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Let the Adventures Begin....

To say my first week has been an adventure would be an understatement. It’s basically been one catastrophe after another. Okay so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration (we all know I’m prone to those) but it has been rough. The best place to start, as they say, is at the beginning so let’s travel back to when it all started;

                I never really set out to become a farmer but I guess you could say it’s in my blood, I did after all grow up in a county where it’s more likely for you to be driving down the road and see a cow before you saw another car. So when my mom remarried and it turned out that the guy was a farmer, I’m talkin full blown farmer here folks manure on his boots and all, it kind of felt like a piece of my soul fell back into place. I’m a born animal lover and prefer to be outside rather than sitting inside watching what our society calls T.V these days. But I also have a restless soul. One that craves new places and faces. So after high school I hit the road. I traveled. I wondered. I settled here, then picked up and settled over there. I had fun, I saw new things, I met new people, I tasted new food and I allowed myself the opportunity to experience a side of life I had been missing in the small town I had grown up in. Over the ensuing years, that man my mom had married and I began to forge a relationship. We discovered we shared the same sense of humor, the same beliefs in the important things (like which Will Farrell movie is the best, and where to get the best slice of pizza in town was), had the same taste in food (but not music) and shared the same feelings about the family farm, in short we became best buddies. Over the nine years since I graduated high school and hit the ground running I had visited home every now and then and each time it got harder and harder to leave as I slowly began to realize that everything I loved, and everything I loved about myself, was on the farm. So I decided to come home. It was both the scariest and most freeing decision I had made in my life up to that point.

                That was a long roundabout way of leading you into the timeline of the past week, bear with me though it will be worth it, you’ll totally want to hear all about our adventures.

                Last Sunday was a very trying day. I had to say goodbye to the family I had lived with and worked for, for the past five years. When I pulled out of the driveway I looked in my side view mirror to see them all standing there on the driveway waving goodbye to me. It seemed like a fitting end to the five years I had dedicated to them. And while I had accepted the fact that I had made the decision to leave and was at peace with it, leaving was no less difficult. I left around 2 pm on Sunday and had planned to drive about 6 or 7 hours (it’s a 12 hour drive from NY to MI) sleep for the night and continue on towards home on Monday morning. I was cruising along fine, hitting zero traffic, zero bad weather, basically zero problems at all. I was listening to an audio book (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens if you’re interested) and was about three hours into my journey when I got a text from my mom. I had called her earlier in the day, just after I had left but hadn’t reached her so I was surprised that instead of calling me, she had texted. But since I was driving I didn’t check the message and instead just called her back via the Bluetooth in the rental I was driving. She immediately informed me that she couldn’t talk long because she was trying to conserve her battery since they had no power at the house. In fact, she told me the entire county had not power, turns out on Saturday night that had had a powerful ice storm that had put nearly an haft inch of ice on the power lines and trees which was a dangerous combination. Well great, that was just great, here I was on my voyage home, the prodigal child returned home and all and I was going to be greeted not with flashing lights and popping champagne bottles, but instead by rolling blackouts and roads a haft inch thick with ice. Not ideal. But I rolled on anyways and when it came the time when I had originally planned to stop I decided that I was feeling pretty good, no fatigue, no butt soreness, so I rolled on. The entire time I’m driving I’m thinking that they’d have power by the time I got there. The power had gone out sometime near midnight on Saturday so there was no way it would continue to be out for much longer. With this positive outlook I made it to the house around 1:30 am, a mere 11 hours and 30 minutes after I had left NY. I rolled through the streets surrounding our house and found down power lines and roads so icy it was almost too dangerous to go 20 mph. Nonetheless I made it safe and sound. I was greeted at the door by my very sleepy mom and three barking dogs that couldn’t wait for me to give them attention (we have a Chihuahua – moose, a rat terrier- bunny and a beagle- Lucy). The house was pitch black, the glow from the roaring fire in the fireplace like a beacon as I made my way up the icy walkway and into the house. It was freezing, the temperature outside somewhere around 20 and the temperature inside in the low 60’s. Might not seem so bad for some but for our house it was near freezing. We utilize an outside wood burning furnace to heat our home. It uses a series of hot water pipes which travels through a coil and into the house. When the house needs heat hot air is blown through the coil that creates the hot air for the furnace, the hot water is then used for the hot water in the house. No joke it’s normally a balmy 72 degrees in our house. Dead of winter you can walk around in a tank top and shorts and feel exceptionally comfortable. So for it to be in the 60’s its cold, my mom was walking around here like an Eskimo. The only sound was the gentle, okay it totally wasn’t gentle it honestly sounded like an enormous swarm of bees out there, hum of the generator that was plugged in out back which was being used to run a blower on the furnace, so we could at least have a little heat, and a small lamp. But the stupid thing had to be filled with gas every five hours, you can imagine how much fun that was in the middle of the night with the wind and snow blowing and temps below freezing. So here I was my first night home and I had to sleep on the floor in front of the fireplace in order to keep warm and so I wasn’t scared (you might not know it but I’m terrified of the dark, usually in my room I have between two and three nightlights to chase away the darkness). It was not an enjoyable experience but it wasn’t miserable either.

                On Monday we had to unload my car, which was packed full of things my mom hadn’t brought home at thanksgiving, things I was convinced that I would need in the three weeks I would remain in NY (I didn’t). After spending like 30 minutes unloading, my stepfather- who will henceforth be known as WIZ which is my nickname for him, and I caravanned to Lansing to return my rental. There was still no power and the winds continued to blow which meant that the roads were drifting with snow. We took it slow and made it near the airport in about an hour, however the road was packed full of cars, bumper to bumper of people who were looking for gas, no doubt for their own generators, and last minute Christmas shoppers, what they were doing out there I have no idea since there was literally zero power, no gas stations, no stores, no stoplights. We quickly forged an alternative plan and escaped to a less congested roadway and made it to the airport in a little more than an hour and a haft. Now normally when the power goes out you’d think of it as an inconvenience something that meant no heat and no flushing the toilets or opening the fridge, annoying but livable. But here on the farm it’s downright unbearable. No power means no water, and no water is no good for farm animals. Some of my grandparents live in town so they still had water, which meant that we were near on continuously running back and forth for water. Right now on the farm we have, 5 Cows (2 of which are still calves), two pigs and 270 chickens. That’s a lot of water needs and a whole lot of water trucking, it was exhausting. And it lasted for an additional three days. Let me repeat that so you grasp the gravity of the situation in all the power was out for FOUR DAYS. If you’ve been keeping track you know that that meant we had no power for Christmas. That’s right no Christmas tree, no Christmas dinner, no Christmas coffee. It was rough. Eventually around 9:30 Christmas night our power came back on, the three of us were jumping and dancing around the kitchen like it was New Year’s Eve. It was glorious. But it was like Mother Nature took that as a challenge, no sooner had the power come on but the temperature decided to continue to drop. We had to work double time in order to catch up on farm work that was supposed to have been done during the power outage and as the ice got covered with snow and the temp continued to drop the conditions continued to decline around the farm. The sheer amount of ice we had to deal with was mystifying, it was everywhere and on everything. The first thing we did when the power came back on was check the electric waterier for our big cows and wouldn’t you know it, it wasn’t workin proper, due to the amount of ice covering every available surface it wasn’t really that much of a surprise. It took days for it to thaw out once the electricity started humming through it, by the end I was literally exhausted from hauling water back and forth to it.

                Anyways back to the ice. In those first couple of day’s I can’t even tell you how many times I hurt myself. I’d slip coming off the walkway and onto the front yard. I fell getting out of the truck, I fell walking into the barn. It became a running joke between my mom and Wiz when we would come back inside “So where’d she fall this time, someplace new? Or that same spot from yesterday?” and it wasn’t just falling, I slit my finder cutting a feed bag open, I slit my palm putting wood in the furnace, I burned my back sitting too close to the wood stove down in the little barn (wait I have to just have to take a second to tell you the story of this one. We have a small wood stove in our little barn that the wiz lights up when he’s down there dinkin on one project or another, and I have a sitting log that I pull up near it and watch him work. So here I was sitting on my log and enjoying the conversation and the warmth when all of a sudden I feel a spot on my lower back starting to sting and before you can say “Hot Tamale” it was full blown burning me, I hopped up so fast I knocked my log over and started screaming at the Wiz, “I’m on fire, I’m on fire” to which he turns me around and pulls up my jacket and tells me that no I am not on fire and just calm down so he can get a good look. I settle down for the most part but am still dancing around because that sucker hurts, turns out a spot of my belt had slid over the lip of my pants and one of the rivets had heated up and then proceeded to burn me. Lesson learned) I had even cut my hand when a chunk of ice had fallen off a branch and to protect a spot on my chest (which was already bruised) I had covered it with my hand-what are the odds right. I became a walking- talking bruise, it wasn’t pretty. But we got a lot accomplished and I learned a lot. I learned how to drive the big tractor, how to properly load hay on the truck to take to auction and how to not get poked in the eye by branches when pulling trees out of the woods to cut for firewood (You wouldn’t believe the amount of trees down from that ice storm, it was remarkable. All over town you see trees, and branches down.). All in all it was an adventurous week, and one I won’t soon forget.

                In the end we still had a nice Christmas and I got to spend a lot of time with my family over the past week. I just know there are more adventures to come, with me that’s always the case though don’t you think, and I still have so much to learn. I’m still adjusting to my life out here in the country so you can expect me to have lots of stories to tell, but also I plan to keep you up to date with all aspects of my life, like how I’m exercising without access to a gym-there is no gym within a 30 mile radius of our home (unless you count curves- which I don’t), and how I’m coping without access to a Target (it hasn’t been easy).

Stay tuned my friends because I think things are about to get interesting!!

Laters!!!

And That My Friends is All the Nanny Wrote....

      And that friends closes the book on the nanny chapter. Friday was my last official day as a nanny and I am filled with mixed feelings of both relief and sadness. Relief in that I am moving forward with my life and entering a new and exciting chapter and sadness over the leaving behind of everything that I have known and come to love over the past five years.

                When I was little I had big dreams, dreams that one day I would change the world, that I would somehow make a difference. Somewhere along the way that dream changed and I settled for making a difference in the lives of the children that I cared for. It might seem like such a small thing, caring for a child, but it’s really not. Children are so impressionable, they pick up our quirks and laugh at things we long ago had forgotten was funny. When I first became a nanny I had no idea that I would be doing it for as long as I have. But now that my time with my current family is coming to a close I can reflect back on the many things that I will miss, such as:

·         The feeling of William slipping his hand into mine as we walk up the driveway from the bus

·         James’ endless questions

·         Kathryn getting so excited about a book that I have to read it just so I can understand what she is talking about

·         Jason’s jokes that are so lame I can’t help but laugh (sorry Jason, but you totally know its true!)

·         Movie nights in front of the fireplace, where we all gage how good of a movie it was based on how long it takes for Laura to fall asleep

Being a nanny has been one of the most rewarding things I have done with my life so far, it has awarded me the opportunity to do more, see more, meet more people than I could have ever imagined. I have made memories and forged connections that will last my whole life through. But like all good thing, they must eventually come to an end. And I am both excited and anxious about starting this next chapter of my life, I can’t wait to see where it leads me.

                                Let the Journey Continue!.....

What I'm......

• Watching right now (as in lately- not right this minute because I am so totally focused on writing this :)- A lot of baseball- the Yanks are in a precarious position right now and every game counts and I am totally superstitious to the point that I just know that if I miss a game they will totally lose any chance they have at the playoffs. 
• When there just so happens to be an off day- I tend to watch movies or stuff that I have DVR'd which recently has been quite a bit of Face off- ya'll know my obsession with that show! 
• Reading right now-  Divergent by Veronica Roth. Excellently written and very engaging~ plus its currently in the process of being made into a movie - SCORE!! 
• Listening to right now- Lets talk audio book first~ I am totally addicted to this podcast called "We're Alive" its basically a radio drama from the survivors of a zombie apocalypse point of view. There are like over a 100 episodes but I just recently got into so I am only on chapter 6 but so far I am lovin it! I have been listening to this mostly when I run but sometimes when I'm alone in the car, (word of caution~ it is very explicit and they don't curb their language in the slightest) 

• Now on to music- recently I have been listening to a ton of Justin Timberlake and JTX (Seven day weekend anyone?!?) but my favorite single right now is Wake me Up by Avicii ~ LOVE IT!!   

• Hoping to catch at the movie theater this weekend (!) - I'll admit that its been a while since I hit up the movie theater for a little weekend showing, mostly because all the movies that have come out recently haven't been anything I would be willing to pay $10 to see. And this weekend is no exception, although The Family look - ok, but only if I can get my butt up and moving before noon when its only $6 for a ticket (which isn't likely). 
• Pinning right now- Tons of stuff for our 2nd annual Halloween party! 
  
  
  
   And that's all she wrote folks.... at least for today :) 

Laters!! 

How I Organize My......

Nail polish!

Admit it those pretty little bottles of nail lacquer are floating around in your bathroom somewhere, shoved in the back of a drawer or hiding under your bed because you never know where to put them. Not only are nail polish bottles hard to organize but us girls tend to have a bunch of them. So here is how I keep them;

All I did was purchase a large fishbowl from Walmart and plunked all my nail pretties in it. Bam- instant nail polish organizer. Now the trick is, is making sure that the colors you use the most often are near the top, not that its that much of a hassle to be digging around but it just make it easier. This bowl is big enough that I even keep my nail files in it, two birds one stone! Unconventional organization is often the best organization!!

Laters!! 

How I Organize My........

Tank Tops!

Have I ever told you that I have acute OCD? Maybe you noticed all on your own, or maybe your all like DUH we all knew that already! Well I know you all know about my obsessive need to have everything organized and in its proper place, to which my clothing is no exception.

Here's something you might not know about me thought, I LOVE tank tops, and I have a TON of them. I wear them as undershirts, or pair them with a cute pair of jeans and a sweater, I wear them when I am working out and I wear them to bed. Honestly I wear them everyday. Keeping them organized and easily accessible has always been something of a challenge for me. I used to keep them in a drawer in my dresser, but that got so full that keeping them folded became a challenge so I moved them into a three drawer organizer in my closet, but that got so packed that it became hard to find the one I wanted and ended up pulling a bunch of them out to find the right one, and then having to shove them all back in, quite a hassle if you ask me. So now I have moved them once again, and so far I am liking this current set up. So here's the details;

 Basically what I did was I took Shower curtain hooks, and hooked one strap of each tank onto the hook (it can hold a lot more than you think) and then hooked that to the back of my closet. It works really well, because I can see each of them, they are easy to pull off (simply slip the strap over the hook and pull down, the tank will slip over all the others) and it utilizes negative space in my closet. Its basically a win-win right now! 

I got these shower hooks from IKEA but you could get them anywhere they sell bathroom decorating supplies. I grouped the tanks by color and by style, since I have ribbed, racer-backs and I have spaghetti strapped tanks.

Hope you guys find this helpful, let me know how you guys keep your tanks organized in the comments!

Laters!!

That Dirty Little S-Word.......

Listen up people, I got myself a little rant to go on here......

I'll let you in on a secret...... I'm SINGLE. OH MY GOD can you believe it?????

The thing is, a lot of times when people find that out they feel the need the fix my little "Problem", but here's another little secret, I actually enjoy being single. I enjoy not having to take anyone else feelings into account when I make decisions, and I like not having to deal with another person's schedule when I make plans. And I really like getting the popcorn bucket all to myself when I go to the movies(!).

The truth is I have always been a very independent person. I don't need other people around to make me feel happy. That doesn't mean that I don't enjoy going out with my friends to dinner or the movies or anything else we might enjoy, but that does mean that if they can't do something on a Saturday night and I want to go to the movies or dinner I am perfectly content to go by myself. That doesn't make me weird. I also feel that I certainly don't need a man to complete my life. I'm not saying that having one is a bad thing, I'm just saying that I don't NEED one.

 That's not to say that I avoid relationships, but I am also not desperate to find one. My philosophy is, if it happens it happens and if not then that's fine too. Here's the problem though,  people don't seem to believe me. The first thing people seem to ask when they find out, and they do find out because a friend of mine feels the need to tell everyone within a 25 foot radius of us that I am single, is "How old are you?" 26 (at the moment) this question is usually followed by, "Don't you want to get married?" the two are not mutually exclusive, just because I'm 26 and single does not necessarily mean that I don't want to get married, and although I am not entirely sold on the whole institution of marriage, for the right person I just might change my mind.

So people lay off my love life or lack thereof. I'm not going to change it just because you give me a weird look or make a snide comment on my behalf.

P.S. Stalker this little rant does not give you permission to continue pursuing me. YOU are most definitely NOT the person who I will change my mind for.

And Thats All She Wrote....

The morning blossomed clear and bright. The light filtered into the room in beams of yellow that seemed to fill up the empty spaces with happiness. For a Monday, the day seemed particularly optimistic, which could of course be caused by the simple fact that this was not like any other Monday. No, this Monday was filled with glee and hope and all those other bubbly emotions that lift your soul and fill your heart with gladness.


Whats with all the waxing poetry you might ask, well its all due to the simple fact that I'm happy. Perhaps more happy then I have ever been. Something that I have been working my butt off for, something that I have sacrificed dinners and movies and weekends with friends for. Something that I have bit, clawed, and fought for has finally come to fruition. I, my friends, have finished college. It was official last night when I turned in my FINAL final project. To say I was excited would be and understatement, but there was also the feeling of fear in my heart as my finger hovered over the submit button, which was not something I had expected. I think it might stem from fear of the unknown, I have been working so long for this, its has basically consumed my every waking (and often sleeping) moments, that what comes after seems a bit daunting. Nonetheless with the dawning of the new day, I feel exuberant. I DID IT!!! I came I saw I kicked that Bachelors degree's ass (pardon the language). When all was said and done, I completed a four year program in 2 1/2 years, quite and accomplishment if I do say so myself.

But the question remains..... What happens now?

Well I have been sitting on this news for a while because I wanted to make sure that my family all knew before I announced it to the world, but I know what I am going to do next.

I had quite a few opportunities presented to me as my college career came to a close. I was offered an Internship in China with a finance company that does business with American companies. I was also offered an Internship here in NYC with Chase bank. I was also offered an Internship in Lansing MI for an brokerage firm. For the longest time I was leaning towards heading to China, it seemed like the best opportunity for me to get some Global Finance experience under my belt, but for whatever reason when it came time to fully commit I was torn. I wrestled with this decision for months, constructing Venn diagrams, and poster boards of pro's and con's. But when it came down to it I realized that I have spent most of my life making decisions with my head and leaving my heart in dust, and for once I didn't want this decision to be like all the other that came before it (as good as all those decisions might have been). So I made it with my heart and plan to let my head catch up along the way. When an opportunity came up for me to "Join the family business" I leap at the chance. So dear friends, I AM GOING HOME. Its back to hillbilly country for me in the new year and I couldn't be more excited. My family's farm is in the process of becoming a legitimate business and has ample opportunities coming its way, but my mom and step-father needed some help to make that happen. So I swooped in to offer my expertise and we are already in the process of taking over the world, or at least our small little corner of it. This really is the best decision for me right now, and for once my future looks to be chiseled in stone or at least mostly.

Remember that dream you used to have, the one that consumed your soul, the one you never thought you could accomplish and so eventually you gave up.... Well don't. We can do anything we set our minds to, You can achieve everything you dream, because I believe in YOU, just like I believe in ME.

 

Thanks for standing by me friends, I couldn't have done this without you. I shall close with a cheesy but effective saying;

 " This isn't the end it is merely a new beginning."

Laters!!

Weekend Fun!

Want to know what I did this past weekend?

Then head over here for another episode of the Many Adventures of Steph!!!

Memorial Day Weekend....

Wanna know what I did over the weekend??

Head over here to find out!

http://nomadtraveler.blogspot.com/

You'll enjoy it, I promise!!

Laters!!