Date night in the Village

Downtown Grosse Pointe is called The Village.
It's a beautiful downtown area about 3 blocks long, both sides of the street.  I wrote about it a bit before here.
If you're from the Columbus, Ohio area it sorta reminds me of Easton.
Stores that are typically in a mall, but have outside entrances and lots of flowers, benches, and fountains!

We walked over from our apartment, it's about 4 blocks away from us.
It was a perfect summer evening.  We strolled around, had dinner, and considered getting ice cream at Cold Stone - but decided to go to Kroger and get a whole carton for the same price instead :)

 

We had dinner at the Village Grille.  I had actually been there before {when I finally met my blogging friend Marisa in real life! She blogs at Count On Me For Life about her life as a SO to an SGU medical student, now resident! }  It was pretty good, so we went back to try some of their other stuff.  I can now say that their hamburger, "lumber jack" aka french dip, and calzones are really good.

Fishflies on everything ~ Fishflies on everything ~ Fishflies on everything

My mom and I dance around singing "_______{fill in the blank} on everything"
It's from the show So Random that my nieces watch and there is a song - ketchup on everything {you can watch it here if you'd like, but I'm warning you it is soooooo dumb, so dumb it's funny}

Anyway, my point.
FISHFLIES.

I first heard about fishflies from a little girl in the office.  It's the name of a running group for elementary kids at the local school.  Her mom said they're called fishflies because there really isn't a point, they just run after school. no race. no winners. just run for exercise.

Ok..... then I learned about the actual fly.
Lee and I saw one on our door the other day and he pointed them out.  He calls them Shagflies.
They serve no purpose.  They supposedly live for only 36 hours and die.  They breed and lay their eggs in the lake.

If you're from southern Ohio think ladybugs.
think the plague of locust in the Bible.

We're talking epic proportions of flies.

This was the scene at the bank this morning.




Thankfully they haven't infested our house. We have to go through 3 doors to get inside our apartment. Hopefully we're safe.

What do I do?

I'm so glad you asked!

I have a job. 
I was so fortunate to find the job that I did.  So blessed.

I found the posting on Craigslist a few weeks ago for a chiropractor's office and sent my resume and kinda forgot about it in the midst of applying to 10billion other ads.  Then Dr. Shoe emailed me asked if I could come for an interview, but unfortunately I could not because I was still teaching in Ohio at the time.  So I declined and asked if he would keep me in mind if he couldn't find the right person.

Lo and behold 2 weeks later, just days before I moved in he emailed again and said he hadn't been able to find the perfect person for the job and if I could come once I got moved in.
I asked my friend Joe the resident SO Grenada Chiro and asked for a few helpful hints and bam got hired.

1 week later and I'm working in the office as a Chiropractic Assistant / Office Manager / Dr. Shoe's personal assistant.

It's not a dream job, obviously, but also my dream isn't to work (should "work" be anyone's dream really??)  I'm not striving for success or money or status....
My dream is to help people and be involved in the community and someday far far away to be a mother and continue to do those things.
But for now, we have to eat and all that, so I'm booking appointments and making small talk with chiropractic patients.

Perks of the job??

1.  It's 2  blocks away.  Seriously.  I had started to apply for jobs with a 30 minute commute. 2 blocks.  By the time I got my car out of the garage and turned around I could walk there.  Same goes for the bike pretty much. 
We are going to save a ton on gas because both of us are currently walking to work!

2.  It's 4 day a week.  Monday - Thursday.  3 day weekend, every weekend.  Yes!  I have every Friday all day to devote to volunteering or something (which I'll get to later)

3.  2 hour lunch break.  Ok, so it does stretch the day out a little longer, I don't get home until 6:30.... but Lee's never here anyway so it doesn't matter too much to me.  Those 2 hours have been my most productive.  Enough time to do a load of laundry, make the bed, wash the dishes, and prepare something for dinner.  I deal very well with time constraints.  It's perfect for me.

4.  Free Chiropractic care!! and I need it.  I haven't started yet, but next week I will and I am so looking forward to it.  My joints are terrible, thanks Mom and Dad.  And Lee can go as well!  He is going to want to, too after all these long hours at the hospital.

5.  It is a family business and the Doctor and his wife are so nice and helpful and have made this such a great transition so far.  I like everyone I'm working with, thankfully because they are basically my only friends here so far!  We have such a wide variety of clients someone is going to know something about anything I need to know.  It's awesome.  I've already been getting all sorts of advice from places to shop to getting Lee and Green Card :)



What else am I going to do?

Well, I don't know just yet but directly in between our house and the office is a crisis pregnancy center that helps young women with unplanned pregnancies.  It is a Christian organization so they only offer pro-life services, which I am 100% for.  It is exactly the type of thing I want to be doing, but for now I'll just be able to help a couple days a week. 
I also want to get involved in some other pro-Detroit rejuvenation projects if at all possible but it is really hard to find information.  So be looking for a Detroit Volunteer Section coming soon to this blog :)

We're still thinking about churches too.  We've been to one, Lee's been to it 3 times and likes it, but I would kind of like to try out the "Mega" church just down the street with thousands of people and tons of community involvement... but Lee prefers the more traditional church with about a 100.  Both have their upsides and I am seriously considering attending both.  Services are at different times and would be fairly easy to do.  The big church has a large young adult group that I am thinking might be my best option for finding some friends around here! :)


whew that was long.  if you made it through that to this point you are a real friend :)
funny how I can make what I do twice as long as what Lee does. 
It's definitely not the case.  He is a hardworking precious man who I love more than words!
So proud of that husband of mine.

Q & A - SO to SO

A friend of mine in Grenada is looking to move to MI and is crossing all her fingers that her husband is placed at St. John's (so cross yours too!)  I'd love to have her and her sweet family nearby!

Here are a few questions she asked me and I'm happy to have a topic to blog about.... keeps me on my toes.  Thought I'd share for anyone else wondering the same things.

*Disclaimer - I have only lived here for about 10 days.  I am in no way an expert.

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What do you think about St. Clair Shores to live... too far?  I want to live in Grosse Pointe if we can find something in our price range, but I've looked at SCS and it seems to be cheaper.

I think that living in St. Clair Shores would be great.  It isn't far, just about 10 minutes away from the hospital (maybe a little more with traffic or depending where in SCS you live.  We've driven through a few times and it is absolutely beautiful.  The lake will remind you of Grenada and make you feel at home.  SCS and all the Grosse Pointes run together and are more like one large residential area.
St. Clair Shores will actually be closer to shopping malls and a Target, KMart, Walmart, etc.
SCS also has a park that residents can join (as do all of the "Pointes") http://scsparksrec.net/ and I think that , that is the one with the big water slides!! so the kids will love it! You can get a pass for a family of 4 for $50 for the year (or pay per time)  and that is all information I got off of that website.
The parks in the "Pointes" are free though to the best of my knowledge.

City Place Properties is who we used to get our apartment so it couldn't hurt to call and ask what they have to offer (and you could always drop our name and maybe we'll get a discount or something! hahaha) 


What about houses outside of Grosse Pointe... like right outside the limits... safe or too risky?

To the South and West of Grosse Pointe or SCS - NO.  As you can probably tell I am fairly adventurous and I have explored a tiny bit into Detroit city limits and the shift going along Mack Avenue and Jeffereson Avenue is instant from Grosse Pointe Park to Detroit.  The police from Grosse Pointe will not respond out of city limits and I've heard that the Detroit police basically have deserted parts of the city. Think on the level of Grenada police, but worse.  or so I've heard.  A lady I work with lives in Eastpointe and she says it is absolutely terrible and they sold their house to a rental company cheap just to get out.  The office I work for used to be located about a mile into Detroit and they said that the city literally crumbled around them and they had to get out.
Lee heard yesterday that to save money the city of Detroit was going to stop using street lights in certain neighborhoods..... dark Detroit streets? yikes.
You will be amazed at the difference between the two communities when you get here.
I also want to make a point to say that EVERY person I have met in Grosse Pointe or Detroit has been extremely friendly.  Male and female, black and white, from the doctors who visit the office to the girl taking my order at McDonalds.  Nice people.  Detroit is just on a terrible track with corruption in the government and police and lack of education and a system that isn't helping the people do better.  It's so terribly sad.
There is a rebuild Detroit initiative going on, but I think it is more of a downtown thing.

Is there a Walmart close by? Sam's Club/Costco?

There is a Target really close at the Eastland Mall.  But the Dr. I work for said that is isn't a good place to go alone, especially in the summer when the teens are out of school.   It's in a rough neighborhood.  Buuuuuuttttt, I can probably guarantee I'll be going there.  Lee and I went together and as long as you go during the morning, I think it'd be fine.  There is a mall there, but not with much you'd want to shop at other than Target or Macy's.  They have a Lowes and Home Depot.  Applesbees and Chilis.
A little further is a KMart and a Walmart, in Roseville maybe?? I've only been there once.
I've heard people talk about a Costco but haven't seen one.

In Grosse Pointe there is a Kroger and a Trader Joe's Downtown and a Village Market on Mack, about 10 blocks from the hospital.  As well as lots of pharmacies, restaurants, and other shopping.
The Pointes will have everything you'd ever need, but I've heard about 15-20 minutes north is more variety.

Do the boys need Smart Phones?... (this is a rumor I'm hearing)

Basically no.  Lee doesn't have one and has no intentions of getting one.  He has a pre-paid phone and infrequently needs to text a resident or someone else at the hospital.  Residents at St. John's receive ipads and Lee says EVERYONE else at the hospital have smart phones though.  But we don't exactly go with the flow....
Interesting tid bit though - with a St. John's Hospital ID you get a discount with AT&T!  It's about 22% or somewhere in that range.  We just found it to be too expensive for us and unnecessary really because we have survived just fine this far without smart phones or data plans.  Target has a phone that you can get pre-paid for $30 a month unlimited text and calling.  I have that and Lee has just a basic pre-pay like top up $20 here and there type thing... just like in Grenada!! 

So Lee has weekends off? 

YES!!  Occasionally he'll have to do a weekend shift or be on call.  But for the most part he has Saturday and Sunday off.... and he NEEDS it!   It's just as taxing as school if not more because of all the emotional and physical stress.  

When he comes home does he have to study or can he just relax?

When he comes home during the week he usually has some homework to do, which his residents will assign or just things he's noticed during his shift that he doesn't understand or needs to brush up on to prepare for a patient he is going to have the next day.  We usually have at least a full 2 hours to spend together at night... but he also has been going to bed really early because he gets up at 4:45 and it is a looooong day.

At the end of each rotation he'll write a Shelf Exam on whatever subject he just did so as much studying as he can get done throughout is best.
And then as we get closer to Step 2 (end of 3rd year) time he'll have to study more for that. 
... those stupid tests just keep coming......

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So, there is my little interview.  Have any more questions about medical school, being the spouse of a student, the clinical years, Michigan??  I'd love to answer them!

Grosse Pointe according to Wikipedia

Grosse Pointe refers to a coastal area in Metro Detroit, Michigan, USA, that comprises five adjacent individual communities. From southwest to northeast, they are:

• Grosse Pointe Park, city
• Grosse Pointe, city
• Grosse Pointe Farms, city
• Grosse Pointe Shores, city
• Grosse Pointe Woods, city

The terms "Grosse Pointe" or "the Pointes" are ordinarily used to refer to the entire area, referencing all five individual communities, with a total population of about 46,000. The Grosse Pointes altogether are 10.4 square miles, bordered by Detroit on the south and west, Lake St. Clair on the east and south, Harper Woods on the west of some portions, and St. Clair Shores on the north.

Grosse Pointe is one of the most affluent suburban areas in Metro Detroit, sharing a border with northeast Detroit's historic neighborhoods

Many prominent Detroiters, members of the Ford family, including Edsel Ford (son of Henry Ford) and his wife, Eleanor Clay Ford, as well as Henry Ford II (grandson of Henry Ford), have chosen to reside in Grosse Pointe. The Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, at 1100 Lake Shore Drive, is open to the public for guided tours.

Grosse Pointe is frequently referenced in television, film and literature, often as an icon of wealth and luxury. Grosse Pointe is known for a very preppy lifestyle, including dress, auto, and homes. The classic "preppy/old money" style is extremely popular in the area, a prominent subculture existing alongside an appreciable but less well-known working class in the Grosse Pointes.

Thank you Wikipedia, now back to Kelsey.

The Village   - the downtown shopping area that is more like a mall than a downtown with stores like Ann Taylor (and Loft), Gymboree, Coldwater Creek, Chico's, and Talbot's...
They also have a Trader Joe's, Kroger, about 10 coffee places including Starbucks and a Carribou, a Panera, and lots of other restaurants.
And this is about 3 blocks from my house!




So as you can probably tell Lee and I don't quite fit in, in Grosse Pointe.... but we don't quite fit in, in Detroit either. It's a no win situation that if I hadn't lived in Grenada previously I might not be prepared for.... but whatever.

1 week in Michigan

This has been a crazy busy week! 
I can't believe I've already been here a week.

I've come to love this apartment more and more.
I love the kitchen and the big living room, our sunny bedroom, and even our pink bathroom... 
The neighbors are great, and I got a job 2 blocks away!!
more about all of those things later.

I'll share some pictures of our first day in the apartment and around the neighborhood to calm everyone's fears about me living in downtown Detroit..... and then later I'll share about the real Detroit.

 Grosse Pointe, MI
if this town had a motto it'd be "a bubble of obnoxiously wealthy people in the middle of a city in despair" 

 Our quiet little street.

We're about 1 mile from the shore of Lake St. Clair.
There is a park with a pool, but not really beach access anywhere around here. 
About 30 minutes north there is a beach that I want to check out though! 

 St. John's Hospital - where Lee is rotating.
The hospital is huge!  and I'll tell lots more about what Lee's doing later. promise.

A new header is in order as well I know..... but what am I supposed to do without pinick?? :(

Grosse Pointe Movies

Just a little tid bit that I found interesting...

You know the movie and book Virgin Suicides?
It's set in Grosse Pointe!

and the movie Grosse Pointe Blank? yep!

I need to re-watch Virgin Suicides and water Grosse Pointe Blank for the first time!

Source: google.at via Kelsey on Pinterest

Source: impawards.com via Zelda on Pinterest

5 days till moving day!!!

from one SO to another

I got this sweet facebook message from an SGU SO who has already completed their clinical rotations (which I found is really called medical clerkship) in Detroit.  She really calmed my nerves about living in/near Detroit!  I thought this might be helpful to anyone thinking about heading to MI for rotations.


Don't be nervous about Detroit. You won't really need to go there for any reason. There are some fun places in right downtown (greek town, mexican town, etc). But we lived write on Mack Avenue by the hospital and loved it. There are cops around 24/7 to keep it safe and a nice community. We never felt uncomfortable. In fact - there were for sure times I felt more nervous about living in Grenada!

Also - I went to Target at Eastland ALL the time. My husband did say they had some crime at night so maybe just stick to daytime hours. The mall is pretty ghetto but I even took my kids to play there at the indoor playland a few times during the winter. I never felt unsafe.

What is your address? Do you know what "park" you belong to? They have private community parks that we spent all our time at. A free pool, one even has a movie theater (GPP)? I hope that you love it as much as we did. Will your hubby be at St. Johns hospital? It's a great one. So lucky you were placed there. What was it on your list? You will be glad in the end. All our friends that went to Jersey and NYC were bummed cause 4th year they had to scramble and find rotations themselves while St. John's sets it all up and you don't have to move around What does your husband want to go into? We just were matched in AUstin TX for ER. We are super excited. Good luck with your adventure. MI is great Let me know if you have any other questions!




Thank you so much for your help Alexis!!
The SO community is really great, I have never even met her and here she is offering all this help!  Awesome!
And now I'm more exited about our Michigan Adventure!

Apartment Found!

when does a girl like me blog??
when I am procrastinating.

It's been almost a month since we found out that we got placed in Detroit....
in that time we have been to visit, found an apartment, and I have applied to 3 billion jobs with a reply or some sort of contact from only 3....
thus I am blogging.
avoiding the internet job search.
which BLOWS.


Lee has already moved!! He's getting things set up in our little apartment and I am finishing up my last 2 weeks at work, then my best friend is getting married, then it's the social event of the year in this little town - MEMORIAL DAY PARADE!

Then I will join my Lee and start our life over again in a new strange place.
that isn't Grenada.

I told someone the other day we were moving to Grenada.... when I meant to say Detroit.
How do you make that mistake?
I sorta teared up...

but guess what................ ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO FOR ME TO VISIT THIS SUMMER/FALL!!!!!!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

My heart is more at ease just knowing I can visit soon.
My heart longs for the kids and my body aches for the ocean.

I still truly feel like Grenada is our home and where we belong.  I haven't changed my mind one iota since being back in the states.  Everything is better there... even though the food sucks, it's disgustingly hot and there isn't a place to buy a decent pair of shoes or piece of clothing....

I haven't kept in touch nearly good enough with my kids.
I feel so guilty.  I write letters that never got mailed.  I talk to them sporadically on the phone...
I'm bad a long distance.  I just need to be there.  But that's selfish.
I wrote 6 cards today and am mailing them tomorrow. for sure.

Anyway, we found an apartment in a super safe neighborhood.  In a building with 8 apartments and a super nice property manager.  Lee says there is a nice old lady who lives across the hall. aw.

This is us!

I'll update more about it later!  Off to research plane tickets and more jobs. boo.

Michigan Bound!!

so this is a little late and you all probably already know...
but we're moving to Michigan!!

Lee found out his placement on April 19th and will begin orientation at St. John's hospital on May 24th and begin rotations on May 29th!!

We were so relieved to get Michigan... but now begins the mad dash to find an apartment and a job!

I've already applied for 2 jobs that I would absolutely love !!!
Figured I'd start with something I'd actually want to do before I beg for a job at Walmart (which I'm not above doing ;)

We're heading up this Friday to check the city out and see what we're getting ourselves into!
Eeek!

I can't believe it's been 5 months since we left our little island in the sun.
I miss Grenada every day and am still saving my pennies to get back....