employment and the country.

okay, 

so i've been gone from the blogging world for way too long.

my apologies.

it's been a pretty crazy emotional couple weeks.

many tears were cried.

but,

i survived.

 and not only did i survive

i got a job!!!

i am officially a kindergarten teacher

and will have my very own classroom of little ones in the fall!

this is a HUGE answer to prayer for me

and i am so so so thankful to have employment in a job market that is not very teacher friendly right now. 

not to mention the school i'll be at is pretty wonderful.

however, the job is in merced.

you've probably never heard of it,

that would make sense.

it's a smallish town in the central valley of california, 

farm country.

it's not exactly a town people are dying to live in.

myself included.

but merced does have a few things going for it...

my sweet fellow animal fry loving nephew camden. he just turned 4.

my adorable cuddlebug nephew andersen. he's 2.

and my little angel of a niece kayley. she's 2 months old.

plus their parents, 

my brother and sister-in-law,

who are two of my favorite people.

without these people i'm pretty sure this wouldn't be happening.

but it is happening.

i'm moving to a completely new town.

a small town.

i've never lived in a small town.

i guess i won't be a country girl living in the city anymore.

i'll be a city girl living in the country.

funny how life works sometimes!

 

my first giants game

sorry blog posts have been a little less frequent lately.
i'll be back on the 5 day a week wagon soon!

i am full immersed in interview mode for jobs next year,

which i don't exactly love.

i find the process of "selling myself" to be very uncomfortable.

but as a friend told me,

if you enjoy talking about how great you are,

you probably have issues. ;)

i did attend my first san francisco giants baseball game on saturday.

it was fun!

to be clear, as a los angeles girl born and raised

i will always bleed dodger blue.

but i was fun to pretend to be a giants fan for a game!

and you really can't beat the view:

also i ate a lot.

carbs carbs and more carbs.

garlic fries.

a hot dog.

nachos.

popcorn.

it was cinco de mayo so we kinda went all out!

i'm back on the diet now.

but as i told my personal trainer this morning,

i just don't ever want to be a person that is so consumed with weight that they don't let themselves indulge sometimes.

and oh boy did we indulge.

totally worth it! :)

 

a glimpse into the life of a flight attendant.

before i quit my job to become a teacher 

i was a flight attendant.

this information, when i was still in the career and now,

has always brought on very amusing responses.

"oh wow i've never met one of you before."

"aren't you afraid of dying?"

"can you get me free flights?"

and almost always,

"what's that like???"

what it's like,

is a job being a waitress in a very confined space 

with a whole lot of extra rules you are required to enforce.

oh and you're responsible for the safety of all these people who think you're their servant.

it's not exactly glamorous.

not anymore at least.

it is fun?

sure. sometimes.

you really can't beat all the perks and free travel around the world!

there is nothing like the perks.

and there's definitely a feeling you get walking through an airport or into a hotel with your crew,

like you're doing something special.

that is fun.

and other times you want to pull your hair out because you can't believe how ignorant and rude and stupid people can be.

and you're tired of ridiculously long work days full of delays and demanding people.

but yes, sometimes it's fun.

"do i miss it?"

no not really.

i miss the perks, of course.

and i miss some great people who i worked with.

and goofing around with the crew while we're inevitably waiting for something.

there were fun times for sure.

but being a flight attendant,

it's hard work.

the hours are crazy.

there are always rude people.

and the pay isn't exactly a lot.

flight attendants deserve a lot of respect and appreciation for doing what they do.

so be kind to yours, please. :)

 

never grow up.

i like to think of myself as someone who will never grow up completely.

me and peter pan.

i think there's something so wonderful about just acting like a kid sometimes and having fun.

and not worrying about being cool

or anything but enjoying every moment of this life we've been given.

one of my favorite 'never grow up' activities is the slip-n-slide.

not just any slip-n-slide.

the slip-n-slide.

my family has been blessed to have a lake house in montana we vacation at every summer.

on flathead lake.

there are a million things i love about the lake house.

but one of those things

is the slip-n-slide.

take a look:

   

a month and a half and i'll be back on that slip-n-slide.

i. can't. wait.