters from Family/Friends

Speaking of that... you wouldn't think collecting letters from family & friends with a short statement saying how long they've known you & your spouse, how they've interacted with you & that your marriage appears to be valid, etc; would be that difficult to get... but it was like pulling teeth. Literally. I let so many of our friends and family know 3-4 months in advance that we would need these letters and still they've trickled in... I'm grateful for the ones who have written us letters, but we definitely expected a lot more support and a lot more letters... but enough about that.... blah. Rant over...

Anyway that's where we stand right now with immigration. In mid November our lawyers will prepare the paperwork and by December 5th, 2012 the form should be filed with immigration and then fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly so the conditional status will be removed from F.B.'s resident card. (Ugh... he will also have to get a new driver's license in March because that expires when his resident cards expires). I just can't wait until we are finished with immigration!

(I know he will have to renew his resident card every 10 years or so, but that won't be as bad compared to all the rules and paperwork over the past 3 years!)

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia. 

Photos from my birthday weekend/week. (The big 3-0). These are all Instagram & cell phone photos.


 
 

*Krazy Candle is no longer open* 

My friend Brittney has started a company called Krazy Candle. They make homemade all natural soy tarts for warmers. (Think Scentsy). They also sell soy candles and warmers. I ordered 4 soy tarts in different scents. I ordered: Birthday Cake, Apples and Maple Bourbon, Beach Linen & Lilac Mist. (There are 26 scents to choose from!)


I am burning the Apples & Maple Bourbon scent. It smells like fall! Apples, and cinnamon, etc. The tarts don't smell very strong in the package, but when you burn them the scents are much stronger. They make the whole house smell good! I can't wait to try the other scents I ordered.

Since the tarts are not wax, to remove them easily from your warmer if you want to change scents- just stick your warmer or warming plate in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes. The hardened soy tart will pop right out! Easy clean up! :-)

(Apples & Maple Bourbon was already in my warmer!)

*Note: I purchased these 4 tarts on my own. I was not asked to review, this is my honest opinion. 

 

Manila and surrounding provinces in the Philippines had a bad monsoon on 8-7-12. It flooded so bad they had to open the dams, which cause more flooding. It was almost as bad the flood back in 2009. Sadly my in-laws house was flooded again though we don't know how badly. :-(

My Father in-law works as ship captain and is back out at sea. (He helps transport cars, fruits, etc to different countries). My mother in-law had to stay with my Sister in-law & family at her 2 story house. The flooding at my SIL's house reached the garage but from last reports hadn't gotten into the house. And we pray that's still true. Their power was out for 3 days and they were conserving their cell phones so we didn't hear much from them. We still don't really have any definite detailed updates at the moment.

Everyone is okay from texts, facebook, etc (Friends & Family). Which we are very thankful for! (Thank you for all the prayers!) It really sucks that my in-laws house got flooded again. My husband remembers being there for the 2009 flood. He knows how hard it was and how hard the clean up was.


I was checking Twitter every hour looking up keywords for Cainta Rizal and their villages name (gated community), to find current updates. The flood waters were reported waist high at my in-laws village. Though the flood waters are subsiding. My husband said they shut off the power automatically when flood waters reach a certain level. It's also rainy season over there right now, which doesn't help matters.

We are just thankful everyone is okay. Including our niece who will be 1 years old on August 21st. She had a little cold, but from last reports is doing better.

Our Niece Zia!

If you want to donate to the Philippine Red Cross to help with relief efforts (Over 2 million people were effected by this storm), there are ways to donate on their website (Including Paypal).


Article on the storm on CNN

Yahoo Philippines Article

6ABC Article

 

We had an awful heat wave for a few days this week. The temps were in the upper 90's but it felt even hotter than that (104, 110!) Not fun.


I haven't been up to much besides working, etc. Tomorrow we are taking my Dad out for a belated Father's Day Lunch to Longhorn Steak House.

I'm still using Sally Hansen Salon Effects. I love them. They always last about 2 weeks with a clear coat on top of them. They start to grow out and chip by the 3rd week. There were a few from the new Avril Lavigne collection I really wanted, but had a hard time tracking down. I ended up getting them on eBay.

My favorites from that collection: 'You're A Star',


And 'Crowd Surfer', which is what I have on my nails right now!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to everyone! F.B. & I will be celebrating Christmas Eve at our apartment. This will be F's 1st Christmas in the USA, our 2nd Christmas married & our 3rd Christmas spent together. :-)

I'll be making alfredo pasta with mushrooms, bacon and ham for Christmas Eve dinner. Also Texas toast with cheese, and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for dessert. Mmmm.

Christmas Day we'll be meeting my family at a Chinese Buffet for brunch. (3rd year we've done this tradition). Then we'll be heading back to my parents house to exchange gifts. F.B. & I will be exchanging gifts tonight.

I made a batch of cookies Friday night and two batches this afternoon. Of course I had some cookie baking disasters though... 1st off, I really need to buy a GLASS measuring cup- my plastic one melted while trying to melt chocolate in the microwave, lol!


And I really love Dollar Tree. My apartment is stocked with stuff I've gotten from there. But their cookie sheets... epic fail. The metal warped in the oven and my cookies ended up looking like.... brownies? The perfect cookie on the right is from the cookie sheet my Mom gave me. The cookies on the left... are from the Dollar Tree cookie sheet...


I made a batch of these White Chocolate Cherry Cookies:


And Thumbprint cookies with strawberry jam!

Please welcome my Mother in law to the blogging world! Stop by and check out her windmill collection blog; Windmills of Zen! :-)

Tonight Irene passes over Philadelphia. Philadelphia is under a hurricane warning. They say it will be the worst storm in 50 years. Lot's of flooding.

SEPTA is suspending all service for the first time ever. Where we are just outside Philadelphia, we are under a tropical storm warning. But there are still flooding threats and we could lose power... hoping we don't though.

(Photo Credit.)

And just this week we had an earthquake too! (Though I was napping and didn't feel it. I thought my husband was teasing me when I woke up!) What in the world is going on?! All of the things I told my husband we don't get, we're getting! I told him he must have brought this extreme weather with him from the Philippines, lol! :-p

I hope things are okay weather wise later this week for our overnight vacation in down town Philadelphia for my birthday. I hope the trains are running by then and that we'll still be able to take the Duck Boat tour that we prepaid for.

I got a new cell phone on eBay for my birthday! I was able to get a T-mobile Sidekick 4G for $300.00 less then T-mobile is selling it for. (I'm on a special $49.99 unlimited plan- but the catch was I have to pay full price for a new phone).

The phone I won was in pristine condition. It still has the factory protector stickers on it. The guy who was selling it had switched to another carrier. I can actually watch my Netflix on my phone now with the Netflix App! So cool! And the battery lasts way longer than my Motorola Charm battery did. I had to switch batteries mid day with that phone. The Sidekick also has a touch screen and a keyboard, which I need, I can't do those touch screen keyboards! :-p


Please stop by and give your congratulations to my Sister in Law on her blog! She & her husband had their baby girl, Zia on 08/21/11. So now F.B. is an Uncle and I'm an Aunt. :-p

(Photo Credit: Zei & Rich).

And, just some cute pictures of the ratties to finish off with! ♥♥♥

Baby Violet

Mister Curry Wigglesworth, lol. (Picnik)

As you've noticed, I've also changed my blog layout. I think the blue matches my header banner better!

I'm so excited! My cousin Jessica and I are going to see The Nutcracker at the Philadelphia Academy of Music on December 18th! (Funny that is the day I was legally married. Even though our wedding was on December 19th!) Our tickets were only $49 and we got pretty good seats in the balcony. Some of the prices were ridiculous!

Credit: PA Ballet

I saw The Nutcracker when I was younger on a school trip. I just love the music in it! I do not like musicals at all, so I'm glad this is ballet! I also HATE driving down town, so we are going to take the train and walk a few blocks past City Hall to the Academy of Music. We picked the 11am show so it will be light out when we take the train down and back home. Now I'll just cross my fingers that it doesn't snow by then!

I also got a call on Tuesday that I've been re-called to work. I have to report on Monday at 7am. Such a short furlough. I don't know why they are calling everyone back the week before they move to the new campus in Center City Philadelphia. I'll have to start commuting on the train an hour to work starting November 22nd. I'm sure going to miss my 10-15 minute car rides to work!

I still am waiting on unemployment for my approval letter. I filed a new claim on November 1st. If they deny me I'll have to appeal and send in all my pay stubs. I still have to claim for the weeks I didn't work; and I have to have the claim open and set up for when we are furloughed again.

My sister in law was married a month ago on 9/25/10. Her wedding was featured online at Bridal Book Philippines:


In immigration news, F.B. mailed off all the documents to our immigration lawyer the other day. He should receive them by this Tuesday.

I've been stressed out over dealing with unemployment. I had to reopen my claim from last year. It expires on October 30th. I'm only going to get 2 payments out of the rest of this claim. I filed for my first checks last Sunday. Friday the money had still not been deposited so I had to call them. (They don't answer calls anymore- you have to schedule a call back.) When they got back to me they said there had been some sort of "stop" on my account. The lady had to update stuff on the computer so my payments would go through. They really make you work for your money.

November 1st, I will have to file a new claim and it's always a hassle as well because they deny me at first. Our payroll department is never timely and usually half my wages are missing so unemployment never has a record that I worked during the year. I always have to mail all my pay stub copies to them, meanwhile 3-4 weeks go by with no money until they straighten it out. They do give you back payments. But it's a hassle every year. (The woes of a seasonal employee, lol.) I should be called back to work the beginning of January if not sooner.

My cousin Jessica has started a blog! Yay! So excited! You can check out her blog at: I Believe in Pink. Stop by and welcome her to the blogging world! She is just getting started. She has a beautiful baby girl named Kayleigh who just turned one month old on October 3rd.

Jessica & Kayleigh (Photo credit: Christina)