Pictures of the New Apartment!

Warning, this post is picture heavy. Lets hope it looks nice, pictures are so hard for me to work with.

The front door: I hang chimes on the
door because one day, while I was
 cleaning the walls, my landlord just
walked in. He was trying to sneak a
second set of keys to me and thought I
would be at work.

I just moved Gus's window seat, he hasn't left it since (I need
to find something to keep that thing up besides a book).

Gus's bum, the small bookshelf, and the entrance to the kitchen.

Computer desk, entrance to the hallway, and part of my tv stand.

My new tv stand!

Above the tv stand, I love the colors in this picture.

The kitchen!

I keep my little tv in here so I can watch something while I cook.
Current dvd in the player: Dirty Dancing. :)

The pantry/storage and stove. Gus likes going in this door, it leads
under the stairs.

The sink.

Yes ... this is my fridge. It was born in
1940 and hasn't moved.

Yup, its a Philco. The freezer is a little flat in the fridge. It
 is so small I can't even have a little ice cream. Cross your
fingers the requests I have submitted to my landlord
will be heard and I can get a new fridge!

Down the hall (yes we are going backwards).

This door is another story all together. I
have a bookshelf in front of the door
because Gus thinks it needs to be open.
It leads to the community basement
(unfinished), but I think my neighbors
 use it to sneak a cigarette. It sounds
like they are falling down the stairs every
night, no idea what they are doing. I keep
it locked and have only opened it to let the
Century Link guy in to set up my internet.

My bathroom is across the book shelf. It is
small, but works.

.

I have no counter space.

I thought it was weird the toilet paper is on
the back of the door.

My bedroom! You can see the bathroom door in
this picture, if that helps put things in perspective.

My treadmill is right in front of the closet
door which is to the right of the bedroom
 door when you are walking in. Do you see
 that plug in? I will never touch that thing,
electrocuted myself the first week I lived
here. The wires are exposed. So that
leaves 1 plug in in my bedroom.

My bed, and yes it lives below Fred and George (twin spiders I
have living in my window). The only reason I let this happen
and don't have my bed in the living room is because the window
was painted shut. They painted everything here. Tape? Painted.
Door hinge? Painted. Latch? Painted. I'm surprised they didn't paint
 the window panes.

Ikea desk, finally got into my room like I originally planned. Yay!

I need a picture above this I know. I just moved
my bedroom around today, no one has seen it yet.

This is what I see outside my door.

Yes, I swept between pictures. This is leading
down to my front door.

This is what you see from the street. I didn't know
the apartment existed until I walked right up to it. It is nice
and scary at the same time.

Well, that's the whole tour. Tell me what you think!

Apartment

I promised some of you I would post pictures of my new apartment, but I haven't gotten around to it. I am sorry I will work on this.

I moved back to Pocatello, in case some of you didn't know. I got a job at Allstate and am working the Roadside Assistance. It is so nice having just the one job. I was exhausted all the time, no energy to do anything outside work. I would crawl from one job to the next, home to sleep, and back again.

I didn't realize how that was wearing on me until I moved back here. I am much happier now.

The new apartment has some ... interesting quirks to it. The first month I lived here I was sick, I am not sure if it was me getting used to the flora here or what, but my allergies and a cold lasted what felt like a life time. I had my humidifier running the first three nights. The last night I felt something fall on my forehead ... then my arm ... when I turned the light on my ceiling was dripping like the inside of a cave. Turns out I have to vents from my apartment to the outside, so if I shower or run hot water the steam sits in the apartment circling.

Now that isn't the bad part ... when I looked harder the ceiling was dripping yellow slime. The walls looked like someone had bled all over them and it was running down. Clearly the person before me smoked. So I spent the next week scrubbing the walls.

My fridge was born in 1940 and hasn't moved. I have the little flap for a freezer, which doesn't freeze. And you have to pull the handle down to open it, yes it is that old.

The nice things: I live in a basement apartment so the temperature is always cool, very nice in 100 degree weather. I also have big windows. Lots of light. My doorway is concealed so I don't have to worry about strangers finding my apartment, you can't see the door from the street. My neighbors are quiet, even if they have strange habits. Their strange habits have lead to me making friends at the bath and body works store. Speaking of which I need to stop by there again and get more air fresheners.

Gus is happy to be living here. He runs the place like its his own, there is a door that leads to the community basement and he thinks it needs to be open all the time. I have only opened it twice since I've lived here. I put a book shelf in front of the door and it's like the thing has disappeared. Funny how their brains work.

This is all I have for now. I will add pictures of the apartment, when I have a chance to make it presentable. Look forward to more posts.

-Ashley

Welcome back!

Yes I'm still alive yay! I have been super busy with work. Sorry for the lack of posts. I hope to post here more often, so those who don't live near me (pretty much everyone now) will know what I have been up to.

So far: I have taken on another job. Yes I am insane. It is inside Sam's Club, so it isn't a strain on me running to another building. I am the HR assistant. I train new recruits, and enter in their personal information as far as W2s and I9s. I work here maybe four times a month. No pay increase ... sadly. I am hoping I can train in as many areas as possible, so when management positions arise I am well rounded. I am trained in: Member Service Desk, Cashier, Jewelry, Check-Out Supervisor, HR department, and Marketing Team. I went on Blitz with the marketing team not too long ago. We basically go around to outside companies and ask them if they are happy with their membership, or ask if they would like to sign up for one, since Sam's Club is "in business for small business." It was fun, I got to do what I like most, talk! I hope I can get in the accounting scene soon. I am buddies with the team lead in the area. I have a little experience on the floor as well, walking with a fork-lift and restocking items. Like I said, well-rounded.

Speaking of well-rounded. I am less rounded myself. :) I have lost 24lbs since Christmas last year! My new years resolutions/library health program goal. The library has a new program kinda like the biggest loser program. We each paid 5 dollars to a pot and who loses the most BMI by July wins the pot. I have told everyone there, they should throw in another five dollars, I could use the extra money. They just laugh at me, and then bring doughnuts to work for a snack. I see what they are doing there ... sneaky people. Lucky for me I am not a doughnut fan!

Besides that, my life consists of going to the library, then Sam's, then home where I crawl into bed to do it all over again. Hope things are going well for you out there. Enjoy the warm sunshine today, it feels like a spring day, something to put anyone in an upbeat mood!

Funny thing this chivalry

I have been enlightened today. Most days when I work at the library I follow people into the building, no one holding the door, glancing my way, or even acknowledging me.

Today I wore a dress and things seemed to be different.

Patrons held the door open for me. The guy who walked in front of me made me laugh. He didn't notice me at first, but when he opened the door he caught my reflection. I was at the uncomfortable distance. The one where you question wither or not to hold the door because you will be standing there for a while, and they will want to speed up/jog to get there to make it a quick exchange. But he fumbled and stood there waiting. On the way into the second set of doors he opened it and stood back letting me walk through. I thanked him and walked the opposite direction to end our uncomfortable exchange.

A second interaction occurred at Sam's Club. On my way inside I had someone get a cart for me. No questions asked. On the way out someone else took my cart to the cart return, so I didn't have to return it myself.

So I have come to the conclusion: "Chivalry isn't dead ... it's just confused."

When Life Gives You Bills You Get a Second Job

Yup, I now currently work two jobs ... thus the reason I hardly post here (hardly meaning never haha). I applied for the Idaho Falls Public Library around September thinking I would never work there. I have no experience, haven't lived in the city much, and it had been a few months since I heard from anyone.

Funny how things work. I got a call close to Christmas time asking if I would like to show up the following Monday for an interview. I called them back (having gotten the message during a break from Sam's), and left a message saying I would be there.

I showed up in black jeans and a nice shirt. I had to run from Sam's to there and I don't (or didn't) own any nice pants. They shook my hand and asked the typical questions "What will you bring for the company ... How do you work with others ... How many light fixtures do you think are in the building? ... etc." I was perfectly honest with them, not thinking it would go anywhere. They asked if I didn't finish my job for the night how would I feel. I told them pretty good if I got a big chunk of it done. I can always come back tomorrow and get the rest done. Lazy in my opinion, but honest.

They called back the very next day and offered me the job. I was in shock really. Now I work at the library in the morning, and Sam's at night having one day off every month and a half, and it being on a Sunday (it's my day off today yay!). Having two jobs is hard, I can work 14 hour days if I have to close on a Saturday at Sam's, but we have to do hard things in life sometimes.

I have read several books since starting there, some of which were very dumb, and couple not so bad ones. Anna and the French Kiss is a good one, YA about a girl who spends her senior year of high school in an American school in the middle of France. The author is a budding artist and I found her book a quick easy read, and very light and entertaining.

When I do get days off (being Sundays) and I can't really get out and shop I find myself wandering my apartment, exploring. Here are some friendly faces:


Don't get the washer, plug in, and picture? They look like faces to me ... Happy, surprised, and crazy. Yup ... that's what I do with my free time :p

There's a reason it's called BLACK Friday

I was scheduled to work the 5am shift at Sam's Club this morning. My first real Black Friday. I had never shopped for them, didn't find anything I really needed to be up before the crack of dawn. Who does that?

A lot of people I tell you. But most of them sleep in till noon.

3:40am I got out of bed, showered, ate breakfast (Thanksgiving left overs, something everyone is thankful for!), and left for work. I snuck in the backdoor around 4:40am and got the run down on the sales for the registers. We didn't really know what was going on with the floor sales, I didn't even notice any differences. When a member would bring something up and say "Wow! It's only 45 dollars!" I would nod and smile like I knew all along.

People were lined up outside, and then the doors opened and they all lined up at the member service desk. The cashiers just stood there. I didn't get my first member till around 5:20am. They all bought electronics.

I was chipper, selling Plus memberships for a 25 dollar gift card, until around 7. The store died. Members were shopping for the normal stuff, and they weren't in a rush to get out the door, so I had no one. I started falling asleep. I had to walk in circles, pat my cheeks, clap my hands. It is very possible to fall asleep on your feet, mid conversation even. I didn't want to go on breaks, I didn't want to go home. I was happy to be working and making Plus membership sales.

It didn't get busy in the store till around 12. And it wasn't just busy it was super busy, lines all the way down, every register open. Busy. I couldn't get to my break without someone stopping me and asking where something was.

Finally, 1 hour after my shift ended they kicked me off a register and told me to go home. I did reluctantly. I get to go in tomorrow, but it will be at 2, so i won't make as many sales. We don't sell that many in the afternoon.

Overall it was a crazy day, full of laughs, patience testing, sales, and shouting (my voice is tired tonight, it is cracking). Can't wait till tomorrow. Sales at Sam's don't last a day, they last a weekend. Wish me luck!

P.S. The ice started melting today, we have road again!

The Big Move

This is going to be a big picture/movie post so be prepared. I took pictures of every room in the apartment (except Amanda's).

First lets start off with how Gus is handling the whole thing. Below are a couple videos of our trip to Idaho Falls. You can see how well he took it:

This is how he is now:

Relaxed, fat, and happy.

Now for some pictures of the apartment! (caption below the image)

Staircase leading downstairs/view from my room

My room from the hallway.

Bathroom from the hallway.

Staircase/first thing you see when you walk through the front door. You see this and to the right the hallway to the living room.

Hallway from the living room to the front door. We keep our shoes there ^_^.

Kitchen, it looks small but it isn't half bad.

The living room, Amanda is putting a puzzle together. We keep dvd's on that bookshelf for now. They will be moved into the white hatch when it is fixed. Just waiting for Amanda's brother to come back with all the parts.

My closet, it is huge, and super messy. Surprising how messy you can get when you just move in.

Other side of my closet.

My computer desk. I just pack the whole thing like it was at my parents and moved it here. Tyson said I didn't move, I just picked up my room and put it down, no boxes. It looks like that too.

I was watching You've Got Mail while I unloaded, the credits are on the TV I believe. Gus is chilling on the bed here, completely relaxed. Spencer (the dragon Spencer gave me and named for me from Lagoon) is next to my TV.

My bed.

I keep my shoes under the hotel like air-conditioner.

My bookshelf.

My bedroom door.

Notice anything odd in any of the pictures? The blue tabs on the walls? Our landlords said they wanted to fix up the holes in the walls, but never got around to it. We are going to give them a month before we rip those suckers down and start hanging more things up. The apartment echoes too much with nothing there.

A scary story, one night while we were sleeping some random kids decided it would be fun to shoot Idaho Falls up with a BB gun. Our kitchen window was hit. The bullet went through one panel of glass and bounced back out. Luckily it didn't go all the way through. We did have to file a police report, the cop said it was the thing going around so there were no worries about living in the area.

Here is a picture of the shot: It is about the size of a 50 cent piece. Not sure when it will be fixed, or if it will ever be fixed.

Not a bad place to live. I am happy here, I love my job, my apartment, etc. You should all stop by to visit if you are in town. Text and I will send you the address/directions.

I will be sure to keep you informed on whats up!