MLB.TV

I have given in and purchased MLB.tv for myself. This was not something that I have ever done before because 1) I have never spent a significant amount of time outside of New England where I would be able to watch the Red Sox and 2) When I was I never made enough to be able to purchase MLB.tv.

As much as I don't make much money, I decided to make the financial decision to purchase mlb.tv for myself. This way I can watch Red Sox games live since my house does not have cable (if I wanted ESPN etc I'd have to spend money every month to get it) and that still would not get me NESN to watch most Red Sox games so for me this is worth it. Also this is going to enable me to watch old games such as if we both have a Sunday day game, I can watch the Red Sox game when I get home in full. I am very happy that I decided to do this.

Work is going really well. Today we had a work day. This is just part of what I had to do:

Yup, and this is just 1/2 of the full staircase that I along with 2 others had to tape up. There was also a railing that we had to tape around. Two other people had to paint the green parts. I also had a few other things to do at the park. Opening day is April 13th so we are all in a hurry to get ready for it! I am very excited.

Not much else is going on. I think I am going to drive down to Chattanooga next Sunday to see one of my team's games. It's only an hour and a half away from Knoxville so it will be fun and good to see a baseball game I don't have to work at.

Weather has been pretty horrible here compared to normal the past week and a half. Luckily it started to turn around today and by Monday it is expected to be 80 degrees! Got to love it.

More cooking tales!

Cooking has been slow due to lack of time to use my awesome slow cooker, however I have now used it a total of 3 times and have had success each time! The second time I actually bought a pre-prepared meal from Walmart which contained meat potatoes and veggies. It was so easy to prep, I literally just had to throw everything into the slow cooker and just add some water and that was it. I was a bit skeptical on the taste, but sure enough it was actually good for what it was and lasted me 3 meals which I was excited about.

Just a couple of days ago, I decided to take a recipe out of one of the books my sister bought and mailed for me - Chicken drumsticks! The recipe was a bit more difficult had a lot of items and didn't have any veggies or anything but that was easily remedied by just buying a couple of green peppers and carrots to also bring with me for my meals. The halved the recipe since it called for 4 lbs of drummies and I knew I wouldnt be able to eat that much before they would go bad so I was a bit nervous and I also had forgotten one item but it turned out great! I was very happy.

Work is going well. For two weeks in a row I have gotten the two sales awards that we have which is for most phone calls and most sales in the week. I have gotten the award for most phone calls every week since my second week working there. I did not think at all that I was close to doing it again this week but I did so I was very happy :)

I still haven't explored the inner city of Knoxville as much as I would like - I do enjoy just walking around cities but there really isn't much to Knoxville. It's far different than Nashville, Boston, New York City, or any other bigger city I've been to. It's more like a small city that you don't go to just to explore.

Still trying to balance out my grocery shopping cost. My last bill was approximately $75 but I bought hot dogs (Hebrew National 97% fat free) which can easily cook in 1.5ish hours in the slow cooker and taste great along with veggies and some other stuff. I think that in the end it will end up lasting me for a week and a half before I have to go back to get more turkey for lunches but I should be set for dinners for at least 2 weeks if not maybe 2.5 . I have some tortellinis which I have found some good slow cooker recipes for. We will see!

Sorry it has been so long - I really will try to update more :)

Adventures in Cooking

I hate cooking. I might even go so far as to say I have a fear of cooking. Not fear as in some fear spiders (I love spiders!), however I strongly dislike it. I have never found the use for something that takes longer to prep and cook than it does to eat. My parents also decided to name me after someone in the family who was a really good cook. I claim that it cursed me from the beginning to never cook anything. I still do feel that way, however of course going the other route costs a lot more money and is significantly less healthy.

I don't remember why, but I decided to try out a crockpot. My sister had used one a lot but I never found the use in having to wait 8-10 hours for my food to cook. I realized, however, that I needed to find a way to cook food that was healthy and be able to reheat it for leftovers many days later. I got the idea into my head I was going to buy a crockpot, and asked permission of my landlord/roommate to make sure she would be okay with this. She is a very nice person though and of course had no problem with it whatsoever, and even better, had a spare one that I could have while I was living here!

I am a very last minute kind of person, and on my way home from work I decided to stop at the grocery store and get the makings of something to cook. With a bit of research on my droid, I decided to cook http://busycooks.about.com/od/chickenthighrecipes/r/peachcpchix.htm . It was a labour of love that I had to wake up at 3am to finish and put away in the fridge, but it was great. Next time I'll do without the curry powder. My sister, who does love to cook, heard that I was using a crockpot, and mailed me 2 great books on crockpot recipes. I think it always perplexed her that I hated to cook, so now that I'm doing SOMETHING in the kitchen department she went all out and got me them. I am very thankful :)

Another last minute decision was to buy a foreman grille. I had one when I lived in my grandmothers house, however there was no drip tray so I never used it. I don't have a stove or oven in my half of the house. I am welcome to go upstairs and use my roommates, but sometimes I don't feel like bringing everything upstairs or if she has friends over or something. Foreman grille just seemed like a great way for me to stop at the store on the way home from work and pick up some meat and stick it on the grille. Indeed I just got done eating a hamburger, and it was great!

I am very excited to have the use of these in my future cooking. Just don't look for me to branch off much more than this. All the burger took was me pre-heating the grille, throwing a patty on, then taking it off 5 minutes later. Very low maintenance for which I am thankful.

-Me

PICTURES!

The picture on the left I was just fascinated with how little snow there was. At home in Massachusetts there had been about 4+ feet of snow on the ground and as we went farther and farther south it became less and less. My mom asked me to take the photo of the West Virginia welcome sign. We were only in W.V. for a very short time.

This was until we arrived in Tennessee! We were very close to getting there which was very exciting.

It's kind of difficult to read but that was the welcome to Tennessee sign on the right! Notice the lack of snow :)

My car was very tightly packed.

And that was the trunk with the aid of my mother's hand.

And those are the best of the photos from the move! Photos from my apartment will take a bit of time to post.

Work is going very well. Here is my typical weekday:

7:06 am : Wake up + get ready

8:28 am: Leave for work

9:00 am - 5:30 pm : Work

5:30 pm - 6:03 pm : Drive to animal shelter

6:03 pm - 7:00 pm : Volunteer at the animal shelter - walking dogs, cleaning cages etc

7:05 pm: Drive home

7:25 pm: Make and eat dinner

8:00 pm - 10:30/11:00 pm - free time to be on computer/watch tv

11:00 pm at the latest: sleep

I don't know if I posted this but I started to volunteer at the local animal shelter and I absolutely adore it. Walking the dogs is a lot of fun too because I am getting exercise and it's fun to see how much they love to go for walks and get 1 on 1 time. Unfortunately it also makes me really want a dog but I can't have one at my current place due to my roommate having 2 dogs. I also cannot afford a dog right now so at least I get to play with them there.

That's it for now. It's already 10:00 pm and I'm exhausted!

-Me

Sorry!

I am terribly sorry that it has been so long since I have posted! I keep reminding myself that I need to write in here to update everyone on what is going on but I always forget and put it off thinking that I have not uploaded my photos yet so what use is an update? Well I finally went looking for the cord to attach my phone to my laptop and realized that I did not have said cord so it was going to be a while before I could upload my photos, then I decided it was time for me to update.

I can't believe that it's already February 22nd and that I have been at my work for almost 3 weeks now. Work has been great. There are frustrating times of course having to do with what I do at my job, but my co-workers especially the 3 others with the same job I have are really helpful in making it easier and helping me out with any questions. Most of us are not locals so that makes it easier as well. They all remember what it's like to be new to the area, and there are a lot of us around the same age that started at this company within the past I'd say 5 months so it's great to be able tog et their advice about stuff.

I really am adjusting to life in the south. It's not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I was told that the cost of living down here is less, but I've started to really notice it in my wallet even only after the 3 weeks. I've been able to save a lot more down here than I was up north. Also helps that in Tennessee we don't have income tax taken out of our paychecks, but we do have a 9.25% sales tax which does hurt a lot especially when doing something like grocery shopping.

Two weekends ago I went to Nashville and had a great time there! It's a very pretty city, and definitely more built up than Knoxville is. It is really more of what I thought Knoxville would be like, but I'm getting used to the small city feel.

Finally, I decided to start volunteering at the humane society because my weekends were feeling a bit empty and I wanted something to do with my time. I have been 3 times now and I absolutely love it. I have always loved volunteering. I do donate some of money money to 2 different organizations but not as much as I wish I could and there are so many more places I wish I could donate to, but I feel like donating my time is also of help especially to the humane society.

I must admit the biggest struggle is figuring out how to meet people my own age down here, but I'm working on it and things are very good. I'm happy with my move and my job and how life is. I really can't say that I have any complaints for which I am very happy.

-Me

Lots to get used to!

Even though it's the same country, there's still a lot to get used to down here in Tennessee. The first thing that really struck my mother and I was the driving. Everyone drives within 3 mph of the speed limit for the most part. There's no tailgating or frustration at slow cars in front. Well there is still by me because you definitely can't get the Boston out of the girl. I was running late to work yesterday and I was stuck behind some slow cars and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. It's just the way it is there. Makes me realize that I truly have to leave earlier than I want to just incase something like that happens again.

Also different in Tennessee is that you can smoke in locations that are 21+ such as a bar or a club. There is one bar in Amherst where they allow smoking and I am not sure how it is legal there but it was extremely smoky. It was not as bad here at the bar I was at, but it was still something to get used to unfortunately.

I have now been at my work for 2 days and both have been good so far. Tomorrow I will be spending Super Bowl Sunday at a co-workers house who invited everyone from work to come over. It will be good to see everyone from work in a more casual environment.

I'm waiting to post pictures of my new place until when my new couch comes in a week as that will really bring everything together. So far everything has been good though!

-me

We made it to Knoxville!

I am sorry that it has taken me this long to write another blog, however there has been a LOT going on the past few days!

Mom and I made it down to Knoxville uneventfully which is good news! We left Saturday morning at 9:00 am, and arrived at our destination of somewhere in Pennsylvania near the Maryland border at about 4:45 pm. The daughter of a long time friend of my mothers lives there, and it turns out to be pretty much exactly in between our house in Massachusetts and my new place in Knoxville. We had a great time staying over night there. I got to meet her two sons, husband, and very cute dogs whom my mom had met already but it was great for her to catch up with them as well.

We left Pennsylvania at 9:30 am Sunday after having a great pancake breakfast and saying our goodbyes. The second half of the trip was beautiful. We came down between two mountain ranges, and enjoyed seeing the snow lessen and lessen as we drove farther and farther south. We made it to Knoxville at around 6:00 pm after we had a long lunch, and immediately loved my new place. Basically I could not have lucked out with such such short notice!

I am living on the bottom level of a split level house that is owned by the girl that lives upstairs. She is very nice and has two adorable dogs that will lick you to death if you let them (I am a huge dog lover!). After settling in a bit to the new place, we went to the local grocery store to buy groceries to sustain us. After chatting with my new ... roommate for lack of a better word we finally got to sleep pretty late last night.

Today was all about getting my car registered in Tennessee (and getting a Tennessee license plate), getting my Tennessee license, and going shopping for furniture and other things that I needed. To say that it was a long day would be an understatement but the story will be left for tomorrow as I am really tired.

I'm going to wait to post pictures of my new place until I get more settled in, however there will definitely be photos!

That is all for now. Good luck to those of you living in the north (I can't believe I'm a southerner now!!) that have to deal with the upcoming snow storm.

-me

The journey starts with a single step

"Moving day" already happened per se... however today is the final moving today. Today is the day that I pack whatever is left of mine in my apartment and leave for the final time. This is such an exciting journey that I am about to be taking. Everyone I've talked to has said that they would never be able to do this, but really all I am doing is following my dreams and for now they are leading me to Tennessee. I doubt this is going to be a permanent living place, but who knows? I'm not going to guess the future. If you had told me in September that in late Janaury I would be moving to Tennessee, I probably would have laughed at you and thought you were crazy, but here I am!

Now I just have to hope that everything fits into my car.... this could get interesting.

-Me

Moving Day

Hi everyone,

Even though most of you know who I am, I am not going to say where I work on this blog or exactly who I am so that I cannot be tracked down. Here is the basics, however. I am a New England girl born and raised for the most part. I have traveled to many parts of the country and been to 4 continents, however I have never been to the REAL south before. Sure I have visited Florida almost every year from the time I was born, but that's not really the south, that's more New England in a warmer climate since most people are transplants.

I applied to a lot of jobs all around the country, and on January 12th 2011, I learned that I got a job in Knoxville, Tennessee. The next morning I gave my 2 weeks notice to my current job, and started to plan for my move down there.

It has been hectic since then, trying to find a place to live, figure out how I am going to move down to Tennessee, and how to move out of my current apartment.

Earlier this week my mother came out to help me pack up a large part of my apartment including clothing, etc, however we needed a UHaul van in order to take out the larger pieces such as my tv, chairs, full sized bed, etc. UHaul day was today. My dad, mom, and two family friends came out at 10:00 am and we loaded up the truck.

It is now very empty in the apartment, and sleeping on an aero bed will be strange until I move out for good on Thursday.

My mom and I will be starting the drive down to Tennessee on Saturday the 29th and hope to arrive in Knoxville on the 30th if all goes well. She is going to stay with me through Friday February 4th to help me buy the necessities, get a TN drivers license, etc and flies home at that point. Cross your fingers for us!

-Me