Welcome to the family, Bella Wilbur-Milbery!

A couple of months ago Nathaniel and I needed to decide if we would stay in the apartment we were in, or find a new place to live. We decided that we wanted to be closer to the city and we wanted a dog.  Since we are both huge advocates for pit bulls and the amazing dogs that they are, we knew we wanted to rescue a pit. I spent weeks calling apartment buildings but everyone had breed discrimination in place and would not let us live in their building with a pit. This infuriated me because people are still ignorant enough to believe that a particular breed of dog is inherently bad, rather than it being in how you raise them... just like children. But that is a rant and discussion for another day. Finally I found My Pit Bull is Family and they had a list of properties that accept pit bulls. After calling all three properties, only one called me back. Nathaniel and I went to check apartments that weekend and signed a lease two weeks later! We were finally going to be closer to the city and able to get a dog.

Our family <3

We found a rescue organization that we loved and four dogs we could not choose between. When we were able to start the application process, our two favorites got adopted. We inquired about the others and one had major anxiety and the other needed major surgery... We started to feel really discouraged and decided we would slow down, and look at other organizations. One day at work, I receive a text from Nathaniel, "I love Bella"... "Bella who?" "From Coco's Heart Dog Rescue". I looked up her picture and fell in love. We learned that Bella was at Coco's once, got adopted by a married couple, they divorced and surrendered her back to Coco's... We never knew when/why she was initially in Coco's. That weekend we had an initial meeting with her, and three days later we adopted!

We are so blessed to have Bella in our lives, she is great. She's already housebroken, so we have only had a couple of accidents due to not hearing her cues to go outside and her initial nervousness being in a new place. She loves going on walks and to the lake, probably because she loves seeing people and getting attention from everyone and their dogs! She's pretty good with dogs, we are still working on perfecting that socialization but she's been doing great!

Daddy and Bella at Pet a Palooza!

Yesterday we went to "Pet a Palooza" at the Minnesota Fairgrounds - it was a massive exhibition of various companies, rescue organizations, agencies, etc... all with goodie bags for the dogs, treats, and live music! Bella met so many dogs and was playing nicely with all of them, it was great. Towards the end of the day, a nice woman, Sabrina, walked up to us and said, "I need to know where you got your dog"... We told her "Coco's Heart". Her jaw dropped and she said, "I think I took care of you dog as a puppy and saved her life". She continued to tell us that over a year ago (Bella is 1 1/2 years old), a man brought a puppy to her clinic and said, "she's been tied up in my kitchen, she keeps puking and having diarrhea, I need someone to help her". The clinic took her in and soon realized she had Parvo which kills over 50% of puppies that become infected. When they told the guy that brought her, he said "let me get my wallet from the car" and never came back. The clinic finished treatment and this woman took the puppy home to socialize her and train her before bringing her to Coco's Heart. Sabrina asked us to stay there, went to get her phone and showed us pictures of the puppy... She had all of Bella's exact markings!! We were so awestruck that the universe brought this our way in such a small world. I emailed Coco's to confirm that it was Bella and it was! So yesterday we learned that our baby is survivor, a warrior, a strong pup!

So Bella Wilbur-Milbery... Welcome to the family! We love you and are so grateful for you!

Don't judge my Pit Bull
and I won't judge your children.

Life, as we know it, in Minnesota!

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to blog more... considering it’s been over two weeks since my last update, I’d say I need to work on this resolution.

In the last two weeks, Nathaniel and I have both started jobs, watched the Patriots lose, explored a few places in Minneapolis, and all around started to settle in to our new lives together, here in Minneapolis. It’s been exciting and overwhelming at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve enjoyed every second of living with my best friend and transitioning into my new role here in the Minnesota office of Free the Children. 

Nathaniel at Bryant-Lake Bowl

On our adventures a couple weeks ago, we found ourselves at Bryant-Lake Bowl. This place is a whole in the wall bar meets alley way bowling with no computer screens to keep score and amazing food. It was actually featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives which is what prompted us to eat there before we bowled. We met a really nice family next to us and the dad taught us how to score our game (I’m still trying to teach Nathaniel though) and I have to say, Nathaniel beat me both times. It is definitely a place we will visit more often and one we will take family/friends when they visit.

Archiver's

Another spot we decided we had to check out was... Dun dun dunnnnn... The Mall of America! Fun fact: More people visit the Mall of America annually than the populations of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Canada combined! And being there, I can see why. If you are a mall/shopping person (which I am about 50% of the time), this place was made for you. It is four floors of pure heaven with any store you can possibly think of – including a store for Betty Paige, including dresses like the ones she wore (I am currently saving up for another trip back to this store). My other favorites included the Vera Bradley store, Archiver’s (a store dedicated to scrapbooking – seriously?!), and the Betty Paige store. Finally, if I haven’t sold the men yet on visiting Mall of America with their significant others... there is an amusement park in the center of the mall, complete with roller coasters and a ferris wheel, and a Lego store that features MASSIVE lego structures. Yes, inside of a mall. Is this an appropriate time to say “only in America”?

Okay, okay, we’ll get to some of the “why we’re actually here” stuff, like jobs... Nathaniel landed a job at a distribution company and has made a few friends there. Considering it looks like we will be staying here a bit longer (sorry I can’t give out too much information about that yet), we are currently on the search for a more permanent position for him. (And we’re on a role, trust me!)

My job has been going really great, I’m loving my role here in Minnesota and the fact that I get to be a part of our expansion into the motherland. Last night, Nathaniel and I attended an event at The Blake School – a top private school in MN and huge champions of Free The Children. It was a fundraiser for clean water in Barind, India through FTC. While at the event, we had the pleasure of meeting Dean and Hutton Phillips, the co-chairs for We Day Minnesota! Their family has the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota, which is an amazing philanthropic organization. It was so nice to meet them and be in a middle school auditorium, seeing so many young people come together for social change.

Lastly, I decided to (finally, after so many people have told me to do so) open an Etsy shop! Right now I only have a few sets of coasters listed, but once I have all my craft supplies here I will be able to list my cards and other items as well. It’s still in the beginning stages, but check it out: a Craft in my Step!

As you can see, we have settled in nicely and we are enjoying our life here in Minnesota. Check back for more updates!

Welcome to Minneapolis!

Our first welcome mat!

Hey friends! This post comes about a week overdue, but for anyone that has moved into a new place (and one without internet) you know how long it can take to get settled! After spending two years in an LDR (long distance relationship), Nathaniel and I have not only moved closer to each other, but we have moved into an apartment together in Minneapolis!

A month before I was set to move back to Massachusetts and end my time at Free The Children, I was approached by some of the directors in the organization and asked to stay. They explained that they had a position available in Minneapolis, MN which they wanted me for. After hearing so much about it I realized it was an opportunity that I could not pass up... and here I am. In my new role, I am a hybrid of a few roles at Free The Children. I am:

• Outreach Speaker (which I have been for the last two years) - Traveling to schools every day to connect with youth and schools that want to be involved with Free The Children. I deliver 45-minute keynote presentations to schools about my own personal story, what FTC is, what Adopt a Village is, and how they can get involved.
• Youth Programming Coordinator - The first point of contact for individual youth that want to be involved with FTC and schools that are not yet involved. I will be responsible for nurturing relationships with schools until they are ready to get involved and then I introduce them to their own Educational Programming Coordinator.
• Main MN contact (not exact job title) - I will be working with one other person, David, to get people in Minnesota involved in our programming; from youth and schools to corporate partners and school administrators... I'll be working hard to make sure we have a strong network in MN.

I am really excited about this role because I get to wear a few hats and try new roles, while also gaining skills and improving the ones I have already learnt. I am currently in Toronto training with various team members to make this role successful and will be returning to Minneapolis this weekend and starting in the office there on Monday!

Panoramic view of our dining room and living room.

As for the apartment and living with Nathaniel... It's been fantastic! The apartment is beautiful and spacious for two people and in a quiet neighborhood. Once you walk into our apartment there is a kitchen and dining area to the left, living room straight ahead, and bedroom and bathroom to the right. I've been doing most of the cooking and Nathaniel's been doing the handy work! So far our biggest differences have been folding towels differently (we now fold them as Bria does) and making the bed differently (we now make it as Nathaniel does)... so I'd say we're doing pretty well ;)

There isn't too much within walking distance right now because it is so cold, however, once the weather gets better there are all sorts of trails and lakes surrounding us to explore. Besides, we're only a 30-minute transit ride from downtown Minneapolis, which is pretty sweet! We took our first successful bus ride last weekend to prepare for Nathaniel's interview and did not get lost which was a plus. I'm excited to get back to the city this weekend and be able to explore a bit, we have a running list of 30+ things to do!

On a more personal note, I have followed along with the typical societal rules of committing to New Year's Resolutions... they are as follows:

Become more comfortable in my own skin.

No fast food.

No soda.

Get back into a workout schedule (4-5 days a week).

Train to run a 5k race.

Stop swearing.

Blog more (weekly).

So far the resolutions have been going well. I haven't had fast food or soda. I'm working on the swearing (haven't perfected it but have been doing pretty well I think). I will start working out when I get back to Minneapolis since we have a fitness center in the apartment building (this goes along with training for the 5k and being more comfortable in my own skin). 

Look out in the coming weeks for updates on all our adventures!

Until next time... 

"Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm... As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands. One for helping yourself, the other for helping others." -Audrey Hepburn