The Advent of TreeHouse

TreeHouse officially opened its doors this past Saturday, and five years of praying, dreaming, and working was finally let loose on the world.  The night before opening the rest of the founders and I worked all night to get things ready and so I have been more than usually tired lately.  Despite the fatigue, the overwhelming feeling in my heart right now is one of thanksgiving…. thanksgiving for all who have worked so hard on this project, thanksgiving for all who have supported us, thanksgiving for all our wonderful employees, and thanksgiving for my wonderful friends and family… many who were able to come and celebrate with Jen and I.

We have already received some good coverage at CultureMap, Thrillist, the NRHA, Fireclay, and a few other places.  My first blog went live, there are TreeHouse ads on the radio, and billboards around town.  The community of Austin has responded very warmly, and it looks like we are really off to the races.    I am hopeful that my pace of work can now settle into a more sustainable rhythm for both myself and my family.  Too many late nights, early mornings, and all-nighters lately have me feeling a bit under the weather.

Another thing I am looking forward to  is resuming my training for the Black Hills 100 which is now only 7 months, 3 weeks, and 6 days away.  I am about 320 training miles behind where I had hoped to be at this point… but as they say, relentless forward progress.  I have not yet registered or put together a crew, but my plan is to run a solo marathon on New Years day or thereabouts, and if that goes well I will officially register and put together my crew.

Jenny and I have not yet officially found a home church, though we have enjoyed worshiping with several of the Episcopal Parishes in town, especially St. Mark’s and St. Richard’s in Round Rock.  It will be nice to soon settle into a parish family where we can really invest ourselves and be invested in.

Thanks for keeping up with the Ballards, and stay tuned!

~ by jdballard on October 26, 2011.