Gley's blogs 2009-2014

Hi guys! These are my old blogs. I will be posting on http://gley10.wordpress.com 

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Hi guys! I've moved! I will no longer be posting on this blog. I will keep it for memories' sake (2009-2014) but I've decided to start fresh and anew. If you still want to follow me, go to http://gley10.wordpress.com

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My! It has been a while and I say that a lot... I know... But this MUST be blogged about!!!

I FINALLY WENT SKYDIVING!!! One of the things in my bucket list! I figured since I now work... And I JUST turned 22, why not?

SKYDIVE ATLANTA in Thomaston, GA.

0800 class and whatnot. After a few minutes, we got harnessed. My instructor, Mr. Mike, voiced his opinion on how I might fall off because they don't make extra smalls. He had to tighten all my straps up ALL THE WAY. Bahah!

I then met Butters (apparently what they call my photographer) and we did a little interview. When asked for my "last words," I say, "LONG LIVE OLD TIME RELIGION!" [People probably thought I was crazy!]

As we were boarding the plane, I was asked to blow a kiss to the camera... And so I did. For memories' sake! We were packed in there like sardines. I asked Mr. Mike if it was okay for me to lean on him since holding myself up with the harness felt like an ab workout. x) He said, "I don't think your 95 pounds will hurt me."

I was SOOOO pumped. The fear was settling the night before and on the way. But as soon as we got on the plane, ALL GONE! I just wanted to get out there and jump! #adrenalinejunkie

So, all I remember was screaming to psyche myself up before we jumped (we were the last one to do it). It was SO COOL. We headed to the door, rocked back and forth twice, and off we go!

***Sidenote: During the ride, I asked Mr. Mike if we could do something cool, but nothing too terribly crazy. He says to me, "You're jumping out of a plane. What do you mean nothing crazy?"

Some turbulence initially, then Butters comes to take pics and whatnot. My cheeks by this time were flapping everywhere... Freely... HENCE the pics. It was a little difficult to breathe going at that rate... I don't even know how fast... But it was FAAASTTT.

After a few seconds of free falling, Mr. Mike deploys the parachute. The first one. He told me to grab the handles. I was reluctant because I stink at just about anything related to maneuvering and whatnot. He said he was gonna let go so I grabbed it. We did some spins. SOOOO COOL! It was also peaceful and quiet as we floated around.

Before I know it... And as soon as it was getting better, we were preparing for landing... :'( *tear* It was the smooooothest landing ever.

Skydiving was SO much fun! I would do it again in a HEARTBEAT! Probably in the very near future as long as I don't go broke. x)

Anyway, maybe all this adrenaline has worn off enough for me to go to bed. x) Goodnight Tumblsters.

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I've been organizing my printed pictures as well as the ones I have on my laptops (so I can print them) these past few days! This task is laborious! Waaaah!!! I can't imagine how much it's gonna cost me to print them all considering it's gonna be about 6 years worth of pictures! But it shall be worth it when I start putting them together. I can't wait to scrapbook again! It's just better than digital... Something to look at and to have for keepsakes. I'm old fashioned like that.

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My sister and I feeling like Dean and Sam Winchester because we were eating at a diner. True story.

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One of my bus babies, Shanequa! I love this girl to pieces. She always asks me to sit with her and she plays with my hair. When I first rode the bus from being gone for a good 3 weeks, she gave me the biggest hug! It made my heart all bubble over!!! Then I jokingly asked some of the kids if they missed me. Nelson replies with the sweetest and innocent answer, "Everyone missed you Miss Gley." And then when I was doing care ministry and shaking people's hands, I approached the bus kids' section and as I was shaking Justin's hand, he tells me, "I missed you Miss Gley." Ahhh. I love this ministry and I'm super thankful that I get to serve in it! I had a present and a Christmas card waiting for me too when I got back. And my co-workers telling me that the kids asked when I was coming back every time they rode the bus and didn't see me in it. :)

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This was maybe two days ago... When it was raining super hard and it was accompanied by scary lighting and thunder! Storms usually do not scare me but this one... I could see the light through my DOUBLE blinds and every time I tried to count how far it was, it got closer and closer! By then, I'd decided to go to my parents' room and sleep with them... I crawl in bed with them and not too long after that, I hear the door for my room opening... I call unto my sister and tell her that I'm in our parents' room. So she went in and climbed in bed with us. After a little bit, my grandma goes to the room and tells us to make room for her. Haha! So my sister and I decided to go to the closet and try to sleep there. The calm eventually came and we went back to our rooms because the floor wasn't too comfortable. X)

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My sweet boy and I face timing. He's so precious! He asked me if he could make me a necklace and I told him he could. Then we planned on watching the Clippers Lakers game and messaging each other during the game! :)) We took pictures with our foam fingers that we bought at the game we went to this past December! :) I love him!

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For our last day in Cali, we went to Knotts Berry farm!

We rode a few rides (duh!). There was one time when my sister and I were in this semi-long line for this roller coaster. Genius thought that since the line for the front cars were short, we should go there! And so we did! But then the realization that the idea wasn't great because we only moved 4 people up every ride instead of... Ohhhh I don't know... Ten? So yeah... We stood in line longer than we would have if we didn't change lines. We also saw this guy that rode up front that had his hands up but as soon as the ride took off, he immediately brought it back down! Ha! We had a good laugh about that.

And then before we left the park, Gill and I took Sofia to ride the bumper cars. She enjoyed it but that thing was super slow!

My uncle then took us to Sam Woo. The wait was pretty long and every time they were about to call the number, my sister would scream "34!" And eventually they called us and everyone laughed about that. We had a great time with our uncle too!

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The day we had to leave Vegas, I had to get up SUPER early, thanks to this guy! Hahah.

A long time friend that I've not spoken to in years. It was fun catching up with him although majority of our convo was nursing/nursing school related.

Oh! One funny occurrence during our time together was when he and I were getting our drinks from Starbucks, he was messing with the lady at the counter about how she'd hurt his feelings. Her smart alecky comment was... "Make her kiss it." HA!

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FOR: January 1, 2014 Watched the show Le Rêve at Wynn. I don't know what else to say but this show was spectacular! MUST see.

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FOR: DECEMBER 31, 2013 Our New Year's pictures! :) Earlier this day, my sister and I were dropped off at the strip of Las Vegas to do a little exploring on our own. I've been to Vegas a few times in the past but I'm really just starting to grasp how neat things are at this point of my life versus when I was 12 and traveling. There's just more appreciation and memories made. I remember bits and pieces from past traveling experiences as a child but nothing like I do today. We ate at Café de Cebu, an authentic Filipino restaurant. It was super delish! We headed back to our hotel, Red Rock, to watch fireworks from our hotel rooms. The strip isn't too far from our hotel so we could see the fireworks. I wanted to watch there but there would've been too many people. Maybe one day.

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FOR: December 28, 2013

ALCATRAZ! This has got to be my most favorite part of our stay in Frisco!

The first picture is with this nice tour guide we were able to see for two of our trips here. He was sweet and always so helping so we took a picture with him. :)

We rode a ferry to the island and arrived not too long after. We were welcomed to the park and then we grabbed our own little radios that we can use for our audio tour. At the beginning, I was able to keep up and stay with my family. But they had to wait for me to finish because I did take my sweet time taking in the whole place and its history.

I would listen to the radio about the history and then pause it to look around. I was able to see all the cell blocks, the library, the recreational yard, the officers' house, the warden's office and so on. The most coolest part of it for me is being able to see the cells where Morris and the other guys stayed.

The place had an odd vibe to it. Maybe it's because of the emptiness. I tried to take it in and imagine back in the past, before the prison closed. I was able to see the solitary confinement cells as well. One thing that stuck out to me was when this guy was telling us that he tried to imagine his own little TV to keep him going in that cell.

Anyway, we also ate somewhere by the pier. We got some good and fresh sea food. NOM NOM!

It was a great day. :)

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FOR: DECEMBER 27, 2013

Presenting our Hop-on-Hop-Off tour day! We took a little tour of the city and it's main attractions and places. My sister and I thought that it would a wonderful idea to ride on top of the bus, outside. Why not? We wanted to see the Golden Gate bridge up close and personal. We realized, however, as we were going through the bridge, that MAYYYYBEEE it wasn't the smartest idea we've ever had. Although it was around the 60s or less, the wind made it feel a whole lot cooler. Our handwarmers gave up on us as we tried to shake every ounce of heat that it could produce. After we've determined that we've taken a good enough picture to keep, we went in front of the bus and sat with our parents where it was warmer. This was when I also found out that my handwarmers were DUDS! My dad's was not only warm but HOT! GRRRR. Needless to say, I took his and gave him mine. x)

ALTHOUGH it was warm where we now sat, maybe this was still not the greatest idea ever. My dad, for some reason, decided to inform our tour guide from a relevant topic being discussed (i.e. marriage) that he and my mom have been on honeymoon for about 20 years now. GAG. PUKE. RED FACE. BLUSH. HIDE. THIS IS EMBARRASSING! With nowhere to run without killing myself, I buried my face in my hands and kept my head held LOW for a while after that occurrence.

We ate at a great Japanese restaurant after that tour. I got my favorite mixed tempura box. NOM NOM NOM! <3 The photo of myself with a monkey is at Chinatown. Monkeys are just too cute!

We then got dropped off at a  place where we could walk to see Lombard Street. My parents gave up on walking and told my sister and I to keep going on our own. THAT WAS A HIKE. I wish I had my tennis shoes with me but I had to man it up with my brown leather boots. I was out of breath by the time we reached the top. We took pictures with the cars going down the street and headed down shortly after appreciating the view.

We walked around the city a little bit more and ended up at this Olde time arcade place. That's where the goofy mirror pic was taken! I wanted to take a picture in an old fashioned photo booth but it cost too much! :( BUMMER. 

We were in line to ride the cable car and were set to be waiting there for hours before we could ride. This guy went to the line and told us he had a limo for the same price but that we didn't have to wait in line. He gathered a few more people with him and then we rode the limo to our hotel! FANCY! Haha. My first time. :D Family picture time again...

End of our day 2! :D

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One of our days in Cali! I don't recall exactly when this was... But the weather was PERFECT for walking/running. My uncle took my dad,  sister, grandpa and myself out for a good hour or so walk. I couldn't get enough of the weather and the sights.

There was one HAHAHAHA moment during this walk... Actually a few so I guess I'll enumerate them.

My dad trying to compete with me. He was trying to walk very fast with trying to not show it as much. I told him not to even try because I could beat him with little to no ease. The following day, he was so sore and told us that he wasn't gonna walk like that again.

My sister and I took turns walking with our grandpa. He's pretty fit for his age and conditions, but he couldn't keep up with our pace so we took turns walking with him so that he wouldn't be walking alone.

* My sister would jog to catch up with me several times during our walk. One time, I thought that it was her approaching so I began to run and as soon as I looked at who was beside me, it was a MAN that I didn't know. I was so embarrassed! x)

After our walk, my uncle took us to this vegetarian thai place. I ordered the crispy noodles with veggies and sauce and MAN that was so yummy! :D

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FOR: December 23, 2013

It was my boy, BASTIAN's 8th birthday! I cannot believe how much he has grown. I must be getting old. I remember when he was a tiny baby! He's grown up to be such an intelligent and loving boy.

These pictures mean a lot to me because he loathes taking pictures. He always has a straight face when we take one. But whilst we were sitting down at Soup Plantation, I asked him if he would take a picture with me with him smiling because it was his birthday. He complied and had such a pretty smile on. He did the same for my parents and grandpa. SWEETNESS. <3

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FOR: December 27, 2013

YAY! Finally. SO SO SO behind on my blog from our vacation. Bare with me as I try to catch up. x)

These pictures were taken on our first day in San Francisco. We checked in our hotel Westin St. Francis and boy was that hotel fancy! The elevator had windows so we could see outside every time we rode it. It almost had that feeling of a free fall ride so I enjoyed every moment in that thing. Haha!

We ate at Boudin's in Macy's after my sister and I had given up on shopping. You have to consider that this was the 26th, the day after Christmas. We were informed that Macy's had a big sale going so we went there right after we got settled in the hotel. I was excited because almost every section in the store had a ___% off sign or had a decent section of items on clearance. But to my dismay, the clothes were SUPER expensive despite the many markdowns (i.e. 50% off... Original price: $400). After an hour or so of browsing, my sister and I came to the conclusion that the items in that store, due to the prices, weren't meant for us. So we ate (perfect remedy)!

We then walked around the streets and enjoyed the view. The place was crowded! Maybe it's the city life... You know, us being from the suburbs, where there's a ton of trees and grasslands... Yeah.

After a good bit of walking, we decided it was time for dinner! So we ate at this Burger Bar and the food was DELISH! We killed time until it was our time to ice skate.

Ended our first day in San Francisco ICE SKATING! If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know I stink at anything that has to do with coordinating my feet and balancing (i.e. riding a bike, skiing, etc.). This was a YAY me and proud of myself moment. Took us a while to get the hang of it but I’m glad my sister did it with me. My sister was forced to go with me because I didn't tell my mom that she didn't want to. But I think she enjoyed it. She fell once. I NEVER FELL. My prayers were answered! Haha! We stayed against the wall and held onto the hand rails for the longest time but after a while, I started to skate without holding onto anything with my sister trailing right behind me. It was definitely a neat experience! I thoroughly enjoyed it! :D

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Selfie outside of Alcatraz, overlooking the City by the Bay, San Francisco! ☀️ I loved the view! 😍 Also, I thoroughly enjoyed touring the prison. I learned so many interesting things! It's neat to be able to be in that place, where history was made. 😁 #SanFrancisco #CityByTheBay #Alcatraz #prison #selfie (at Alcatraz Island)