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!