Move To Branson, Missouri

Life is about trusting your feelings, taking chances,finding happiness, 
learning from the past, and realizing everything changes...

When Brutus died my world shattered.  It is still not the same and I don't know if it ever

 will be, yes we have a good life and all is good in our world, but Brutus took my heart.  

Then came Shadow. For the short time he was with us life was busy. He kept us on our toes.

  Then he also died. It's a miracle I did not go insane.  Enter Sniff and life continues.

When we went to Chicago last summer it was not the same without Brutus. I love 

that city, but the 4 months we stayed there were just not the same.  I told Arvid I 

wanted a change. We both actually wanted a change.  Little did we know.

Arvid is a trader.  One of his trade meetings brought us to Branson, MO last summer. 

 We drove from Chicago to Branson and while Arvid traded I checked out the city.  On 

our last day in Branson Arvid says to me, "let's go check out some hotels."  I'm always

 up for everything so we went, saw them and then we headed back home to Chicago.

Once we got to Chicago we did a lot of research on hotels in Branson.  Both him and I

 were curious; so curious that we made another trip to Branson to meet with different 

hotel owners.  We looked at each other and Arvid said to me, "what do you think?" 

 I said, " I am ready for a change.  Brutus' death has left me too devastated and 

I want to do something that will keep me busy."  Little did I know.

Busy we are.  We became the owner of 2 hotels here in Branson.  We got back home

 to Chicago and the next thing I knew is Arvid was busy looking for a house for us.

  Before you knew it we had bought a house in Branson sight unseen.

We left Chicago the first week of October.  We left Florida November 7th with our car 

packed to the brim headed to start a new life in Branson.   Sniff was still in Florida. 

 We did not close on the house until November 10th.  I went back to Florida on the 17

 of November and brought him to his new home. We were back in Branson on the 19th. 

 The change Arvid and I wanted was real.  Not knowing anything about running a hotel 

we moved into it head on.  Little by little we picked up what we needed and though

 errors and omissions we learnt to run a hotel. Everyday is a learning process.

The first weeks we worked almost 7 days a week.  24/7. There was and there still is so much

to learn.  By the time we get home both Arvid and I are bone tired.  The work did not

 end there.  At home we had to do do the book keeping, the ordering and paperwork.  

We still do, but now it's "easier"  We have learnt a lot in almost 4 months.

Our life changed dramatically and for that I was grateful. Happy to be busy. To

 not have to think about anything.  Yes it worked great, but nothing kept Brutus

 far from me, but being busy is good therapy.  Better than anything I know.

Working at the hotel I have met amazing people.  People who may not have a much as

 many others, but whose hearts are bigger than most people I know.  People who have

 taught me that in life there is so much more than just waiting for things to happen.

 I learnt that you have to sometimes crash and burn in order to succeed.  That I 

always knew.  I know that as many times as I have a setback I will always bounce

 back.  Or at least I will do my best to.  Both Arvid and I run a hotel each.

We don't have much time these days for much.  Our days are filled with making

sure everything works, everyone is happy and always making sure that each day we

 learn a little more.  We maintain a safe, friendly and clean place.  We make sure

 everyone is behaving and we strive to meet every ones needs as much as possible 

and in a timely fashion.  No one said it was going to be easy.  At the same

 time no one told us how much we would enjoy doing what we do.

The cold weather did not stop us.  The first 2 months we were so busy we hardly noticed

 the cold.  We felt it, but we never had time enough to let it interfere in our work.  

Today we have managed to have Sundays off.  Mostly.  There are some 

days we have to go in.  Running a hotel is not a 9-5 job.  

Both places have managers on site, but even so we do get the calls at night when

 there is something neither of the 2 feel comfortable handling.  Since moving here 

Arvid has lost probably over 10 pounds.  He never stops.  Unfortunately, can't say 

the same for me.  Even though I am also constantly on the move, Arvid is 

a force all by himself.  He always has to be a part of everything.

I will be honest.  If Brutus had not died we would have never moved to Branson.

That's how much his death affected us.  Today I will admit that the move to Branson

definitely has been helpful.  It keeps me so busy that I rarely have time to dwell too much. 

 Nights are different.  If I'm not totally exhausted and have fallen asleep, I let my mind roam a little.

I miss my Brutus more than anyone would imagine.  When we think of Shadow it

hurts too much.  On the other hand, Sniff is just precious.  He makes everyday so very good.

The one thing I don't like about being so busy is that Sniff is left alone for many hours 

every day.  I do make up for it at all times possible.  He loves being brushed, 

played with and both Arvid and I do do that a lot.  Mostly I do.

For the next 5 to 10 years Branson is home.

Life for us has definitely changed.  I like being busy.  I love all the people I have
around me and so does Arvid.  We both agree that we have found the right
 thing to do.  As new ventures go this is probably the biggest challenge
we have  undertaken as a couple.  There is no other person in the world I
would do this with other than Arvid.  Together we are a good team.

You can do what I cannot do.  I can do what you cannot do.Together we can do
 great things.  Teamwork alone we can do so little.  Together we can do so much...

~Nadiya~