About Me

My name is Amber and I am from Des Moines, Iowa. I have lived in Iowa almost my entire life and I love it! I have seen Des Moines grow from a small city to a thriving mid-sized city in the Midwest and it is so exciting! My blog name may have the word “cornfields” in it, but I can promise you that I did not grow up on a farm nor do I know what to do with corn besides EAT IT!

Despite how quickly my hometown is growing, the city still functions like a small town and it’s hard to go anywhere without running into someone you know! There are definitely days when I hate it, but most of the time I love it and it is comforting!
What people say about Midwesterners is true, we are extremely nice and we are good at making sure everyone around us is comfortable.  Where I live waving to neighbors is normal, smiling at strangers isn’t strange and holding doors for the person behind you is expected.

I started my blog back in 2007 when I needed a creative outlet. I almost immediately fell in love with blogging and more importantly, the relationships I found through blogging. I have met so many wonderful and amazing people through blogging and I am so thankful to be a part of such a wonderful community.

I am twenty-nine years old and I will turn thirty in January. Sometimes I get a little freaked out about that, but most of the time I don’t care. Age is just a number to me and I think it means very little – plus, I look extremely young. Nobody will believe I am thirty anyway! ;)

I graduated from Iowa State University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising and I thought I was going to be the next Rachel Green and move to NYC to be a buyer. Clearly, that did not happen.

Instead of packing my bags and heading to the Big Apple, I packed my bags and moved to Kansas City to be with a former boyfriend. That is when I fell into a career in retail management. I started working at the most amazing company called Club Libby Lu. It was a little girls store where girls got to have makeovers and dress up and be girly! We pierced ears, painted nails and helped girls shop til they dropped. I loved it! Unfortunately in 2009, the company had to shut its doors. I was heartbroken to say the least. After that I knew I wanted to purse a career in Education. After working with these little girls with CLL, I knew I had a knack for working with children and I felt this was my calling.

Once CLL closed I was offered another store manager position with a company called Justice, which was formerly Limited Too. I figured I would take it and save up money to go back to school full time (and figure out how that was going to be possible!).

I worked for Justice for two years, and started graduate school part time in the Fall of 2010 at Drake University. I feel so fortunate to have found a teacher prep program that will result in a Master’s degree and I love Drake so much. After my first semester of grad school part time and working full time I knew that I couldn’t keep up that schedule, so I quit my job and started school full time.

Luckily, in the state of Iowa if you have a bachelor’s degree, you can substitute teach in grades 7-12! I figured that was a win/win because I would get experience AND get paid! Sign me up!

In January of 2011 I started subbing almost full time and began going to graduate school full time. Life was, and still is, good!

Today I am juggling 5 graduate courses, 3 days a week subbing and I also work part-time at a non-profit agency for adults with mental disabilities – to say I am busy is an understatement, but I LOVE what I do and am so fortunate to have all the opportunities I do!

Besides all the work and school mumbo jumbo, I have a great group of friends that I met at Iowa State in the early 2000s and I am an avid reader. If you read my blog regularly, you will hear a lot about books! I read just about anything and always have a book with me! In the summer of 2011 I started a book club in Des Moines called Books ‘n Bars and it has been a tremendous hit! We are getting new members each month and I am in awe over how many people are so excited about it and exclaim that they have been looking for something just like it! I hope it continues to grow and if you’re in the area, we hope to see you!

I’m so happy you have decided to stop by A Little Pink in the Cornfields! Please leave a comment saying hi so that I can stop by and visit your corner of the internet as well!

Ciao!

4 comments:

Lucy said...

What a lovely blog you have. I just came across it and will definately be following from now on :) x

Whit said...

Just wanted to say that I am *so* happy to hear that you are getting a Master's in education without having had a BA in elementary ed. I majored in Art History thinking I was going to be the next...Charlotte from SATC. Needless to say, that didn't work out and after tutoring and much thought, I realized I really liked teaching children and they liked me! :) I was worried an MA wasn't the best route, but it sounds like you are definitely making it work and doing well!

Mollie said...

I'm a fellow Des Moines-ian too! I found your blog through Manon's. I love to find Iowa bloggers! Look forward to learning more about you!

Marissa and Seth said...

I just stumbled on your blog and immediately loved it! I'm not from Iowa but my mom was born and raised there and her side of the family lives just outside of Ames which means I spent all my childhood summers there. Anyway, hello from the Dallas, Texas suburbs! :-)