My Recent Florida Adventures

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I was recently given the opportunity to travel to Florida and work as an on-the-road nanny. This blog post will highlight some of the neat things that I was able to do on my trip.

December 8 (1:20 pm): I departed from Oklahoma City and flew to Dallas where my family picked me up. I was able to spend roughly 24 hours with them before I left for Florida the next day.
December 9 (3:55 pm): I flew out of Dallas with the Bartlett family, the family for which I would be working, after meeting up with them at their home and traveling to the airport together.
         

The three Bartlett children and I
at the Orlando Airport.

(7:22 pm) We arrived in Orlando, Florida and then drove to the home we would be renting in Davenport for the duration of our stay.
December 10: We relaxed for the majority of the day and then visited the Magic Kingdom that evening. We rode several rides, watch a Disney show and took a few pictures with the characters.
December 11: Spent time at Hollywood Studios for most of the day. Got to ride several rides, visited Oaken's Outpost, saw a car tricks show, as well as a Frozen singalong.

December 12: The kids spent time with their Father at LegoLand allowing the Grandma, Mom, and I to do some shopping.
December 13: Together as a whole family we visited Downtown Disney. The children, Grandma, and I watched Penguins of Madagascar while the parents watched Mockingjay (Part 1).  Following that we walked around the rest of Downton Disney.

Silly faces outside the Downtown Disney
Starbucks. 

Selfie on the Animal Kingdom Safari. 

December 14: We visited the Animal Kingdom. While there we drove several rides, went on an animal safari adventure, took pictures with several characters, and visited a petting zoo.

December 15: As the children were waking up this morning one of the kids felt sick and ended up throwing up so the Grandmother stayed home with him while the rest of the family drove an hour and a half to spend the day at Clearwater Beach Island. Overall this was probably my favorite day of the trip. It was fun and relaxing and the beach was just beautiful!

Walking along the boardwalk at sunset.

December 16: On this day we went back to the Magic Kingdom for the Christmas Party, which took place after the traditional park hours. That day we spent a significant amount of time at the park, taking pictures and riding rides. At the end of the day everyone was tired out!
December 17: Since it was Ranger (the middle child)'s birthday, the family decided to go back to Clearwater Beach Island, because he had been sick the first time we went. Since I had already been there with the family, they were gracious enough to allow me to stay home. I was able to workout, rest, catch up with family and friends, and overall relax. It was very nice!
December 18: Because the 18th was the Mother's birthday, we went together, back to Downtown Disney, along with the Father to watch the Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and it was fun getting to watch it with them!
December 19: Friday morning the Mother and I woke up early and drove to the Magic Kingdom to be there when it opened at eight. For close to four hours we walked around the park taking pictures with the characters. Some of which included: Elsa, Anna, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Ariel, Pooh, Tiger, Daisy and Donald Duck, and Minnie and Mickey. The remainder of the day involved packing up and preparing to fly back to Texas.
December 20: Saturday morning we packed everything into the van and drove to Tampa, Florida to catch our flight. It ended up being delayed by an hour so we were able to take our time getting out of the house as well as going through security at the airport. After several hours I had made it home and was able to rest and relax with my family.

Since arriving home I have been able to rest up and hangout with my family, which has been very nice. This week I will be celebrating Christmas with my immediate family, as as well as spending time with our Aunt Lori and my boyfriend Joey. I am looking forward to some more rest and relaxation before I head back to Florida for another month with the Bartlett family. However, I am also missing 'my' three sweet kiddos as well.

As I prepare and eventually head back to Florida I would greatly appreciate your prayers!

Please pray for:

• Good Health (specifically that I don't develop any motion sickness on my flights)
• Energy and Stamina
• Direction for what is next...

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Much love! Merry Christmas! 

A Belated Thanksgiving Reflection

The other day, in the midst of some rather stressful and overwhelming things, I was convicted of something that I felt the need to share. Thankfulness.

As I eluded to just moments ago, I have been going through some challenges lately. In the days surrounding Thanksgiving I was home with my boyfriend, Joey, spending time with my family. It seemed like the picture-perfect time; family, friends, food, and quality time. We were thrilled to get this opportunity to spend time together as our family is quickly 'growing up' and our family dynamics are rapidly changing. In the middle of this special time I received a phone call from a family that I formerly worked for. They were inviting me to join them on their family vacation as their on-the-road-nanny. I was thrilled. Nannying is something I have enjoyed in the past and feel fulfilled doing. I automatically felt an immense peace from the Lord and after discussing it with my family, I agreed to accept the job.

Unfortunately however, when I address the situation with my landlady a domino effect happened, which regardless of my original intentions, led to me moving out shortly after my return to Oklahoma.

To my embarrassment and dismay, I allowed this situation and the surrounding conflict to take the forefront of my mind and during this time I completely forgot to be thankful for... anything. All I could focus on were the negatives in my life, the things that were going wrong, and what I could have...or should have done differently to prevent the unfortunate outcome.

The other day though, as I was packing my things up and cleaning the house, I felt God say to me: "Stop complaining and be thankful!" Until then it hadn't even crossed my mind that I had completely forgotten to be thankful.

Therefore, over these last few days, although they have been tough with moving out and transitioning to another 'chapter' of my life, I have attempted to focus more on the things for which I am thankful.

Some of those things, among many are: my family (My parents, siblings, and Grandparents), my boyfriend, Joey, my countless friends, and my church family. Overall, I am so very blessed and although my life isn't perfect; what I have learned from this conviction is this: Life will never be perfect and if I am waiting for that time to praise God and be thankful then I'll be waiting for ever. Instead, I should choose to focus on God and the blessings he has given me in the midst of struggles, as well as life in general.

So my challenge to you is this: Regardless of your circumstances, what are you thankful for?