Thursday, January 12, 2017

Goodbye 2016...

I know it's been like FOREVER since I've been here...

... you all seriously do not want to hear the details about all the hoops and crazy I had to jump through at work to get our big merger to happen on December 31, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. as advertised. But it did!  And now we roll up our sleeves and begin the work of truly integrating these two companies... I predict more months of crazy ahead...

... what happened since I was last here?  Hmmm... Thanksgiving, Jay's Birthday, Christmas, New Years, ...

While the world was busy falling apart with shocking political votes, immigration crises, wars, the Zika virus, etc., the Andrews family was busy having a fantastic year!

We had a graduation ceremony...
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A couple of quick trips to the shore...


















which always involve Manco pizza... mmmm....


















...An amazing family trip to London to see the Harry Potter play...
... a meetup with blog friends!
...then on to Edinburgh, where I managed the climb to the top of Arthur's Seat...
















... my FIT feat for the year! Between the royal mile, Edinburgh castle, and Arthur's Seat, I clocked over 25,000 steps that day!...

...Sarah moved back home from D.C. at the end of August.  Inside of three weeks she got a new job (Program Manager at Lehigh University's Executive Education department), quit the old one, bought a car, found an apartment in Bethlehem, and moved back out... a LOT of adulting happening there!  I love having her so much closer to home.  And during that 3 weeks of madness, she also managed to accompany me on a trip to visit my mother ...
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...where we snuck in a brief meetup with Melissa!

...At the end of October, I donated 9" of hair...

I like this length so much better!  My family doesn't, but then they don't have to wear it, wash it, style it....
...Becca found a job as a Physical Therapy Aid and dropped out of nursing school.  The pressure was killing her.  She's applying to a couple of programs to become a Physical Therapy Assistant, something I think she will excel at!
...Rachel accepted a job as Administrative/Marketing Manager for a Real Estate team, doing their website work, brochures, flyers, etc. and inputting data on listings to the multiple listing service.  They are both still at home and saving money to move out... maybe next summer... and I've told them both repeatedly I'd be happy to have them stay here IF they would just clean up after themselves!  Really, it's ridiculous...

...We had a great Christmas - here's the photo of Jay and the girls that will go in his Birthday book...

and the photo of all of us at the Golden Pheasant Inn for Christmas Eve dinner...

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...the extra is Becca's boyfriend Kyle.  We had a lot of fun with the christmas crackers... first time!

...On December 27th we moved into our new shop space at the Black Rose in Phillipsburg, N.J....


Other than the furniture pieces, the vast majority of the "stuff" you see here came out of my living room and to say I'm glad to have it moved out would be a gross understatement!  So we are now running two shop sites, this one and one in Quakertown... but I never told you all about that, so I'll have to catch you up in a future post.


7 comments:

Karen said...

So very glad to see you back here, and I loved the catch-up post. What a gorgeous family you have, and you have had some wonderful experiences this year! Personally, I love the new hairdo. I think it's very flattering. It's odd how family just doesn't like change much. Hope your work schedule doesn't keep you away for too long!

Carola Bartz said...

It's wonderful to see you here again! And I love your new hair cut. The shorter length fits you so well, it;s beautiful!
I'm a bit jealous that you still have two of your girls at home. I miss my girl so much, but I also know that this experience is the best that can happen to her. Letting go is not easy.
All the best for 2017 to you, Cheri.

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

How lovely to see you pop up in my Feedly today. What a great year you had and it was so wonderful to meet you and your daughter. Wishing you and your family all good things in 2017.

alexa said...

Delighted to see you back in my reader! I came here the other day just to make sure I hadn't missed anything, and was hoping all was well with you. Lovely to see Sarah again too, and it's great to hear how well all your family is doing. I think your hair looks really great this length: time to suit yourself :).

Melissa said...

So good to see you here in the new year!! Wow, it was a fabulous year for y'all. The new space looks fabulous - things must be going well if y'all have two spaces now!?!

Barbara Eads said...

So glad you are back! I've missed your family updates! You have had a busy year, but aren't they all? I don't see a slow down anytime in the near future---for you or me!

Missus Wookie said...

Delighted to see you in my reader. Was lovely to see you in London last year and hope that 2017 is as good a year for you all. Congratulations on the new jobs, new spaces and new company.