SKYDIVING (3 months later)

So the reason I haven't blogged recently is because I wanted to blog this particular subject before I did anything else. I had some complications with the video, but Michael figured it out for me in a matter of seconds... this makes me feel like an old lady, "What's a URL?"

Anyway... my birthday was back in July and Michael kept saying he had a birthday surprise for me. I kept trying to get hints from him but he is a vault! He told me he would tell me what the surprise was the day before.
The day finally came and he told me the big news... he was taking me skydiving! I could hardly believe it. In fact, I didn't believe it... I think it was such a surprise that it didn't seem real to me. It wasn't until we were driving up to Ogden that I began to realize that this adventure was indeed happening! As we got closer to the area I started to become a little nervous. We got to the hanger, and we were able to watch other divers for about an hour before I jumped. It was actually nice because it calmed my nerves to see everyone have so much fun and arrive safely.

The time came, and I got all suited up (in a sweet Little Mermaid jumpsuit with Flounder on the pantleg). Dude, I was ready to go! I swear, it was another 15 minutes of waiting, so the anticipation made me a bit nervous again.

About 5 other jumpers loaded into a small plane with me and we started our flight up. We basically climbed to our height by taking big circles up to stay over the landing sight. I LOVED the flight up. We were right right above the mountains, and I could see the whole valley. I don't know if it's because of flying with my mom so often, but this was completely peaceful to me which calmed any nerves I had collected.

So in this tiny little plane there was only a plastic door that rolled up and down. Next to the door was a red and green light. My instructor jumping with me (Keegan) told me we were about ready to go, and before I knew it- the light turned green, the plastic door rolled up and people starting falling out of the plane! Before I had time to realize it, we had scooted up to the opening and my toes were over the edge. Keegan did a quick countdown before we jumped! It was crazy!!!! The initial fall was the scariest because I was falling upside down which meant I couldn't see the horizon or ground, leaving me a little disoriented. Once we turned around, it was sa-weeeeeet! We were free falling for about 60 seconds. It was crazy, because I didn't really feel like I was falling, it was just VERY windy! :)

Keegan then pulled the parachute and we coasted to the ground for about 7 minutes. It was one of the most incredible things. The Salt Lake Valley is so beautiful! One of my favorite things we did is when Keegan had me look up to the parachute. He then was able to tilt it so we were at an angle where I could see the Horizon and the top of the parachute at the same time. He pulled these awesome 360s so I could see the entire horizon! This view was beyond anything I can describe. When he would pull out of it, the chute would swing us up, and as we fell back into our harnesses, it gave the most incredible sensation of being weightless! It was by far one of the most fantastic things I have ever experienced!!!

This next part makes me laugh... we were only about 20 seconds away from the ground when Keegan says, "Now we're gonna talk about the landing..." Ummm... isn't this something we should have discussed before I leapt out of a plane? Apparently not, as all I had to do was lift my legs straight out in front of me so I could land on my butt. Once I was on the ground my legs felt like jelly as they were full of adrenaline! Michael said my entire body was shaking when I gave him a hug. I didn't even notice as I was still on a high.

To say the least the entire experience was... AMAZING! It is something I have always wanted to do, and is definitely something I will remember for a lifetime. Thanks Michael for making my 26th birthday so memorable. I love you!

Chelsey Hadley Skydiving in July 2009 from qbd3v14nt on Vimeo.

The State of the Flight of the Conchords

My sister Lindsey called and informed me today that one of our FAVORITE shows is finally being release on DVD! It's called The State and was a comedy sketch show aired on Mtv in the 90's. The DVD was supposed to be released quite some time ago, but they pulled it back which was so incredibly disappointing! Mtv has it listed on the website to come out on July 14th, and has some videos posted. They all made me laugh, but this particular one had me going as I haven't seen it in so long and plus... I love musicals! The part where the kid does his solo dance performance makes me laugh so hard!

MTV Shows

On another note, Flight of the Conchords is coming to concert in Salt Lake. We tried to get tickets, but couldn't as their show sold out in 20 minutes. Lame! I'm still hopeful I can fin tickets somewhere. The video below is the opening scene from their season finale this year. The entire scene is golden, but the part with the pigeons kills me everytime... and the landlord "uh", and Jemaine's hair...!

Lucky

While my dear friends Leesa and Tim are out of town, I get the wonderful job of watching their dog Lucky. (That wasn't suppose to sound sarcastic either as I love spending quality time with Lucky. We have a lot of fun together.) Thursday after work I swung past to pick up Lucky. She was very excited to see me. We ran around and played for a minute before heading out to the car. She was running around the front yard excitedly until I opened the car door and called for her to get inside. She was suddenly nowhere to be found. Oh no. Please don't tell me I lost Lucky. I am the worst friend/dog sitter/dog lover ever! After only seconds of panick, I see Lucky laying in front of the car. She isn't very fond of car rides. With a little coaxing she slowly crawled across the driveway/grass and hopped in the car. I turn the car on and Celine Dion was playing. Celine is Leesa's favorite singer, so I thought this might soothe Lucky as if Leesa was driving. We get to my house, and Lucky is ecstatic! She jumps out of the car and is sniffing everything. We go into the backyard where she meets my dogs. None of them knew quite what to think of eachother. Lucky and Sierra probably walked in 20 circles trying to sniff eachother. Once they got use to one another, Sierra just sat and barked. Sitka followed Lucky barking because she wanted to play. Nikita is older and can't move too fast, so she tried to sniff Lucky as she zipped by. I kept Luky in the backyard to play with my pooches as I mowed the front lawn. Lucky sat by the fence and sadly barked at me. I think she thought I had dognapped her. Once I finished the front and moved to the back, Lucky was so excited! She ran and explored the whole yard. She even found 2 soccerballs and 1 volleyball which I had no idea we even owned. By the time we left, her sweet little paws were stained GREEN! I loaded her up in the car (She showed more enthusiasm since she knew she was going home.) Michael called me on my way back and invited me and Lucky over. We stopped by his house where he has 2 Shiba Inus. Lucky went through the rounds again of sniffing a new place and having 2 dogs follow her around. Mike's dog Isis is eye level with Lucky's wagging tail, but didn't seemed to mind getting slapped in the face with it as it didn't stop her from following Lucky around. We sat down to watch a Wolverine cartoon and Lucky was just pacing the room. I tried to get Lucky to lay down, but she wouldn't. I asked Little Lucky why she didn't want to relax when Michael chimes in, "Probably because Odin and Isis keep invading her personal space." Sure enough, every time Lucky tried to lay down, the dogs were next to her investigating. Slowly we all ended up falling asleep. The next thing you know it's Michael and I squooshed onto his bed with Lucky, Odin, and Isis. Needless to say, it was a very long "cozy" night until Michael ended up kicking Odin and Isis out of the room.

On Friday night, I enjoyed a nice quiet evening with Lucky after having dinner and seeing Wolverine with my sister and her husband. I was looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday, but I think I slept in too long for Lucky as she panted in my face at 8:30 a.m. When I rolled over (and away from her hot dog breath), she jumped on the bed and laid on my legs. It made me smile.

Today we enjoyed watching tv and relaxing as it rained outside. Tim's Brother, Travis, came over for a bit and tortured Lucky by eating Fast food in front of her. He made it up to her by tossing her some chicken then playing with her afterward. Since the rain has cleared up, I came home to get some things done. I'll be back to play the "Flashlight Game" with Lucky tonight. I am very excited about it! Who wouldn't be excited about the flashlight game?!

I love Lucky!

WICKED!!!!!

Michael is wonderful and surprised me with Wicked tickets as my Christmas present. We went and saw it this last Sunday and it was fabulous!!!! The performers had beautiful voices. Every time Elphaba had a solo I got the chills. Oh, it was just so magnificent. The picture to the left is before the play from our sweet seats in the Orchestra. How pimp is that dragon? (The dragon above, not the devilishly handsome dragon on my arm. Rarrrr!)
This picture to the right is during the intermission. Yes, that is me beaming! Elphaba just finished singing "Defying Gravity" and it was beyond spectacular! I love how she hovers over the stage with the lighting. Oh mann.. LOVE IT! Oh and how nice of you to notice. Yes, I am wearing green eyeshadow. Just my little homage to Wicked for the night. Good eye Blogger Reader... Good eye!

These next two pictures are from when the power went out right before the song, "For Good". Those poor girls. Elphaba grabs Glinda in the middle of their dialouge and everything goes dark! The emergency lights come on over the stage and the girls kinda stand there for a moment before testing to see if their microphones works. They don't. The crowd applauds, and the girls do an awkward little move before running off stage. They dropped the current but had everything going within 5 minutes. They recovered flawlessly and "For Good" was perfect! The first picture was taken with "no flash" the 2nd was on some kind of night setting. Whoa.... You know those girls who can make goofy faces and yet still look adorable? Yeah, I'm not that girl.

Here is the end of our magical evening. I was sad to have it over, but I will remember every moment! I feel so blessed to see such an amazing production in London and again in Salt Lake. Thank you for such a thoughtful gift Michael! I loved it!

Why how nice of you to say...

I was babysitting my brother's kids tonight and Parker (age 5) was entertained by one of his books. He is learning to read so he is very interested in sounding letters out to read them. The particular book he was reading today had pictures of animals, househould objects and kids pointing out their various body parts. He would sound out a body part, "Nnu-oh-sss. Nose. Where is your nose Chelsey?" I would point to my nose and he would do the same. He then moved on to the next part. "Mmmm..ow-thhhh. Mouth. Chelsey, where is your mouth?"
When he got down to chest I patted my chest over my heart. He likewise pats his chest and says, "My chest is small. Your chest is big Chelsey."
I can honestly say this is probably the first (and last) instance where someone has sincerely thought I was big chested. :) Mind you, it was seconds later where Parker's little sister Nannah pointed at my stomach and said, "You have a baby in your tummy."
Thanks for putting me back in my spot Nannah. :)

Swim Lessons

I have never been fond of the idea of swimming. Ever since I was a kid I just didn't quite trust being completely enveloped by water to then emerge alive and breathing.
As you can imagine, I was teased considerably (mostly be my siblings) for never learning how to swim. When I say I don't know how to swim, let me clarify that I dont know how to swim. I can't do the doggy paddle, the floating in water thing or really being submerged at all. It just plain terrifies me. I decided it might be a good idea to conquer a fear and build upon my self-esteem a little bit. After many hours of "shopping around" I signed up for swim lessons. I know... terrifying right?
Today was my first day at 7:45 on a Saturday morning! Now that's dedication! When I first got there, I'll admit I kinda questioned what I was thinking. I was first instructed to put my face under water and blow bubbles. I was pretty pleased with myself until my instructor, Ezra, said, "Let's try to go a little longer, about 10 seconds worth." Is he crazy?! I can't even say how unnatural "breathing" under water is. ::shudder:: Once I kinda got use to that, I was surprised how quickly I was able to progress. During that 1 hour I was able to float on my stomach while blowing bubbles in the water. With the assistance of a kick board I could swim on my belly blowing bubbles once again. At the very end of the lesson I was full on swimming on my back! I swam about 5 laps on my back until the session was over.
Dude, I rock! I am so proud of myself and can hardly believe it. If anyone would have told me a year ago what I would have accomplished today in such a short session I would have laughed... LAUGHED right in thier face.
So I have additional swim lessons over the next few Saturdays and I am very excited about it... although I still hope I don't die. That would be a major bummer.

I need a job...

I haven't been working since Mid November. The bills are piling up. I'm slowly but surely losing my sanity by feeling "useless" and "unproductive". My sleep schedule is COMPLETELY off. ::sigh:: Things are not looking good kids. Then to top it all off, I heard about the creme de la creme on the radio. I came straight home to check it out on the internet and it's true:
Russell Crowe along with Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and Nicole Kidman are part of the 2009 Australia Legends Stamp Collection. So any Australian Citizen can just walk into the post office, get a role of Russell Crowe, lick the back of him and slap him on the back (of an envelope).
So being in the United States I don't really have a need for these stamps because after all I can't use them to send mail, but let me tell you what...I. can. use. them!
This little developement just might give me that extra burst of motivation to get a job so I can buy things that I don't need, but must have!
In conclusion, if anyone knows of any available jobs please let me know. My happiness very well depends on it. If nothing else, my birthday is July 2nd. :)

Sundance 2009

This year I had the chance to attend 2 Sundance Films. The first was called Tyson which is a documentary of Mike Tyson's life. Michael and I drove up to Park City at 7:00 in the morning (Yikes!) for the premiere. Mike Tyson wasn't there for the Q&A, but the director was. It was a pretty sweet experience. The movie itself was good and I still can't believe how fast he was back in his prime! Yow! There were many interesting parts, but I loved when he talked about beating his opponent before he even got in the ring by means of confidence and intimidation. Wow, it was really something!

Tonight I went to a Salt Lake showing of Rudo y Cursi with my dear friend Kristen. It's about two brothers (played by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, both of which I adore!) who follow a talent scout out of their little town to play soccer in Mexico City. It was a really good show and it had us both laughing and oohing over Gael. Gael, I want you to want me! :) I also saw my friend Alana while we waited in line. It was good to see her again as she is plain adorable!

So although I didn't in fact see Bruce Willis or Owen Wilson at Sundance (yet again) I quite enjoyed it this year!

Sledding

Lindsey asked me to upload her pictures from her camera. Amongst the pictures are some from when our family went sledding at Sugar House Park on 12/14/2008. I couldnt' resist putting some up:

Savannah going down tummy first...

... as Kierstin watched Parker going down backwards.

Nannah on Daddy's back...

... and a close up of Parker having a blast!

Keri preparing for the ride while Lindsey and I goof it up!

Ken, Me, Lindsey, Matt, and Keri link hands hoping to survive the big hill...

SUCCESS! We made it to the bottom still connected (and in one piece) where Parker wait.

Matt, Kierstin, Lindsey, Keri, myself, Jaden, Savannah, and Parker at the end of the day.

We had so much fun and are excited for the next snowfall to go again!

Candy Land

Today I watched my brother's kids: Parker, Savannah, and Porter. We had a lot of fun today playing Candy Land!

Parker and Savannah took turns for their dinosaur friends so they could use all 4 playing pieces.

Porter enjoyed eating his Top Ramen while the kids played...

...He really enjoyed his Ramen!

Afterward I went over to my sister Lindsey's apartment to watch a cute movie we love called Two Can Play That Game (mostly due to Morris Chestnut. Yummy!) Lindsey and Travis have 4 cats in their apartment (I think Courtney would be in kitty heaven here) and I brought our dog, Sierra over. They all did very well with eachother for the most part... until Juno swatted at Sierra. All is good though, and we had so much fun tonight!!!!

Sierra (aka Monkey) and me.

Sierra is getting acquainted with Jake and Jessie.

Lindsey and Jake danced a little jig...

... before dancing with Monkey.

And this next picture makes me laugh because Jake and Jordan look like little Devil Kitties or something:

Come Play with us...

Hadley 2008 Video

My dad made a video of the Hadley Family with pictures from 2008 set to some music. You can see it here. I love my family!

Homework vs. Porter

I'm stalling doing my homework and thought I would post this picture of Porter and me. This was right after his haircut. He had curls almost as long as his Aunt Chelsey before that night! Cute. Cute. Cute!

Top Ten...

I love Owen Wilson! I wish #9 on this Top Ten List actually existed!!!

Porter and Keets

Nikita is our familiy's 13 year-old family dog. She has always been so well natured and wonderful! Now that she is aging, she is pretty stubborn and honestly sometimes pretty difficult as her sight and hearing have pretty much gone.

The other day mom was watching the kids including 16-month old Porter who also has the sweetest personality. He is heaven sent! Parker was in the living room building his roads around Nikita (since she can't get up easily anymore). Well Porter walked into the room, and gave Nikita some soft pets on the head before he lay down and rested his head on her. I couldn't believe Nikita let him lay with her given her current state. I love this picture!

Yeah, What he said...

I have always enjoyed reading (and agreeing with laughter to) Rick Reilly's articles at the end of Sports Illustrated. With no surprise he once again hit the nail square on the head with this article. I'm not even a Utah "Fan" but I completely agree.


I'm not normally a hateful person, but the BCS knows exactly how to fill my heart with malice. Although it may be difficult for "one person to make a difference", I'm still going to write them a letter (Truthfully) displaying my disgust for their corrupt system. Anyone else who wants to join me with their words is more than welcome.

Please send opinions, concerns, thoughts (ahem ::death threats::) to: BCSFootballOrg@hotmail.com