Been a long time...

It has been a long time since I posted and so much has happened. Probably the biggest thing is that I am no longer working. I am currently among the "unemployed" and to be honest, I am LOVING it!!! Alan and I invested very heavily in a new business venture for me. As you all probably know I LOVE to do anything crafty. I have been toying with machine embroidery for about 2 years now and had been looking into starting an embroidery business for a while. Back in March I discovered that I would not be working much longer (imagine my surprise seeing MY job posted on Monster.com) and started to financially and emotionally prepare for what was coming. The amazing thing was that the day before I saw the ad on monster.com I test drove a car that I really liked and probably would have bought that weekend. God allowed me to see that to spare us a car payment that would be very difficult to manage given our current situation. We discussed options for me like working some temp jobs, substitute teaching, Alan kept saying "you can do a little embroidery work on the side" ... well, I started doing some research and I was hooked. I did sign up for the substitute training the week after I lost my job and have completed that. I am still waiting for that to happen, it took me a few extra days as I had to get a TB test that I didn't know about. I am hoping that by the end of this week my name is in the system. I doubt that I will have much work this school year but am relying very heavily on it for the fall.

I lost my job on a Tuesday and on the following Saturday we drove up to Columbia, kids in tow, to check out a machine. I was just going for the basics, no bells and whistles. I came home with the whole package PLUS some Quick Snap frames and a really great software package thrown in by the owner because I took the cabinet which was included in the package. We weren't going to take the cabinet because Alan could build me one. We were trying to save some money and we did because the software she added in was very expensive. I got a great deal and am really excited to get started. I have one job that we have been working on. The really cool thing that I hadn't planned on was Alan getting into this. After all, it is a machine and has moving parts. ;) He has become "The Digitizer". It is great for him to be involved in this with me. I really enjoy working with him in this and hope this leads to a great family business that maybe someday the kids will get involved in.




I have registered on etsy.com and will be listing some merchandise there for sale soon. I am still trying to get all my bearings and get adapted to being "home" again. Of course I have been home for 3 weeks now and have yet to be HOME except for the first couple of days. I was only home then because Alan's car was broke and he had to drive my Yukon to work. I have been running around like crazy and really wanting to just stay home more. This week I am volunteering at the middle school during PACT testing. (For those non-South Carolina residents, PACT is the South Carolina yearly acheivment test, it lasts 6 days, for 3 hours per day) Next week I will be at the elementary school.

Cameron has been back home as he is preparing to move to Lexington, KY. I am so not ready for that but he is 21 and gets to make his own choices. I am just glad he will be close to family there. Mikaela has moved out and living across town. Josiah is nearing the end of his middle school career. It is hard for me to believe that he will be attending high school in the fall. Cassidy turned 12 today. YIKES!! Lexi is glad that school is almost over. This has not been her favorite year in school, I am really hoping for a great year for her next year. Tomorrow is Alan's birthday. We sang to him tonight at praise team practice. ;)

That should have caught us all up now. Hopefully now that I am home LOL I can keep up with the blog a little better.