The Harris Family: A day in the city...and some changes

It has been a crazy week in our house and there are some big changes coming...

First I learned Monday morning that my Office will be closing come December 31st, which means that on January 1 I will no longer be an employee of Boy Scouts. It is a very bittersweet transition for me.

I love this job, and while they offered me a position in Texas, both Donnie and I feel that is not where our family needs to be, so with many tears, and the loss of a job I love we have decided to stay. Although it is a hard decsion I know it is the right one for us and Family has to come first in these situations.

So I am on the job hunt and hating every minute of it thus far, because I don't want to be looking for a job, I have a job I love, and while I am sure that there is one out there that I may love just as much I am not ready to look for it, I want this job, the one that took 5 years and alot of frustration to find, the one I look forward to going to every morning because my co workers have become good friends, and we respect each other.

Along with this job transition comes the need to possibly move, now this all depends on where I get a job of course, and we knew we were eventually going to have to move, but again I feel like the decision has been forced and rather than come to it in our own time we may have to make some rather quick decisions. Our Condo is where we brought Abby home after a long week in the NICU that felt like a lifetime, where we spent alot of sleepless nights with her, and where we have a bunch of memories of her first year.

I know that we will make memories elsewhere, and that to everything there is a season, and this will most likely be a wonderful thing for us, but again right now I am still in the denial, I don't want to go stage, and once I get past that I will see the light I know.

A friend I work with shared an email with me and I will put part of it here since it came at a time that was coincidental yet very fitting:

as autumn begins and the temperature cools, the most noticeable change is a colorful display of leaves, but there is also a shift within me--a sense of fresh energy and excitement.

Visible changes remind me that all is evolving. Seeing God's transformational handiwork in nature triggers in me a deep awareness of my potential for positive change. I find opportunities to grow closer to God and deeper in spritual understanding.

Whether the changes I face are minor or monumental, I have the spiritual tools I need to meet them with confidence and faith. With trust in God, I am guided through the changes life brings.

I am hoping this brings positive changes for our family, and only time will tell, but in the meantime I am leaving it to God to know what is best for us and I know that he has a plan and a purpose for each one of us, sometimes we just don't know it.

Ok...
On to more fun things :), we took Abby to the Shedd Aquarium on Tuesday, shhhh! after the news we recieved on Monday I needed a day away from it all to process and try and wrap my head around it, so what better than to spend it with your baby and Husband taking in Chicago.

Abby took her first train ride, spent her first day in the city and had a blast at the Shedd aquarium. She was captivated by the fish and really seemed to enjoy herself, so much so that on the walk back from the Shedd to the Train station ( yes, all 2 miles of it) she slept, completely oblivious to the cars, people, and even firetrucks.

It was a wonderful day and I loved that I got that time with them.

Abby also turned 8 months on Monday, and she celebrated it by showing Mommy and Daddy that she can now pull herself up to a stand if she tries really hard, she also enjoys not sleeping in her crib during naptime but rather playing with her toys and newly discovered Fisher Price fish tank, and throwing her pacifiers out of the crib so that we come in and see her :).

Below are some pictures of the day...enjoy, and please keep us in your thoughts as we make this change.

Love,
Christie, Donnie and Abby

Abby's First train Ride