Big Changes

I know some of you are probably a little confused by my last blog post. That post was meant to get myself going. If it helped some of you as well, that’s even better, but I wrote that post because I needed it. I have been really thinking these last few months about what I want to accomplish in this short life I have been given. There are so many!! I just needed a good kick in the butt to get moving. And I will probably need another one occasionally throughout the year.

 

A lot has happened in the last five months. Having a baby started it all. But since then, so many things have come about. Honestly, I don’t think I could remember them all to list them, even if I wanted to list them all. But, lucky for you, I don’t want to list all that! But, during this busy time, I have been doing a lot of thinking. I have been thinking that I don’t want to spend the rest of my life working for someone else. I want to work for myself. I want to be able to make my own schedule. I want to be able to work around my children and their needs. I don’t want to have to ask for time off to take my kids to the doctor or to go watch a program at school. I want to be more present with my children, my husband, my friends and family. I want to be able to help more people. I want to be able to raise my own children and really enjoy their childhood. But I also want to leave a legacy for them. I want to leave them a business that they can run long after I’m gone. I want to teach them everything I possibly can about everything I know. I want to learn more things so that I can teach them those things too. I want to teach them that it’s ok to fail or to make mistakes. That’s part of life and that’s how we learn. I want them to know that it’s ok to follow their dreams and work hard for those to come true. I want them to see that life isn’t easy and that it takes hard work. I want so many things for my babies. So, that is why I wrote that post. It was more for my own motivation than anything else. I needed a wake-up call.

 

So, what am I planning to do about life? Well, that’s why I have been absent from this blog for the last five months. I have been doing a lot of thinking. I have had such good intentions to continue to do everything that I was doing previously and still add the new things to my already crazy schedule. But, I have come to realize that wasn’t going to work! I am definitely an over-achiever and a dreamer, but even I have come to realize that I don’t have the energy for everything. So, what I have done is made some goals. I’m hoping that by making the goals and getting them on paper that it will help me to be more accountable and help me to stay on track. I have also made some big decisions and have begun to put the actions in place. What are these plans and decisions?? Well! Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen! Here we go!

 

The first big decision I made (and my husband was more than happy I made this decision) is to leave my job this spring. It is not set in stone yet, but my plan is to leave my job close to the end of the school year. This was the biggest decision I have made in a very long time. It’s a hard one to make because we really need my income, but we both think that the value of my being home with the kids is worth more than my paycheck could ever be. We are currently praying about how all this will work, but I know if it’s the right thing for me to do, God will work it all out and will provide for everything that we could possibly need. To say that I’m nervous is an understatement, but I believe it’s right. This is where my faith will need to take over. God’s been working on me on trust. Well, here’s my test.

The second big decision is that I am in the process of starting a business. God has been working on me for a while about finding something that I can do that will allow me to be with the kids and work around their schedule and our needs at home. (Yes, I work from home, but I have a schedule that I have to keep.) I have always wanted to own my own business, but I don’t think I would have been successful before now. God’s timing is always best. For the last four plus years I have been working for my brother as a dispatcher for his trucking company. I have been sending semis around the country for the last four years. I have also been the one in charge of invoicing, scheduling, recordkeeping, and many other administrative tasks. When my brother is gone for some reason, I am the one calling the shots. I am the “boss” when he is gone. There is one other guy that handles the shop while he’s gone, but if it involves loads, money, or anything regarding administration or office related things, I’m the one who takes care of it. This position has helped me learn how to handle pressure and how to do many things that I would not have learned otherwise. I have been able to learn how to start and run a business by watching and participating in my brother’s business. I never realized how much I was learning until recently. I still have a long way to go, but I think I now have enough experience to get started. Lord willing, I will be able to be completely up and running by the time I leave my current position. As I get things going, I will be making a post about the business and will give you all more information. I have a little more work to do before my website is ready, but you guys will be among the first to know when I’m ready to go!

 

My third big decision is that I am going to stop selling Plunder Design Jewelry. I will still keep my website for personal orders and for anyone who wants to order, but I will no longer be doing any parties and I won’t be promoting it like I used to. I have already started to slow down on this. I’m going to be selling out my current inventory and then only doing personal orders. This decision was actually a pretty easy one even though I really enjoy Plunder. This wasn’t something that I could easily take my children with me when I had parties or events. I want to be able to keep my children with me if necessary. My husband is more than happy to keep the kids with him when needed, but his work schedule can be unpredictable, so I need the flexibility in my work.

 

The fourth big decision I have made is regarding my children’s schooling. My oldest son actually made this decision for me in a way. I am currently homeschooling my two oldest children while the third one goes to school. My third wants to homeschool next year. Both of her sisters started homeschooling after second grade, so she wants to do the same. I’m ok with that. My oldest son will be starting kindergarten next fall. I was planning to enroll him in school where all my other kids have gone. He said something a while back about wanting to homeschool next year. I didn’t think much of it at the time. But, I got to thinking more about it as time went on. I had been occasionally asking him about whether or not he wants to go to school or homeschool next year. He has never once said he wants to go to school. He is set on being homeschooled next year. This has helped me make the decision that all our children will be homeschooled next year. This will save us so much time, energy, and money. God knows that I needed the break from all the driving and requirements that conventional school places on us. Don’t get me wrong. I really like the school that the kids have been attending, but the extra time and lack of a large tuition bill will be a welcome relief.

 

There are a few other things that have been decided in the recent months as well, but I’m not going to list them here right now. I’m so excited for what the future holds! My children don’t know about these decisions for the most part. They know that I’ve started my business, but they don’t know that I’m going to be leaving my job. They will learn all these things as time goes on, but for right now, I’m excited for the surprise they will get when we are able to have more fun this summer! I’m excited to be able to actually enjoy the summer with them instead of trying to juggle a million things all at once. I’m excited for so many things! But, for now, I just need to make it through the next few months. Now that I have an end in sight, I really need to concentrate on keeping my brain in the game at work.

 

So, I’m sorry that I have been absent for the last few months. I haven’t been idle. I have been crazy busy! I am also planning to make a weekly blog post about everything that’s happening. I’m hoping to show how I have been doing things and how everything has transpired. There have been some big changes in our household these last five months, but God has everything perfectly orchestrated. I can see His hand in everything that has come about, and I can’t wait to see how He fulfills all the needs for us personally and with the business. God has been so good to us!

 

I am so thankful for each of you who have stuck with me and my inconsistent posting. I do hope that I can do better by each of you going forward. Thank you for all your support and kind comments! They really mean so much to me! Now that I have laid everything out there for everyone, it’s time to get some more work done. Right after I make a countdown to my last day of work!

 

Have a great rest of your week, everyone!