oklaHOMEa

I woke up Monday afternoon after a long night shift on Sunday to an iPhone of CNN updates about a major twister striking Moore, Oklahoma.  My heart sunk.  My initial reaction was to think "Poor Moore."  It seems that every time a tornado hits Oklahoma, it hits Moore.  Can that poor suburb catch a break?
I turned on the TV and the images blew me away.  Growing up in Oklahoma tornado watches or warnings didn't really phase me.  It was a chance to clean the luggage out of the closet under the stairs and hide in there with my sister while Daddy stood on the porch watching the sky and Momma yelled at him to get back in the house.  My house was never hit, none of my friends or family were ever affected directly by one--I have always known tornadoes were devastating and I've seen plenty of damage they cause, but the footage I have seen this past week has been the worst I've ever seen.
Thankfully my parents live in eastern Oklahoma (also where my grandfather is now) and my sister lives about 10 miles south of Moore, so I was fairly confident everyone in my family was safe.  I have several friends in the area so I immediately started texting them and checking Facebook for status updates to tell me they were OK.  Thankfully, I have escaped another tornado without anyone close to me being affected.  However, I have several acquaintances who have lost their homes completely or had damage to their homes or businesses.
I also knew that Oklahomans would immediately come together and help our own.  Our great state has shown this time and time again--when faced with tragedy, we always come out on the other side stronger and better with the help of our family and friends.  Oklahomans are a resilient bunch.  I'm so proud to be one, and I hate being away from my great state during times like this.  After living so many places, it is and always will be my home.  And to quote Jason Boland and the Stragglers...."If I ever get back to Oklahoma, gonna nail my feet to the ground...."  Sorry, Alex.
Keep praying and sending positive juju to everyone in Oklahoma and across the country who are touched by the devastation of this storm.
And if you haven't been blessed enough to go to God's Country--add it to your places to go before you die list.

ONE YEAR

It is crazy to believe that one year ago today Alex and I were walking down the aisle.  It has been an amazing, adventurous, crazy first year of marriage.  I know very few people can say that they have put down their sweet doggy the day after their wedding, moved to a foreign country together five days later, gotten a puppy two weeks later, spent nine months living the ex pat life in Johannesburg, traveling to amazing places most people only dream about, moved home to a country they now appreciate more than ever, bought a house, had one start a new job, and readjust again to life as newlyweds in the country they call home.
We are so blessed with the amazing family and friends that celebrated with us one year ago as we started our life together, and we think of you all often!
Here are some photos to remember our day (taken by Holli B. Photography)

Here's to a billion more years together, Alex! 

Work, work, work!

One of the big draws of us moving back from South Africa was the chance for me to be able to continue my nursing career.  I missed it desperately--the patients, the adrenaline rush, my coworkers, and the amazing fulfillment I walked out of the hospital with every morning.
Thankfully, Alex's company was able to transfer him back to Chicago much quicker than we anticipated, so he is continuing his job in the world of management consulting (so vague, I know) and I am finally back in the workforce living my passion as a neonatal intensive care nurse.  The road to getting back in the hospital was a bit of an adventure...
In America, despite that fact that each state must recognize the laws of another, every state has their own process for nursing licensure.  So despite the fact that I had nursing licensure in DC and Oklahoma, I once again had to pursue registration in the state of Illinois.  A back ground check, finger prints, education and work verification, and copies of my college transcript and waiting for what seemed like ages, I was finally officially a registered nurse in my third state.
I had applied to several NICUs in Chicago before I left South Africa, and only one of them got back to me.  They said to let them know when I got back to the States.
So promptly upon my return I contacted them.  And contacted them.  And contacted them.  They finally got back to me and told me the correct person to be in touch with, and he called me the next day and I had an interview set up!

All dressed up for my big interview!  

After a two hour amazing interview with both human resources and the directer of the NICU, it was back to the waiting game.  And waiting.  And waiting.

THEN, two weeks later while Alex and I were chowing down at Franks and Dawgs, right when I was to the point of losing hope and pursuing other leads--my contact in HR called me with the job offer.  I had two more weeks off and started work at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

It has felt so great to be back in the hospital.  I had an amazing preceptor on day shift who was so sweet and warm and really helped me get reacclimated to nursing after my hiatus.  I'm on nights now, and slowly getting adjusted to being nocturnal and figuring out ways to still see my husband--it often feels like we are ships passing in the night.

All in all, it's such a blessing that I was able to find a career I love right away after finishing college.  I know that I am definitely in the minority in my peer group, and I am so grateful that I am working back in the field I love!

Long Time No Talk

WOW.  It has been a while since I've logged in to this bloggity-blog.  Luckily, not too much has changed on the blog world....still very few page views, all of which I shall attribute to my spitfire of an Italian mother, and the Blogger logo is still orange and white.  HOWEVER, what has been going on in the life of the Siegels is a much different story.

We said farewell to our friend the beaded elephant at O.R. Tambo International Airport and arrived in Atlanta the day after Christmas in 35 degree temperatures after boarding the plane in JoBurg on a balmy 85 degree Christmas night.  Our little Jozi did so well on the plane with only a small accident--she was so excited to see us after being in her crate for right on the 24 hour mark.  We wanted her to see the splendors of what America has to offer to the pet world, so our first stop after clearing her through customs was PetsMart where she got groomed and her humans purchased her a bed, toys, and food.  Spoiled girl.

While this cute girl was getting all dolled up by the jewels at the Atlanta PetsMart who fit her in at a moment's notice, Alex and I welcomed ourselves back to America (and the South) by gorging ourselves at Chick Fil A and drinking so much Diet Dr Pepper that I could have floated to Chicago.  It was glorious.

We piled in to our white minivan rental and hit the road, Jack.  I spent the first hour+ in the car marveling at the number of radio stations in America and texting my sister every last detail of my happiness and excitement to be back in the good ol' US of A.  Our drive to Chi was rather uneventful, with a small amount of ice in Indiana but nothing that was going to stop us from getting to Mamalicia's and Ralph's house that night.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind around here since our arrival.  We lived with the parentals/in-laws for about a month, bought a house, Alex 'started work', my winter classes started, I interviewed for a job and waited, and waited, we moved to our new placed, I got the job, started work, Alex officially went back to work, we've made some new friends, gotten settled in to our new neighborhood....I feel like all of these warrant some more detailed posts, which maybe will happen soon.

For now though, I have some studying to do for a test I have on Monday.

Until next time....

It's Valentine's

In honor of the day of love, here is a collection of images of my handsome husband and me.  Valentine's Day is totally cheesy and silly, but it is always good to remember to tell the ones we love how much we care about them and how important they are to us.  

ALEX, you are such a cool cat and I am so glad you are mine!  Let's keep on having fun and being goofs until we die, K? K!  I've loved you all over the world and I'm not going to stop loving you.  :)

 Hain's Point, Washington, DC

 Hyde Park, London

 Athens, Greece

 Santorini, Greece

 right after we got engaged--the Shenandoah Mountains, Virginia

 we got our marriage license--all ready to get wedded up!

our wedding day!  photo by Holli B Photography

our home and our Jozi in Johannesburg, SA

 Cape Town, South Africa

Namibia

Hotel Room Tour #5

Happy 2013!!  Alex and I started the year in Chicago--our new home!  But more on that later.  First, let's head back to the week before Christmas when Alex and I finally celebrated our HONEYMOON!

I had always dreamed of going to the Maldives for my honeymoon.  White sand beaches, blue water, ocean villas...it's the stuff romance is made of, right?  However, it was looking like the Maldives was going to be cost prohibitive until our move to South Africa!  (one of the benefits of our short tenure overseas)

Flights were cheaper from Johannesburg to Male, and then we found a deal for an all-inclusive hotel on Jetsetter!  Jetsetter is a discount travel site that is powered through Gilt--the designer fashion flash sale website.  I highly recommend you try it out if you haven't already.

We flew on Emirates (fantastic airline!) through Dubai to Male, and then caught a seaplane to get to our hotel.

The Maldives is an archipelago of 1,199 islands with about 300 of them being inhabited.  Tourism is a huge industry in the Maldives, and after a visit there I totally see why.

Our hotel, Constance Moofushi, was an all-inclusive resort that was amazing.  While the food was nothing out of this world, it was good and there was plenty of it.  (You have to remember that any food has to be flown in, so we cut them some slack.)

Here are some photos of our fabulous over water villa with access to the Indian Ocean.

View of the water from our deck.

 our amazing little deck from the back of our villa

 view of the water villas from the sea plan dock

the sinks had mirrors that you could pull close or pull open to see through to the water 

 steps from our deck leading straight into the water.  And a little shower to rinse that salt water off.

 half indoor/half outdoor shower.

the throne.  Notice the little kitchen sink sprayer like item...fantastic invention called the 'bum gun' to clean off after a #2  (too much information?)

 AppleTV and better internet in the middle of the ocean than we had in one of the largest cities in Africa.  hmm...

our super cozy nest!

I'll post some more about our trip later.  And our move to Chicago, buying a house, job hunting...got a lot going on right now!

xoxo

IG Update v. 2.0

What's been happening lately through the eyes of the iPhone camera.

Sister comes to visit Alex and I in South Africa!  This was on her first night here at a very weird Indian restaurant/cocktail bar.  Laura and I are both sporting the new hair fad, the sock bun!

 Look at that sweet weim face!

 The many faces of my handsome husband.  This is halfway through Movember, aka No-Shave November.  

We celebrated my dad's birthday from afar, and I reminisced on this fun night we had in Norman!

 My sister told me there was such a thing as baby cologne, and I refused to believe her.  Then, while shopping for a baby gift for one of Alex's coworkers, we came across this little jewel.

 Alex and my first Thanksgiving as a married couple.  Some South African sparkling wine and a homemade pumpkin pie (made with fresh pumpkin!)

Jozi dog on her first Thanksgiving.  She is still confused what Thanksgiving is--next year she will be introduced to Thanksgiving in AMERICA!I baked some cookies for a baby shower for Alex's co-worker.  I wish I had had some baby themed cookie cutters, but I had to make do with what I had.  It gave me a good reason to practice doing letters in icing.

 Our Thanksgiving celebration with a group of Americans (and some non-Americans) in Pretoria.  There were four turkeys and an amazing amount of delicious food.

The hazards of being an au pair....a flaming heart tattoo and a chipped manicure from playing with Legos.

Alex before he shaved off his Movember mustache.  He claims he won't be participating next year.

 I'm going to miss the wonderful clinic where I volunteered.  VACCINATE!

It was our sweet niece Tali's 2nd birthday, so naturally we put Jozi in a party hat to make a birthday card for her.  (Tali loves dogs almost as much as we do.)

We leave in less than 48 hours for our big move back to America.  Jozi had her vet appointment for her medical clearance this morning and Alex is at the government vet getting the papers endorsed now.  It's back to cleaning and laundry for me!  Can't wait to be stateside again.

xoxo