Tired, lotion, and my bedroom

Thanksgiving week and Black Friday weekend completely wore me out. I spent the whole week getting ready for the two boutiques I had coming up over the weekend and in the middle of the hustle and bustle, I forgot a couple of appointments. I just spread myself too thin as usual.

So, guess what I just added to my soap line? Lotion! Yay! And it was a huge hit at the boutiques. I even sold my testers. I made 3 different scents. Apricot Freesia (of course), Pink Sugar Pie, and Warm Vanilla Sugar. Too bad you can't try them or smell them through the computer, because they are really good.

Now that those 2 boutiques are over, all I want to do is sleep. I can't believe how busy my life has become. I have so much that needs to be done and never enough time to do it all. I sometimes wish I could be a turtle and hide in my shell whenever I need to. Nobody blames a turtle for hiding. They expect it.
My house seems to be overflowing with stuff lately. Kids' toys, summer clothes that need to be boxed up, soap stuff, laundry galore, and missing things that we can't seem to find anywhere. And with all that needs to be done, I just want to sleep.
This weekend I am doing my last 2 boutiques until about May or so and I am so relieved. It has really taken a lot out of me to be doing boutiques almost every weekend. I'm ready to take a break and enjoy the holidays and being with my family. I have finished my Christmas shopping and now if I can just get my house organized, I really can enjoy the holidays.
A couple of posts ago, I talked about painting my room and getting new bedding and I promised I would post pictures. I'm a little late, but here they are.

So here you can see the wall. I taped off a rectangle around my pictures and left it the color it was already painted. I think it needs more, so I am going to paint a frame around it in a darker brown. I love the color and think it adds a coziness and romantic feel to the room.
Here's another picture where you can see the bedding too.

I love the fluffiness of the comforter! And I love the square and rectangles throughout the room.


I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving and have recovered okay. I'm sorry I've been missing in action lately. I will try and do better!

New Moon

I have only had 4 hours of sleep as I write this, but I had the best time on our girls night out last night.

We all met at my friend Stef's house:

There's maula, Jean, Me, Stef, and Shalise. And Stef's little boy crying for her to hold him. We were all so pumped about getting a night away from our responsibilities!
First we went to Chili's for dinner. Last year (for the Twilight premier) we had a waiter that kept flirting with Maula, so we were joking about how funny it would be if our waiter was a flirt again.
When our waiter came to the table he saw our shirts and knew we were going to see New Moon just like most of the other women in the restaurant. He told us that when he was a kid he always wanted to be a vampire and when he left we all decided that he could be James on Twilight. We told him that when he came back to the table. His name is actually Jake. Here we all are at Chili's. We were joined by Melissa and her sister in law when we got there.

And here I am with Jake. He was about to attack me like vampires do. Like James would. Yeah, we get a little silly when we all get together. I don't know why none of my pictures turned out very good. Maybe because everyone who took them was using my camera for the first time and you have to have a really steady hand with it.

Like my shirt? I would have preferred it to be about werewolves, but oh well....


After a delicious (as usual) dinner, and sharing a molten lava cake (yummy) we went to wait out the long line in the cold at the theater. Maula and Stef took their snuggies, but I opted for my big blanket. I wish I would've taken a picture of them in their snuggies just for Kristina. As we were waiting in line (a very long line I might add) we got a call from our friend Melissa saying they were already in a theater and had saved us seats. She kind of accidentally cheated and cut in front of everyone in line! She went through a different entryway and they let her right in with no questions. So we did the same and got right in where we had great seats.
And now, for the important part: What did I think of the movie? Okay, well keep in mind that I actually liked Twilight the movie when most people hated it. But New Moon was better in that the effects were much better and I felt like the actors did a better job. Except maybe Edward. I still think he needs a little more personality. Okay, I know I am 32, and Jacob is liek 16,but he was steaming hot! Wow. I have always been torn between Jacob and Edward, but more on the side of Jacob. I have always loved his sweet boy next door charm and his fun personality. Edward is just too stiff and perfect. Jacob was great in the movie. They did well to make the audience love him. A lot of the movie was with Jacob and Bella because Edward is gone, so you see this great looking, built, Jacob and then when Edward comes back on it's kind of a big disappointment. They should've made Edward work out too, so he wouldn't look so bad after seeing Jacob shirtless for so long.
I loved loved loved Jacob! They did so good with the wolves. They were massive and scary just like in the books. I actually got kind of scared when they first showed the wolves.
Bella was prettier and her personality is growing more on me. She is just Bella. I think Kristen Stewart is a kind of weird girl and she acts weird in the movies too, but Bella is not supposed to be like other girls her age, so I think she is great for the part.
So, I loved the movie and can't wait to see it again with my husband. I'm still debating on taking my kids to see it. It is pretty scary. They want to see it and would probably be really mad if I didn't let them. There is a lot of kissing too.
I had so much fun with my friends! We all agreed we need to go out more often. Thanks guys for a great night!

Projects

I've been busy working on some projects around my house lately.  I have so many plans, but am held back by my schedule and of course money.  I try to work on just one room at a time, but I have so many ideas for every room, so I've kind of been doing a little in each room lately.  Today I painted.  My living room wall (yes, just 1 accent wall) and another wall in my bedroom. 

I really liked my bedding, but was kind of ready for something new.  There is a really nice resort we sometimes stay at in Park City and I have always loved the big white comforter on the bed in the room, so I decided to get a big thick comforter for my bed.  Then when I put it on my bed I decided I needed to paint the wall behind my bed and I have found my perfect paint color, so I did it today.  I am only showing the before pics today becasue I still need to do a few touch ups and put my room back together before I show you all the final "after" picture. 

So here is a  picture before the new bedding and painting the wall.

A long time ago, probably when none of you knew me, I made these and hung them above the bed. 

Tommorow I'll take pictures after I put things back together and post them. 

By the way,  I wanted to share with you a magazine that I am totally in love with. 

Every year BHG publishes this specialty magazine on organization and storage.  Not only does it include great storage tips, but there are some amazing decorating ideas too.  I find new ideas for my house on just about every page.  If you ever see one in the grocery store, I think it is well worth the $7 or so to buy it.  Right now I have 3 of them and am passing them along to my friends to use.

Anyway, I'll be back with "after" pics tomorrow!

Focus

Saturday night I went to take down my display at the boutique. The boutique that I thought was going to be my best. I expected to see a ton of stuff gone, but could only tell that a couple of things were missing. When I asked the girl in charge (she ran the cash register) she said she had only rang up a few of my items. I was pretty bummed. I am still pretty bummed. It appears that everyone else did pretty well there except for me. As I've tried to figure out why, I started to get really down on myself and think maybe people just aren't interested. But with my friends' reassurance, I have decided that it probably had to do with the location of my items in the home we used for the boutique.
I have been thinking for the last couple of weeks about how much time this business has taken. How many hours it has taken me away from other things I would like to be doing. I've been wondering if I should quit. It was this time last year that the idea for this business formed. You know how they say the first year of marriage is the hardest? Maybe it's true for a new business too.
A few months ago I wrote down my business goals. Then, I started to want things faster and decided I was going to speed everything up and try to get my store opened sooner than I had first planned. When I first started out, my motto was "baby steps". But somewhere along the way I wanted to take bigger steps and maybe that was a mistake. I have been thinking about it all. So, the thought to quit has been in my mind. Yes, it would make my life easier. A lot easier.
But I know how disappointed I would be. I think about how much time and money and how much of my heart I have put into this. I have risked being rejected, I have come out of my "shell", I have put myself out there and have learned a lot about myself because of it. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted my own business. I wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I could do it. That I could create an idea and take action and have the confidence to make it happen. That I could help support my family in my own way and create jobs for others. That if something were to happen to my husband, I could take care o my family. That when my kids are all in school, I will have a place to go to work and love my job, working for myself.
So, you see, I can't give up...I can't throw away all of the hard work I have done. I can't let myself down or disappoint myself. So, I have decided not to give up, not to quit, but to keep moving forward. Taking baby steps.
Here are my original business goals. They will remain my goals and I will not try to speed things up.

• This winter I will find at least 3 stores to carry my soaps and market my website and etsy shop
• Learn to make lotions, body butter, and scrubs in 2010
• Spend 2011 building up inventory and investing in displays and finding a place to put my store
• Open a store at the beginning of 2012

So, now I'm getting back on track and refocusing my vision. Baby steps are good and besides that, if I take anything bigger than baby steps right now, I will lose my mind.
By the way, my website is down for a while because of server changes, but I do have an etsy shop that I have never even linked my blog to. So, go check it out!

boutique and buying things and stuff

I'm so exhausted. I haven't written for a few days. Last week was so busy. I can't think of one time that I really got to sit down besides in the car. So this week I was so excited when I filled in my weekly calendar and hardly had anything on it! Of course it filled up a little. But I got to do some fun things.
Tuesday afternoon I was watching Oprah and I had to leave for a few minutes to pick up my son from scouts. When I got back the TV was off and my husband was home. I turned it back on and he told me the picture wasn't working. What? I was just watching it. "I know, but it just stopped working", he said. He was right, it wasn't working. Within a half hour he had us all in the car to go buy a new TV. I was thinking a 32-40 inch would be perfect for our living room. He had other plans. A couple of hours later we drove home with a 50 inch plasma TV and a new sound system. Come to find out Troy got a bonus at work He didn't tell me about until the cashier was ringing up all of the stuff. I'm a little suspicious about the TV dying. Lol! Although I wasn't planning on spending that much money on a TV and it is kind of big for our living room, I have to admit it is really cool. I have watched 1 show on it.
So, since we have a new TV that means I need a new corner unit built for the TV. I'm thinking of a tall piece with 2 cabinets and an electric fireplace insert. I bet Troy won't want to spend the money on it.
Yesterday I went with my friend Stef to the fabric store and bought fabric to make 2 pillows for my living room. I should take a picture of all of this stuff, but I'm too worn out and tired right now. After the fabric store I went and got 3 new paint colors. I'm painting an accent wall in the living room, and K's room with the other 2. We are trading K's and the boys' room soon, so it's almost time to start painting.
Today was not so laid back. I have a boutique this weekend that I had to go set up for today. So, I woke up and once the kids were off to school and I was ready I went to pick up a billion things that I needed for it. It always takes several hours to get everything packaged and ready for a boutique. I had to make bath bombs and wrap them and make new price sheets and figure out what I was taking. This one was so different than what I am used to. For the farmers market, i got pretty fast at setting up and taking down. I kept everything in one place all week so I just had to restock my soaps and load up my car. But this boutique is being held in a model home. We were asked not to bring tables because there was already a lot of furniture in the model home. So after working all day to get things ready, I finally loaded up the car and drove to Riverton to set up. I spent 3 and a half hours setting up. I got the laundry room and it took me a while to figure out how to arrange everything and I had to individually price everything (over 150 items). I got the laundry room which worked out pretty awesome for my soaps. The house was so gorgeous and made my stuff look so good! All of the vendors had amazing things. This one is being done with a centralized checkout, so I don't have to stay which I have found to be better anyway. It's good that I won't be staying because I would spend all of my money there. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera, so I missed getting pictures. I might go check my inventory tomorrow and if so I will try to remember my camera.


My sweet friend Sherri took some of my soaps to Texas for a boutique this weekend. So I will hopefully be making money while I have a day off this Saturday! The Farmers Market ended on Halloween. I was so happy to have my Saturdays back, but kind of sad to know that I wouldn't be seeing the friends i have made there each week. Now I have 4 more boutiques coming up. My goal is to make $2000 in sales between now and the end of December so i will have made back what I have put into the business this year. It's so amazing to look back at this time last year when the whole idea was just beginning to formulate in my head. Even thought I have so far to go still, I think I have made pretty good progress. I started out with 3 different scents of soap. All were melt and pour. In January I started making cold process soaps and now I have 26 different soaps. Plus kids soaps and bath bombs and soapy cakes. Today I finished getting everything I need to make lotion. Can't wait. And guess what my first lotion will be scented with? Apricot Freesia! Everyone's favorite. Since it doesn't turn out in cold process soaps, I have been making Apricot Freesia bath bombs and they fly off my shelves. I sell out of them at every boutique now. Soon, there will be lotion to go along with it!
Okay, I am really tired since it is almost 11:00 and I have been working non stop all day. This has been my wind down time. Now I'm going to put J to bed and then I'm off to bed.

Special plans

Guess what I'm doing tommorow?  Well, actually a lot as usual.  But I am going to add one unexpected thing to my list. 
I'm going to lay down on the floor when the sun shines through the window.  It's going to do that right?  It better.  And I am going to close my eyes and feel the warmth on my skin and just be in the moment.  No thoughts and no cares.  Just me and the sun.  I can't wait. 

* 9 more posts until the big 200 and my blog makeover and something else I have planned...

Something personal, but worth sharing

I'm going to share some very personal and real emotions and I wouldn't do this if it wasn't for the great friends I have made through my blog and the wonderful friends I have made in "real life", although some of my friends here have become real life friends.

I have had some real struggles over the last few weeks. Without going into all the details, I will just say that I have been fighting a spiritual and emotional battle and had gotten to the point where I really just gave up and started questioning a lot of things that I had always know to be true.
I know exactly why this happened to me though. I was getting very serious in my relationship with God. I was reading of His life, and I was learning more about Him and feeling complete love and joy in my personal relationship with my Savior. I fully believe that there is a dark soul (Satan) who hates to see us grow closer to God and will do whatever he can to destroy us both spiritually and emotionally. I also believe that he knows us better than we might know ourselves and knows just where our weaknesses lie and in which ways he can manipulate us.
Well, I learned that I am not untouchable. But I have also learned that I have an inner strength and with the help of my Father in Heaven I am stronger than anything that might try to ruin my spirit.
Like I said, I reached a point where I gave up. I felt like I had reached my limit and I just didn't have the strength to save myself any longer. But in desperation I spoke to the Lord (which I had been doing a lot less often). I told him if I was really supposed to do what I had been taught was right, I needed His help. I needed Him to give me the strength. I went through about an hour of complete torment. The battle between good and evil was SO STRONG and I was scared and panicked. I asked in prayer what I should do and immediately I heard a very familiar voice in my mind tell me to go get my scriptures. Being as difficult as I am, I tried to put it off and do something else first, but still the voice came even more urgent. Go get your scriptures right now. And I did. But I didn't know where to turn for the answers or strength that I needed. I told Him that. He told me to open them. I told Him to tell me where to turn. I opened them. I looked at the scripture before my eyes and knew immediately that I was being shown the answer. No other scripture could've said what I needed to hear so badly, as this one did. I was immediately filled with comfort and answers and most of all strength, and I dropped to my knees in prayer. Immediately I felt the evil and confusion leave. Immediately I knew what I had to do and that everything would be okay. I was not lost, only temporarily blinded.
God saved me when I couldn't save myself. He was and is my Saving Grace.
And I am stronger than I ever thought and it feels good to know that. Good can and does prevail and I want to be on the good side so that when this life is over I can face my Maker and He will know I lived my life for Him and did my best without giving up.

I know the battle is not over. But, I will keep fighting and living my life the way God tells me to.

In the last few days, there have been two songs that have said what I feel .




I do believe that we are given an inner strength and that the Light of Christ is given to each of us. But if we try to do it without Him we will always fail. He makes me strong and this next song really says it all.
(And you all know how I love African children, so I chose to post this version of the song):




If you don't know the Lord, open up your heart and let Him in. He will teach you more than you could ever imagine.
I have so much to be thankful for tonight. Wonderful friends who are there for me and who are the best examples to me (thanks Cindy), my beautiful children who I sometimes don't deserve. My husband who keeps trying, and puts up with my emotions. I am immensely grateful to my loving parents for teaching me to love and trust the Lord. They gave me a stable foundation to build on and I am forever grateful to them for that. Most of all, I am thankful for the relationship that I can have with my Savior. I am thankful to Him for reminding me what is really important and what I am working towards.