After making the decision to close my daycare I sat around thinking, "Now what?".
Luckily, we can make it on just my husbands income but who wants to just make it? Not us! We want to save, we want to travel, we want to make changes to our home! So what in the heck am I going to do to bring in extra money but be 'Mom' first?!
I started Googling.
Googling didn't spark anything in me (except contemplating pursing being a doula [finally] but it just isn't the right time yet).
I ended up talking with three different people about the businesses that they are independent consultants for. I only got genuinely excited about ONE of them.
[Drum roll, please!]
Dove Chocolate Discoveries!
You're probably thinking, "Dove chocolate? What do you mean, Dove chocolate?" .. because I thought that, too!
Dove Chocolate Discoveries does chocolate like I've never seen before! Cocoa rub, BBQ sauce, balsamic vinaigrette, pasta sauce, salsa and of course your chocolate in a more familiar role as brownie mix, bite sized candies and chocolate martini's (& much more!). Not only did the product excite me but also how they're such a family oriented company. They WANT you to put your family first and encourage that you only "work" (because how is having chocolate tasting parties actually work?!) when you can and how much or as little as you want.
Another hugely exciting thing for me is that I have been told by multiple people (people that have even been consultants with other companies) that there isn't a company out there that makes it as easy as they do to earn trips and free stuff.. on top of the fact that there's an unlimited income potential with Dove Chocolate Discoveries!
My sponsor has been doing this part time since June 2015 and held 8 tasting parties between her start and October. In just that short amount of time and doing 2 or less parties a month she is already 90% of the way to earning a trip to Maui in May 2016! How incredible is that?!
If you're looking for a little extra money or a lot of extra money for yourself, please don't hesitate to ask me questions about Dove Chocolate Discoveries! If it's not right for you, it's not right for you! I know exactly what that feels like! But if this sounds like something you'd love to do, I'd love to give you more info!
Maybe you just want to take care of some holiday shopping that you hardly have to do anything or pay anything for! That's when it would be a great idea to host a chocolate tasting party! All you have to do is pick a date, invite friends and let me handle the rest! I have $20 product vouchers for the first 8 people that host a party with me before December 15th, 2015! Only 6 of them are left!
I am so excited about doing this and I can't wait to find out what's in store for me!
[Check out my very own website!]
www.mydcdsite.com/embs
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Our Untraditional Engagement (& other little wedding details)
Chances are, that if you don't hang out with me, Andy or any of our close family members or friends, you had no idea we were getting married.
Rewind back to some random day in April 2015. I had an awful dream that Andy had died. It was so realistic that I vividly remember sitting down with Levi and Rex and I was about to tell them that he's gone when I jolted awake.
I took that as a sign. A huge sign.
I nudged Andy awake and said, "I had a dream that you died. We need to get married."
At that time, we had been together for 6 years. Living together for over 5.5 years. We had a 2.5 year old child together. We knew we would get married. Someday. EVERYONE pretty much knew we would get married. Someday. Why not now? What's wrong with right now?
So, we took about a week to mull things over. How many guests would we have? When would we have our wedding? What do we envision it looking like? How much money is this going to cost us? We had a lot of variables to consider.
I wanted to do it sooner than later.
My dad has been progressively losing his ability to walk since 2012. He needed to walk me down the aisle. I'm his only child.
We'll get married this fall. 5 months from now.
So, we started telling our close family. Then our close friends.
We set the date for September 26th. I wanted to get married at our cabin. Surrounded by only the people we were closest to.
But where would our guests stay? Our cabin is small. It could be cold outside. It could be rainy. The hotels and motels in the area are nothing to brag about. So, I did some digging. I found an amazing house we could rent on a private lake right in the same little town as our cabin. 7 bedrooms with space to sleep 22 people throughout the house. I toured it (without Andy.. it interfered with nap time and he trusts my judgment) and I fell in love with the place!
So, we'll have the wedding at this house! And we'll make an entire weekend out of it! BUT we agreed to sign the marriage license at the dining room table at the cabin. So we could make it officially, official at our most favorite place.
Well, things got rolling with planning the wedding and then we started talking about rings. I didn't have a ring on my finger. We're already "engaged", what would be the point in getting a ring right now? None, really. So, I decided I didn't want to see my ring until we were at the alter. It was one of the best decisions ever! I am so, so glad I waited to see it. It was the highlight of my whole day. Andy could not have designed a more perfect ring for me!
That's not the only thing we did different.. We also opted not to post anything on social media about us getting married. It wasn't a "secret" (we were just fine with word of mouth) but it just felt right to me to not post anything, anywhere online about us getting married. It made our day feel more special to me now that I look back on it.
September 26th, 2015 was such an amazing day. The weather was great, I never felt stressed, everything went just as planned and here we were, promising our commitment to each other in front of 45 of our closest family and friends.
We had the wedding I had always dreamed of... && more.
Rewind back to some random day in April 2015. I had an awful dream that Andy had died. It was so realistic that I vividly remember sitting down with Levi and Rex and I was about to tell them that he's gone when I jolted awake.
I took that as a sign. A huge sign.
I nudged Andy awake and said, "I had a dream that you died. We need to get married."
At that time, we had been together for 6 years. Living together for over 5.5 years. We had a 2.5 year old child together. We knew we would get married. Someday. EVERYONE pretty much knew we would get married. Someday. Why not now? What's wrong with right now?
So, we took about a week to mull things over. How many guests would we have? When would we have our wedding? What do we envision it looking like? How much money is this going to cost us? We had a lot of variables to consider.
I wanted to do it sooner than later.
My dad has been progressively losing his ability to walk since 2012. He needed to walk me down the aisle. I'm his only child.
We'll get married this fall. 5 months from now.
So, we started telling our close family. Then our close friends.
We set the date for September 26th. I wanted to get married at our cabin. Surrounded by only the people we were closest to.
But where would our guests stay? Our cabin is small. It could be cold outside. It could be rainy. The hotels and motels in the area are nothing to brag about. So, I did some digging. I found an amazing house we could rent on a private lake right in the same little town as our cabin. 7 bedrooms with space to sleep 22 people throughout the house. I toured it (without Andy.. it interfered with nap time and he trusts my judgment) and I fell in love with the place!
So, we'll have the wedding at this house! And we'll make an entire weekend out of it! BUT we agreed to sign the marriage license at the dining room table at the cabin. So we could make it officially, official at our most favorite place.
Well, things got rolling with planning the wedding and then we started talking about rings. I didn't have a ring on my finger. We're already "engaged", what would be the point in getting a ring right now? None, really. So, I decided I didn't want to see my ring until we were at the alter. It was one of the best decisions ever! I am so, so glad I waited to see it. It was the highlight of my whole day. Andy could not have designed a more perfect ring for me!
That's not the only thing we did different.. We also opted not to post anything on social media about us getting married. It wasn't a "secret" (we were just fine with word of mouth) but it just felt right to me to not post anything, anywhere online about us getting married. It made our day feel more special to me now that I look back on it.
September 26th, 2015 was such an amazing day. The weather was great, I never felt stressed, everything went just as planned and here we were, promising our commitment to each other in front of 45 of our closest family and friends.
We had the wedding I had always dreamed of... && more.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
What a year - Here come more changes
I really cannot believe it's been over a year since I've gotten around to writing a new blog post.
A lot has happened.
November of 2014 I started caring for a family of two boys before I was able to get licensed for daycare. Come April of 2015 I finally got my license after eight months of hard work to get the training I needed and my home up to par. Once I was licensed I had three more kiddos join us at Nature Sprouts! It felt so good to have everything come together and start my own business. Though, it hasn't gone the way I had envisioned or hoped.
I knew it would take some adjusting for as all to get used to. Especially for my kids. My oldest did just fine with all of it but over the summer I had a lot of guilt towards my new business because he was spending WAY more time in front of a screen than I would have liked and when he wasn't in front of a screen he was really bored.
My youngest (2 years old at the time and now 3) did just fine at the beginning when I was just caring for two kids but when I became licensed and the others started, he became miserable. He started screaming at everyone over everything and then the screaming escalated to hitting and shoving. He would have really awful days where it was a constant struggle to keep him happy and then he would have some days where things were fine. Not perfect. But fine. I could handle those days. I could not handle the bad days.
I started to realize that my child was becoming unrecognizable during the week. We'd have our fun-loving, goofy little guy on the weekends and then during the week he was swapped out with a very stressed, unpredictable child. I began to miss my own kid when I was in the same house with him all day, every day. To maintain as mellow and quiet of an environment as possible, I plopped him in front of the TV in my room way more often than I would like to admit. I had a no TV daycare. Yet I was allowing my child to watch hours of TV a day just to keep my sanity.
This was not working. This is not how I want my child to go through his childhood. He was miserable, which would make me feel miserable and it started to turn our house and family life upside down. No amount of money was worth this to me.
I have decided to call it quits. Come November 25th (or sooner if the daycare families choose to go elsewhere before then) Nature Sprouts will be no more.
It has been incredibly difficult to accept the fact that my business has failed. Honestly, this is the third (fourth?) thing I've tried to do with my life and again it has not worked out. But, I had to do what was best for my family.
Who knows where life will take us now..
A lot has happened.
November of 2014 I started caring for a family of two boys before I was able to get licensed for daycare. Come April of 2015 I finally got my license after eight months of hard work to get the training I needed and my home up to par. Once I was licensed I had three more kiddos join us at Nature Sprouts! It felt so good to have everything come together and start my own business. Though, it hasn't gone the way I had envisioned or hoped.
I knew it would take some adjusting for as all to get used to. Especially for my kids. My oldest did just fine with all of it but over the summer I had a lot of guilt towards my new business because he was spending WAY more time in front of a screen than I would have liked and when he wasn't in front of a screen he was really bored.
My youngest (2 years old at the time and now 3) did just fine at the beginning when I was just caring for two kids but when I became licensed and the others started, he became miserable. He started screaming at everyone over everything and then the screaming escalated to hitting and shoving. He would have really awful days where it was a constant struggle to keep him happy and then he would have some days where things were fine. Not perfect. But fine. I could handle those days. I could not handle the bad days.
I started to realize that my child was becoming unrecognizable during the week. We'd have our fun-loving, goofy little guy on the weekends and then during the week he was swapped out with a very stressed, unpredictable child. I began to miss my own kid when I was in the same house with him all day, every day. To maintain as mellow and quiet of an environment as possible, I plopped him in front of the TV in my room way more often than I would like to admit. I had a no TV daycare. Yet I was allowing my child to watch hours of TV a day just to keep my sanity.
This was not working. This is not how I want my child to go through his childhood. He was miserable, which would make me feel miserable and it started to turn our house and family life upside down. No amount of money was worth this to me.
I have decided to call it quits. Come November 25th (or sooner if the daycare families choose to go elsewhere before then) Nature Sprouts will be no more.
It has been incredibly difficult to accept the fact that my business has failed. Honestly, this is the third (fourth?) thing I've tried to do with my life and again it has not worked out. But, I had to do what was best for my family.
Who knows where life will take us now..
Friday, September 19, 2014
&& So It Begins!
The process of opening Nature Sprouts is actually in full swing now!
Every other month the county holds a large group info meeting about the licensing process and that is where you receive the application. I must have just missed the last one because it felt like I was waiting forever for the next one to come around. Well, yesterday was the day and it was such a great feeling walking out with the application in hand. This wasn't just a dream anymore. It felt like reality!
In the application you need to fill out background info consent forms for everyone who lives in the household, get a physical and have your dr sign off on seeing you in good health for taking care of kids, list references, finish a safety checklist of your home and get the application notarized. So far, all of that is done besides the dr appointment. But come Monday my application will be in the mail!
Once they have received my application they'll send me an invitation to a 3 hour small group meeting where I'll get more paperwork to fill out and we'll go more in depth with the laws and statutes. Is it weird that I'm looking forward to this?!
Along with all of these meetings and paperwork I also have to do about 20 hours worth of training classes. They include: CPR, First Aid, Behavior Guidance, Child Passenger Restraint, SUIDS/AHT (Sudden Unexplained Infant Death/Abusive Head Trauma) and Supervising for Safety. I just registered for all of them today and will have them all completed by the end of November.
From there I will play the waiting game until the licensor contacts me to set up a 4 hour home visit inspecting the daycare set up.
It's officially go time! I have to get cracking on making final adjustments to the house as well as hold interviews for potential daycare families.
Let's hope we can get this daycare up and running in March 2015!
Every other month the county holds a large group info meeting about the licensing process and that is where you receive the application. I must have just missed the last one because it felt like I was waiting forever for the next one to come around. Well, yesterday was the day and it was such a great feeling walking out with the application in hand. This wasn't just a dream anymore. It felt like reality!
In the application you need to fill out background info consent forms for everyone who lives in the household, get a physical and have your dr sign off on seeing you in good health for taking care of kids, list references, finish a safety checklist of your home and get the application notarized. So far, all of that is done besides the dr appointment. But come Monday my application will be in the mail!
Once they have received my application they'll send me an invitation to a 3 hour small group meeting where I'll get more paperwork to fill out and we'll go more in depth with the laws and statutes. Is it weird that I'm looking forward to this?!
Along with all of these meetings and paperwork I also have to do about 20 hours worth of training classes. They include: CPR, First Aid, Behavior Guidance, Child Passenger Restraint, SUIDS/AHT (Sudden Unexplained Infant Death/Abusive Head Trauma) and Supervising for Safety. I just registered for all of them today and will have them all completed by the end of November.
From there I will play the waiting game until the licensor contacts me to set up a 4 hour home visit inspecting the daycare set up.
It's officially go time! I have to get cracking on making final adjustments to the house as well as hold interviews for potential daycare families.
Let's hope we can get this daycare up and running in March 2015!
Friday, August 8, 2014
Birdtown Run 100 - Week 1
 | |
| Right after finishing Week 1 |
Week 1 has been TOUGH! I've been adjusting to getting up early (you'll never see me running at any other time of day), I'm trying to find a comfortable pace for myself, my body is adjusting to getting more exercise this week than it has in over a year combined and I'm learning how to get through how mental running really is.
Here's the progress to my goal of 100 miles in August [Week 1]:
7 runs (no walking) - 21.15 miles - 3:53:58 total time running - 10:57avg.min/mi - 1,848 calories burned.
I now have TWO DAYS OFF! My body will love me for that but I hope I don't lose momentum.
Goals for week 2:
- Run 28.85 miles for a total of 50 miles
- 10:45min/mi
What I learned this week:
- I run best when I start my run at 5:30am
- Stretching is everything
- My mind will give up before my body does
- Getting out of bed and out the door is the hardest part
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Making myself a priority
Ever since becoming a mom (almost 6 years ago now!) I really started putting myself lower and lower on my own priorities list. I had completely lost touch with things that I used to love doing. I am happy to say that I've began to make time for myself again lately and as tough as that is to work into the day, what's even tougher is continuing to put myself on the back burner.
So, what's changed?
Well first, I was invited to be part of a book club. While it took me a month or two to get into the swing of things once I picked up and read my first book I didn't want to go a day without reading again! This is something that I used to love doing but life happened and I stopped making it a priority. It really is such a great feeling to get lost in a book and it's a great way for me to wind down during nap time and after the kids go to bed.
Next, I began running (again). I've never really been a runner. I've done a couple 5k's and I did an 8k this spring. It was really the 8k that did it for me. It was the longest distance I've ever ran without stopping and I did it without training. I MEANT to train. But I never made the time. So, I was incredibly sore for almost a week afterwards. The race itself made me feel so great though that I knew I had to start making time for running. Fast forward a couple months (still hadn't made time for running) and I came across a running challenge online. The town where I grew up has become a really tight knit community. They have a facebook group for almost everything you can think of to join their residents together. Yes, I am a part of them all even though I now live in the town right next to it (honestly, one block over). Their newest facebook group is for a running challenge they have right now for the month of August. One of their residents got the idea from a friend to start the Birdtown Run 100. You try to run 100 miles in the month of August and everyone who wants to sign up and do it buys an awesome running jacket they've had designed for it and the group is in place to post your runs and help keep you motivated. I knew this was my calling. I signed up to do it along with 3 friends of mine. So far, so good! I'm six days in and 14 miles down running every morning at 5:45 with a previous neighbor of mine. It has definitely been challenging because I'm not used to waking up that early and my body isn't used to this much exercise but it's worth it. It's becoming a nice routine that I hope won't end once the Birdtown Run 100 is over.
My mornings are as follows: wake up at 5:15, quickly get ready to go run, run from 5:45-6:20, Kaylee get's dropped off (sleeping) at 6:30, I start the coffee pot, take a shower and relax with my coffee while watching the news until the kids wake up. All before 8 o'clock I get friend time, exercise, a shower and me time.
My promise to myself is that I will never put ME on the back burner again.
So, what's changed?
Well first, I was invited to be part of a book club. While it took me a month or two to get into the swing of things once I picked up and read my first book I didn't want to go a day without reading again! This is something that I used to love doing but life happened and I stopped making it a priority. It really is such a great feeling to get lost in a book and it's a great way for me to wind down during nap time and after the kids go to bed.
Next, I began running (again). I've never really been a runner. I've done a couple 5k's and I did an 8k this spring. It was really the 8k that did it for me. It was the longest distance I've ever ran without stopping and I did it without training. I MEANT to train. But I never made the time. So, I was incredibly sore for almost a week afterwards. The race itself made me feel so great though that I knew I had to start making time for running. Fast forward a couple months (still hadn't made time for running) and I came across a running challenge online. The town where I grew up has become a really tight knit community. They have a facebook group for almost everything you can think of to join their residents together. Yes, I am a part of them all even though I now live in the town right next to it (honestly, one block over). Their newest facebook group is for a running challenge they have right now for the month of August. One of their residents got the idea from a friend to start the Birdtown Run 100. You try to run 100 miles in the month of August and everyone who wants to sign up and do it buys an awesome running jacket they've had designed for it and the group is in place to post your runs and help keep you motivated. I knew this was my calling. I signed up to do it along with 3 friends of mine. So far, so good! I'm six days in and 14 miles down running every morning at 5:45 with a previous neighbor of mine. It has definitely been challenging because I'm not used to waking up that early and my body isn't used to this much exercise but it's worth it. It's becoming a nice routine that I hope won't end once the Birdtown Run 100 is over.
My mornings are as follows: wake up at 5:15, quickly get ready to go run, run from 5:45-6:20, Kaylee get's dropped off (sleeping) at 6:30, I start the coffee pot, take a shower and relax with my coffee while watching the news until the kids wake up. All before 8 o'clock I get friend time, exercise, a shower and me time.
My promise to myself is that I will never put ME on the back burner again.
Friday, August 1, 2014
Nature Sprouts Daycare - Mission
It has been so fun coming up with my mission statement and putting policies together for the daycare.
As you can see, it now has a name! It was so difficult to come up with something. First I had to like it and then I had to Google it to make sure it wasn't already in use. Let's just hope no one takes it before I get it registered!
I really want to focus my daycare on nature, personal health and being eco friendly. I think all kids at a very young age should be taught the importance of recycling, reducing waste, using eco friendly products, eating healthy foods (with as many of those as possible being organic) and getting kids interested in nature and being outdoors.
We live in an age where kids are constantly wanting to be plugged in an when we moved into our house, we made a big change. That change was keeping TV's out of our main living space. It has made a tremendous difference to our kids lives. Not only do they spend a ton of time running around and exploring outside now but they're also interacting more indoors and becoming more creative with their play.
So, when creating my mission statement I kept all of these things in mind.
NATURE SPROUTS MISSION : is to create a wholesome environment which promotes every child's social/emotional, physical and cognitive development. We offer high quality childcare in a toxin free environment and offer a wide variety of healthy foods. Our educational focus is not only on core subjects but also on being eco friendly and discovering the wonders of nature through exploration.
WHAT SETS US APART :
Safe, non-toxic cleaning products
No artificial food coloring allowed
As much local and organic food as possible
Cloth diaper friendly
Breast milk friendly
Bio-degradable wipes
Cloth towels for hand drying
Cloth napkins for meals
We re-use and recycle
If you've ever looked for childcare before, what were you looking for in a daycare environment for your child? If you haven't looked before, what would you look for? What's important to you?
As you can see, it now has a name! It was so difficult to come up with something. First I had to like it and then I had to Google it to make sure it wasn't already in use. Let's just hope no one takes it before I get it registered!
I really want to focus my daycare on nature, personal health and being eco friendly. I think all kids at a very young age should be taught the importance of recycling, reducing waste, using eco friendly products, eating healthy foods (with as many of those as possible being organic) and getting kids interested in nature and being outdoors.
We live in an age where kids are constantly wanting to be plugged in an when we moved into our house, we made a big change. That change was keeping TV's out of our main living space. It has made a tremendous difference to our kids lives. Not only do they spend a ton of time running around and exploring outside now but they're also interacting more indoors and becoming more creative with their play.
So, when creating my mission statement I kept all of these things in mind.
NATURE SPROUTS MISSION : is to create a wholesome environment which promotes every child's social/emotional, physical and cognitive development. We offer high quality childcare in a toxin free environment and offer a wide variety of healthy foods. Our educational focus is not only on core subjects but also on being eco friendly and discovering the wonders of nature through exploration.
WHAT SETS US APART :
Safe, non-toxic cleaning products
No artificial food coloring allowed
As much local and organic food as possible
Cloth diaper friendly
Breast milk friendly
Bio-degradable wipes
Cloth towels for hand drying
Cloth napkins for meals
We re-use and recycle
If you've ever looked for childcare before, what were you looking for in a daycare environment for your child? If you haven't looked before, what would you look for? What's important to you?
