Cross County Pt 2

Pretty much all of Oklahoma on I-40 was under construction, and it was the state with the second most amount of cows (Texas was first). Staying at the Baymont Inn & Suites in Oklahoma City turned out to be a great move as they had excellent customer service and a yummy breakfast. Texas was super flat and you could see for miles. New Mexico was more rolling hills and mile after mile of nothing but desert-y scrub, so we were very glad to get to the hotel. We made the trip from Ok City to Albuquerque, NM in about 9 hours and got there early afternoon so we tried to relax, but our hotel was kinda crappy so that made things challenging. We were glad to leave the next morning, despite being exhausted from lack of sleep the night before. We made the drive from NM to the Phoenix area in about 7 hours, and got there early as I had forgotten about the time change. So we are now 3 hours behind South Carolina time, which I know will take me awhile to get used to, because I was up at 5:15am today. My hubby slept like a log, for the first time in about 5 days. The biggest thing we had to get used to was the heat, as it was about 100 degrees yesterday. Today was still hot, at about 93, but had a nice breeze blowing so it didn't feel so oppressive. We had a nice Mother's Day, my first, though the main focus has been on my mom which is fine with me. My hubby is preparing his yummy shrimp, mango and okra curry for dinner. 


This week will prove to be a bit busy as we get settled in. I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, then I'm planning on getting my hair cut and my driver's license done. I will be so happy to get a haircut as my hair has been getting seriously shaggy and long and in the way. Might be a little longer to get the car registered and license plate changed. The moving company is coming tomorrow, which was a bit of a surprise as we didn't think the guy would be here till later in the week as he had two stops to make before he came out to us. So we'll have to sort out how we want to store everything in the storage facility and what all we want in the house with us. That's all the fun and excitement going on here, will post more in upcoming days as things start to happen. 

Going across the country by car

My hubby, our golden lab/basset hound mix dog and I (plus a very full car) have gone through seven states in three days, which is pretty incredible when you think about it. These are South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. I had been to all these states except for Arkansas and Oklahoma and my hubby had gone through all but the last three. We drove to nearly Atlanta on Tuesday night, then woke up late Wednesday morning (though didn't sleep much for the second night in a row) and drove to Memphis. We had found out last night that the Mississippi River was about to flood, but thankfully all of the bridges over it near Memphis were still open. However, the White River in Arkansas, between Little Rock and Memphis had flooded its banks and they had closed down part of Interstate 40, which is the main road we are taking from Memphis, Tennessee to Flagstaff, Arizona. So we had to find a detour for today, and even though we left the hotel by 5:45am this morning, it took us an extra three hours to get around the detour (which was super annoying as we had planned to drive all the way to Amarillo, Texas but ended up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma because we have been driving for 11 hours today). 

As I have said before, I have never been to Arkansas, but what I have seen from the detour and the rest of the state via I-40, I am not missing much. I will say though I am sorry for all the folks that lost their homes and farmland due to the river flooding. We saw the devastation of the it and the tornado that ripped through one of the small towns on the detour, as well as the damage done to one part of Birmingham yesterday while driving. I mean you see the news reports, but nothing prepares you for how crazy everything is in real life. Like all the homes with no roofs or those that were completely flattened. I don't believe I have ever seen the Mississippi River but it was very impressive and as one newcaster said, they were expecting it to get up to 12 ft above the river line when it does flood. It was looking pretty swollen and had covered trees and power lines nearly up to the top. There is almost nothing on I-40 through Oklahoma, except every 25-50 miles each county is owned by a different Native American nation, which had it's own casino. We went through the Cherokee, Creek and Kipopo Nations, just to name a few. It was very green and flat, though less green than Arkansas, which I was frankly surprised at. Also Arkansas had vineyards in the mountainous areas of the Ozarks, which I also wasn't expecting. 

Tomorrow we are hoping to drive from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I think my mom wants us to be in Arizona by tomorrow, but I think it we will end up getting there Saturday evening as it is nearly 16 hours there from where we are now. I could do 11 hours, though that is pushing it a bit with me being pregnant and a pooch in the back seat, but 16 hours is just too much

Packed and Moving

Well we have packed up the entire apartment, which took about 5 days, and thank God that is over with. I forgot how much I hate moving. We didn't end up leaving until about 7pm yesterday, which was way later than I wanted to go, but our moving truck didn't show up until 1pm, so there ya go. We drove to my friend's house in Georgia last night and got in really late, especially after we had been moving and sweating all day. I will say that that shower last night was one of the best ones in my entire life. We are about to get on the road again, this time heading to Memphis on our long 22 hr journey to the Phoenix area. Exhausted but glad to be done with the moving for now, until the truck arrives sometime next week and we have to put everything into storage.

Day 16 and 17

We finally have a moving date, May 3, so I'm glad that is nailed down. Now we just have to pack like crazy between now and then. Hopefully I'll be able to get to sleep better so that I actually have the energy to do this, which so far hasn't happened. We should be getting to Arizona by May 6 or 7. 

In 2004, Green Day came out with its American Idiot album. My hubby and I discovered it about two years later and were listening to it all the time as kind of a young adult anthems, damn the man and I'm a loner etc. However, MTV and all the radio stations way overplayed it and now most of the songs on the album, this one included, I hate hearing. Actually it made me hate listening to all Green Day songs, which is a shame because not all of it is that bad. 

Day 16 - A song I used to love but now I hate: Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWNRUVMboq4

Nearly every time I turn on the radio, this song is playing. However, since I only like a few of Katy Perry songs, I prefer the Glee version by Lea Michele. 

Day 17 - A song I often hear on the radio: Katy Perry - Firework

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiG0n-OUpFI

Finally some good news!

So I have been totally neglecting this site for the last couple weeks due to the fact that my life has gotten significantly crazier in April. I had to go back to the doctor's office and take a third glucose test after my second random test was high, which they neglected to tell me involved four blood withdrawals. Eek! I hate needles, especially because they can never find the veins in my elbow, so it is usually drawn from the top of my hand, which hurts like crazy. Thankfully I managed to get through it without vomiting or fainting, though there were some close calls. The good news is I don't have gestational diabetes, so there is a good chance of my baby being born normal size and not up to 12 lbs! The rest of my 6 month checkup went well, with no other complications. I am now 6 1/2 months pregnant and my next appointment is in two weeks. Meanwhile, I have an appointment with WIC to do a mandatory nutrition class with them tomorrow. Should be interesting if nothing else. 

My other good or I guess I should say interesting development is that after about a month of trying to figure out if we were going to buy a house or rent an apartment/house, we've decided it would be better if we moved closer to family. That is to say, closer to my parents, so we are moving to Arizona by the end of the first week of May. I have been thinking about moving there for awhile to be closer to them, but I honestly didn't think it would be so sudden. So we're going to be moving back in with my parents, which I know will take a bit of adjustment, but I know they will help us out and that's what we're looking forward to most. Living in South Carolina, we are 6-8 hours away from my grandparents and it's even further to my brother and his family in Mississippi. At least this way, if we have difficulty we'll be living in the same area. We are hoping to find work shortly after we get there so we can move to our own apartment. All the libraries I had been interviewing for in Arizona had told me that the most construction/remodeling jobs that my husband could do for his job would be in the Phoenix area. Plus it is nice to get to know it better, as I've only been to the area for 3x for short visits. 

First post of the year!

Ok not sure that I will be carrying on traditions I started last fall through this year, but we'll see. It is only the 10th day of the year so plenty of time to decide. I wanted something interesting to comment on before I posted. We got home from Arizona on Wednesday and it was freezing. I picked up 3 books from the library, plus a cookbook The Gourmet Cookie Book, so that ought to keep me busy for a bit. I've finished the first book, Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza: City of Ships, the fifth book in the series and it looks like there will be at least a sixth book after that. I'm still reading Chronicles of Narnia, and am on Prince Caspian, which is my second favorite book in the series so far after The Magician's Nephew. That book is currently on the back burner (as I own it) while I get some books I've been trying to read for several months out of the way. I also just finished Cassandra Clare's The Clockwork Angel: The Infernal Devices Book 1 and I have to go pick up another cookbook from the library tomorrow. 

Last night and today it has snowed/sleeted 4 inches, an unheard of amount for South Carolina, and I am off work/stuck in the house again as a result. It wasn't all bad though, as I did get to catch up on my sleep/reading, which has been nice. The only book I have left to read from the library is a biography on Augustus, which seemed fitting given I watched both seasons of HBO's Rome and was fascinated by Octavian's role in it all. For those not up on Roman history, Octavian was the adopted son of Julius Caesar and was actually his great nephew. He later went on to become Augustus, the first Roman emperor. I have read a book on his later life, in I, Claudius but not on his early start before he became emperor, which seems to be fascinating. 

Yay on vacation!

So I am finally on vacation in Arizona! My hubby and I arrived late last night and slept really good, until an idiot friend of his decided to text us at 6am to ask what time it was. I told my hubby that we should call him at 2-3am his time (3 hours behind Arizona time) and ask him that question. We are here for two weeks and the weather is slowly getting better. It's supposed to be 72 and sunny on Christmas Day, so should be lovely. Definitely better than the frigid, though non-snowy weather we've been having in South Carolina. Am excited as I just registered for a workshop put on by the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in MA, on using the Whole Book Approach to enchance a child's reading experience. Very much looking forward to that in February. I would love to visit the museum myself, as I am a huge picture book fan, though not a lot of opportunities to go to Massachusettes.

Anyways, I had found this article through one of the library groups I am apart of on Facebook and thought I would share, as it is promoting libraries. The article is entitled "12 Ways Libraries are Good for the Country", and can be found here. Another bonus about libraries is that in times like these, where the country's economy is going down the drain, is that a lot of the programs are are free or at a reduced cost.

Graduation!!

After 2 1/2 long years, I have finished graduate school for the second time. I submitted my final three papers tonight and officially graduation is tomorrow. I'm not attending due to financial issues, but now I just have to wait for my diploma to come in the mail and wait for my grades to post. I have an idea what I might have for one class but no idea for the other, as I only just submitted papers. I'm having a mini celebration right now and will celebrate in a grander style in Arizona once my hubby and I get there to visit my parents for two weeks for Christmas/New Years. I'm so ready for a vacation as this has been a very long and stressful semester. It's great being done with school, but it also feels weird, I guess because I've been doing it for over 2 yrs. 

The other good news is that I finally got a part time job, in my local public library, working as a Children's Room Shelver. My first day is tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. I applied for Medicaid in November to cover my medical bills and I am now approved. I just have to drop off one letter this week and maybe another in the next few days. I'm hoping to speak to my actual worker so I can ask some questions about WIC and some other things. So at least we don't have to worry about those bills. The baby is coming along fine, and I'm nearly 9 weeks. I am a little anxious about the flights but they should be fine as long as I can keep food down when we take off/land. 

*Squeetus*

Today I've been catching up on my missed blog posts as I've been busy and haven't had to read in weeks. Culinary Concoctions by Peabody's posts were especially amusing, especially the Turtle Caramel Corn post from Oct. 6, where she making the dessert "to get revenge on her dentist". I'm also drooling over her evilly delicious-looking Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes. I also just found out that I have a job interview on Thursday, which I'm flying across the country to go to. So wish me luck!

But anyways, on to my website/blog of the week.This week it is YA author Shannon Hale's blog/website named Squeetus, because she recently gave birth to twin girls and posted the most adorable picture of them here. I loved her Forest Born series, as well as the graphic novels she did with her husband entitled Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack. I found the website when I was looking up more information about the author. I like that she is against vehemently against censorship of books, as exemplified by this post here, plus she makes funny posts about pregnancy and other random mostly YA book-related topics. Her website features not only all of her books written, but also, FAQ, events she will be attending, games and quizzes, a create-your-own-fantasy story, book recommendations, author biography and contact info, and ramblings on books and reading. Highly recommended!

Injustices done while finding work

I, like a good chunk of the population, will be out of work as of mid-August. Granted I have been looking for jobs while I did have a job, but now that has been stepped up tremendously. I have been doing half of my search here in South Carolina and half in Arizona area. So far the best I've gotten is a chance to take some tests and a first-stage interview for a full time job, which I'm hoping I can get, but I have to go through another round of tests before I'm deemed worthy. And that job isn't even in my field.

The sad thing is most of my dream jobs require a Master's degree. And even though I am literally 4 1/2 months away from getting it, no one wants to take an interest in me. But neither can I get a library job requiring only a high school diploma or a Bachelor's degree (both of which I have). Where is the fairness in that? I have applied to both local county libraries a total of about 15 times each and no job offers, and I'm interning at one of them. I'm in library school, I'm getting a Masters and still I can't get a part time job in a library?!? It is uber-frustrating.

Even more so when I can't get a simple admin job (for which I have 3+ yrs experience) or a lesser job because I have too much education (yes, I even got rejected from Wal-Mart at one of my lowest points a few years ago). I'm just hoping at this point that I can either get a full time job in Arizona and move there and then try my luck at finding a job in libraries once I'm living there. I don't want this to be a repeat of my attempt to find work in the UK five years ago, when I eventually learned that I couldn't get a job there despite getting a degree there because I wasn't British or European Union.

My first blog

Let me introduce myself. My name is Rachel (aka Librarygirl) and I'm studying to be a Youth Services Librarian. I love to read both Children and Young Adult literature, in addition to fantasy, historical fiction, biography, mystery, nonfiction etc. Since I'm free this summer (not taking classes) I am spending most of my time catching up on series I haven't had time to read, such as Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments Trilogy or Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza series.

I love to travel though I haven't had money to much lately, apart from going to visit my parents in Arizona. I did get to see some pretty spectacular scenery there: the Painted Desert, Monument Valley, Wupatki National Park, the Grand Canyon, the Meteor Crater, and the San Francisco Mountains. I fell in love with the state the first time I visited. I am hoping to move there once I finish school.

I have been married to my English husband John for nearly 4 1/2 years. He got me interested in English football, or soccer to the the US. We're both fans of Liverpool Football Club, and have been watching the World Cup intensely. I'm sad that both England and the US have been knocked out, but happy to watch Spain and others continue. He's also got me interested in the TV show Top Gear, a British car show and Doctor Who (starting in 2005).