Let me tell you people, it has not been an easy year. After
making the decision to stop working, purchase a home (in need of major
renovation), move from Arizona to South Carolina and launch our new business….
(deep breath) I am looking back to a year ago.
When we showed people pictures of our new home, we were told
many things...
Too much work needed to be done to it, don’t buy it.
Why would you want to move to Union, SC? That’s in the middle of
nowhere.
The renovations will cost too much.
Blah, blah – negative – blah
But did we listen? Hell no!! All we saw was the vision. A steal of a deal…a
home that my son was going to grow up in…a small community where you know your
neighbors… a home that was built for a family – already full of happy memories.
We emptied all of our savings, borrowed a small loan from my family and
we walked into the lawyers office, handed them a check and this house was ours.
All ours! Paid off!
Brandon works day and night fixing things in our old home. We are
constantly cleaning, fixing, gardening…. Every day…. We go to bed exhausted each
night and wake up the next morning to do it again.
I decided to stay home to raise my son. A $45,000 a year pay cut….. Financially,
it has not been easy at all. But who cares when you have the most wonderful son
in the world? He is happy, healthy, smart and strong. I am positive this is
because Apollo is being parented well. We play and laugh and sing and clap together. He wakes up every morning with a HUGE smile.
So when it is suggested that I go back
to work, the answer is: Hell no!! Knowing that my son is content; that his
needs are met is the most important thing.
Instead of “going back to work” we decided, to launch or business and
build a team in S. Carolina. Again, I hear all the blah, blah – negative –
blah.
Some think it’s not a “real” business because we don’t have four walls
as a store front and bunch of overhead.
Some say that I don’t work because I don’t get up at the crack of dawn,
sit in traffic all morning just to be greeted by an asshole boss. I wake up
when Apollo does, take care of his needs, the house and in between breastfeeding
and nap time I “work” until I finally fall asleep at night. Do I have a fat
paycheck to show for it every week? No. And when we do get money, it goes to
our bills or back into our business.
But, that is what it means to be an entrepreneur. It means working your
ass off, whether you are paid immediately or not… when people believe that all
you do is eat bon bons like Peggy Bundy because they have no idea what it means
to succeed at launching a business… to
create our future, our legacy.
So a big giant THANK YOU!!!!! to all of our family, friends, fellow
Mommies
and customers that have supported
us.
Thank you for listening to me complain and whine and vent.
Thank you for letting me know that you support our decisions. It is
your words of encouragement that I repeat in my head when times are tough.
Thank you for signing up and supporting our online store
ShopArea8.com.
Thank you for each and every purchase.
Thank you for every little bit of positivity and prayers - they drown
out all of the negative comments and people in our lives.
Thanks to my best friend, Sara, who is there for me when I call and supports me during all this change.
During this year we have managed to create a home - even if it's a work in progess... We spent today working on the house. I was peeling off 40 year old wallpaper and Brandon was pulling down one of the chimneys brick by brick. We stink, we're tired...
We celebrated Apollo's first Birthday! Our
business has recently launched worldwide. How awesome is that?! So many reasons to be grateful.
If you haven't yet, please go to one of our pages and sign up as a preferred customer. Take a look at what we think is a great business. And of course, shop and save!
Now I'm sitting with my family watching my son clap and giggle aloud at the television.
I gotta say.... It's all soooooo worth it, every moment!
THANK YOU!!!
xoxo
Lauren
Throughout the year, we throw fruit, veggies, egg shells, bones and shells from our seafood in the backyard pile. During the winter months we add the ashes from our backyard bonfires to it and occasionally turn the soil. By the Spring, we have beautiful black soil full of nutrients. I will dig up a good amount and use it in my flower beds and for my potted herbs and veggies.
Another thing I will do is take herbs like basil or mint and propagate them in old glass jars of water. This year I also have carrots, ginger, scallions and a mystery sprout in the kitchen window. Brandon transplanted the Papaya tree into an old water cooler pot so the winter frost won't kill it. We are going to collect some seeds and let the rest of the plants outside run their course. The potatoes usually come back in the spring easily.. and we'll see about the rest next year.
