Pics!

Here's a pic of us before we headed out into the rain :)
cute, cute :)




Here's Regine and I after the opera, in the cab
...we had a great time!!

Phases

So, I think in the life of a nanny, there are several phases...
In the first phase, you spend every moment of every day pouring knowledge and fun into their tiny little bodies, exhausting yourself and them by the end of the day. After a nanny finds out this is not either expected NOR sustainable, you settle into phase two. In phase two, the nanny realizes that while caring for children, you can actually get quite a lot of stuff done. You just have to keep them busy, happy, clean, and fed, then basically you can do whatever you want! You could watch TV, pay bills, or fold that huge pile of laundry that's been taking up so much space on your bed that you're being pushed off the side at night. This phase could last as long as a couple of months. The next phase is a catastrophic realization. The realization that in all reality, you really don't have THAT MANY pressing matters to do, and sometimes a nap isn't entirely necessary. You start missing the kids when they nap, because you've really had enough "me" time today. You realize daytime TV is disinteresting and full of reruns, and as a nanny there are only one or two bills to pay. This is what I realized today. I'm so used to a giant sigh of relief when they nap, so I can do what needs to be done, or take a much-needed nap, that today after that sigh of relief, came a few long hours of plain boredom. I kept glancing hopefully at the monitor, hoping he would wake up to play with me. I arrived 10 min. early to pick up 2 year old at school, cause I just missed the little guy! After 3 months of trying to just get through the days, today I got bored. Thought this day would never come!! But I think it's good timing, because now that I have the taking care of them part, and the dont' need that much time to get my stuff done part, I can get to the find fun stuff for the kids to do part. Like a reading hour at a library, a music class, or more trips to the beach (we'll see about that....) Anyway, thought that was pretty interesting.
Today w/ the 5 am wakeup the Dad informed me he wouldn't be home until 7 again. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Thus I was pretty crabby the first couple hours of my day. After being less-than-a-great-nanny to the kids when they woke up screaming, I had to rush to my bible to get rid of the Parent bitterness quick. That bitterness, it's like a poisen that will ruin your day, or your life! If you don't take care of it pronto. I decided instead of being angry that my life was being gradually stolen from me, one hour at a time, I would just do more things during the workday! Hence, 2 year old and I will be working out with cans doing aerobics in the living room again. I'm writing on the blog while the kids watch Max and Ruby, and I schlepped on loads of self-tanner during the baby's nap (for my trip to Indy this weekend-- much safer to self-tan than to subject your skin to the harmful real sun! Go sunscreen!), and made my weekly phone call to the grandparents while I drove the 2 year old to school.
The Baby even let me stop at starbucks for an iced coffee and some magazine-reading for awhile this morning! Such multi-tasking! So, I'm feeling pretty good about myself and the job. Even though nothing has changed since this morning, my attitude has definately been changed which is huge.
I'm looking to the weekend, baby. :) Indy here we come!
christina

Deep Breaths

Ok, so it's about 5:30 pm here in New York. We're entering the tail end of when the Dad is supposed to be home, 5-5:30 is the official time off in the summer. Well, the official time on the one day a month that things somehow go as planned. Anyway, it's been a tough day. Yesterday I was still flying high on being home, happy heart, loving life. Today I woke up even before the Dad woke me up, waking to the sound of screaming infant at 5 am. The mom is gone on business, so this sound becomes my problem. The day goes fine, until baby refuses to take a nap and vomits all over me, himself, and his parents bed. actually, the morning was quite fun, the 2 year old and I had a super-fun workout session. I had two cans of Chef Boyardee as weights, dancing around the house and doing some standard exercises, and of course the little guy had to copy me with a couple mini-jars I gave him. So cute. So cute. Anyway sooooooo back the the vomit. YEP. ick. so after bathing baby, myself, and the linens, we settled into a few moments of silence before the 2 year old woke up soon after being soooooooooo whiney. So we've got two whiney kids screaming and making variations of AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH all the time. whew. Anyway, I took a break from writing to feed both babies and finish up working... at 7:45. Ick. Anyway, sadly, I'm too much of a people-pleaser to really act annoyed, so of course I didn't say anything. Ugh. But I can't be too upset, because I found out today the week off I'm getting next week is paid, even though it's not one of my two paid vacation weeks. So, it's hard to be too upset (although I was for awhile earlier) when I'm getting paid 500 dollars next week for sitting around not doing any work. If anything, it helped to remind me of what I think I realized over the weekend... that bieng a nanny at the disposal of petty parents watching children that aren't mine ISN"T MY LIFE"S CALLING. Good to know, huh? :)
As Aunt Jane said, maybe if you have flight trouble every time you try to go to and from somewhere, God's trying to tell you that it's NOT WHERE YOU NEED TO BE.
As I said to her, Yeah, spoken like a true travel agent. You know if God wants you somewhere by if you have flight trouble on the way there or not :)
But I do feel like I got some clarity over the weekend about what to do next, which is sweet, because as so many college graduates can attest to, what to do next is the biggest question with so many potential answers! More about that later, after being home I feel like I got a better appreciation for the ole blog-readers and keeping them updated, so I'm going to try better to do that! love you all,
christina

Searching for God knows what??

Well, hello, friends and family! Long time no write on the 'ole blog! Let me start off by saying I'm GOING HOME THIS WEEKEND! YEAH! My great grandma died last Friday, and her funeral is Saturday morning. It's sad, but happy, too. She was so ready to go "home" to heaven, she led a rich and full life, dancing and singing to the end, and went peacefully at the age of 98. How much better can you go? So it is joyous, family gathering together to celebrate, well, to celebrate family! And such great timing! I was starting to miss home so much that I've been eating the things that remind me of home, like honey drizzled over cheerios and milk, I made chicken just like my Grandma does the other day, just for me!, and I even got a maple donut at Dunkin Donuts before choir practice because that's what I always got when my church friends and I would hit up Hyvee for donuts before sunday school. How strange am I? I know, I know. Anyway, who knew that I would miss home so much, when I haven't even lived there for 5+ years? geez! But I do, and I'm pumped to go home, even though it's just for the weekend. Yeah!
The other thing that's going great, is my mission that I started when I was in Jersey 2 weekends ago. That weekend, I started the Great American Friend Hunt. "What is this, the Great American Friend Hunt?" You ask. Good question! The great american friend hunt is something I dreamed up, after lamenting about my current friend-less situation with Cherie and Cindi down in Jersey. You see, when you're a nanny, you don't have co-workers. You work 12, sometimes 14 hour days (for the record, I worked from 5 am to 7 pm last night. whooooooooooooo!) and after a long day, even if you have the energy to go out and do something, what do you do? I basically joined everything my church has to offer, but that left me wondering... are these my only options? Are these 10 people my age my only options for friends here in New York? What if they're not cool? They don't think I'm cool? They don't think I'm funny? (Not that I've met anyone who shares this opinion, but I may someday hahahaha) The thing is, an independent girl like me can survive doing things solo for a long time. I've had the time of my life exploring the city, going to movies and out to dinner, and doing whatever strikes my fancy at any moment that i'm not watching the little ones. But then one day, it just suddenly got old. Ok, I thought, now is the time. Time to make friends. Anyway, so that weekend, after talking to the ladies about it, it started to sound more like an exciting mission than just the plight of a loser college graduate. So I started searching. In the past two weeks, I went to a new church service for young people, I joined online clubs about things like surfing, backpacking, and child-rearing, and I even facebook searched campus crusade alumni here in New York. Also, I found out that the local community college has 1 credit art classes in summer, and I'm checking that out as well. The results? I made one friend via facebook who I'm going to have coffee with soon, a couple friends from the young people's group at church that I hung out w/ afterwards at a bar/ restaurant, and my friend Jodi that lives in the city is pumped about my surfing and backpacking clubs and we're going to go with the club out to Long Island this summer. Pretty good, huh? It's so weird, having to be proactive with friendships, because they come so easily to me. Wherever I've lived, I've always got that thick-as-thieves group that's got my back and understands my witty banter. But it's different here, I'm starting from scratch! I have to convince total strangers that I'm cool! And I'm really not! Anyway, so it's been a successful couple of weeks.
You might be wondering why I haven't written about my little munchkins lately. Well, I guess it's because the things that were funny at first, like the vomiting and the weird things I found myself doing, they've become normal now. I don't even blink at my hand smelling like poo an hour after changing a diaper, I just squirt some of my antibacterial hand gel (thanks Crystal, I take it everywhere) and go on. Funny things do happen, like the other day when I said "Hey Buddy, come over here, I need to change your dipe" and he ran around the house yelling "NO DIPE! NO DIPE!" Or early this week, I was checking out my friend Kinzi's pictures on facebook, and he looked at the picture and said "Mommy?" To which I said "Haha, no, that's not Mommy, that's just some Asian lady." So funny. I guess after you've been watching them for awhile, you don't appreciate those small things anymore? The great thing is, the kids are great. I mean, great great great. The 2 year old is truthfully, one of my favorite people in my life. He's so funny and loving and full of life. He woke up crying from a nap, so we ended up taking a nap together on the couch with my big comforter covering us up. Do you have any idea how great that feels? To cuddle up with a little person that loves you enough to settle down just being in your arms? Love it. They are great. I really can't complain, I guess I've trained him well because when there are problems, I discipline and fix them and he listens to me. He listens! And does what I say! It's awesome! And he's such a helper, he loves to help me, well, except for laundry, which he says is "TOO HOT!! TOO HOT!" :) The baby's getting big, but his smile is soooo precious, he doesn't really even need to be entertained lately, he is happy to just be within a 3 foot radius of me, and watches my face and movements. It's great, because as long as I'm close by, I can really be doing anything! And he thinks it's entertaining! So yeah. I love them! I really do.
As far as the City, it's beautiful in Spring. Truly gorgeous, all the parks and flowers. I love Central Park in the summer, I sat on the same rocks that I sat at in the winter overlooking the skating rink, and just sat and read for a bit on Saturday. Sadly, I was distracted the whole time by the fact that I'm pretty sure I had layed down in some dog pee at the park I had been hanging out in before, Bryant Park. It was so weird, the spot was wet, but I assumed it was from irrigation and thought nothing of it. Then for the rest of the afternoon, I was smelling wet dog! On me! The next day I asked Allie, the dog-walker, where the dogs pee and turns out pretty much wherever they want, so it's probable that my suspicions are correct. DARN IT ! YUCK! Good thing I washed it, because that's my only puffy vest and one of my favorite wardrobe pieces. Anyway, things are good. I'm heading home tomorow, the season finale of the OC is on tonight, and I'm finishing up a wonderful Diet Coke. What more could a girl want? The only thing on my mind that's not getting worked out is what's next. "I keep moving all around the country looking for something, but I don't even know what it is. Maybe I'll have some direction on where to go next once I find out what I'm even looking for."

This was a thought I had today while driving, it pretty much sums up my life right now, I've been here for almost 6 months, and trying to decide what to do after my year is up. Stay? Go? Home? Colorado? (that's my newest idea) What to do? Where to go? Anyway I really don't know. Any suggestions are welcome, job offers, wedding proposals, etc. HAHAHA. just kidding, just kidding. Remember, Grandpa Nichols, I'm marrying that guy I worked out behind at the gym :) Haha. Ok, well love you all,

christina

Another weekend in Jersey, and a new mission

Ok, so around Thursday morning, I started thinking that It would be a good weekend to go visit my friends Cindi and Cherie in New Jersey. I brushed it aside, of course, because it's kind of weird to just call a friend and invite yourself down for the weekend at such late notice, right? Well, the thought kept popping up, and after years with God, trying to listen, I've learned it's best not to just push his suggestions aside :) So, I gave them a call, and plans were set! I hopped on a train after work on Friday, and headed down there. It turned out to be just what this overworked nanny needed for the weekend. Great conversation when I got there on Friday night, then on Saturday while the ladies worked, I got started on some hot-tub sitting, some hammock-hanging out, and some good old fashioned reading. What an amazing morning! After a quick lunch, we headed out to do some errands (during which we found a gas station that was giving away free stuff and it was amazing! apparantly New Jersey's big secret are their great gas station parties. who hooooooooo!) then back to the ranch for some hard-core gardening (here's the pictures of that!)














Grandma, aren't you proud? :) haha. It was great getting my little hands dirty and hanging out in a real backyard. After we worked for awhile, we realized that today was the day I actually officially graduated from college (finished up my last 3 credits this semester with a 30-page paper yeeeeeehah!) So after cleaning all the dirt off myself, we headed out for a celebratory dinner at a great Italian place. So fun! The next day I somehow got roped into lending my soprano voice in the choir at their church, so I ended up singing the Hallelujah chorus in front of people I had never seen before! What a hoot. Anyway, so after lunch I headed back into the city to have some hanging-out time with Jocelyn before she headed to work. On the way to hang out with her, I had the experience of getting my stiletto heel stuck in a grate, just like the movie "The Wedding Planner!" Good thing it wasn't in the middle of the street! Than, while Joce and I were having some Diet Coke at the outdoor patio of a Japanese restauarant, this crazy lady with a flowing skirt and an Ipod (playing salsa music perhaps?) came dancing by, doing her best salsa moves while dancing down the sidewalk. Crazy! We laughed and laughed, yet this kind of thing is semi-normal in New York City. Always something new! After Joce headed to work, I hit up an Asian Street festival which was pretty fun until I spilt some sort of Asian food all down my shirt and kept running over people's toes with my luggage. Time to head home! Anyway, a great weekend to be had. Later I'll write about my new mission in life- aptly named "The great American Friend Hunt.") You wondering yet what that's all about? Well, I'll keep you waiting! Check in next time for the explanation, and how it's been going.
love you all!
christina
here are some pics of me with my
New Jersey friends! Look guys, you made the blog!
:)

Exerpt from my paper

I'm writing a paper about my experience as a nanny to finish up those nagging 3 credits I have left before I technically have my real paper degree, and I just finished writing these couple paragraphs about what I wish I would have known in college... Why I wish I wouldn't have been in such a big hurry. All you who are out of college, you can relate. All you who are in college, treasure your time there! They really are some of the best years of your life. And if not the best, probably some of the easiest :)

In the last couple of months, the difference between college and the “real world” has become very apparent. I have gotten used to the early morning wake-up calls, and the accompanying early nights. In college I could stay up late studying or just “hanging out” until all hours of the night, because I knew I would have time to nap the next day. I could even skip a class if I really needed to get something done, or e-mail a professor to let him know “something came up,” that I wouldn’t be able to get to lecture.
I’ve learned the ups and downs of the interview process, which is much different than simply trying to get into a class at college. When I was interviewing for nanny jobs, I was trying to finish up my last full semester at Iowa State. I would search for hours online for jobs in my ideal locations, writing emails, leaving messages, only to be ignored time and time again. I posted my resume on countless sites on the internet, only to get crazy calls from people who needed help with their eight children… and their traveling petting zoo (no joke.) When I finally found two great families and spent hours interviewing with the parents on the phone, I finally got the go-ahead to buy my ticket to New York City to interview in person during Christmas break Both families were excited to meet me, and agreed to pay for half of my ticket. I was so excited, and spent hours preparing for the trip and finding the perfect interview outfits. Then, two weeks before I was set to finish the semester and fly to New York, I got an email from my favorite job prospect letting me know that they had hired the other candidate. To make matters worse, the Tuesday of finals week I found out the other family was also going with someone else. I was devastated, and spent the next week feverishly interviewing over the phone and trying to find families to interview with when in New York that weekend. Finding a job is hard! I am definitely the wiser now, and will be much less trusting in the future.
Also, I’m growing to really appreciate all the opportunties for learning and for friendship that were free to us in college. In the real world, if you want to learn ballroom dance, you have to pay! You have to pay real money, that you earn by working really hard! In college I scoffed at the many strange club offerings that were at our disposal, feeling very content with my one club and the friends that club made me. Now I suddenly have time to learn Italian, join a salsa dancing club, or take up knitting. The problem is, I am exhausted by the end of a long working day, and by the time I’ve made some money, I’ve got bills to pay that are more important than salsa lessons. Basically, in my life as an out-of-college adult, I am left wondering—how to adults make friends? When do we have time?