Looking Back on 2013

Here's a look back at some of my favorite pictures from the past year.  We've had a great year and I imagine 2014 will be even better!  

From Crossroads to The Maple House

T and I have talked before about moving but I was always the one that was hesitant.  Big decisions like moving are difficult to make and certainly can't be made on a whim.  I never really saw us moving anywhere and I was so happy in our little house in Crossroads.  We had even started the ball rolling on refinancing our house, but something just didn't feel right about it and we let it go.  Randomly one day I checked the Sears job postings and saw an opening in Texarkana for an Assistant Store Manager.  I talked to T and asked him if he was really wanting to move and the next thing I know I'm putting my application in for a transfer.  I received the job offer back in September, but I kept it pretty mum for almost a month.  That was super hard to do and I wasn't allowed to start until Nov 1!  Me getting this job was definitely a blessing.

I'm not going to lie it was really hard juggling my schedule and T's travel schedule ever since Coco left us.   I know I haven't mentioned my Meniere's Disease in a while but that also played a big factor in our decision to move.  T's out of town and I have a bad episode and can't drive = a bad combination.  I haven't even had an episode since we moved, thank you Lord.  Another blessing.

We put our house on the market around the first week of October and we had three offers after that first week.  Crazy right?  Selling our house so quickly showed us again, that this was meant to be.  We are blessed.

Ladybug and I moved to New Boston and began staying with my parents back on October 31.  They have horrible internet which is one reason I haven't blogged.  T stayed back in Crossroads and worked on packing while driving back and forth on the weekends.    We enrolled Ladybug into a real pre school and she loves it!  That was a rough two week adjustment trying to get us both out the door by 7:20 every morning.  I'm so thankful she's in full swing of the routine now.

We looked at almost every house for sale in New Boston and made a decision very quickly on wanting The Maple House.  A contingent offer had been made and we just prayed every day that the sale would go through on our house so we could close on this house.  We actually moved in on December 13 and closed on both houses on December 23 and December 27.  Again, another blessing.

It's been a long, rough month with working retail and 6 day work weeks WHILE moving.  Seriously, my only day off each week was spent moving or shopping for Christmas.  We still have a long way to go but at least we have beds to sleep in.  The boxes will slowly get accomplished and The Maple House will soon be called home.

She Loves Mail

Is this dyslexia or lefty brain?

Maybe Ococ knows.~

Lots Going On Around Here

This is just the start of it all...

New Friend

T took Ladybug out for Daddy Daughter Day to spend some gift cards at Build a Bear.  Thank you Mimi!  She picked out this huge bunny and two outfits.  Oh my, we have had to change the bunny's clothes two times a day from pajamas to play clothes and back again!  She's also been her favorite friend this week.

It's Finally Fall

This might be the closest we come to finding a pumpkin patch this year and I'm a little sad about that.  There used to be one in Aubrey and we drove around in circles for an hour the other night looking for it.  Apparently it went out of business, so sad.  Maybe we'll just climb up onto the pumpkins at the local Wal-Mart instead.  

Headed Home Today

We had an amazing trip of a lifetime and I'm sad to see it's over.  I think my favorite part of this trip was not worrying about work or thinking about anything except just having fun.  We seriously were at the happiest place of earth!

Disney Day 5 - Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

The Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party started at 7:00 and it's only for the cool people that purchased the tickets.  That's us!  They pretty much run everyone else out of the park.  Haha, not really of course.  What I did see whenever someone without the Halloween wristband tried to get on a ride or candy was them being told the park was closed.  I was impressed that they enforced it plus it made our time more enjoyable as the lines were much shorter.

We rode a few rides first, mainly the ones that we missed the other day.  Oh, but we did ride Dumbo a second time!

We also received a bag to trick or treat with and it didn't even matter how old you were.  Everyone got to trick or treat!  Oh, and the candy was the good stuff too!  We attempted to hit every candy station.

There were also several dance parties around the park and we watched Buggy dance with a few of her new friends.  I love how her dress is twirling while she is dancing with the horse.

We found Tinkerbell and Terrance by accident and I'm glad we did.  They were so cute and sweet and spent way too much time with Buggy.  Bug just kept talking and asking them questions and they just ate her up!

Everyone else cut out a bit early, but we stayed to visit a few more friends.  We loved seeing Mickey and Minnie dressed in costumes for the occasion.  I also loved how Ladybug told Minnie, "I am dressed just like you!"

By the way, we didn't get to bed until almost 1:00 am after the party.  Ladybug never had a meltdown but she was ready for her bed, just like us.

Disney Day 5 - Downtown Disney

Our first part of the day was spent at Downtown Disney.   I think this was a really neat place to walk around and drop in and out of shops.  The Disney Christmas store was one of our favorites.  The best part was anything that you bought, they would deliver to your resort for free!  Ladybug's favorite was the little fountains that randomly shot up water.

Now it's time for our naps...we have a big date with Mickey tonight!

More soon,

Deana

Disney Day 4 - Animal Kingdom

We loved visiting Animal Kingdom for the day.  This park was beautiful with lots of trees and shade.  Our favorite ride was the Kilimanjaro Safari which made us feel like we really were in Africa!

Lunch was at the Tusker House with our Safari pals Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, Goofy and Mickey Mouse.  Ladybug even went up and line danced around the restaurant with Mickey.  They even gave all the kids shaker instruments while they danced.  So fun!

So, we had been looking for Chip and Dale ever since our arrival and we finally found them!  Ladybug made quick friends during our wait in line and learned how to tell them apart.

First thing Buggy wanted to do with the chipmunks was dance so they danced around to Ring around the Rosey.  And yes, they did all fall down!

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The Grands were getting used to the walking by this day but still took advantage of a nice shaded bench whenever possible.  Aren't they cute?

Disney Day 3 - Magic Kingdom

My itinerary for day 3 said to wear the new red monogrammed shirt and look your best!  We were going to attempt to get an awesome family photo for Mom's Christmas card.  I won't tell if you we succeeded or not, you'll just have to wait to find out.  I will say that it was a lot easier to keep track of everyone with the same shirts!

Ladybug got to meet Snow White and Rapunzel.  She wanted to dance with Rapunzel and they twirled and twirled with each other.

T was annoyed with this balloon for most of the day today, but it sure did make it a lot easier for us to find our stroller every time we parked it.  The balloon also lasted the entire trip.  We ended up giving it to a random little girl on our way to catch the bus that last day.

Ladybug was in the zone when it came to autographs!  After the first day, she knew to grab it right away and have it ready for her new friends to sign.