A little of this - a little of that

Wow.

That's all I really can say these days. My life is a whirl wind. If someone would have told me two years ago I would be married, have four kids and be running my own business that is actually turning a profit the first year - I would have told you 'you're nuts.'

But that's exactly where I am.

Wonderland and Company has taken off like wild fire. After starting the business back in August with my Mom and opening our Etsy shop, a lot of things have happened.

• We took on my Aunt as a 3rd business partner, making this a true family owned and operated business
• We became vendors at First Monday Trade Days in Canton and received a permanent spot in one of the more prestigious buildings - Arbors II
• We became the first Texas retailer and only online retailer of Plaster Paint by The Plaster Paint Company
• I have opened up 4 more locations (other than Canton) where we are solely selling the paint and are currently scouting our 6th and 7th location

And all of this in the span of less than a year. It's crazy to even wrap my brain around it! And in the meantime, we are still buying and selling vintage and re-finishing furniture (using our Plaster Paint of course)! Add to that being a full time Mom and Wife and I'm feeling like patting myself on the back!

Plaster Paint wasn't our first idea when we decided to start this business - but boy do we love the product! With the chalk paint craze sweeping the nation, it's a great business to be in. Our product is just like some of the other brands out there you probably have heard of - but ours is a much cheaper option. It's also a Made in the USA product, water based, no VOCs and 100% Green. We offer over 25 colors in 4 different sizes.

And the best part is that we are one of the only online retailers for it, so no matter where you live we can get it to you through our Etsy Shop. I've also started a second blog that is solely dedicated to DIYs and projects using our paint and is business focused. I invite you to stop by THERE as we build our fan base and continue to grow our new business. And I would love to start working on some guest posts and doing giveaways - so if you have a blog and are interested, hit me up! I'm back in the blogging world and ready to hit the ground running again (I feel like all I do is run anymore).

It's hard to believe in July I will have been married a year! I have a SR in high school that will be graduating in June. And our Sophomore just went to her first Prom! My gosh, how time flies!

Life is good. And I am feeling so very blessed. I hope to keep up both my personal blog and business blog on a regular basis moving forward. Just from the time spent writing this - I feel like I'm back connected with the real world again! I hope all of you will come along with us for the ride!

It still seems so surreal that I quit my day job and started my own corporation! But I'm trying to savor and enjoy every minute of it! 

Living on a Prayer

I pray A LOT.

Like a million times a day (well, at least it feels like a million).

Prayer is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going and gets me through. When I'm on the verge of a total Mommy meltdown, a quick prayer gives me a little bit of calm and gets me centered.

I'm not an over the top religious type. We go to church on Sunday. Pray before dinner. I read my morning devotional. But I fail daily at living a good Christian life. And that's okay. Because I'm not perfect.

But I never waiver in my practice of praying. I pray for everything. For my husband, my kids, stability, our friends, our world. I offer prayers of Thanksgiving for our many blessings. I pray more times than not that God will help me to be a better wife, mother and role model.

There is no situation I don't take to God. Our finances? You bet. The way I just handled a situation with one of our kids. Sure. My feelings of failure and inadequacy? All the time. Because if I can't tell God and ask for help, than who can I tell?

And you know what never ceases to amaze me? The fact that He hears me and answers my prayers. However, he rarely answers them in the way that I had envisioned in my head. More times than not it takes a few days for me to even realize it's a prayer answered. That God, he's a tricky one. And he answers our call for help the way he sees fit - not always the way we do. And he's always right. In the end, it always makes sense. And all I can do is chuckle to myself, shake my head and marvel at how a little faith and a few words go a long way.

So, I'm not really sure if that's what Bon Jovi had in mind when he recorded 'Living on a Prayer.' But this girl right here lives each day by prayer. It's what keeps me going on the rough days. It reminds me to count my many, many blessings. And most importantly, it's probably kept me from about a million 'Mommy Dearest' moments!

Let's Catch Up

Whew. Life has become a whirlwind. I have started wearing so many hats and juggling so many different things - I kind of lost me along the way.

Let's recap:

-Wife
-Mom
-New Company Owner

It's a lot. Sometimes I get so frustrated and overwhelmed, I lose all motivation to do anything. And then I remembered - I have to continue to do something for me. And blogging has always been about me. So, here I am.

In the last 4 months I quit my day job and started my own corporation with my Mom - Wonderland and Company. We have successfully opened our Etsy shop and are seeing a lot of success - which delights us to no end.

We also became the first and only Texas retailer of a fabulous new DIY product that we are taking to Canton Trade Days. It's called Get Plastered by The Plaster Paint Company. It's a paint that allows you do re-finish most anything with no stripping, priming or sanding. And it's waaaay cheaper than some of the other similar products out there and even more importantly, it's made in the USA.

We also set up a booth at a local antique/craft mall, sent in our application to Canton and did our very first craft show! And happy to say, it was a success. We actually made money after we paid all our expenses. So life is good! We got a new workshop built at my home so that I have a dedicated workspace to get all my endeavors accomplished!

But I've been feeling like I'm still missing something. And I think that's a place for my voice to be heard. A place of like minded, supportive and super creative and talented people. That place is my blog.

This time I'm not going to track my stats. I'm not going to keep up with how many followers I have. I'm simply going to do what I love - write. And talk about my life, family, failures, successes and everything in between. This time I'm not going to worry about what makes anyone else happy, simply what makes me happy. The good thing is, I've finally found my place in the world. I'm doing something I absolutely love. I don't need to be a big time blogger to be a success.

I'm a success already - at least I think so!

We're Halfway There

First of all, I've been down for two days with a staph infection - again! The doctor has no idea why I'm getting them or how we can prevent it. The good news is, I don't have to feel bad for missing work and can still get things accomplished propped up in my bed while I rest. One of the perks of having your own business.

When Mom and I started this venture, my mother was determined that we would start out with a 100 item inventory on Etsy. After the first day of photographing and listing, she saw that this would be no easy task! It's time consuming. We do a ton of research on every piece. I photograph and upload and publish. I told her I though we would be doing good if we could get 10 new things a week added and aim to get to 100.

Today I added item number 52:

Vintage Re-purposed Red Wooden Tray Chalkboard

So friends, this puts us halfway to the 100 goal. I'm feeling pretty happy right now. We opened our Wonderland and Company Etsy Shop shop on September 7. So we are less than a month in. We have had 8 shop sales so far - one being on the first day we were open. We are very content with this for right now. Because our furniture is selling locally too! And, we are offering our services as vintage item locator's and have had success with this already as well! 

Folks, life is good right now. 

This weekend I'm looking forward to starting on re-purposing and re-finishing some of our larger furniture. I can't wait to share before and after pictures with you. And we are having a girls trip to Canton Trade Days. That's always something to look forward to. 

So, we're halfway there to one of our goals. We still have a lot more to accomplish, but we're feeling really blessed with where we are at! 

If you want to see more of our inventory, stop by and browse at the shop or head on over to the Facebook Page and 'like us.' We would love to have you.

Sometimes the plan changes

First of all, can I just say I love having hot spot Internet! Why I didn't do this forever ago, I'm not sure. Bu as I type this we are headed down the highway at 70 miles per hour on our way to a baseball tournament. Nothing like multi-tasking when you have an hour drive ahead of you! Now, if I had only remembered my ear buds so I could also watch some Doctor Who!

I mentioned a couple of posts back that my Mom and I have started our own business Wonderland and Company. It was super scary to turn in my notice and quit my day job, but I knew in order to really chase my dreams and be a success, I had to take a leap out on faith. And leap we did! Our original plan was to simply start with an Etsy shop and buy inventory that we could sell and ship on Etsy. And then we had a 6 month plan to get setup to sell monthly at Canton Trade Days. We were thinking baby steps. We started off doing just that, hitting up estate sales and finding vintage treasures that we felt comfortable shipping.

However, living in a small town (population 4,500) word spreads fast about anything. And word got out pretty quick that Mom and I had formed our own corporation and were now in the vintage re-sale business.One morning I get a phone call from someone I know about a mutual acquaintance who had a house with the contents for sale. And apparently the contents were vintage treasures and he was at the house right now if I hurried. So, I did just that. I jumped in the car and showed up at the house, unannounced, to see what he had. And boy, were there some treasures. The house was originally built in the 1930s. The same owners for the entire duration. And the stuff inside looked like it was straight from a museum - pieces in pristine condition that looked as if it had never been touched. The owner wanted to sale the entire contents to one person. He was not interested in having an estate sale or piecing it out himself. I told him I would have an answer to him that next day.

To say I was excited is an understatement. I felt like this opportunity had just been handed to me and for a reason. So, I called a Wonderland and Company meeting that evening to discuss the opportunity. Mind you, this was a 3 bedroom, two bath house with two living areas, a formal dining room and a kitchen with eat in area. This went far beyond just purchasing items we could sell on Etsy. This would give us Etsy inventory for a while and then throw us into a whole new realm of vintage furniture.

We met. We discussed. We came up with a price we felt comfortable offering for the whole lot. And the next morning I met with the owner to make my first true blue business deal and negotiation. And I walked away the owner of the contents of that house! It felt so good. I got it for the price I wanted and now we really had the inventory to be considered 'serious.' There are no words to describe the feeling of success when it comes to your own business and negotiating a deal that directly affects you and your success and future. I was so proud of me!

So, here we are about 3 weeks later and the house is almost completely cleared out (thank goodness we have until October to get it all done). We've already sold a lot of the furniture pieces and the rest will be stored for our Christmas show in November and Canton. I will not lie, it has been hard work sorting through, packing up and moving this house. But the amazing thing is that I love every single second of it. And that's how I know I made the right decision chasing my dreams.

So, we might have veered from the original course we had set for ourselves, but when opportunity presents itself, sometimes you just have to take the plunge. It's crazy how things have just fallen into place since starting this new adventure. And we are so excited to see where it all leads!

If you haven't done so yet, please stop by and take a look at our Etsy shop, Wonderland and Company and go by and 'like' our Facebook page. We give tons of sneak peeks over there!

And if you're still reading this, thanks for coming back after my long hiatus. Sometimes we just need some time to stop and re-evaluate and start again. And at this point, I feel like I'm finally exactly where I'm supposed to be. So, sit back and enjoy this next journey with me. I'm thinking it's going to be a really good one!

The Big Day

So, I finally got my wedding pictures back. Facebook is still probably trying to recover from the picture overload. Yes, I am one of those people! I just can't help myself. It seems as if every single picture is fabulous! I will try to spare you guys the whole 200. It wasn't easy deciding what to share - but here you go. Some highlights of our big day! Enjoy!

Life After the Wedding

I keep getting asked, a lot, 'so, how is married life?' To which my response almost always is, 'the same as it was before we got married.' The truth is, our honeymoon period ended the day we got back from our honeymoon. Not because we're not ecstatic to be married or any less in love, but our life does not allow for your typical 'honeymooner' phase.

We have four kids full time. Instead of the cuddling and staring longingly into one an others eyes that I assume most newlyweds do, our life is consumed with homework, ball practice, ball games, cooking dinner for our small army, chauffeuring around kids and trying to keep the chaos to a minimum. Since getting home from Jamaica, we have yet to have a single date night. We did get to watch the Hatfield's and McCoys mini-series finally - over the span of about 2 weeks. By the way, if you haven't seen it yet, it's a must. And Kevin Costner, so flipping hot!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I knew what I was signing up for when I said 'I do.' I'm beyond thrilled to be a full time step-mom to our kids (most days). It's just that it seems like people are expecting me to tell them how blissful, romantic and all around wonderful life is since walking down the aisle. When the truth is, David and I don't have a normal or typical newly married life. Life just went back to being life; getting kids off to school, choir booster meetings, volleyball games, birthday parties - well, you get the point.

There are times that I still look over at him and can't believe that I'm so blessed and lucky to get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. It still sounds weird to my ears to call him my husband. I'm still getting used to saying and writing my new last name. But in the end, I'm still a step-mom full time, just as I was before. David was and will always be my best friend. We've been devoted partners in everything we do from the get go. And I still continue to love him more and more each day.

So, how is married life? It's just as fantastic and amazing as my life has been since the first day David entered into it. And we are so excited to see where this journey takes us. I think our 'honeymoon' period may take affect the day we get the last kiddo through high school and out of the house and on his way. Until then, we are content raising our family and taking life one day at a time.