life update

I think I've previously eluded to our big changes in 2017, but now I get to further clarify. In October (right around the time we started the process of selling our house and moving into the blue house) Alex became increasingly aware of how dissatisfied and burnt out he felt at the office. 

While we know that it is a privilege to work for ourselves and to run our own business, there is also a lot of weight and stress that comes along with it.  We had always known there could be a point that we'd want to sell the office, but neither of us had a firm timeframe of when that could be. Cue Alex's extreme burnout. After a lot of prayer, discussion and council, we decided that it was the right time to start looking for a buyer for the office. 

After talking with several different buying prospects, Alex narrowed it down to two different agencies and the one we landed on made the best offer and seemed like the most natural (read: seemingly easy) fit. 

While the sale details and plans emerged very quickly, the actual buyout took longer than expected due to some financing hiccups. But in the mean time, the other agency took over managing our office (in early November), leaving Alex free to work on other projects. 

For the last 3+ years he has had his hand in some type of web development projects and gets the most enjoyment and is most challenged when he's working on a development project. So, that's what he threw himself into November-January. It made for a bit more challenging adjustment to the new house since he was home all day, I had a broken foot and we didn't have a normal, but slowly having him home became our normal. 

In late December he started sending his resume for different developer positions in the area and had several phone interviews and an in person interview at a small firm. But, the general consensus was that he was a little "too green" for the available positions. To say that he was discouraged would be an understatement, so he threw himself into learning and practicing even more. 

Out of the blue he received a phone call in mid January (the office sale was still pending) for a Marketing Technologist position at Concordia Publishing House. He'd forgotten he'd applied for it, but was pleasantly surprised to hear from them and even more so after his in person interview. The job was a blend of what he'd been doing for 5+ years with our business and with his new web development/tech skills. They offered him the job and he accepted with a start date of February 5th. 

I know he's excited for a new challenge and opportunity and we both look forward to seeing if this is the fit and job he's been looking for. God has been good and has provided for us beyond what we could have ever imagined and the office sale was finally complete the Friday before he started the new job on Monday! 🎊

yellow chair

Since we moved into our new house I've thought that we needed a comfy chair in the corner. But when we got the Christmas tree, it took up more than it's fair share of space so my chair had to wait. But after the tree came down, I was on the hunt. We found this beaut at World Market and convinced them to sell us the floor display since it was the only one they had left and it was on sale that day only. I love it and it makes me smile every time I see it. Yellow is my favorite.

christmas 2017

Christmas is always a busy season, but I look forward to it every year. This year as Alex and I processed our high and lowlights our unanimous highlight was picking out our Christmas tree with Margo. She was so excited to run through the fields and "help" find a tree. When Alex cut the tree down she shouted, in her sweet chipmunk voice, "oh-no!". 

Our other highlights were spending time with family and the cliche seeing her face on Christmas morning. But she really was so excited and cute! There aren't really any lows from this year except everywhere we looked someone was getting sick, sick or getting over being sick. Somehow we managed to avoid getting sick and had a great holiday season.

harry potter world

I love to read. My favorite books to read and re-read are the Harry Potter books. I don't know how many times I've read through the series, but every time I read them, I enjoy them that much more. You can call me a nerd, I'm really ok with it.

Alex and I were up late one evening two weeks before Christmas talking about what our plans for the next few weeks were. Right now with the office, Alex has a bit more free time than normal and we started daydreaming about taking a quick trip somewhere before Christmas, before Alex's free time runs out.

We talked about going skiing but with a broken foot that didn't seem prudent. Then we talked about going to DC or New York, but that seemed cold and super crowded. We finally started looking to see where Allegiant flew since they fly out of Belleville and Orlando came up. As soon as I saw Orlando I immediately thought of Harry Potter World.

I have been wanting to go for ages and it finally seemed like the right time, so we booked our flight, rental car, hotel and got our park tickets. We did all of this on Monday night, our flight left Thursday morning, to say it was a last minute trip is probably an understatement.

We planned to take Margo with us until my Mom called to see if she and my dad could keep her so Alex and I could enjoy Harry Potter World without a stroller. We were a little torn because we knew she'd have fun and it'd be fun to see her reaction to everything, but ultimately knew that it'd be easier just the two of us. So she got a vacation with Grandma and Pop and we got a trip to sunny Florida.

When we got to Orlando we went to Universal Studios and straight to Diagon Alley. I was so excited that I was shaking. As soon as we walked through the brick wall (behind The Leaky Cauldren) the soundtrack from the movies was tinkling in our ears. I may or may not have teared up. Everything was absolutely perfect and just as it should have been. Our first stop was Ollivanders to get my wand. You can't be in the wizarding world without one.

The shops had brilliant displays, the dragon breathed real fire, the goblins were cranky and the wands really worked. The Butter Beer was just as I'd imagined and I was about as excited as I'd ever been.

The first ride we rode was Escape from Gringotts and it was awesome! It was a 3D/4D ride and it was really smooth and fun. After that we wandered through Diagon Alley some more and then decided to ride the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade. After waiting in a much longer line than expected, we caught the last train out of Kings Cross. The ride was fun and interactive but not necessarily as long as I thought it'd be.

When we got to Hogsmeade it was just about closing time for the park but it was so cool to see everything in the dark. It just so happened that we got to Hogwarts just in time for the Christmas lights show. It was really well done and ended in fireworks over the castle.

The next morning we woke up early to get the park as soon as we could to keep exploring. When we got there we went to Islands of Adventure and rode the Hulk (not HP themed at all...) but it was a really fun roller coaster. After that we wound through the park to Hogsmeade to ride The Forbidden Journey in Hogwarts. The line to get to the actual ride was really fun and interactive. The portraits talked, we went through classrooms with talking ghosts, through Dumbledore's office, we saw the Mirror of Erised, the portrait of the Fat Lady (the entrance to Gryffindor), the Sorting Hat and the bewitched ceiling in the Great Hall.  The ride itself was good, but really jerky so we were both a bit queasy afterward.

After that we wandered through Hogsmeade, ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks, practiced using my wand, got sweets from Honeydukes and of course more Butter Beer. We went back to Diagon Alley (by foot since the train line was so long) and continued wandering around, practicing spells and soaking it all up. We also got to see Celestina Warbeck perform a Christmas show with her singing Banshees. We shopped and wandered and somehow ended up back in Hogsmeade at the Hogs Head to drink our last Butter Beer before heading out for the night.

Harry Potter World lived up to my every expectation and they nailed all the details, big and small. Disney may be the happiest place on earth but Harry Potter World is the most magical.

1080p from Abby W on Vimeo.