start-up capital

On Friday night I got really excited about starting my business. I began typing up all of my ideas into a business plan. I was going to wait until July, after I'm done with everything I'm doing for Jennifer's wedding, but I just couldn't help it.

I wrote down the service my business will offer, listed out all of the dessert items that will be included on the menu, the regularly used ingredients, kitchen utensils that will be needed, the jewelry and clothing -making items that will be needed, and the equipment I'll need to get started.

That night as I was laying in bed trying to sleep, ideas kept popping into my mind, so I wrote them down on a notepad I have on my nightstand. I finally dozed off, with my imagination running wild envisioning the store, the treats, the displays, the kitchen....

Saturday morning I woke up early to bring our card table to a friend's house so she and several others could borrow it for their yard sale. I should have joined in on it with all of our leftovers from our yard sales last year, but I just didn't have the energy.

While there, I noticed a couple of slat-board shelving units someone was selling. "Start-up capital!!" my brain yelled at me. One even had a signboard on top of it. I found out whose they were, went to an ATM, then went back and bought both of them for $20! Those things retail for way more than that. What a deal!

Then I searched and searched for the accessories that go on it, like the baskets and hooks and what-not. Lowes and Home Depot don't carry anything for them. Staples has it on their website, but not in the store. I finally broadened m search and found a couple of stores in SLC that carry that stuff. All but one were closed on Saturdays. Well, that made it easy. So I took a trip up there.

The store is called Modern Display. Oh, my goodness--it's a good thing I don't live closer to it or else I'd spend all of my money in there! The downstairs level is full of gorgeous furnishings and decor, as well as holiday decorations, things like faux flowers, stunning candlesticks, vases, mirrors, wall clocks, etc. It's like an upscale section of Hobby Lobby. Then the upstairs level has all of the store and business display merchandise, including jewelry display items, signs, fitting room mirrors, mannequins--seriously almost anything you need for a store. I went right to the clearance corner and found all of the hooks I needed and a small shelf. I spent a whopping $6 on it all! That's way better than the prices I was finding online.

I got home and spray painted the hooks and shelf so they'd all match (they were different colors and I wanted them the same) with the paint I used on my succulent plant container. Then I rearranged my living room/office area so that my new/used slat board unit would fit better in the front window with my dressmaking model. 

I love it. 

Of course, it's more that we'll have to pack when we eventually move. 

But it's startup capital for my store.

There. Justified. 

:)

epiphanies & 18 hour days

At work, Mother's Day is probably our busiest holiday of the year. Valentines Day is pretty close behind it, but seriously, Mother's Day was....ridiculous. In a good way. We started getting ready for it a week or two ahead of time, cutting the lengths of ribbon we need, folding boxes for arrangement transportation, putting together the 12 and 6 count boxes for chocolate dipped fruit, prepping loads and loads of containers and vases for arrangements, etc. The only thing we couldn't prep that far ahead of time was the actual fruit itself.

Thursday, May 5th was pretty normal, except that instead of going into work at 4pm I went in at 10am and stayed the entire day. Then Friday I went in at 7:30am and didn't get off until after 2am. Saturday was the same. And Sunday I went in at 7:30am and got off around 5pm. I worked a 10 hour day, nd 18 hour day, another 18 hour day, and then a 10 hour day after that. What made it even longer was standing for nearly that entire time. I'd get home and ask Bob to give me a foot massage at 3am, which he'd kindly do for me, then I'd fall asleep during it, and get up a few hours later to go stand some more.

Saturday morning I awoke and sat up in bed to rub the sleep from my eyes. Then I stood up. The familiar throbbing in my feet and tenderness in my knees came back immediately, my hands were stiff and forearms sore from pinching the fruit skewers and pushing them into arrangement foam for hours on end, and my back hurt from holding and leaning over the chocolate dipping pots. It was hard not to whimper as I walked from the bedroom to the bathroom, knowing the day would consist of all the same work, and that I'd be feeling even worse by the end of the day, and worse by the following morning.

Luckily for me, Bob was working as a temporary delivery driver, so he got up with me, sympathized as much as he could, and helped me hobble around as I got dressed and ready for work. Even though I was working non-stop for hours on end, it was always refreshing to see Bob walk through the prep area as he'd scan and take more deliveries. As he walked past me he'd just brush his hand across my back or shoulders. Even though I didn't react to it usually, it was a momentary and pleasant distraction from how much I hurt and how tired I was. It was so nice to have him there for a few minutes at a time, partially because I love being around him and also because I knew he was helping to earn some money.

Speaking of which, overtime pay is great. So is a generous boss who included a hefty cash bonus with my pay check this week. She also let us make an arrangement to take home on Sunday evening. I wish I'd taken a picture! It was so good! It looked like this, only with chocolate dipped oranges, chocolate cinnamon apples, and some white chocolate strawberries, and I put it all in a cute orange watering-can keepsake container:

I'm glad I made it through last weekend. I'm very ready for my usual weekend off. I'm hoping to get the house cleaned today so that we can play all day tomorrow (well, when I'm not working on Jennifer's bridesmaid dresses).

With all that time to think as I stood at work making arrangements and dipping fruit in chocolate, I realized a couple of things.

I want to open my own store really, really badly. I think I want to open a gourmet dessert shop to start with. I never really got tired of dipping fruit the whole time I did that over Mother's Day or Valentines Day. I just really like to make all of it look pretty with swirls and toppings on everything. I stood there, dreaming and fantasizing about what my shop would look like, what kinds of desserts I'd make how I'd package them for customers, how I'd display them, etc. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to actually get out some paper and write down my ideas and create a business plan, and figure out how to get the right start up capital. I haven't been this motivated about something like this in a while (which is why I'm writing about it).

I love sewing and fashion design, but I also realized I really hate keeping up with current trends, projecting the styles for the upcoming seasons and years, and sometimes I actually get tired of sewing (believe it or not). I hate how long it takes to get one piece of clothing done.

Accessories are different. I could make hair clips and jewelery all day long. In fact, I used to do just that when I worked a Busy Beads & Moore in Clarksville. I never got tired of it. I finally finished Jennifer's hairpiece for her wedding, and got it mailed out to her this week as well. It was a $20 item. If I made and sold just 5 of those a day, that's $100 a day! I know that includes supplies, but I'd still profit a lot on those kinds of things.

I guess I like fast results. I love projects that I can start and finish in  matter of hours or within the day... Like accessories... And desserts... I'm not a fan of baking with yeast or dough. All the kneading and waiting, kneading and waiting drives me nuts. So cupcakes, cake bites, cakes, pies, tarts, and chocolates are all things I love to make. Opening a shop up to sell those kinds of things would take lots of work and time, (and boy, am I learning how to put in long hours at work) but once it got off the ground, I'd rarely have to go in before 7 or 8am, whereas a bakery requires getting started at 3 or 4am because of all that dough and yeast and nonsense.

So, I'm going to work on slowly gathering the start up capital I need, saving money for it, as well as finding things like a commercial sized mixer (or two!), double-boilers, chocolate warmers and fountains, a display cooler or two, freezer(s)/refrigerator(s), bun racks/carts, ovens.... You know, stuff like that. I know a lot of small companies go into too much debt too soon when they first open, so I'd like to avoid that. I'm willing to use things 2nd hand--heck, even 3rd hand if it's in good condition. I don't need or even want brand new stuff. Besides, I love vintage, antique, and steampunk styles. I intend for my shop to be along those lines, so the older the better (if it works, anyway).

I'm so excited about it, I want to start it up now.

*sigh*

But I can wait. I want to start it when we move to San Diego anyway, so it'll be a while until then.

I guess I'm learning patience, too.

I've Been Hacked!

That's right, my sneaky and subversive husband has hacked my account, and has typed this blog post as a surprise to me. Just so y'all don't get confused, he'll be talking as though he's me, even though I, Janae, had nothing to do with this particular post.

Let's start off by setting down some basics that we can all agree on.

• I'm Janae, and I'm incredibly attractive. Also, I'm lots of fun.
• I have such a wide range of interests and talents that I can hardly keep up with them. I love to cook, bake, sew, craft with paper, scissors, fabric, glue, wood, and just about anything else I can get my hands on
• I have an excellent eye for design and aesthetics, and I love to bring that to play in organizing and decorating my home, and in all those crafty things. 
• I want to learn and do so much more! I've always wanted to go hang gliding, I love climbing but don't go enough, and I love snowboarding, but same problem there. I still need to learn to crochet and a bunch of other crafts and hobbies. 
• I'm hopelessly addicted to Halo. I wasn't very good a few years ago, but after weekly sessions with friends, I can legitimately hold my own. I've even won a few rounds. 
• I really really really want to learn metalsmithing so I can design and cast my own jewelery. Why does everything I want to do cost so much?
• Case in point, I also want to travel the globe. I want to see third world countries and the remnants of the height of European monarchies. I want to see the tropics, the tundra, and be swallowed in the vastness of the Sahara. I want to see all the different places right here in the U.S., from the Painted Desert, to the Redwoods, to Mt. Rushmore, to the Everglades, to New York City, to the coasts of Maine, to the underground Boston music scene...
• Have you noticed how cute I am? I'm seriously attractive, really! Who else do you know that could pull off any hair color, any outfit, any style? We are few and far between. Worship us.
• I throw the BEST parties.       ....E V A R R R.
•  I am one tough chick. If you had any idea all of the crap I've been through in my life to get where I am, you would probably faint. Or maybe you'd relate if you've been there, too. Respect my journey.
• A side effect of all that is PTSD, which I've written other posts about, from time to time. This makes even the most trivial of matters sometimes insurmountable in the moment. Do you get it? Maybe. But unless you've dealt with it, I doubt it.  Like I said, I'm tough. I always make it through it.
• I have an incredible amount of faith, and a very strong testimony of the Restored Gospel. Sometimes the social side of attending church is hard for me to deal with (see above), but I will always love the Savior, the Gospel, and my Heavenly Father. It's unshakable.
• My husband is better than your husband. 
• Did I mention how ridiculously attractive I am?
• Have you hung out with me lately? Why not? I promise you that I am outrageously hilarious, and a load of fun! Seriously, what's your excuse?
• I've changed through about 9 different majors in college (lots of interests) so I know a lot about a lot of stuff, instead of a little bit about a lot of stuff or everything about one thing. Except for sewing- my husband thinks I might know just about everything about that, but I don't really think so; There's always something new to learn!
• I love animals and I really want a dog! We never really got to have one growing up and now that I'm older, I want one. 
• I love my sisters-in-law and I wish I hung out with them more. What do we have in common? What can we do together?
• I'm going to be the coolest mom ever, except for maybe my mom, who is perpetually amazing. My husband has no doubt that I can live up to her legacy, though.

Well, that's about all for now. Comment on this post and tell me how much you love me, because after all, I'm not really writing this, so it's not fishing for compliments, is it?!

Stress and Success (part III) + Halloween

And in the last week, I've been a sewing maniac. I made three Halloween costumes, altered two other costumes, finished a skirt for my sewing class, started and made a lot of progress on a nice collared shirt for one of my customers.

The costumes I made were fantastic. Jennie Ray was Daphne for Halloween, and she and I made a perfect purple dress and ascot for it. Rebecca Flake was the Little Mermaid during the "Kiss the Girl" song in the movie, so she and I made a pretty blue corset and a light blue skirt and altered a white blouse to go under the corset. I also made a zombie cheerleader costume for Alyssa who is 11 years old. (She's a girl I recently began mentoring, which I'll write a whole blog about later.) Her outfit was black with glittery skulls and white accents, including a big letter A on the front of her top. I also made her a black and white striped turtleneck and leggings to go underneath. Lastly I made two bows with the left over black and white striped ribbon for her hair. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of her in her costume, and I'm really bummed about that. :(

Jennie & Becca's costumes.

Then Bob and I had been debating all week about our costumes. Someone in one of my classes mentioned Barbie and Ken the other day, and I thought that would be hilarious. Bob and I just watched Toy Story 3 last weekend, so I wanted to dress up like the Barbie and Ken from that movie. We'd found some wigs earlier in the week at a Halloween store. Then on Friday, the day before our Halloween party, we went to the DI searching for anything really. We lucked out with Bob and found some awesome pleated shorts, a horrible blue-patterned shirt, a belt, and even some sweet loafers. I looked and looked, and finally found what I thought might just work. It was an ugly light bluish-teal leisure suit kind of thing. I tried it on and it was kinda big and fit me weirdly, but I could alter it just fine and make it work. I found a perfect pink belt to go with it too, and borrowed some pink leg warmers, hot pink heels, and a pink head band from Jennie Ray.  I altered everything that night, and when Bob put his costume on he really wasn't sure if he could go as Ken. I think he was just embarrassed to be wearing the light blue ascot that I made him.

So Saturday rolled around and we had breakfast Jennie and Rebecca's apartment. I gave Chelsie a hair cut. We all carved pumpkins. And then we got ready for the night. I have to say, Bob and I looked so good!

Bob carved the cat, I carved the face with the stem as a nose.

We made it to our Halloween party a few minutes late. When we showed up everyone was seated at tables and the people in charge were giving instructions for how the evening would go. Bob and I walked in a door towards the front of the room and just stood next to the wall, looking for a place to sit. Then I noticed everyone looking at us and giggling. At one point the people up in front had to stop talking because everyone was laughing about our costumes instead of listening to instructions. Then I noticed that Bob had walked in stiff-armed and legged, smiling and waving like a Ken doll. I honestly loved all the attention.

We got so many compliments on our outfits. Everyone loved them I think, and everyone knew exactly who we were supposed to be. That was my favorite part, aside from the fact that nobody recognized us at first. They knew who we were dressed up as, but all the hair in the wigs really threw everybody off. It was great!

Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head were even there!

Bob as Ken.

Me as Barbie.

We ended up winning the Best Overall Costume award, a $10 gift certificate to Spoon It Up. I love frozen yogurt, and I love winning contests. It was so worth all the makeup and fake eyelashes and alterations and headaches of the week. Halloween has been great this year.

more things I've recently made

So I won the Blog Candy from Aunt Elaine's blog the other day: a set of stamps, pens, some paper, and an ink pad. I've already used those stamps several times in the few weeks I've had them! At Trina's baby shower, to make a get well card, for some magnets my ward mission council made, and I finally decided to use them for some fun yesterday, just to see what I could come up with. I don't have tons of paper or supplies, so it's really simple. But I've learned that frequently, less is more.

And speaking of Trina's baby shower, it was so fun! I couldn't have done it without Ashley, so I definitely can't take credit for it all. She had some fantastic ideas and by the time we got everything decorated and people started showing up, it looked like something people would pay money for! I was so busy that I didn't take pictures of any of it, but I did take some of the gift I made for Trina. I love making hooded towels now, and matching wash cloths to go with them. I'm planning to make some and sell them on my Etsy store (as soon as I have some time!). But here is hers. The photos aren't the best because I was in a hurry, but you can still see how cute it is.

Now I need to get back to work. Bob's been getting onto me about finishing those incomplete assignments, but I needed a break! So back to work it is.

To love life...

I used to live life just wishing and dreaming about the future. I never paid much attention to how life was in the moment or how I was doing in the present--I'd done that during my high school years, but it never seemed to make me any happier. But when I started living to reach future goals, I at least had more hope in my life. And then I started living life for nothing but the future because I hated how things were in the present. It's like I went from one extreme to another in search of happiness and peace of mind, still never finding it. I mostly just ignored myself because I didn't like me, and the best way to distract myself from me was to think about where I was going instead of where I was at the time.

It wasn't until my therapist pointed out to me that I need to be sure that I like where I am now that I started realizing those one-way thinking habits. As obvious as it is, I never recognized that I needed a "happy medium" of both to be happy myself.

I am now pleased to say that I love who I am (perhaps for the first time in my life). I have goals I'm working towards, complete with a healthy view of myself right now. Here are some of those goals and how where I am now is helping me to reach them:

1. Graduate with a BFA in Industrial Design. I'm getting valuable experience at work designing products of all sorts. I'm finishing that incomplete I took in one ID class last fall. I'm going to finish freshman level ID classes in the winter, apply and be accepted into the upper level ID classes.

Final assignment from one of my ID classes last year. Not bad, for a freshman, though it could be better.

2. Live in a nice, comfortable house/home. We just found a different place to live that's still in our ward boundaries. It's the main level of a house, with lots of windows and lots of sunlight, a bigger kitchen, large living room, and lots of closets with storage space. No more dark basements for us. And rent is even cheaper than what we're paying now. We're trying to be careful with our money so that we can begin saving up to buy/build a house that we'll actually own one day. We have family photos (our extensive 2-person family of Bob and I) and hope to get more, as well as images of Christ and the temple to put up as daily reminders and to invite the Spirit into our home.

3. Have kids... several kids... Even though we're not trying for it right now (and if we get surprised I think well be okay), we're both learning so much about how we're going to parent. Some things I hope to do/not do: Not lay my infant child on the floor at church during Sacrament meeting, show them how to enjoy the outdoors, not put them in front of the TV as a quick fix to keep them entertained everyday, let them help me to cook meals and treats, teach them how to sew and make simple crafts as young as they want to start learning, assign chores they can do--with or without my help--at certain age marks, begin teaching them what it means to be chaste and to have morals as young as eight years old, show them how to love and be generous to others by my example, instill a love for music, singing, and instruments in them from infancy.

4. Play the piano... Again. I still have an electric keyboard I got for Christmas one year when I was a kid, and it still works. I'd also like to take a piano class at BYU before I graduate. I started one last year, but I was taking too many credits and had to drop it. I still have 3+ years to try it again.

5. Open my store/bakery. I started my Etsy site. I took a couple of classes at the LDS Employment office about being self employed and starting a small business. I have tons of fabric and some other supplies to help when I want to get it up and running. I've looked into small business loans and calculated out how much money I'll need just to get it going. I've got a business plan started, and I'm almost ready to get the business actually started. It's just not the right time yet. But it will happen.

Chrissy Konachamp won the Iron Man World Championship in 2007.

6. Finish an Iron Man race. I've been riding my bike everywhere--to work, to run errands, to look at potential houses to move into, etc. I went on an hour long ride the other morning before the sun came over the mountains and made the midday heat unbearable. If I can strengthen my knees on my bicycle and by swimming, I'll be better able to run long distances without blowing them out. I've also been monitoring what I eat. I've been eating far less meat, partially because it's expensive and partially because too much meat isn't healthy, and replacing what I'd normally put meat in with rice or beans or something similar. It's been both cost effective and I'm feeling great.

7. Serve a full-time mission as a senior couple. Bob and I went to the temple last night, and it was a wonderful experience. I've been trying to make prayer and morning scripture study more of a priority, though I'm not perfect at it yet. We've been trying to be better about fulfilling our callings, especially since we're ward missionaries. And like I said earlier, we're really pushing to keep a specific budget, including saving for later in life.

I have more goals, but these are the ones that were on my mind as I recognized myself again this morning. I decided to write them down so that I could get them organized into reality and reflect on them later. Plus, it feels great to see my successes and accomplishments and let those be my focus rather than my failures. And even my failures have resulted in some success. For example, I considered dropping that piano class last year a failure, but had I not done that, I wouldn't have taken other steps to get to where I am now, and where I am in my life is a really big accomplishment for me.

It's nice to see the big picture and see things, and myself, accurately.

My Etsy store!

So if you don't know already, I've been wanting to open a little gift shop/bakery for most of my life. I had a location picked out and I was hoping to get it going this fall. But I didn't sign the lease for the location soon enough. I walked by there a couple of weeks ago and the "For Lease" sign was down and there were some things in the windows. Talk about disappointment! I was super bummed out.

I decided that maybe it just isn't time to get it going yet.

Bob took me out to some fun little boutiques last week, Cherry Lane & the Flower Basket. I loved them! I wish I could work in one of those shops, or at least sell some of my creations to them for resale. But I wasn't feeling very good about my abilities since I hadn't gotten any responses on my job applications or resumes that I'd turned in a few days earlier. So I didn't bother asking anyone about it.

Instead I just decided to get an online shop going. Thursday, the same day that Bob took me out to those boutiques, I logged into my Etsy.com account and created my shop, and posted a few items for sale.

On Friday I got a message from a lady who just happened upon my page, and she gave me some wonderful suggestions and feedback on it. Then on Saturday she bought one of my items! Holy cow--my first sale not even two days after I opened my shop with only three items for sale! I was so jazzed when I looked at it tonight that I posted a few more items and improved my bio and policies page among other things.

So now I'm really excited about selling my creations! If you haven't already, go and take a look at it. And if you have an account, please make my shop a favorite (only if you like it, and if not, let me know how I can improve!).

If I can't go to work, I'll let work come to me. And I'm going to have a blast doing it!

Hosting a baby shower...

So Marissa's baby shower was Thursday last week. I learned a few things from it:

1. I spent way too much money on it. But everything I bought was for her! And baby things are just too cute anyway.

2. Decorating blank onesies with stamps and fabric markers is my favorite baby shower activity.

3. Three boxes worth of cake bites is enough to feed everyone at a BYU football game. But man are they delicious!!

4. Well, this isn't news to me, but doing all of this just reiterated the fact that I'm a total over-achiever, in case you didn't know.

5. I should start a business for party and event planning so I can make a profit on it. Apparently I'm good at it.

Progress with Business

I've been thinking more and more about that business idea from my last post. I've been talking to a lot of people about it too. So far my husband supports it (although he's nervous at the idea, like he is about anything so risky and exciting), my Mom thinks I should give it a go, my siblings and friends are supportive and offering help and advice to help me get started, and the manager at my credit union is giving me all sorts of resources to go to for help.

I'm writing down the ideas that come to me in the middle of the night (using a little notepad on my nightstand in the dark so that when I look at it the next day I have to decipher what exactly I was thinking about). I'm making a thorough business plan. I'm looking at food handling classes/permits. I'm toying with store names and items to sell in the attached bakery I'm planning on doing along with the shop. I looked at a location on Tuesday evening with the leasing agent and really liked it. I'm thinking about quitting my job in May and working at a bakery over the summer for experience (thanks for the idea, Lauren!). I'm seeing crafty items I can make and thinking of ways to keep the store stocked. I'm thinking about marketing and advertising and getting my name out and people in.

I would love to get this thing going in the fall. Or even next spring. I'd hate to wait any longer because I'm scared my energy and excitement might fade or I'll just find something else to be too involved in and not give myself time to really do this. We'll be here for several years still with Bob's schooling, so why not do something like this now? As my mom put it, there's nothing keeping me from doing it. And even if I were to fail miserably, I'd definitely learn a lot of valuable lessons from it and I'd know what not to do.

I know it'll be stressful and the hours will be early and long. I'll have employees to hire and legal stuff to deal with. I'll have taxes to figure out and finances to learn about. There will be stocking and inventory lists. There will be permits to acquire and regulations to follow. There will be some big expensive purchases and some remodeling to take place.

But among all of that, there will be tons of opportunities to be creative. I'll be my own boss and work out my own hours and pay (which could turn out good or bad). There will be people to serve and customers to gain, not to mention experiences and chances to learn and grow.

Overall, I think those benefits will be better and more fun for me than if I just stayed stuck here with what I'm doing now. I feel stagnant right now, which is only really at work but it seems to affect me elsewhere. It carries over to how I feel about my school work, and how I feel about myself in general. I feel like me as a person cannot progress any further or improve my potential by staying where I'm currently employed.

The reason I feel that way is probably just a result of being employed as an RSM for so long. I've been employed my DAP since October 2004 (with a break for a mission for 18 months). Everyone I started working here with is long gone. So why am I still here? I'll be 24 in April. I probably won't graduate until I'm 27ish, but I don't want to wait until then to let my life go somewhere or do something productive and exciting. Maybe it's just a mental block I'm putting on myself. Whatever it is, I need something different than what I'm doing now.

Way different.

I think owning a small business will be plenty different.

Inspirations and Asperations

I recently went into a little shop just full of fun home decor items, picture frames and wall hangings, scarves and aprons and headbands, flowers, etc. I loved it!

And then I realized that I know how to make almost everything that was in there.

So I got to thinking about how fun it would be to work in a little shop like that. Then I thought about how easy it would probably be to start. I've got the skills, and because I know I couldn't do it alone I'd likely hire a few other crafty people to help me along. All I have to do is get past this fear of taking out a loan. I think that's the only way I could afford to do it, and my credit union probably has some good business loan options. I'll just have to look into it.

I know something like that would be extremely time consuming, but I'm down to taking 6 credits a semester now until I graduate. Plus, I think it would be worth it to love my job again. It's not that I hate the one I'm at now, but I feel so limited by it. I'm pretty sure I'm at the maximum hourly wage allowed for RSMs, there's no further promotion I can get (plus I'm really not interested in ever becoming Events Manager--sitting at a computer making phone calls and scheduling out the various setups/strikes for all the performances each semester). I'm limited to 20-ish hours of work a week since I'm a student and a campus employee.

Owning a crafty little shop would take most of my time during the day, but if it's an atmosphere that I like and I get to create things and use my hobbies and talents the whole time, I think I'd really like it. I say that now, but who knows if I'll still feel that way after actually doing that, right? Well, I loved working at the bead shop in Clarksville, and I seriously would have loved to work full time there. I think that's similar enough. And obviously as the owner of a business I'd have to deal with all the budget and inventory issues as well, but then again, I could always hire someone to do that part for me. Plus Bob talked about how he'd like to help out if I ever actually get this idea up and running. He'd be pretty decent at that I think.

I see all the pros and cons to this idea (okay, maybe not ALL of them right now but I see lots of each), but I'm not scared of giving it a shot. I really want to. Plus at this point in life I feel like I could focus a lot on the poor college student apartment and how to make it nicer for cheaper. I'd love to make almost everything in the store for sale too, including the window drapes, tables that things are displayed on, etc. I could even offer kits or classes on how to make various things.

I definitely want to do it. Now, when is the question. Next semester would be awesome. But it seems like these dreams of mine are only dreams and I never actually do them. But that is slowly changing. I am going to Singapore in May for a study abroad. That's something I'd always dream about but never actually do, and here I am getting a passport and rolling out a few thousand dollars for it. I'm actually doing it! Now I feel more motivation to do this store idea. Bob did suggest that I start online. Maybe that would be a good place to get things rolling and start making some income to fund this little shop idea. We'll see. I'm feeling kind of excited about it.

Oh, and I got free frozen yogurt today. Life really can be so great sometimes.