Well here we are at the last week of 2022, I don’t know about you but I’m not sure this year even actually happened! It went by so fast and so much happened. This has been a year of major change for me and my family, a lot of accomplishments and milestones and tons of memories. I thought this week since it’s almost the end of the year, I would write a little recap on this crazy year and add a picture from each month. Buckle up, it was a crazy ride!
Starting Off With A Bang
This year started off in the best way possible, visiting my bestie and sister from another mister at her new home in Ohio to ring in the new year! We had the best time and so wish we were dong it again this year!! After we got home it was time to buckle down….
In January of 2022 we left our home on Justin Ct to move into a 2 bedroom apartment for 6 months to prepare for the move. This was truly the first step we took that made this whole thing feel like a reality. It was surreal leaving the little yellow house we had been in for almost 8 years and the only home Thatcher had ever known. We packed 75% of our belongings into storage and took the bare minimum to the apartment and a handful of things that would make it feel like home while we were there. It was tight quarters but we made it work for 6 months and it was actually kind of cozy in a way.
We watched a lot of Disney YouTube and the Downtown Winter Garden Live Stream was on our tv a lot (pretending it was our window). In February I turned 40, no big celebration, Jay and I don’t really do big birthdays for each other. I guess I’m supposed to feel old now but age has honestly never been something I really thought or worried about and I like myself much more now than I ever have so I’ll take it!
Springtime
In March competition season started at my dance studio and I had choreographed a contemporary piece for my girls that was a very personal story about my journey owning the studio. They danced and told it beautifully every time they performed it, but at their first competition they were the highest scoring number of the whole day and received the choreography award. Of course I was in tears the whole time they danced, as was anyone who really knew me or the story. They were beautiful and made me so proud, it was a great start to the season and Thacthers first time on the competition stage.
The next part of the year was NUTS! Thatcher was competing this year too so not only was I working at competition, I was also a dance mom! He did so good all season and I hope he decides to dance again eventually. We made a lot of trips to Florida over this time. In April, Jay and I came down without the boys to find a place to rent. It was not an easy task! Houses would go up for rent and hours later be rented, most were first submitted got the place and one we really liked stayed available but you had to physically be here to apply for it so we had to wait until we got here to apply and they had a stack by then. BUT just when I thought we were going to be leaving without a place to live we found the Stone Creek house! We ended up finding out about it from our now neighbor who posted about the house being for rent in a Facebook group I am in. It was meant to be! Another step towards our Florida dream.
April was also when I officially sold the studio and handed over the helm to someone new. Although I was still acting director until recital was over, it was still a huge milestone and another step to making this move a reality.
Sweet Summertime
In May we spent a lot of time at the Baseball field watching little 22 play! He had a great season and even hit a home run at one of his games! I can’t wait for him to get plugged in and play down here this season. We also brought the boys down Memorial Day weekend to see the house and brought a trailer load of our stuff from storage and got that set up. I also finished up my Functional Nutrition Certification in May and received my board certification from the American Association of Drugless Practitioners!
June was very bittersweet. I produced my final recital as a studio owner and we packed up a too small budget truck the next day and moved to Florida!
My last recital was nothing less than magical. My dancers had called all the alumni from over the years and invited them to come and so many did! The ones that couldn’t make it sent in video messages for me that another alumni dancer put together into a YouTube video for me. During the closing number that was to Happily Ever After, the new owner had passed out glow sticks to the audience and at the build everyone in the audience was waving glow sticks, it was amazing! And the final and most wonderful thing about this recital was that one of my senior dancers, my sweet Caroline, had put together a video montage for me that she had worked on for months without me knowing and with the other competition dancers had created something so beautiful. It was the most thoughtful thing I think anyone has ever done for me….insert ugly cry here….you can watch it on my personal facebook page if you want a good cry.
Next up was the move! We rented a truck that wasn’t big enough but somehow got it all here and finally made it after a super long drive!!
Well we made it to moving to Florida at the end of June! July was no less crazy! We unpacked and organized and have down our best not to still have a ton of unpacked boxes everywhere. We honestly didn’t do too bad. We celebrated our first holiday as Floridians, 4th of July! It was great! They had a kids parade downtown complete with free pancake breakfast and all kinds of stuff for the kids to decorate their bikes and scooters with. Band playing, lots of families hanging out and having fun and the night ended with a pretty epic fireworks show at Newton Park on Lake Apopka. They obviously have some tough competition when it comes to fireworks displays down here but they held their own!! Shortly after the 4th me and the boys headed back to NC for me to teach and judge all over the place for 3 weeks. It was a whirlwind but so much fun and so cool knowing I was going back HOME to Florida when I was done!
We had some car issues on the way back and ended up with the car having to be towed 2 hours from St. Augustine but other than that it was a great trip and I hope I get to do it again this summer sans the car trouble!
Fall
In August we had our first family visit from Nanny and Poppy for Thatchers birthday! We had so much fun with them, showing them downtown Winter Garden, taking them to Disney Springs and getting pictures taken at the photo studio and even celebrating Thatchers birthday ninja style at his gymnastics gym! School also started in early August for the boys and we have been so happy with their teachers and schools here, it’s a great district. And Thatcher loves walking to school everyday!
September was a little more chill. We ran a 5k as a family and with a friend with Healthy West Orange and enjoyed going to the parks as often as possible. My dance classes started up as well and life started to feel more like life and less like a weird vacation that we brought all our belongings on. Hahahaha! Me and the boys got to go to Pennsylvania to see our beautiful niece get married at the most dreamy venue! Thatcher got to meet his great grandma for the first time and was so excited about it, he says we all need to know more of our “extra” family. Hahaha. She is down here now visiting with Jays aunt so we hope to get to see them while she’s here!
End Of The Year
The last part of 2022 has been the funnest kind of busy I’ve ever had! October brought Sawyers birthday and Halloween. The boys probably Trick or Treated about 5 different times. The boys were Ghostbusters while Jay and I were the Gate Keeper and the Key Master, IFKYK. Our neighborhood trick or treat was pretty awesome. Kids running around everywhere, some of the best decorations I’ve ever seen and just fun! We also went to the Lights on Jeeter Bend in Celebration to see the Halloween lights and it was INCREDIBLE! Foam machines, fireworks in yards, HUGE decorations, a Dj, movies projected on sides of houses, crazy! Our downtown had a trick or treat as well and there were literally 2-3 Halloween or fall festivals every weekend. We also enjoyed Oktoberfest at Crooked Can Brewing downtown. Weiner dog races, Oompa Band, lederhosen I mean when I say it was fantastic I am not exaggerating!
November still had festivals and activities every weekend you could go to, Thanksgiving with my wonderful family in NC and friends in town for race weekend. I will say that one of my favorite things about living here is the fact that there are so many friends and family that are in and out throughout the year and we are right here and can go meet up with them!
December has been amazing as well, we have made sure to go to all the parks to see all the Christmas decorations and as many resorts as possible. Checked off another one today as I am writing from Animal Kingdom Lodge and it is BEAUTIFUL! Once again there are Christmas festivals every weekend! We spent Christmas in NC and will have a quiet New Years at home probably. Our downtown had the best light up event with projections on city hall just like at Halloween with live music, we truly love our town!
Conclusion
Well that’s it, our crazy year in a nutshell! I didn’t include it all as this would have been more of a novel than it already is but I tried to include the high points. I am so excited to see what 2023 holds for us and I am looking forward to more park days and all the things we will get to do down here. First on the list for the new year is to go ride the Walt Disney World Railroad that just reopened!!! It’s been almost 5 years since we’ve been able to ride that sucker.
I pray that 2023 is a stellar year for all of you as well and brings you peace, happiness, joy and happily ever after! As always, I thank you so much for reading and supporting me in this weird blogging journey. Be sure to follow the blog on social media, that’s where the day to day Disney gets posted. In the new year I will be adding park guides, resort pages and so much more to the blog and I hope you will all check it out! If your not already, make sure you subscribe to the blog so you get the new one in your inbox every Thursday!
Happy New Year everyone and have a Magical Day!!