by Sarah | Feb 4, 2019 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All About Ripley, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, Florida Dreaming, Oola, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
*disclaimer* I am writing this over a week before publication. All information is subject to change. I’ll try to update if that happens, but I’m working a LOT, so it’s not 100%
We decided on this move in June of last year.
For over six months I have been applying at hospitals all over the area we’re looking at moving to (central Florida – i.e. Orlando area where our son lives).
I have managed to garner an interview and a half in probably 50-100 applications over the past six+ months. It’s been rough with all of the no’s stacking up, knowing a good deal of them likely come because I am here in Indiana.
It’s not easy being entry level and trying to move. They keep touting they want “a quick turnaround” and none of my assurances that I can be down in two weeks, three tops seems to make a difference in their eyes. Although what company doesn’t want you to be conscientious and put in a two week notice?
Frustration is lacing into every second of this for me. It’s tarnishing the excitement and making me doubt it happening.
Then, after six+ months of doing nothing on his job hunt…
My husband finally jumps into the fray. He works in a pretty specific industry with 20 years experience there, but again…pretty darn specific.
He has sent out THREE resumes. Three. About two weeks ago.
In less than a week, he got a call on a potential job.
Four days later, a phone interview.
The job? Not ideal…but if they match his current income…we are GONE.
So fingers crossed.
We could make this a reality.
Our target date: July 2019
Current status: One positive interview for husband, still plugging away for me. Savings is on target. Would feel more confident if I knew tax refunds were coming.
We’re heading toward our dream #Oolalife…we are getting there. Every day another inch closer.
*~*
Edited for update: I have also had a promising pre-interview this past week. No set date for a real interview yet, but hoping to have one soon.
by Sarah | Jan 31, 2019 | All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, Disney Mom, DisneyTips, Florida Dreaming, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
So many times people think Molly and Kennedy are ACTUAL twins instead of Irish twins.
Oftentimes they (and I) have found it rather annoying…
Then…then…then…
You go on a trip to Disney/Universal for the youngest’s Wish.
Because Kennedy is SO in love with the Harry Potter books/movies/everything your very first stop on your very first day is none other than Ollivander’s so you can beat the crowds you’d heard were so crazy and have a chance at your little one getting the most awesome treat of being picked by Ollivander to get her very own wand.
It truly was our first day so we had no idea the true meaning of the magic of our Make-A-Wish badges and buttons…but within the walls of Ollivander’s Wand shop we learned quickly.
We also learned that it can be a good thing that people think Molly and Kennedy are actual twins…
Because when Ollivander selected those that would get their wands –
He picked Kennedy AND Molly.
(Here is where I would insert the video if it was not such a colossal mess of flipping sideways and darkness and not being able to hear everything. Sorry. The tale alone will have to do.)
First, he learned their names, then the wand selection began.
First, he handed Kennedy a wand made of Willow with a unicorn hair as its core. She waved with a “Wingardium Leviosa” and…well…the shelves went crashing down.
Then, he handed Molly a wand of hazel with a unicorn hair as its core. He instructed her to light it…and much to our surprise, she said in a very strong voice despite the crowd “Lumos!” Lightning flashed through the building, loud claps of thunder.
Ollivander used a quick spell to disperse the storm, and turned to my girls, tutting that they were indeed very difficult…
Then, the moment of brilliance.
He picked up the wands before each of the girls, making a statement to their twin cores…before crossing his arms so that each girl got the opposite wand to their first attempt, Molly with the willow and Kennedy with the Hazel…and then…
The moment of perfection, light and wind brushed across them as they found their perfect wands…or the wands found them.
Of course, we happily paid for the wands because they were chosen by Ollivander himself and brought them home with us. They had a prominent place until we began packing up to move. Soon enough, they’ll be on display again…and put to good use within the park itself.
It is true magic to see the wands choosing its wizard…and pure joy that both our girls got to experience the magic…together.
by Sarah | Jan 17, 2019 | All About Family, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney, DisneyTips, Redefining Perfect, Universal
I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.
I’ve done it with crazy intensity, and in a casual jaunt.
I’ve done Disneyland (finally), and Disney World.
I’ve picked up a few tips along the way. And while there re blogs across the web, I wanted to hand out my own Disney advice I’ve learned along the way, and tips I’ll be learning as I begin to go more frequently.
My first tip is – Don’t Overschedule.
There is a LOT to do at Disney. So much, you could go every day of the year and not get it all done.
Once more for the people in the back…
You cannot get everything done at Disney in one trip.
Seriously.
My BEST trips have been when we didn’t have a ton of stuff planned. We had vague ideas of what we wanted to see, key points we wanted to hit…but there wasn’t “THE LIST” or reservations or anything like that.
Do your research, sure.
Make A reservation (maybe 2) of places you really want to eat. Don’t scatter your trip with reservations every day that you have to make it to by a certain time because there are so many variables like wait times and travel time and crowd levels and potty breaks. Though there’s flexibility in your arrival times…it’s still undue pressure you don’t need.
There are so many places at Disney that are counter service and don’t require a reservation and many of them are GOOD (and many also now offer mobile pickup, which we’ll cover another time because YAY). They’re scattered along your route in the park and easy to drop in, grab and get back on the route.
This is MOST key, I think, if this is your first ever trip – ESPECIALLY on your first ever trip with your kids.
Be flexible. Be open. On your research, take note of the restaurants in the areas you plan to be in so you don’t get a bad one (we did our first trip. We still joke about the awfulness…yes, it does happen).
OR…don’t plan.
AT.ALL.
Our first trip with the kids I had vague notes of things I really wanted us to hit, but otherwise it was a free-for-all. The good (and bad) parts of the trip are still ALL good memories. We joke about the bad food, we joke about the painful seats on Molly’s first roller coaster (in an area we had NO designs on going in originally). Nothing we did on that trip was planned. It was amazeballs (and not just because of the Genie pass).
Year 2 was still great…but much more stressful because we had PLANS. We spent 7 months researching and planning and making meal reservations (only 1 of which was worth it…and it wasn’t a character dining…and they were all $$$)…and I was so stressed about “having” to be here or there that I didn’t have as much…FUN.
I experienced the same thing when we went last year with actual passes. The first time we went, hubby and I were able to just take things casual. We spent a lot of time at our resort pool. When the power went out, we headed to the boardwalk for ice cream. Our days in the park were cool and casual, very little ‘planned’ along the way. Unfortunately, later that same year when I took the girls my son decided he had to schedule us fast passes for everything under the sun which led to a lot of flurry of activity that was stressful, especially in the high crowds of Christmas week.
I don’t make this tip lightly, I promise. I come from a long line of planners. My dad loves to plan out vacations to the minute. I was super excited for that second Disney year because Denver and I had planned so much…but the planning robs the spontaneity and fun out of Disney.
Definitely, do your research. Think hard about how long you’re going and the crowd predictions and think about your “must-do’s”. Make some general plans…what park(s) what day…what key things to hit. Make a reservation or two (I’ve got some suggestions in later posts)…sketch out days lightly, don’t set them in stone with Sharpie’s…
Because at Disney – the fun is in the spontaneous and unpredictable.
Let yourself get pulled off course – that is where the fun is.
by Sarah | Dec 14, 2017 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Family, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Disney Mom, Make-A-Wish, Redefining Perfect, Universal, Universal Studios Mom
Our trips to Universal through Make-A-Wish were amazing. Hands down. The cast members, the rides, the amazing treatment we received. Universal WAS Kennedy’s wish. She wanted to see Harry Potter world. That was her ultimate goal.
We had the best time.
We also had a strange curse afflict us while there.
See, we had two days at Universal. That was more than enough time to ride every ride we wanted to ride. Even some we weren’t sure of.
Both years, we were able to ride every single ride, but one.
It was always one we really wanted to ride. Always.
On our first visit, we made it through most of the rides on our first day. We decided to save Big Mama…i.e. Rip Ride Rockit for our second day, on the theory of saving the best for last.
Our second day at Universal happened to be November 1st, and an odd thing happened that day. The weather decided that since it was November, it was going to show us how cold Florida was capable of getting. The temperature dropped into the 40’s (Thank goodness we had our jackets from home with us), and the wind picked up like you wouldn’t believe. The sun was shining bright though, so we set off on our newest adventure…
Here’s the thing…like I said, it was windy. Rip Ride Rockit starts with a super-tall straight-up climbing tower of track.
High winds.
Tall tower.
See where I’m going with this?
The ride was closed for the day. We hung our heads, made sad faces, but figured it was all right because Kennedy wasn’t tall enough to ride anyway. We didn’t know when we’d be back, but we figured once we did go back, K would be able to ride, too. (And she did, but that’s another story).
The second time we went was for Denver’s trip. He’s not a roller coaster person, but his Mimi (my mom), totally is…and by his request Mimi had come with us on the trip.
Because of the incident the year before, we made Rip Ride Rockit our top priority. We rode, it was short but glorious, and has a story to tell later.
As we made our way through the parks with my mom, I was excited to take her to the Hulk coaster because it had been so amazing the previous year.
After much of the day we finally get there to find what you see in the picture over there. The ride was closed, being torn down in Universal’s plan to make it even better. By all accounts, the new ride looks amazing, but it totally cut yet another coaster out of our trip.
I can’t say enough good things about Universal and their staff…
But whenever we do return (2019, maybe?)…I’m going to plan to fully expect at least one awesome ride to be down for whatever reason might occur.
Maybe if I plan, and expect such a thing I’ll be pleasantly surprised and the ride will be available. Yeah? Maybe?
We decided on this move in June of last year.
