The beginning...

Hi everyone!! My name is April, and I am Canadian!! I have decided to start this blog to talk about my life and experiences while living and going to school in the United States over the next couple of years. This idea came to me about 6 weeks before I was about to make the big move to the US. I had mentioned this to a few of my friends and they thought that it was a great idea. Not only will this blog allow people to read about what is going on in “My American Adventure” but it will help me remember a lot of the things I do, experiences and random thoughts I have through-out the next couple of years. I will return back to Edmonton, Alberta to work for the summer of 2014 before coming back to the US to complete what will hopefully be my final year for my Bachelors of Arts in Business Administration. Then, we will see what happens from there. 

For some of you who might be reading this, you might not know a whole lot about me as we’ve lost touch in the last few years or you are a newer friend, but I hope you enjoy what I write every now and then. To give you a brief overview, Aaron and I met in Las Vegas back in April 2011, and since then have been doing a long distance thing. I only say “thing” as the first year and a bit we never really defined ourselves as anything. Then last August we finally did, we decided to make ourselves “official” and see what the future holds for the two of us. And, for those of you who do know me fairly well, I hope the continued connection between us remains, and you find the things I write about as interesting as the stories you’ve heard from me in the last couple of years.

I am going to try my best to stay up-to-date and consistent with posts as much as I can. I’ve already started this about a week or two later than I would have liked to, but there isn’t anything I could do about that. As one would assume, my priorities have been in other areas the last week and a bit. I’m not fully settled into the house yet, but definitely getting there and should be within the next couple of weeks.

Where to really start…I will take you back to a couple weeks ago when Aaron and I started our long trip from Edmonton, Alberta to Dayton, Kentucky, and how it was crossing the border. We started our journey on Sunday, August 4^th, and managed to make it to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 15 hours. A little longer than it should take, but we stopped in Mundare to see the giant sausage, Vegreville to see the world's largest Ukrainian Easter Egg, and Moose Jaw to see the giant Moose. The best part of the whole trip to Winnipeg was stopping in Rouleau, Saskatchewan, aka “Dog River” where the tv show “Corner Gas” was filmed.  We arrived at my mom and Ken’s place shortly after midnight. The next morning Aaron was able to meet my mom, Ken, Blaine, his girlfriend – Sam, Allison, and her boyfriend – Cole. I had wanted to take Aaron to the Royal Canadian Mint to see where coins are made, but when I called for an appointment that morning the lady informed me that because it was a holiday no production would be taking place. Since that was the whole reason I wanted to take Aaron on the tour, we decided to opt out of going to the Mint. Mom had the idea of going to the Assiniboia Downs to watch the horse races, so we decided that sounded like a good idea. Mom, Aaron and I went and picked my grandma up, then we met up with Allison, Cole, Blaine and Sam at the race track. To my surprise, my brother Darrin, my cousin Graham, his wife Kim, and their two girls – Meadow and Paige, also showed up. It was a fantastic family afternoon – so nice that Aaron was able to meet almost all of the family. After the races, Grandma decided that she wanted to take us all out for supper, which was really nice.

The next morning we were up before 6am, and on the road just before 7am. Made a quick stop at Tim Horton’s, which would probably be my last one for a while, and then we were off to the Pembina Border crossing. As some of you know, I was freakin’ out for weeks before and even right up until the point we were going to pull up to the border crossing. The closer we got, the more sick to my stomach I got. Darn nerves! I even said to Aaron in the last few minutes pulling up to the border crossing that maybe we should just turn around, and he looked at me like I had 2 heads and said “are you serious?!” Turns out, I really worried too much about everything. We pulled up to the window, the lady took our passports and my paperwork, asked us a few questions (the best one – “do you have plans to wed?” and our response at the exact same time, “no”, and she said “that’s fine, but if you do, there is a bunch of other paperwork, so just keep that in mind”), and then she told us that we had to go inside and someone would help us in there. Needless to say, at this point I was a nervous wreck thinking about what we’d do if they wouldn’t let me across. We went into the office and I had everything processed and confirmed, got finger-printed, paid another fee, and then we were good to go!! You would have no idea the sigh of relief and excitement that took over at this point. It was officially happening, I was really going to be living in the US for the next 10 months.

By noon we made it to Fargo, stopped in at a grocery store and picked up a bunch of veggies, fruit and other snacks for our journey. We went through Minneapolis/St. Paul, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Indianapolis before arriving into Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky shortly after 5:30am on Wednesday morning.  Talk about a really long 24 hours. Aaron and I switched driving a few hours outside of Milwaukee so that he could get some sleep, and by the time we were passed Chicago, I was starting to get really crabby and tired and just wanted to not be in the car anymore. There had been accidents in both Milwaukee and Chicago that we just crawled in traffic too, so needless to say my patience level for driving wasn’t very high. The temperature never dropped below 20C from the time we left Fargo, all the way to Kentucky. 

As I said, we arrived home shortly after 5:30am, so we came inside and went to bed immediately. I was up around 11am, and Aaron woke up shortly after. We quickly unloaded everything from my car, cut the grass, and packed our bags for the ADG Convention in Nashville. Supper consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich from Tom + Chee, followed by ice cream from Cold Stone – we were then on the road to Nashville! We arrived there shortly after 9pm, checked-in and went to the “boys” room for a few drinks. By “boys”, I mean Caleb, Josh, Vaughn and Nick. The 6 of us did some bar hopping along Broadway, and I can’t remember the name of the last bar we ended up at, but a lot of the other fraternity guys got word that we were there so they stopped in.

Thursday, August 8^th - A few of us met in the eating area for breakfast this morning, and it turned out that our plans to go cabrewing (canoeing and drinking beer) weren’t any good. There had been some flash flooding in the area and the river was high in a lot of places – Aaron and I had no idea. We slept right through the storms that went through. I was really looking forward to going cabrewing, as Aaron talks about it a lot and I haven’t had a chance to ever go. With the rain, it also meant that the plans for the rest of the fraternity guys who were going to do the NASCAR experience couldn’t, so the back-up plan was to go 10-pin bowling. I had high score in the first game with Josh, Aaron and Caleb, but as the next two games went on and they kept feeding me beer, my scores dropped significantly.

Friday, August 9^th – ADG Picnic at Centennial Park. It was so hot out this day. The temperature was 29C, with a feels like of 39C. I’m not a really big eater when it’s that hot outside, especially when sitting outside for a few hours. Food was provided by Hoss’ Loaded Burgers food truck, and Aaron thought it was in our best interest to eat something, so he went and grabbed us burgers. There were two different burger options – The Hoss (stuffed with cheddar cheese, topped with hickory smoke BBQ sauce, onion crispers, thick-sliced bacon and cilantro) and The Old Timer (stuff with cheddar cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato, red onion, ketchup and mustard).  The burgers came with french fries too – parmesan or cajun – I couldn’t decide which one I liked more!

Saturday, August 10^th – Aaron headed off to the ADG meetings all day, while I spent the day with Vicki (NKY), Anna (Washington), Nicolette (Chicago), Rebecca (Dallas) and Kim (Boston). Really diverse bunch of ladies, and we all seemed to hit it off pretty well. We went for pedicures (and manicures – not me), then ordered a pizza and had a few drinks with lunch. Anna and I picked up mini donuts from Peace, Love & Mini Donuts. Soooo good! The maple bacon was my favourite. It was a great afternoon hanging out and getting to know these wonderful ladies. We then went back to the hotel for a few hours before getting ready to head over to Bridgestone Arena for the ADG Banquet.

Sunday, August 11^th – The ADG Banquet was a lot of fun. I didn’t know what to really expect out of it, as I had been told that it was just a dinner with some awards. Not really what I thought it would be, but I do know that at the end of the night I had a fantastic time watching the different chapters receive awards and recognition for the services they have done over the last year. As well, Andy, who comes from Rho Chapter (the one Aaron is a part of), received the most prestigious award possible, The Award of Merit. Only 10 people have ever won this award, and this now made 2 of them from Rho Chapter.  A few other key things from the night, listening to the speeches from the President, Matt, and Sean Henry, President and Chief Operating Officer for the Nashville Predators. 

I have to say that all this fraternity stuff has definitely opened me up to a lot in the last couple of years. I find it, and the guys involvement so fascinating and interesting. The group of guys involved around Northern Kentucky, who I have known for a couple years now are just fantastic. You couldn’t ask for a better group of people to be so welcoming (even with the constant Canadian jokes) and proud of who they are and being “brothers” to one another. Being at the National Convention on the weekend really made me understand and appreciate things a whole lot more.  If you ever have doubted a friendship or family bond in anyway, spending time with all the men (and ladies) who support these chapters will give you a whole new definition of what another “family” is. They will have your back no matter what, and that is a nice feeling for me being in all new surroundings again and that much farther away from my real family and other friends. Who I miss a lot already! I definitely have a lot more to learn I’m sure in regards to the workings of the fraternity, but I am on the quest to win National Sweatheart next year in Fort Lauderdale! I might even consider joining the Sorority on campus once school starts.

When we left Nashville, we decided that we were going to head to Corbin, KY to go to the Colonel Sander’s Café and Museum. Half way there I found Edmonton, KY, so we had to make sure to get my picture there. I knew Edmonton, and Beaumont, existed in Kentucky, but I had forgot what highway it was off of, so it was a nice surprise to actually see it. We didn’t go to Beaumont as it was not on our way to Corbin. The Sander’s Café and Museum was pretty cool to see. I’m proud to say that in just over 2 years of travelling down here to visit Aaron, we had never eaten at a KFC, so for my first time to be at the original restaurant was simply amazing. What would have been about a 4 hour drive home from Nashville turned into almost 7 hours. Needless to say, after driving so much in the last week and then that trip back from Nashville, if I don’t have to sit in a car for longer than 10-20 mins, I should be good for a while now. 

Friday, August 16^th – It’s the end of the week, and I feel like I haven’t really done a whole lot. I’ve done some organizing around the house as much as I can until we get my Ikea wardrobe built, that we picked up on Tuesday night. Aaron worked all day Wednesday and then had to teach, so he didn’t get home until after 10. The only time I stepped outside that day was to take the maybe 20 steps to the mailbox, lol. I’ve been worried that if I go sit outside in the sun that I won’t want to come back inside to do the things I should or can do. I did make us a really good pork tenderloin chili the other night for supper, and last night I made cheese-lover’s pasta roll-ups (yes that’s their real name, got the recipe off Kraft Canada’s website). I did go for a massage this morning, so that was nice, but I might have to search around for a different one. It’s going to be hard to find someone like Tarelle, who I’ve been seeing since January and literally has been a miracle worker. Tonight we are off to grandma’s for dinner.

Thursday, August 22^nd – Last weekend was busy, and so has this whole week. Aaron’s company picnic was last Saturday. It was fantastic! It went from Noon until 8pm, and all the food and drinks were provided, including alcohol. It was at this place called Stricker’s Grove, like a mini-amusement park, so it was perfect for everyone who has kids. Some of the rides were adult friendly as well. I literally ate all day, and we played bingo for a couple of hours, Aaron won once, a $10 pizza hut gift card. After the picnic we went to the Roller Derby, which was definitely interesting to watch. Like any new sport, it’s going to take me some time to learn the rules and penalties. Looking forward to the last “bout” of the season on September 21^st. Hopefully we can make it, as that is the same day we are hosting Aaron’s nephew’s 5^th birthday party. When the derby was over we made a stop at Michael and Lindsay’s place for his birthday. Sunday morning Aaron had to go help the freshmen move in at Thomas More, and when he got home he had Vaughn with him, who helped us build my wardrobe. That night we loaded up the DJ equipment and were off to the Five Seasons Country Club for Freshmen Orientation. That was fun, even though I’m not really a freshmen. 

Monday was chaos with going to the chiropractor, who then sent me for x-rays, and then I had to go back to his office for an adjustment. It was really an all day adventure since this place is pretty far north of Cincinnati. I got sucked in on a groupon deal, so had to use it, and wanted everything taken care of that day. That evening Aaron played softball, so I went and watched. A little disappointing as they had won 20-9 after the 5^th inning, but someone decided that they should just keep playing, and what a mistake that was, they gave up 13 runs in the next inning, putting them down 2 runs. Last at bat, and the boys only got 1 run, so they lost.

Tuesday morning was my mini-orientation at the school. Checked-in with Jodee so that she could let Homeland Security know that I physically have arrived on campus and am going to be there for the semester. Then she took me around the school to get my parking pass, student id card, and show me where my classes are. Which brings me to yesterday, my first day of school!! 

My first class was General Psychology, which I think will be extremely interesting. My second class was World Civilizations, and as I might not be as excited about it as Psychology, I think it will be a fairly interesting course. I have to remember that a lot of these classes are going to open me up more as a person and be more knowledgeable in a lot of different areas, so trying to keep an open mind. Which brings me to my Creative Writing Poetry class yesterday afternoon. It was not good, not good at all. For two and a half hours I don’t really know what was going on, or what people were talking about, or anything really. I have never felt more lost than I did for those couple of hours. I left there so upset that by the time Aaron got to the school (to teach) shortly after my class finished I couldn’t hold back the tears. I didn’t want to disappoint him, or myself, by already wanting to drop a class. We had just enough time before his class to take a look at all the other options that I could take, and we narrowed it down to a couple of options: Principles of Sociology, Ceramics or an online Political Science class. But, I had to wait until this morning to go to the school and talk with Aimee about switching classes. My final class yesterday was my Operations Management evening course. I am really looking forward to this class as I am sure I should be able to relate a lot of things to it, and the best part, there were only 4 of us in the class last night. Possibly a 5^th, but there was some confusion on cancelling the class and then re-instating it cause it’s a course that Seniors are taking to graduate, so they decided to not cancel it. Thank gosh, because that would have really messed up my schedule even more. 

I went to the school this morning, and managed to get into Principles of Sociology, which is on Tuesday nights, and is good because the first class is next week, so I won’t be behind at all. The rest of my day hasn’t consisted of much, just some reading for my World Civilization class tomorrow morning. I haven’t bought all my textbooks yet, as we have a connection who might be able to get them for me at a much cheaper price. AND, I just heard from her, she can only get 3 of them, but they are half the cost of the bookstore or online. Score!! Well, I’m going to get going for today, I think this is a lot to start off with for everyone. I have to finish reading, and then I’m off to watch Aaron play softball again.