Harry's Wondrous World

When I was in Orlando, I was able to go to Harry Potter World. I have been wanting to go ever since I heard that it had been opened. I am a huge Harry Potter fan and was so excited that I was able to experience it. I'd even re-read the series (and ordered a special shirt!) in preparation! Unfortunately, the shirt I had ordered from Etsy came in the wrong style, but it was pretty epic- it said "It's LeviOsa. not LeviosA". Since my Harry Potter shirt didn't work, I had to settle for normal muggle clothing. Such an amateur.

When I first walked into and saw Hogsmeade Village, I may have gotten a little emotional (and by "may" I mean I definitely did). It is so incredible and you really feel like you've walked into the real place that you've imagined so many times reading the books.

I was that person who got emotional

Everything there is so elaborate and realistic. In Hogsmeade there is the Three Broomsticks, Zonko's, and Honeydukes, to name a few.

Please respect the spell limits

Hogwarts

Hogsmeade

Me and Amy in front of Hogwarts

The ride that is in the Hogwarts castle is incredible. The inside where you wait in line is exactly how the castle is described in the book and what you see in the movies. The pictures even move! I rode this ride so many time that the ride operators started recognizing me.

Super excited about boarding the Hogwarts Express in Hogsmeade Station

Waiting to board the train to London

Platform 9 3/4

The Hogwarts Express was incredible. The "windows" show scenes leaving Hogwarts/arriving in London, as well as "shadows" of students in the hallway- it's incredibly realistic!

Me and Amy on the Hogwarts Express

The platform at King's Cross Station

Hedwig and Harry's trunk

This trick mirror made it look like people were really disappearing onto the platform!

The Knight Bus

Outside King's Cross looked like you really had arrived in London. I was even able to find Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place!

Once you arrive in London, you are able to get away from the unsuspecting muggles into Diagon Alley.

The dragon on Gringotts

Diagon Alley

Once in Diagon Alley, I had to get a wand. I obviously chose Ollivander's because they are the best.

Once in Ollivander's, a special wand fitter helped me find the perfect fit. 

Discussions got a little heated.

Finally, the perfect wand chose me. You know, because the wand chooses the wizard.

My wand!

There are even occasions to practice your spell work in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. At certain points you wave your wand in a specific motion and say the corresponding incantation and watch when magic happens (just be careful not to poke someone's eye out!) I was even complemented on my magical skills!

There were lots of interesting books to see in the window of Flourish and Blotts, including the Monster Book of Monsters.

Gilderoy Lockhart's books were even there. I'm surprised they are still bestsellers, especially after it was revealed that he was a fraud.

Of course, no trip to Diagon Alley would be complete without a trip to Gringott's, the wizard bank.
While we were there on a tour, Harry, Ron and Hermione escaped on a dragon! What are the chances...

The Gringotts goblins hard at work

Of course my trip to the wizarding world would not have been complete without some butterbeer! It was absolutely amazingly delicious.

Harry Potter World was absolutely amazing and surpassed all my expectations! I am so glad that my recruiter Amy was there to experience the magic with me. It was definitely difficult adjusting back into the muggle world. Until next time Hogwarts!

ASHA 2014

I had a great time at ASHA 2014!

I know I am loooong overdue for an update and I promise it's coming! Things have been really busy with lots of visitors and still trying to get our townhouse together. AND we had snow last week! In November! That's a little crazy for this Texan. I definitely was baptized by fire (er, snow?) when it comes to my snow driving!

ASHA this year was in Orlando, Florida. I was especially excited to be able to be in Florida because I finally got to go to the Advanced Medical office in Florida! It was so much getting to meet all the faces behind the voices on the phone. Kelsey, the other SLP mentor, and I were able to stay at the amazing Star  Island Resort for the conference - I had a jacuzzi in my room! On Wednesday we went to the conference center to set up the booth:

Thursday and Friday we were ready to go bright and early! It was so fun getting to meet and talk to so many different people about travel therapy. If you're thinking about traveling, there's no time like right now to get started. I heard so many times "I might be interested in a few years, but...."  There will always be "buts" but if it's something you really want to do, you will be able to find a way to do it. Like I told many of you, Braden and I never thought we would be able to travel, but we kept talking and talking about how awesome it would be (in between many conversations with my awesome recruiter) and decided we would go for it. It's been an amazing journey! Of course not everything is easy, but the goods have by far out weighed the bad. 

I was able to get some amazing treatment materials that I am so excited to get to implement in my treatments! My current materials are pretty shabby. On Friday night we were all able to go to Medieval  Times. I had never been before, and it was AMAZING. Our knight won! Go blue knight! I was also able to go to Harry Potter World, which I will save for its own post because it was AMAZING. The whole week was such as blast but I am glad to be home with my husband and puppy who were both very glad to see me.

Back to the work routine tomorrow!

I am already excited for ASHA 15 in Denver!

If you have any questions about travel please let me know! 

Long Overdue Update

Last time I posted we were both unemployed and had no idea what our next step would be. Since then we have had some very exciting developments. We have rented a beautiful town home in a great area, I have started a full time job, and we have successfully picked out and put together our first piece of IKEA furniture!
For three weeks I worked 2 days in a school district down in Colorado Springs. It was a little bit of a drive, but I was thankful for work. I really enjoyed the school setting and working with kids again. I was working with the preschool, middle school, and high school kiddos so I was kept busy. I was super sad to have to leave when I accepted a full time position in a skilled nursing facility in Greeley, CO. It's about an hour drive in traffic which is still a little bit of a commute, but not nearly as long as to Colorado Springs! I started my full time job Wednesday, so it's taken a little bit of getting back into the work routine. I like the facility and my patients, just have to get to work building a caseload! My work that I am thrilled about is my job with doing hippotherapy. On Saturday's I will get the opportunity to work with kiddos and horses. It's my perfect job combining my two favorite things: speech therapy and horses! I also get to just go ride the horses- therapy horses need breaks! I am so excited to get started with regular sessions next Saturday. Braden will start working with a local soccer club as an assistant coach soon, and is still in the process of looking for a full time job. Hopefully we will have some good news on that front soon! He has also been invited to play in a men's league so he is excited to actually be playing soccer again.
We are just thrilled with our new house. It is a town home in an area that has a lot of development going on: a Whole Foods is opening soon within walking distance, as well as some restaurants and shops. It is 3 stories- on the first floor is the garage, entryway, and an office/study. The second floor has the kitchen, half bath, dining area, and living room (with a fire place!), and the third floor has 2 bedrooms and bathrooms. We have ordered our POD with all our furniture to be delivered and I can't wait to get to decorate and find out all the things we thought we needed to keep in the POD (I'm sure there will be several things that we will be like why did we think we needed to keep this?!). It was supposed to be delivered Wednesday, then they said it was delayed so pushed it back to Friday, then they delayed it again and now it's supposed to be delivered Monday. Not really sure why it is taking so long (almost 2 weeks!) to get our POD from northwest Arkansas to Denver (about a 13 hour drive), but we are not exactly happy with POD's right now. In the meantime, our air mattress will have to suffice. Since before we moved we sold pretty much all of our electronics, we did buy a TV this week. We also bought a new TV stand from IKEA. We did the design it yourself option so it's exactly what we want and looks really nice in the living room- just had a minor mishap with the doors, we had originally bought the wrong size so Braden had to exchange them for the right size. Now it's finished and looks very nice with our new TV on it. We are just waiting on our couch so we actually have a comfy place to sit and not on the floor. It will also be nice to have a table again. For the last 2 weeks we have been eating on the floor and using cardboard boxes as our tables.
Macie is loving the new place! She loves having more space to run around and play fetch in. She also loves going on walks and chasing the bunnies around our neighborhood. She also loves sun bathing on our balcony.
We are enjoying the Colorado beauty! Since we have been transitioning and moving and working we haven't had too much opportunity to explore the area but I'm sure some hiking adventures aren't far away. Our bodies are finally adjusting to the altitude and we don't get winded walking up the stairs anymore.  It seems like every time we get in the car and drive and see mountains we just say "hey...we live here!" We are looking forward to finding a church and getting plugged in and meeting new people. We are getting so excited for snowboarding season- there has been some snow in the mountains this week and it's so amazing seeing those snow capped peaks!  With the snow in the mountains comes some cooler temperatures. This week it's been in the 30's ad 40's at night and in the 60's and 70's during the day- it is heavenly!
Through all the successes and setbacks that we have had since leaving Washington, we continue to try to keep our eyes on God. As I was reminded this week, some days I lose the battle but grace says it doesn't matter because the cross has already won the war. Though the most encouragement came from a conversation that I was able to have with my mom's cousin Lynn, who in response to me telling her about how we were frustrated because we felt that God had lead us to Denver but then were experiencing so many setbacks and frustrations, said in her experience it's when God is the most clear about what He wants us to do it's not because it will be easy but it's because it will be difficult and He wants us to know for sure that we are where He wants us. We feel confident that for the foreseeable future that God wants us in Denver and we are excited for what the future holds!

A Leap of Faith

Usually about a month away from starting a new job I make a big announcement about where we will be heading next and what new job I will start. I love getting to announce our new adventure- getting to go and work in new places is what I love about travel. If you're observant, you might have noticed that this time I haven't made a big announcement. That's because, as of now, I don't have a new job. 

My last day at my job in Washington was last Friday, August 29th.

We have both felt that our next step should be to Colorado. My licensing came through with miraculous speed-when I called the state boards to ask about the progress on my license they informed me that my license had in fact been approved a few hours before. That has never, ever happened to me in all of my license applications. When we didn't have a job while we were still in Washington we had a few back up plans which didn't involve driving immediately to Colorado. They all fell through but God provided a place for us to stay in Colorado. 

But here we are over a week after arriving in Colorado and still no job. I've experienced a wide range of emotions over the past week and a half- frustration, anxiety, excitement, and anger. I kept asking myself over and over if God is leading us to Colorado, then why don't I have a job? If this is where we are called to be, then why hasn't it been easy? There have been a few job options but they have felt like the proverbial carrot in front of the horse: close enough but just tantalizingly out of reach. 

I think back to time and time again during our travels where God has provided and made a way for us. I know my calling won't always be easy. After all, how many biblical examples had it easy after following what God wanted them to do? I know that God has come through for us so many times in the past and I know He will come through for us now. Waiting is the hardest part. 

So that's where we are right now. We are waiting. I don't know what's next for us, but I trust in the One who does.

Throughout this whole process I am so thankful to be working for Advanced Medical. Amy and Seth have been working tirelessly in trying to get me a new position and have gone above and beyond the call of duty. It makes the process a little easier having complete trust in the team at Advanced Medical. You guys at amazing!

For those of you asking how Colorado is, it's amazing. We love it here. It's gorgeous and it's impossible to get tired of seeing mountains when you look out the window. The altitude is taking awhile to get used to. I went running for the first time yesterday. I made it, but barely. I felt like my oxygen supply had been cut off from my brain but slowly but surely my body is adjusting. 

We appreciate your prayers as we go through this transition of waiting. I will update everyone as soon as any new information comes through! In fact, as I was typing this I received a phone call to  interview for a part time position with a hippotherapy (therapy using horses) practice. If you know me, you know this is right up my alley!

Here's to a great week!

13.1 (plus a lot more)

Things have been a little busy in the Jones family for the past few weeks, so I am a little bit behind. Get ready for a big update! Two weeks ago I completed my first half marathon! I had a fun weekend in Oregon with my best friend Sarah. We drove down near Portland on Friday night so we could pick up our packets and not have to wake up as early in the morning. We ate a huge dinner at Olive Garden (gotta get those carbs!) and tried to get to bed early. The next morning we headed out to Welches, OR which is near Mt Hood. It was actually pretty chilly, in the 40's! The weather was sunny and perfect.

Ready to go!

Waiting to start

The temperature was perfect for running! The run was through the forest so in all shade. It was beautiful! I tried to take some pictures but none turned out very well. We never did get to see Mt Hood while we were on the run, but most of the run was in Mt Hood National Forest.

The run felt great, and it was awesome to see all my hard work in training pay off, because training was miserable a lot of the time. We ended up making our goal of finishing in under two hours- 1:58:41! Braden drove up the morning of to cheer us on, and it was fun having him there!

Braden and me

Sarah and me

Official results! There were over 200 people who run the half!

Us with Mr. and Mrs. Sasquatch

After the race our legs were definitely tired and we were really hungry! We drove back into the Portland area and ate at Ram. We definitely enjoyed our post race beers and burgers!

post race beers!

Last weekend I worked a half day on Friday because I had worked extra Monday-Thursday so we headed to Tacoma to go to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, as well as eat dinner at my favorite restaurant, Azteca. We definitely had reason to celebrate- nephew #2 made a safe and healthy arrival!

Tiger

I love the otters! They are so cute!

Ethan Reid Painter. JT is a great big brother!

Last Saturday we drove up to a cute little town, Poulsbo, WA. It was so cute! They had a bunch of little shops and restaurants and it was right on the water.

Poulsbo, WA

Harry Potter! Unfortunately the only thing Harry Potter about the shop was the name

Then we headed down to Bainbridge Island to take the ferry to Seattle.

It was super windy!

Seattle from the ferry

That night we were able to meet our friends Chris and Kim at a little place in Bellevue called Garlic Crush- that had great Gyros and Braden and I had been craving some Greek food!
This weekend we were able to go hiking with our friends Chris, Kim, and Michelle at Denny Creek Trail! The trail was beautiful with lots of pretty waterfalls! Even Macie got to enjoy the hike! She loved it until we got to the water. Then, she was. not. a. fan.

The rocks formed natural rock slides

That water was COLD. All the kids of course were having a great time, but I thought my toes were going to freeze. I was glad I wore my Chacos!
The main waterfall was really pretty! We climbed up it to find another waterfall. It was a fun hike, and about 4 miles total.

Top of the falls

Jones family picture!

It's crazy that this is probably our last weekend in Seattle. We don't know officially were we are headed next, but my contract at my current job is up this Friday so hopefully we will know soon! Normally I would be freaking out that I don't have a job yet, but I've been strangely at peace about it. We were waiting for my Colorado license to become active, which it did on Wednesday! Usually when I call state boards for an update, it's super frustrating, but when I called CO on Wednesday, they said "oh, looks like your license was activated a few hours ago." Needless to say I was pretty happy. My recruiter Amy has been working hard to get me the perfect job so I'm confident we will know soon! Life as a traveler is always exciting!

Mom and Dad are Here!

I love having family in town! This past weekend my parents were in town all the way from Texas. I was super thankful that I was able to work Sunday which gave me Friday off. We headed up to Kent on Thursday night and were abel to enjoy a fun dinner at a local brewery/restaurant called Airways. My dad loves airplanes so he really loved it. Their food (and beer!) was really good!

The gang at Airways

Friday we split up in to girls and boys. The girls went garage saleing while the boys went to the salmon locks and around town! I was able to find a super fancy electric wine bottle opener for $2. I am pretty excited about it because I can't open a bottle of wine to save my life. I always tear out the center of the cork! Mom found lots of good deals on baby clothes for nephews #1 and #2 (who should be making his arrival within the next few weeks!). That night we had a dinner get together with some people we've known for years- we went to church with them when I was growing up. It was fun catching up with them!

Saturday we went back up to Rainier National Park to try to hike the Naches Peak Trail again. If you remember, Braden and I had tried to hike it about  6 weeks ago but found everything covered in snow still. We had much different scenery this time! Everything was green, and the lakes that had been frozen over were thawed. The wildflowers were in full bloom, and unfortunately the mosquitos were too. It was so pretty! The views were absolutely gorgeous. Other than getting eaten alive by mosquitos (I got over 50 bites!) it was glorious.

Mountain selfie!

Mount Rainier

Tipsoo Lake

On Sunday we were able to go to my childhood church, and then go to Sea Fair and watch the Blue Angels perform. They are amazing! I would be terrified to fly so close to other airplanes and do the spin moves and stuff, but they do everything perfect.

There are all 6 Blue Angels in this picture- they fly so close!

It was a great weekend but unfortunately too short. It was back to the work grind far too soon. Mom and Dad got back to Texas safely yesterday. This week I am trying to take it easy and hydrate hydrate hydrate because MY HALF MARATHON IS SATURDAY. I can't believe it's already here! Training has been completed and now I just have that short little 13.1 miles to go. Sarah and I are heading down to Oregon on Friday evening and then we run first thing Saturday morning!
Here's to finishing out the week!