Well thanks to a guilt trip from Rob and Molly, I have decided that since June was my last post, and it's been six months...I can officially post another entry.
Well much has changed around here since the last time I posted. On September 29 we closed on our first home! YES! THANK YOU JESUS! We ended up moving outside of Nashville because of prices and because of the not-so-wonderful-world-of-Metro-Schools. And with Luke only 2 years from going to school...whoa...hold it...yeah I said 2 years...time flies...we had to take into consideration the schools as a major buying point. We are about 30 miles southeast of town now and love it! We have traded the humdrum sounds of helicopters buzzing by our house for the sound of crickets chirping and cows mooing. And did you know that there are still stars in the sky? Who knew! :) We are on 1/3 of an acre and have just under 1400 sq ft. plus another 1018 upstairs that is unfinished and just begging for another bedroom, office, and/or media room...and we can all guess which one Charlie wants to do first! We are still unpacking boxes and going through and getting rid of more stuff...how did we get so much to begin with? So once the ground thaws and spring is in the air we are christening our new 2-car garage with it's first (of many) garage sale!
We were also blessed this past October to go on a business trip with Charlie to Orlando. While we were there we were able to go to Magic Kingdom. This was the first time Luke and I had ever gone. We had a BLAST! We decided to only do one park for one day because of prices and because of the amount of time we had down there. We HIGHLY advise to go in September/October if you can! The longest we had to wait for a ride was 30 minutes...and that was for Peter Pan and the Dumbo Ride! Charlie and I were able to practically walk right into Space Mountian. Luke rode everything he was tall enough to ride and everything we had time to ride, including Thunder Mountian, Haunted Mantion and Splash Mountian. His favorite ride (depending on what he feels like on the day you ask him) was either Splash Mountian (which he rode 2 times) and Buzz Lightyear. He was so excited to meet Mickey Mouse, Minny Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Pooh, and Tigger. I'll post some pictures below. We cannot wait to go back (in a few years once ALL kids present and future are old enough and tall enough to go) and make a week out of it, hit all the parks, and not have to try and cram 1 park into 1 day...13 hours is a long time!
The other HUGE news is...no I am not pregnant...on November 1, Charlie officially became unemployed. The company he worked for ran out of money to pay him for the remainder of the year. We actually knew about his unemployment before getting into the house and since we were considering increasing the size of our current company (Allen Productions) into something more full-time, we figured we should go ahead and get into a house now while the banks were still wanting to talk to us. Because we knew that once we went self-employed we would have to wait a few years in order to show a profit/loss to the bank to be approved...and interest rates weren't going anywhere but up, so we jumped with both feet. We have had to jump a few times with full faith that God would provide and He always has.
As some of you know, Charlie and I were asked by Charlie's former employer if we were interested in purchasing his business. Well after meeting with MANY advisors including a CPA, 2 lawyers, and 2 bankers, we decided not to purchase. The business is an event recording company that provides on-site recording (audio and video), editing, and duplication all on-site. The clients are able to place an order and go home with it at the end of an event. This in turn provides a higher retention of the materials presented at the conference and seminars. After meeting with these advisors we opted to go into this business for ourselves. The cost of purchasing the business was MUCH greater than buying our own equipment (which was not being sold with the business to begin with) and going out on our own. Charlie had not signed any legal documents that prevented him from going out on his own, and we were not targeting his clients (of which he had no binding contracts with, so technically we could contact his clients, but out of respect have chosen not to do so). We are currently talking with a few events, but are always looking for new clients. So, if you know of anyone who is needing event recording (either audio or video) for a conference, lectureship, or seminar, please contact us...wink, wink!
Charlie has actually applied for a job this past week and we should hear something back in the next few weeks as to if he was accepted for the position or not. He would be working as an Assistant Production Manager (something that he has done 3 times since graduating) for a local university. We are hoping that IF he gets this job, it would keep a cash flow coming in and allow me to work on building a client base so that eventually Charlie could be employed by Allen Media Productions (AMP for short). We are getting ready to start to work on our web page, so once it is up we will let you know.
We also have finally found a church home! We started going there last December and finally placed membership there a few weeks ago. (Many people actually thought we were already members!) We are going to 4th Avenue Church in Franklin. It is about 30 miles from here but is well worth the drive. Here is the website if you want to take a look.
They have also been talking to me about doing video production for them. The budget prevents a full-time position, so we are still working on that.
Non-profit video production is what I have been doing here for the past 3 years on and off. I have not been pursuing it full-time but hope to be able to assist more non-profits with making their message known to the public at a price that a non-profit can afford. I am going to see if I can post my latest video to the blog so that you can see what I do in my "spare" time...here's hoping it works!
I will also post a picture of Luke from Halloween. He picked out what he wanted to be and then we made his costume together here at the house. He wasn't to happy about having to put on make-up and hairspray, but in the end he thought it looked really cool! Hope that you all enjoy this and have a blessed week! And hey if you are ever in Murfreesboro look us up, we'd love to get together!
Love,
Momma A
