Yes, It's A New Year!

I know I am a little late! We have all been a little under the weather. Actually a lot under the weather. We are finally getting over it and Meghan and I are actually going to church tomorrow. We haven't been able to go for about 3 weeks, I think. I've really been bummed about being sick because with it being a new year I was ready to get back to school. We had one day of school before everyone started dropping like flies. I am excited that this coming week we can get back to it!


I really like when New Year's rolls around. I don't know why because you can reevaluate and change things whenever you want but something about a new year makes it easier. Either way I have been reflecting on how 2011 went and what I wanted to change. Most of my focus for this is on my business and on how our homeschooling is going. These two things are a huge part of what I do daily and are related as well.


My business hasn't been earning me a great amount especially for the amount of time I have been putting into it. I pushed myself all year to do as much as I could and get my name out as much as possible. I also took every order that came my way except maybe a couple. God has been working on me with this. I have been worried about our income and worried about having a plan. I need to trust that God knows what is going to happen and will take care of us. I am going to stress less about the business and do more with the kids. I feel big relief now that I have allowed myself to relax about it.


There are a couple of charities that I have been donating cakes to over the past couple years as well. It was really getting hard because of how busy I was and also because the cakes they needed kept getting larger, but I wasn't going to stop. Well He has seen fit that those groups are no longer having those events because they had just gotten so big. I loved doing it but I see this as a sign also that He wants me to slow down a bit and not be spread so thin. They will have a few events throughout the year I can help with but it will not be a regular occurrence.


All of this is of course related to the kids and homeschooling. I know for sure I was called to homeschool them. So that needs to be my first priority. When my business is too busy then the kids don't get as much of my time as they need. I have decided to not answer the phone in the mornings at all, and if I do lose orders because of it I am going to be ok with it. I will check email once in the morning and then return phone calls and emails in the afternoon. I am also going to be more selective about the orders I take. I will raise my minimum order as well. The orders I take need to be worth my time.

To be honest sometimes I wish that I didn't have a business. It's a lot to keep up with and a lot of work. While I love doing it, all the little things, (taxes, paperwork, returning calls, etc) are hard to keep up with and take so much time away from my family. When I stopped doing it 4 or so years ago it was because I was burned out. I try to tell myself that it would be the same as having a job only I get to do it on my time and at home, but I do miss just homeschooling and taking care of the kids only. Of course, when I wasn't running my business I missed creating the cakes too. I am striving with God's help to strike a balance this year and I feel good about it. We never know exactly what the future holds and I trust The God has a plan for us!