Hello there! Yes, our house is officially on the market! I’m going to be ultra confident and say we will get several offers in the next 30 days!
I’ve been working my tail off getting it clean and the next few weeks will be about cleaning out, although I can honestly say my house has never looked so showroom perfect! It looks great right now but its sad a bit too because I feel like we painted and fixed it all up for someone else, but that may be what puts us over the edge and get a great offer. No new details on the job situation yet, but unless something changes it looks like we will be heading to Plano, TX. It’s still up in the air, but we are hopeful and trusting that there’s a reason for everything and just looking to God to guide us.
In other fun news, Anya’s Easter Egg Hunt got moved to inside at school but she had a great time and Travis was able to read to the class on Friday as well. He loved it! The kids are each so unique, but we definitely have new respect for Kindergarten teachers! Travis read “Doggone Dogs” and “Dog’s Colorful Day”. Then, they let school out early on Friday because of the severe weather threat which was what cancelled the outdoor egg hunt. And this week is spring break for Anya so we are trying to plan some fun activities for her.
Last night we had a mini Harry Potter party and it was a blast. Travis’ friend/co-worker Randy and his girlfriend Anna came over to enjoy the food with us and then we watched “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1″, which is a great movie, but I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. Our Harry Potter menu included:
Roast Chicken
Gillyweed Salad
Roasted Potatoes
Butterbeer
Pumpkin Juice (orange sweet tea)
Chocolate frogs
Acid Pops
Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans
Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum
Licorice Wands
I had the best time making the chocolate frogs, with a chocolate frog mold, and the acid pops. The acid pops were easy. They were just blow pops that you dip in honey and roll in Pop Rocks, then wrap in wax or parchment paper. They were so much fun to make!
Everyone seemed to like everything and the Gillyweed salad was just iceberg lettuce/salad. I tried to adapt everything from the movies and the books and I can only hope that one day Anya or Arwen will want a real Harry Potter party and I can go ALL out! I had lots of plans to make things, and everyone enjoyed it…but it would be super fun for kids I think because we could do a potions class and even play a game of Quittich.
The butterbeer was by far the most time consuming recipe but it was also fun to make and really, really yummy; especially if you like butterscotch flavored candies which is what it tastes like.
To make your own butterbeer you can use the recipe that I used from this link…

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2010/07/02/harry-potters-butterbeer-recipe-uncovered/

In the meantime here’s a few photos, the first one is the my table from the party…


This is from Anya’s school field trip to the zoo, here she is with her friends Ashley and Paula.

no·mad : noun /ˈnōˌmad/ – A person who does not stay long in the same place; a wanderer.

This is what I feel like lately. We got news about 2 weeks ago that Travis’ company is relocating to Plano, TX. There are lots of uncertainties about it all right now including if there will even still be a job for him as its more than a relocation for the crew in Cullman and Carson City, NV, its also a restructuring/reformation of the company of sorts. So, what does that mean exactly? Well, it means that not only are we going to have to move, but that Travis is also currently looking for a job. And considering the type of work he does, he has to look in much larger areas such as Nashville, Atlanta, St. Louis, DC, Orlando, etc. We are hopeful that the job in Plano will come through but as its not a guarantee he has to keep his options open. We would love to return to Orlando and I think that is our goal one day, but the main issue we have right now is our house. We have it for sale by owner right now and are going to list it with an agent next week. Pray that the house will sell quickly and that will be a major load off our shoulders because I think that is what makes us the most nervous. Anya will finish the school year here and it doesn’t look like the move would happen until at least June. We will know more both at the end of April and sometime in May. If for some odd reason, Travis does not continue on to Plano, his last day for the current job he is in will be September 2nd.
We need all the prayers we can get, but we are also trying to look at this as a very positive thing, and God obviously has a reason for the things he places in our lives.
We have gone through every emotion imaginable from anger, sadness, excitement, denial, etc. and now we are just focused. Focused on the future and all the possibilities it will hold. I refuse to be negative about any of it anymore and will only be focusing on the incredible opportunities that will await us all!