4 days, 4 days, 4 days!!!

Well, here we are! One day away from September already and I couldn't be happier about that! Fall is right around the corner and it's my favorite time of year and from what I've been told, this is one of the most beautiful areas to see during the Fall.  Let's hope this holds true.  I've also been told that it is a bit dryer (humidity wise) in the Fall and Winter, I REALLY hope this holds true because I'm so sick of this humidity! YUCK! We don't have A/C here because it really isn't needed.  There's a few weeks out of the summer that are "scorching" hot aka 85-90 degrees, and a few random days have hit here and there as well but I do not feel that calls for an A/C purchase!  I guess that's the California in me knowing the true definition of "scorching" heat when it's 115 degrees out.  Only difference is it is DRY heat, not this yucky muggy garbage.  Anyway, I'm excited for Fall and all the beauty it has to bring here.

I leave in 4 days for my first trip home to visit. I am ecstatic about that! I feel like a child on the days preceding Christmas. No joke...I am THAT excited! :) I am so thankful my new job is understanding and flexible and told me trips home shouldn't be an issue as long as I give enough notice...phew!

It's been a crazy few weeks around here...unfortunately we had 2 houses catch on fire on the street over from us.  It was truly a sad sight to see.  It happened so quickly and before anyone could do anything one house was up in flames and it was jumping to the other unit (we are condo style homes so we share a wall with our neighbors).  No one was hurt, thank God, but both houses were considered a complete loss.  So sad. One family wasn't even in town, and the other wasn't home when the fire was at it's biggest, she was there about an hour before it happened.  It's a devastating sight to drive by every day.  Just heart breaking.

Speaking of fires, I nearly blew up our own house on Wednesday.  We don't have a microwave here (and don't use one enough to even notice that we needed to buy one), so I use the stove for everything and we have gas stoves here which I used growing up so I'm pretty familiar with them.  Well, Wednesday morning I'm warming up a tortilla (because a WW tortilla with pb, chia seeds, and slivered almonds has been my favorite snack lately) on the burner and THOUGHT I turned it all the way off.  I continued to get ready and knew it was going to be a pretty hot day so I closed all the windows and blinds to make sure the house stayed cool.  I took off for work and when I came home I noticed a funny smell, one that I had never smelled before.  I assumed that it was the trash, I had done a lot of cooking and cutting of fruit the night before so I figured maybe something was just going bad in the trash so I took it out.  I came back into the house to light a candle and realized "hmmm, that isn't a trash smell, IT'S GAS"!!! I left the burner turned over just enough to let gas leak out of the stove for 5+ hours in my house with all the windows closed.  I panicked and immediately opened all the windows, doors, the door to the garage with the garage door open, all the fans in the house on high and called housing to have them come make sure my house was safe to be in.  Big oops.  They came out and immediately noticed the smell, they had their little gas sensor machine and made sure nothing was leaking pipe wise and that it was just the stove that I had left on.  At this point I already felt sick to my stomach and had a massive headache.  They said it would be best if I aired it out and left for a bit which is exactly what I did! Yikes.  Big mistake on my part and thank goodness I didn't light that candle!

Looking forward to the next couple weeks! I'm excited for all the amazing food, friends, and fun I'm about to have! I can't wait to see everyone.

Happy Saturday!

Birthday fun

Another year has passed and I am officially 26...or is it 27? I am embarrassed to admit that this entire year I couldn't figure out how old I was turning.  Someone even wished me a, "Happy 27th Birthday" and I went along with it as if they were right.  Then, I began questioning it and confusing myself and having to count from the date I was born.  This wasn't the first time this happened this year.  UH OH. :) We were planning on leaving town for my birthday but once the neighbors got wind that it was my birthday they immediately began planning a block party with everyone so we of course, stayed in town instead.  It was so much fun! Tons of great food and friends, drinks (MOONSHINE, yes, I never thought I'd ever get to taste REAL moonshine) made staying in town worth it.  Speaking of moonshine, ever tried it? Well, this stuff isn't just plain moonshine, it's apple pie moonshine.  It's from Louisiana and it's the real deal.  It has apple slices, spices, and well, moonshine.  It's not made with Everclear like a lot of the "moonshine" you will find being sold up here, it's the real deal.  It is delicious!

One of the wives made my day extra special by making PB and chocolate cake pops because she knew I loved anything PB and chocolate because the prior weekend we had been hanging out and I made a simple comment about how it was my favorite and she remembered.  I love when people do that and pay attention to the small details, it's what I do for others.

If there is one thing this town has going for it, it's the abundance of homemade fudge and ice cream shops! We all know how much I love good ice cream! We hit up one of my favorites on the night of my birthday :) 

To new friends...

I will admit, it was a bit hard being away from family for my birthday.  It was the first birthday in 26 years that I wasn't there with them to celebrate and have our traditional family birthday dinner.  It almost feels like my birthday hasn't even arrived yet.  However, even from afar my parents and friends showered me with gifts and cards through the mail and texts and FaceTime calls.  One of my favorite calls of the day was from my toddlers at La Rue.  They all sang happy birthday to me and passed the phone around.

From my parents (they also bought me my winter jacket which I'll probably need here soon!) and the J'adore is from a great friend.  Chanel, J'adore, and house decor...perfect! Did I mention I bought 2 new perfumes before leaving Cali(the new Dolce perfume and Daisy by Marc Jacobs)? A girl can never smell too good right?

The absolute WORST thing about my birthday was the 50+ mosquito bites I got on my lower body.  Yes, 50+ from the waist down and that was with pants on and those pants were covered in bug spray.  As the day progressed the mosquitos began swarming, literally swarming, so I went home and put on pants and a sweatshirt and sprayed down (I hate bug spray, we tried to use the all natural stuff and these mosquitos didn't care, they bit right through it, they're relentless).  I went back out and kept getting bit and swarmed by these mosquitos.  The next day I woke up with welts and bruises and just awful bites all over my lower half.  I counted them and I had over 50 bites! My legs were swollen and bruised from scratching in my sleep and neither one of us slept for 2 days because I was up all night scratching and non of the creams were helping with the itch.  AWFUL.  Not sure what the deal is with these mosquitos but they don't care much about bug spray and I've been bit multiple times since then, just as the itching stops more attack me.  I went for a run last night and didn't get bit once but must have carried some into my house with me and killed 4 mosquitos and got bit a few more times.  I'll spare you the pictures of my legs because well, who really wants to see that?

I am so excited to be coming home in 10 days, I am already looking into the NEXT trip home after this one and when I will be planning that! :)

An end to the job search...

The job search has ended! After searching, for what seemed like forever, and hitting many dead ends I finally found a job at a preschool.

I checked out every single preschool in this town (or at least I thought I covered them all) and just wasn't feeling any of them.  I went to an interview at one where I think we both quickly realized we were not on the same page in terms of what the way we preferred a classroom to be run.  That was OK with me! Not every school is the same, and surely not every school will be La Rue.  I came to the conclusion that I was being too picky and had too high of standards for the area we were living in...true, but unfortunate.

After running through all the schools, I interviewed at a women's shelter for a Parent counser caseworker...I landed that job! She liked what I had to offer and was impressed with my experience and education.  I was very excited about working out in the field with families that needed extra support and guidance to strengthen their relationships.  I understand things weren't going to all be happy situations, but I was ready for the challenge.  BUT, that same day that I was offered that position, I also had one last interview at a school that I had not checked into and didn't even know about until I spoke to one of the wives out here.  "It's the best in the Soo," she said.  With those words, I looked it up and took one last shot before I decided I was heading back to Cali for a month for a vacation if I didn't find a job.  I emailed her with my cover letter, resume, and references all attached and within minutes she responded with "Ashley, thank you for sending me your information, I would like to meet you, please stop by Thursday at 2:00 p.m.".  "Holy cow", I thought...could this be it!? I met her Thursday and she offered me the job on the spot.  She loved me, I loved her, she too was impressed with my background and it was a fantastic meeting.  It is a part time position which I don't mind too much.  I am considered the "lead" teacher from 9:30a.m.-2:00p.m. where I am in charge of the "Discovery" part of the curriculum, aka...SCIENCE and ART...HELLO couldn't be any more perfect of a position for me out here.

The crazy thing about this job is that she hadn't even told anyone she was looking to hire.  She said if I had emailed her 2 weeks before she wouldn't have even thought of hiring on another teacher.  She was just telling her husband how she didn't want to put an ad in the paper because she hates the interview process and then voila, my email popped into her inbox.  Couldn't have been better timing.

I've been working the past few days and truly enjoy it already.  I've just been observing and watching how things are done.  Apparently the center had closed down (due to infrastructure issues, it was located in a different building on campus) and just recently opened last fall in the new building on the Lake Superior State University campus. I feel like she is looking to me for guidance with curriculum planning and other center ideas, she is always asking for my input.  I have a feeling my ideas will be more than welcomed and I am very excited to help with such a fantastic place.  It definitely will never be La Rue, no place can ever fill that spot that La Rue has, but it will do for my time here and I will make the best of it and leave my mark as best as I can.  It is definitely the best preschool here and I am truly happy I hit all those other dead ends before finally arriving here.

I am still planning my trip home in 3 weeks and couldn't be more excited about seeing everyone.  One of the parents said "I think L may fall over in excitement when he sees you", the feeling is mutual little guy, it is definitely mutual! :)

California here I come :)

September 4th-19th.

Excited to say the least.  First of many trips home to come.

I will get to see my family, my friends, my hair will be done, hit up the farmer's market, I will get to eat good Indian, Thai, and Mexican food, and the best part? Baby TODDLER LOVE!!!!! :)


Yipeeeee!!!

A birthday month, Trip to Minneapolis, and Trader Joe's/Whole Foodsvisit

Many people that know me know I like to celebrate my birthday ALL MONTH.  Yep.  Every year I have multiple celebrations.  This year is no different even if we are all the way in Michigan.  We have a lot of fun things planned for this month.  I love that we share a birthday month because it's a second excuse to add more fun things to it.  D isn't a big "birthday" person but I am, therefore, he doesn't have a choice but to celebrate his.  This year is his big one, 30! I'll be 26.  I had initially wanted to throw a huge party for him, but that was before we had to move here.  That party is postponed for a few years :)  My 23rd birthday may have been by far the most memorable and pretty hard to beat...a quick recap on that was a trip to a week in SD, a trip to Mexico, a week in Vegas, and ended it with 2 weeks in Florida.  So it lasted a little longer than a month... :) This year we started with a trip to Minneapolis, MN to see Matt play.  We also have a trip to Chicago planned and we are tossing around the option of one more. I LOVE August!

This past weekend we made the long 10 hour haul across the upper peninsula, down through Wisconsin, and into good ol' Minnesota to Minneapolis.  D's brother was in town playing the Twins and it was a long drive but still close enough to do on a weekend.  We left early Friday made it just in time for his first at bat then hit the road home Sunday after the afternoon game and got home at 3:30a.m..

Minneapolis was neat! We truly enjoyed being there.  It was a happening town.  Kind of a mix between Davis and San Francisco, two of my favorite places.  Target field was very nice and the best part about the whole trip was seeing a familiar face! Matt is doing great with the Astros and really enjoys playing and we were able to spend Saturday afternoon and Night with him.  D had this brilliant idea that we should camp while we are there since the weather was going to be so nice, so since this was his birthday trip, we camped.  Camping, baseball, beer...I think that makes for a great birthday.

The view from the ball park was beautiful.  It was a perfect shot of downtown Minneapolis.

After lunch on Saturday we decided to check out the Mall of America to waste some time.  HOLY COW.  It was huge.  Overwhelming! There's an aquarium and theme park there, 400 stores, tons of restaurants, and a water park across the street.  It's just too much!

Sunday was the most anticipated day of the weekend for me.  It was Trader Joe's day! To my surprise when I found Trader Joe's, Whole Foods was right next door. Pleasant surprise! Whole Foods has one of my favorite salad bars.  It's loaded with SO MUCH GOOD STUFF! I pack my huge box full of deliciousness. I stocked up on my favorites and "necessities" from TJ's and was one happy camper :).  I have enough to last until we head down to Chicago at the end of the month where I'll hit it up again.

Oh and did I mention we also got spoiled with  having Starbucks so easily accessible to us? Hello Americano <3

Needless to say, it was a fun and successful weekend!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONTH TO US!!!! :)

Celebrating 30 and 26!