Peanuts, Popcorn, Crack-er Jacks

Week 1 has come and gone. Week 2 is about to begin. I filled you all in on the drive to Bakersfield so here's the first post on my time here.

We'll start with last Friday only because I forgot to mention that when I went by the ballpark to tour the stadium I just happened to get to tour the clubhouse and Ken Griffey's office. Haha. Of course he wasn't there but, I was still in his office.

Anyway, first weekend in Bakersfield Mom and I did alot of shopping. I mean, I had an apartment to furnish. Here are a few pics. I'm sure most of you have seen them on Facebook but, here we go again.

Side note, I'm watching The Voice right now and the GPS in the car Carson is driving sounds just like mine. She got named Honey on this trip because we were constantly calling her honey.

Here's the pictures of my sweet little apartment. Hope you enjoy!

Kitchen & Dining Area

 Bathroom

 Bedroom. I'm still working on it. Come on, all I do is sleep there anyway. It'll get done when it gets done. My closet is organized at least. Makes my life easier.

What else. The living room. you got that pic in the last post but here's a different one for you.

And yes, that's a baseball scentsy and a vase full of baseballs. Had to do something with the dozen baseballs I found in random boxes while I was unpacking. Only three of them have autographs, and a few have a story. The rest of them. Not a clue why I have them.

And now to week 1 as the Food and Beverage Director of the Bakersfield Blaze.

Well, I have an office. No picture of my office sorry, didn't think to take one. I've got a desk, and my very own computer. A really comfortable chair and chairs for two visitors. I also have the office refrigerator and snacks. I do not have the nacho cheese dispenser or the coffee maker. Yes, I said nacho cheese dispenser, we keep one in the office. 

Life is pretty sweet sometimes.

Well, besides the fact that I get to make too many decisions. I mean, I have to make decisions on important things like, what kind of hot dogs the concession stand it going to serve this season. What kind of beer we're going to sell. Two really important things when it comes to concessions at a sports venue. I don't even have a food supplier yet. It's down to two companies but, I'm not sure which direction to go. It might be a little easier if either one of the Sales Reps looked like Luke (if you haven't heard about Luke, ask the girls at the tearoom about him, he's pretty) Anyway, I've gotta get down to business making all these choices, the season is going to start too soon. I also have to clean up the concession stand (which I can get the interns on) and figure out a menu.

Some days it gets a little, well, more like alot overwhelming, and I have my, why did they hire this small town kid who has never worked in concessions moments, but someone will say something to reassure me without even knowing they've done it.

So all in all I have to pick a food supplier, they need to get back to me with prices. I'm working on Cotton Candy, they haven't sold it the past couple years. I've got the peanut situation under control, with a sponsorship, go Julie. I've got it down to 2 different brand of hot dogs. I have a meeting with the Bud guy next week. I've got to call the Ice Cream guy, the Pepsi man, the Sara Lee bread guy, and call the Coors man again. I'm getting free plastic beer cups from this cool company called Concession Cups, you can check them out at www.ConcessionCups.com

What have I forgotten... Oh, I wanted something sweet the other night and the easiest cookie in the world to make is the 1 egg, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of peanut butter, peanut butter cookie (if you sprinkle in just a little flour they turn out even better). Anyway, I didn't want as many cookies as it made just laying around in my apartment so I took some to work, never had so many compliments on a cookie. Come on people, I'm pretty sure anyone can make this cookie. Then, the other night I took some sinus medicine hoping it would clear out my sinuses and put me to sleep. Sadly, it left me wired so I made my Grandma's Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. I think they could've been better, Grandma's seem to taste better, maybe that's because she makes them but, they were a hit. Now, I'm making Banana Nut Muffins, the boys in the office jokingly requested Banana Bread, I'm more than happy to bake for someone, I'm bored. And, if I keep them in baked goods, I'm pretty sure I won't have to buy myself lunch. I haven't had to yet.

If you want to find out more about the Front Office you can check everyone out at www.BakersfieldBlaze.com on the About Us tab there's a Front Office section, if you click on any name you'll get a profile for that person. Everyone's there but me and Eric. Eric's the Director of Grounds & Operations. Don't see him much, he always seems to be in the shed or on the field. And, well, my name will end up on it. Just emailed Dan my profile, well some stuff, we'll see he does with it, and frankly, the longer my name stays off the website, the longer I have to make decisions without the Boosters making requests. Like me putting spaghetti on the menu. Who eats spaghetti at the ballpark? And seriously, thank God, it was just my first week or I really would've had to go to a Booster meeting this week. Luckily, Phillip felt where I was coming from and didn't want to throw me to the sharks after only being here 4 days.

I think its going to be tons of fun, but it'll be alot of work too. Its all gravy. I'll get it under control. I hope. Maybe once I figure out what all these keys are for.

Why in the world do I need keys to everything? Its not like they're going to leave me at Sam Lynn by myself. Even if they thought about it, I'm smart enough to make sure one of the guys will be there if I have to stay late. I'm sure I can always offer them some food to keep me company if I have to.

The U-verse guy also finally came out this weekend and hooked me up. Great that he was some nice, normal, all-American looking dude. Helpful, not creepy at all. I was worried it would be some creepy old guy coming to set my cable up.

Guess that's all. Any questions, just ask. Thanks for reading. If anything crazy happens I'll let you know.

Keepin' It Country tonight. lol. I'm cooking chicken fried steak for dinner. :)



And so it begins

Here's what you've all been waiting for. Who knows how long this is going to be? I mean really, there's so much to catch y'all up on. The trip out here and my first week at work. My apartment and well, I guess that's all. I'm sure I'll start to ramble, once I get started that's pretty much how it goes. I'll keep a few details to myself, although a few of you know those things (Erica and Candace) I guess if you want to know those, you know how to reach me.

And the adventure begins.

This whole new chapter in my life actually began a long time ago when I created my job profile on teamworkonline.com, seems like I applied for thousands of jobs. It was probably only 250 but whose counting. Finally applying for job after job, having phone interviews and getting turned down for everything the Bakersfield Blaze called. They needed a new Food and Beverage Director, saw my profile, and wanted to interview me. I guess they liked me because I'm in Bakersfield now getting the Concession Stand ready for the upcoming 2012 season.

Before I got my car loaded down I had several going away events. One of them wasn't even mine. We finally had Brittany's going away dinner with the tearoom gals. Great food at Monument Inn, pretty sure a good time was had by all. Then later that week we had my Teapot Depot going away dinner. It was really bittersweet. I've worked for Debbie and been a part of the gang since I was 15 years old. I would've worked there in some way, shape, or form for 10 years this April. Crazy how fast time flies. I've worn a ton of different hats and seen many employees come and go but one thing will remain the same Debbie, Philis, and Ms. Laura are part of my family now and I made a ton of lifelong (hopefully) friendships with the revolving cast of characters that have come and gone through those doors. I will cherish the things I learned there, they've help mold me into the woman I am today.

I also had a pretty amazing going away party with a ton of friends and family at my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Rogers' house the night before I left. Thanks Aunt Lisa and everyone else who helped organize it. It was great.

And thanks to everyone else who showed up to show me a little love before I left. For those who contributed to the "Julie's moving to California and can only pack what fits in her car and will have to buy new stuff when she gets there Fund" a huge THANKS. My apartment is shaping up.

I think all I really need is a blender, vacuum cleaner, a chair for my living room, and well a bed. This air mattress is really nice but, its not going to work forever. I just need to a mattress and box springs, a bed frame and then find a boy with a truck to haul it to my apartment. I'll cook him dinner. What boy can resist a home cooked meal? I'll even throw in some cookies or something.

I guess that sums up all the pre-road trip stuff. Well, unless you count me slicing my finger in two on a very sharp kitchen knife. It was in a box I was repacking, didn't know it was in that box. It finally stopped hurting a couple days ago. It's still pretty gross looking though. And there's all the stuff I left behind because it really wouldn't all fit into my car after all. Should've packed my trench coat and pea coat its been awfully chilly here in the mornings and after the sun goes down.

Here comes the real fun, Tuesday night, after saying goodbye to Jace, Jaclyn, Grandma, Grandpa, Erica, and Dad, Mom and I embarked on our journey to Bakersfield. Favorite Mom quote from the whole trip, "Don't know if we're Lucy and Ethel or Thelma and Louise but here goes" And we were off. We made it to San Antonio night one. Stayed in a hotel that was a bit shady looking but, it was clean and comfortable and it wasn't like we were staying long.

We hit the road early again Wednesday morning. Drove through the rest of Texas and entered New Mexico.

Texas

Oh what fun New Mexico was.

New Mexico



We entered a Safety Corridor, well more than one. Had to use Caution, because of possible dust storms, then Extreme Caution because of the same possible dust storms. I kept expecting to see a flashing DANGER sign all because of possible dust storms. It seemed like every 5 miles they were reminding you of dust storms. I get it. Its dry, its the dessert, there could be dust storms. I suppose its no different than Flash Flood signs in the Houston area. Oh and did I mention that our speed was being monitored by aircraft. I mean what was going to happen if I was speeding? Was an aircraft going to suddenly appear, like a UFO, we were in New Mexico after all, and land on I-10, just to give me a speeding ticket? Did I mention they drove the speed limit? Not even a little over. Those New Mexico drivers, bunch of pansies. All joking aside. It was a gorgeous drive. We even passed Fraggle Rock. Well, it was a big rock formation someone had painted "Fraggle Rock" on, but it made me think of my childhood.

Finally we made it out of the great state of New Mexico and drove into Arizona. First sign we saw there was one reminding us to "Buckle Up, Thank You". They're awfully nice in Arizona. They even put "Thank You" on the signs telling you that the road work has ended. It was a pleasant drive in Arizona. The roads were nice, the scenery was nice, the guy at the store where we stopped to get a map of California and something to drink didn't charge us for our map.

Craziest moments in Arizona happened when I was behind the wheel. First we went looking for a Dairy Queen, the GPS, bless here heart, told us there was one. I exited, ended up on this road, mind you its pitch black outside, that is full of twists and turns, and one dip after another. It reminded of back roads in East Texas. It was an adventure to the middle of no where! Dairy Queen wasn't there. We drove a little further and found another Dairy Queen. Of course it was closed for the evening, it was only like 7 but, they weren't open. So I got back on I-10 and continued the trip to Bakersfield. Once I was back on 10 traveling the same speed as everyone else, guardrails on my left and 18-wheelers on my right, I see this SUV coming up on me quick. Thought we were going to die. Then it whips into the other lane, almost hitting the 18-wheeler next to me, and comes right back into my lane, barely missing me. Not 2 seconds later another SUV does the same, then another, then another. The last three were all marked Border Patrol vehicles, the first one wasn't. If said Border Patrol Officers were after the first SUV couldn't they have turned on their lights. Would've helped my nerves a bit. Like I said, it was crazy! We stopped in Phoenix got a good nights sleep, got gas at a gas station that had self service and full service and stopped at Whataburger, my last Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit for a while. Sad!



Arizona

The drive from Phoenix to the California state line seemed to take forever but, we finally made it. Then the drive to Bakersfield was never ending. At the state line we got asked if we were bringing any plants or produce into the state. Of course as we're pulling out of the little station thing I pop off that I had a bag of pot in the back seat and mom reminded me the window is still down, hey it was funny, and its not like they couldn't hear me. Turns out mom smuggled an orange from San Antonio into the state in her purse. She forgot it was there. Oh well.

California

All looks the same huh? So once we made it to Bako our first stop was one of the apartment complexes on my list of places to look at. The only place that had something move in ready. Turns out it was perfect. Its a small studio apartment but its got this room divider closest thing which makes it more like a 1 bedroom apartment. The appliances are older but they work, and work well, the ovens calibrated correctly, its actually the temperature it says it is. I couldn't ask for anything better! The price was right too! So go me. We stayed in a hotel Thursday night, I moved in Friday, and I haven't tucked tail and drove back home yet. So, go me! This is turning out to be alot more than I expected for the first post so I'll leave you with a few random things and fill you in on my first week at work and post apartment pictures sometime tomorrow!

1. If you get the chance to make a road trip out here you really should its gorgeous

2. I always thought Houston radio was awesome but, they play a way better variety of country out here. Stuff I haven't heard but has been out for a while. Like one of my new favorites by Andy Gibson

 

and finally

3. I kind of wish I would've left it on whatever station was playing the Green Kimono song in whatever state we were in. Now I wish I knew what the green kimono song was all about. Or even enough of the lyrics to search it. All I remember is "she wears a green kimono" and I don't even know if that's right.

All in all it was a safe trip. We didn't get lost, didn't get pulled over, and made pretty great time. More on Bakersfield tomorrow.

Oh and real fast the title...

Streets of Bakersfield a la Buck Owens, since he's from here and all

Janell had a pretty good idea, I could make the stillnota_____fan, a family tradition. But that left me with too many choices. Do I go with a team from California? There are way too many. Or I could be stillnotaREDSfan, but since the Blaze are the high A team for the Reds, I was thinking that wouldn't be a good option. The ownership might not find it humorous the way we do. 

So I went with Keepin It Country. Sadly when making the page the address keepinitcountry was taken as was keepingitcountry so I went with keepnitcountry (no "i" no "g" just "n") Good times.

Thanks for the idea, Jake Owen. It was either Keepin' It Country or Settin' the World on Fire since I work for the Blaze.

Both great songs but, these lyrics fit better.

From muscle shows to Santa Rose,
From Bakersfield to Tullahoma,
From Baton Rouge up to Buffalo,
Anywhere that you might call home,

Doesn't matter where you are,
It's the same old stripes,
The same old stars,
The same old highways cuttin' across,
The same old moon turnin' on and off,
Cammed up Chevy at a traffic light,
With a pretty girl on a Saturday night,
And Willie Nelson singin' "On The Road" again,
Lookin' around it's good to see everybody out there,
Keepin' it country.

And thanks to the Blaze Front Office too. Country music is the music of choice more often than not. So I guess we're all Keepin' It Country!