Change is Coming

Quality Time

The time has come. I must go back to work.

I'm happy. I'm sad. I'm nervous. I'm excited.

When my husband went back to grad school for ministry in 2005 we knew it meant having financial hardships for a few years and eventually moving away from our families. All I asked was that I could be a SAHM for a while when he was finally called to his own church. 

Well, we moved here in 2009 and I became a SAHM to my then three year old son and six-month-old daughter. I didn't think I could make it after the first month. I was ready to pull my hair out! But, we finally got into a routine and I loved it. I missed a lot of the adult things, like lunch hours and conversation. I also realized what a gift staying home was for me.

After having my son in 2006 I returned to work full-time after twelve weeks of maternity leave. It was hard leaving him but I had no choice. I had to work.  When our daughter was born in 2009 we had already moved once. I had a new job and could only stay out for eight weeks and then had to return to work. Again, I had to work.

Then my husband was called to VA. He kept his promise and I got to stay home. I realized what I missed while I worked when my son was little. I don't regret it but I am sad that someone else got to see everything I missed.  More than once I've sat back and wondered, 'How in the world did I get all this done when I worked?'  I've learned what an incredible person it takes to work and be a wife and mother and take care of a home while making sure your kid doesn't turn into a serial killer. What's more amazing are the millions of moms and dads who do it every day!

So, in a few weeks I will return to work, this time only part-time. A few days a week. It will help me ease back into the real world. For some reason I think leaving my kids this time will be even harder then when they were infants.  They have become my side kicks, my partners in crime.

I am excited about entering the adult world again! Having conversations that involve subjects other than Buzz Lightyear and trains is a huge plus! I think I'm really going to enjoy my job.

Most of me can't wait to get started. The part of my heart that is with my kids is dragging a little though.

In the Beginning...

So here I am starting a post about my business. Never in a million years would I have thought I would have my own business! What kind of business? TUTUS! I make and sell tutus on Etsy.com. So, that leads me to my blog title, "Makin It Work."  My husband and I joke that I went to grad school to make tutus. Before our move to Roanoke, VA last year I worked full-time and was a mom to our two kids. When my husband was called to a church here, we decided I would stay home for a few months and then find a job. So, selling tutus has been my way of helping out and "makin' it work" on the financial end of things.

Well, a few months has turned into 13 in this horrible job market. I have a background in one of the hardest areas to find a job at the moment (at least around here), media and public relations. So, after almost a year with one income and no job prospects I started getting desperate. Then I remembered buying my daughter a tutu before she was born, looking at it and thinking, "Hm, I can do this."

So, I went out bought some tulle and made my daughter a tutu for Halloween. The first turned out horrible, but once I made a few they started looking adorable.  A friend of mine bought something from Etsy a while back and I had actually purchased a few things and decided it would be a good place to try selling my tutus at a minimal loss if it didn't work out.  I posted my items and started waiting on a sale and reading the forums. That's when I started reading all the posts from other sellers that said it took months for them to make their first sale. Hope dashed. But, I kept at it, reading the best ways to sell and promote on Etsy.

So after two months I have made 50 sales!! It hasn't been easy. Late nights, cleaning neglected and tulle up to my elbows, but I love it! I see why people go into business for themselves.

That's the quick story of how Sweet Baby Tutus came to be. Oh, and the name, I almost forgot! I wanted a name that meant something to me and my family.  I often call my children, "sweet girl" or "sweet boy" so I went with Sweet Baby Tutus.

I will use this blog as an outlet for discounts, information and therapy. I hope you will join me!