chchchanges

So I let it slip earlier in February that I'd been working for Starbucks, which I dubbed "interesting" and left it at that. For me, working at Starbucks was more of an experiment in the coffee world and a way to make ends meet. A lot of people are all about it, but the further I got into that particular store the more I realized that I did not want to work for a bunch of 30-40 year olds who still think they just turned 21 and can act like children whenever they please. 

Like I said, this particular store was not my favorite.. Starbucks coffee used to be my go-to, until I had real coffee and discovered that coffee beans shouldn't taste burnt 100% of the time, plus I would rather support local businesses in the Midwest like Dun Bros, Caribou, Urban Stampede and The Coffee Co. these are all local and built in MN or ND and it's better to put your money back into the community you love.

Now I am still nannying, but for two families which will be new to me. I used to only want to work for one family at a time, but with that whole grownup rent thing I really need the additional income and kids are the bees knees to work with! Now my new job for family #2 - I'll think of a cool name later - starts tomorrow and while it might only be temporary, I hope to bring as much love, guidance and awesomeness to this family as have the S family! Plus, I get to wear leggings and leggings are 100% my go-to pants. I just want the rest of the world to agree with this and allow EVERYONE to wear leggings to work. You can dress it up, dress it down, whatever you want.. just cover your bum and it'll be good ;) 

So prayers with my new job  would be appreciated. 

-Acacia 

Nanny Life | The Adventure Begins

To be completely honest, I was really nervous to start nannying again. After my last nanny job ended back in 2012 I decided that it was time to stop, and I did. That was 3 years ago, almost, and I hadn't considered going back to nannying until this last winter. 

See I had never really seen a need for nannying in the Northern Plains, unless we were in a bigger city. I see a lot of women are stay-at-home types and that's awesome, but it leaves a little to be desired for being a nanny since moms are home or are using the smaller in-home daycares. So after a little searching and finding families who want the one-on-one care of a nanny, but are unwilling to pay for that type of care, I stumbled upon the S's. 

They were like a breath of fresh air after being in the city for too long. Southern, wonderful and all sorts of committed to their kids, family and jobs. My kind of people! In the last two weeks since my job started I have found about a billion more reasons to love them and their kids. I took this job knowing it'd be FT throughout the summer and I could focus back on studies in the fall and maybe get that darn AA in ECE. 

Now because this is a big part of my life,  I will be sharing more and more, but please know that I will protect these kids and family. No names, pictures of faces or details about their work or lives -aside from my nannying projects- so I'll "introduce" you to the "S's". 

Red - Youngest and a spit fire. 

Dubs - Oldest, a thoughtful kiddo. 

Broski - Middle, crazy. 

Obviously the parents who will be referred to as my bosses or "S's". 

Since starting two weeks ago I've realized 2 things. 

1. Time moves fast when you like your job. 

2. I love finding people who are older than myself and hold to the same values. It's refreshing, even if my inner self is 40. 

But it has been exciting. I'm motivated and impressed and just all over happy to go to work everyday. It's no longer a chore for me to get out of bed everyday and get ready. I'm up, hanging out with my man before he heads out and just relishing the fact that I will go somewhere that I am actually making a difference. I hope you guys enjoy the adventure as it unfolds! 

Bad Blogger//Big Changes

I know we all have moments where we are incredibly busy, or just feel so blah that blogging seems like a constant uphill battle. I've found that during this time it's best to just walk away until you feel better. 

The last four months have been incredibly hard on me. I've gone from loving my job to completely despising getting up in the morning.. I was just basically on auto pilot for the majority of Jan-April.. I complained and I had my amazing, supportive and loving boyfriend point out the obvious: Get a new job. 

So I started applying to office jobs around the Grand Forks/Fargo area.. each time coming back with a response "you have a great cover letter, but you're experience is lacking a little" which only discouraged me.. Insert Eric again to encourage the discouraged. If I didn't have him, I might have resigned to staying with Amazon.

So I took a leap... 

I'm going to be a nanny, again! 

I was a little nervous, especially after interviewing with two people who were not willing to pay a full time wage for full time work! Seriously, I was a little miffed. I walked into my third interview with the S's and before I left my car I was all "Hey God.. please?" I was blown away. For starters a 30 minute interview turned into an hour and a half! They have the sweetest children and I was so blown away that A and J were so open with me.. I felt immediately at home, immediately! God was sitting there going "Ya buddy!" and I felt silly for doubting my heart being called back into serving a family as their nanny. 

So... now I'm going to start a new, old, adventure.. I hope to have you all along for the journey. I plan to write a lot more now that I don't have this sinking feeling of sadness in my soul. 

where have I been?!

I've been nannying, then I got let go, so now I'm ninja-ing. But really, I start training for a new job next Tuesday -wish me luck- and have been topsy turvy with everything else. 

The summer came and went, rather quickly, and fall is now upon us all. No getting kids to school, just getting myself ready for work. I bought heels.. that's a little short of a miracle for myself, I'm pretty much against being tall, I have an aversion towards it. But they were cute. 

Bru is turning ONE next month, A gets home somewhere around the start of all our festivities aka thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I learned a lot about myself, I've been thinking of going back to ombre hair, I used to have it.. then I was like "BLONDE" and now I'm all "CANT AFFORD!" So back to being cheap. 

I joined the Y just down the road, I'll be getting my workout on, lucky for me my schedule for the next 9 weeks puts me at work around 3 and off around 11pm (swing shift!) so I'll be able to workout in the mornings and still basically have a normal life.. when A gets home it'll be interesting, opposite schedules and all. 

I hope that this new shift allows me time to be on here, blogging and re-building a follower base. I am so sorry to have been gone. Life just gets in the way, all the darn time. 

-Acacia