In my latest friDIARY post, I’m sharing a quick life update.
Hi friends! It’s been two months since my last friDIARY post, and even though that doesn’t seem like a long time, I feel like so much has changed in the past two months. Everything except the weather that is. I’m offended that it’s October, and I’m still wearing jeans and a t-shirt and still sweating when I take Gunther out for a walk. I had such an amazing summer, but now that the pools are closed and the lakes and rivers are cooling down, bikini season is over, and I’m ready to get my boots you, ya know?
Anyway, I thought I would spend a little time just sharing a quick life update with y’all. It’s mostly my family and friends who enjoy these posts, so hi, fam!
I QUIT MY JOB
I’ve spent the last eight months working at a daycare with infants ages 8 months to 22 months, and it’s been crazy. It definitely has its ups and downs. Unfortunately, the job started taken a toll on me both mentally and physically. I found myself coming home from work exhausted and not wanting to do anything productive. On some days, I’d come home to Kyle who was unprepared for my lengthy rant sessions. I loved my little ones so much, and it was hard seeing them transition into different classrooms, but I loved knowing that I contributed some knowledge before they went away. But at the end of the day, the job was becoming too much for me while I tried to juggle going to school and keeping up with my blog. It broke up my day because I worked from 1-6 pm, so on the days I woke up early, I did just fine getting some schoolwork done, but on the days that I was too exhausted to make myself get up, I basically wouldn’t get any schoolwork done that day. I had to make the tough decision to leave my kiddos and co-workers and do what was best for both me and my future, and I decided to quit. Those little guys and gals will always have a special place in my heart, and I hope they grow up to have the enriching lives that they deserve. For now, you can catch me at my dining room table (because we don’t have a desk) doing schoolwork and blogging my heart away.
I PASSED THE PRAXIS
Back in August, I was super stressed about taking the Praxis Basic Skills exam. It’s been literal years since I’ve taken a standardized test, and everything is digital now, so I had no idea what to expect. The test has three different sections – reading, writing, and math. I ended up passing all three sections with flying colors, which was an absolute shock to me. I’m so glad to have such a huge thing behind me while I continue working on getting my teaching degree.
I’VE BEEN TRAVELING
Charleston, West Virginia
In August, Kyle and I went to Charleston, West Virginia to spend a weekend there exploring the city. We were pleasantly surprised by how quaint the little town was, but to be honest, we probably won’t be back unless we have a specific reason to. Gunther came with us on the trip, and he went kayaking for the first time. It was absolutely adorable. You can read the full blog post by clicking here.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Over Labor Day weekend, Kyle and I decided to take a day trip to Cincinnati. We dropped Gunther off at daycare and had an absolutely amazing day in the city. We started with some horseback riding, which was so much fun. My horse had my same personality in that he just wanted to snack the whole time. There was a lady that actually fell off her horse during it, which was nuts, but when she was done, she said she’d do it again. We also went to Findlay Market and had lunch. Afterward, we went to the American Sign Museum, which was such a gem. It was weirdly cool seeing old signs, and we even saw one from Shreveport, Louisiana where we met. We ended the day at Rhinegeist Brewery and enjoyed some drinks on the rooftop.
St. Louis, Missouri
Last month, Kyle, Gunther, and I went to St. Louis to meet up with our friend, Blaine, that we knew from when we lived in Louisiana. We made it a long vacation, leaving on a Thursday and getting back on a Sunday. We ate so much good food, and overall just had an amazing time on our first visit to Missouri. I’ll have a full blog post on St. Louis going up next week and a new video up on YouTube.
I TOOK A COOKING CLASS
For our anniversary, I gave Kyle a book with a year of planned dates – one for each month. The date for September was to take a cooking class. We went to one at Little City Cooking School and learning to make some Spanish tapas. Literally everything we cooked and ate tasted amazing, and I had so much fun. I would 100% take another cooking class with them in the future.
I’VE BEEN TO LOTS OF LOCAL DAYTON EVENTS
Kanye’s West Sunday Service
I want to just mention this before I start talking about this – I’m not a Kanye West fan. I just want to make that clear before I continue. But anyway… After the shooting that happened in the Oregon District, the Dayton community really rallied. Dave Chappelle rallied in the biggest way by bringing celebrities to the Dayton area for a free event called Gem City Shine. I wasn’t able to get tickets, but my friend, Sam, heard through the grapevine that Kanye West was doing a Sunday service on the morning of the event. Kyle is a Kanye West fan, so I woke him up, told him about, and we got dressed in about 10 seconds and drove there. I wore one of my Taylor Swift shirts in protest.
Kanye gathered Dayton locals to serve as the choir for Sunday Service. He was only onstage to sing a verse of his song, “Jesus Walks.” The rest of it was all the choir. Kanye just hung out in the midst of the choir during the rest of the show. It was so empowering to see a group of people come together after such a tragedy and continuously send the message that Dayton refuses to be destroyed by the hate people try to bring to the community. Dave Chappelle also came out for a spell to uplift the crowd, and then he quickly ran off the stage.
Even though I didn’t get to attend Gem City Shine, I watched some of the live feed on Facebook and kept up with social media. I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to be surrounded by so much positivity, and it’s a comfort to know that so many people with that much influence have the backs of the Dayton community.
Book of Mormon at the Schuster Center
I have very mixed feelings about this musical. While some parts were hilarious, there were a lot of parts that were just tasteless and really offensive. Even while watching it, you could see some of the actors and actresses shaking their heads at some of the jokes that were being said. We did have a really nice date night seeing it, and I’m glad that I finally did see, but I doubt I’ll ever go back to see it again.
Jonas Brothers at the Schottenstein Center
My friends, Kristina and Lauren, and I took a mini road trip to Columbus to see the Jonas Brothers perform. The first time I saw the Jonas Brothers was in high school when they were openers for Miley Cyrus on her Hannah Montana Meets Miley Cyrus tour. I have to come clean here and admit that I’m not a big Jonas Brothers fan, but I’ve been liking a lot of their new stuff, and I had so much fun at the concert. Bebe Rexha was one of the openers, and I absolutely fell in love with her. She is magic, and I can’t wait to see how her career continues to grow.
Springboro Oktoberfest
This was our first Oktoberfest of the season, and we enjoyed it. We met up with another couple, and Kyle and I both had some Rheingeist ciders. I don’t think they were prepared for the amount of people who came out for Oktoberfest, because they started running out of everything. A whole snack booth shut down early because they ran out of food, and Kyle’s friend tapped out two of the kegs. When we left there, we went to a cute little spot called Ambiance Wine Bar Cafe so we could get some snacks and sip on some wine.
Other events I went to were the Ohio Renaissance Festival, Italian Fest, Germanfest, Oregon District’s Spend-a-Thon, Yellow Cab’s BEER! event, and Taste of the Oregon District.
What have you been up to lately?
friDIARY is a weekly series where I share tidbits about my life along with [probably too many] unfiltered photos and random thoughts, including the not-so-happy ones. Check back every other Friday for a new post! Click here to read my friDIARY.
