Author: jme71te

Every vacation has a few bumps in the road…and we considered Day 3 our bump.

When we were in Cozumel we just cancelled all reservations we had made previously and made better tour trips with our hotel…we kind of thought this would be the same thing we could do here….We were Soooo wrong.

Lots of tourists places but no one could speak any English at all…hotel gave us a number and that was a disaster….so I got online myself..:and just took care of the reservations myself….

So Day 3 was frustrating but we learned how to use google translate…and figure out what we wanted to do the other three days….

That cinnamon coffee was sooo good!

And then some more….

And more doors….

Today was a day I will not forget….for three years O have dreamed of standing right here….

We wanted to jump right in and just see a few things…experience the city….

All these photos taken are mine….with just my simple IPhone. I do use Lightroom as well and that makes ordinary photos so much better…especially when you are in a city like this.

Fiesta we started off with a latte….if you are a coffee drinker….welcome to coffee heaven….

I decided to kind of work on this while we are actually still on the trip in bits and pieces…hoping this will help those of you interested in visiting Antigua Guatemala.

The first thing you need to make sure of is that you are flying into Guatemala City during the day. Do not fly in or out….at night.

Second thing you need to do is call your hotel where you will be staying and arrange transportation to your hotel ahead of time. We had a young man with a sign meet us n Guatemala City and drive us back to Antigua. This is well worth it given your safety is most important.

It is supposed to be an hour from the airport to Antigua….but things don’t work here like they do at home…and traffic signals are not followed….hardly at all.

Our first day consisted of getting up at 3 am…and every single flight we took (2 out of 2) took forever to take off..:second flight caused some running in the airport in Houston….me crying and running….I was sure we would not get to go…again.

Entry into Guatemala was relatively painless…we found Mexico to be harder…we had no issues at all entering into Guatemala.

My husband and I speak hardly any Spanish…but they know that…and for the most part with google translate being your bestie…you can make it…not ideal…but you can make it.

.

I cannot say enough good things about our hotel. Extremely clean, bed is a dream and there is very tight security. On check in we were greeted with champagne glasses of green tea and jasmine…water is purified here but we still only drink bottled. We can still flush toilet paper as well.

The first night we are on the rooftop of a nearby restaurant. There are restaurants everywhere….amazing coffee. Our hotel coffee is to die for as well….

Also, most menus are in English….so it’s pretty easy!

Today I went to visit my parents….they live over an hour away…and today I dreaded it with all my being.

It gets very hard when your Dad does not remember your name…today he actually did which was nice…I noticed he called me her and my Mother said..”You mean Jamie?” And he said yes…”Jamie” so I guess that counts.

Today, he thought Christmas was the next holiday and asked my daughter Ellie no less than five times what she wanted for Christmas. He asked if he could get a shot for his disease. Wanted to know if he could get his drivers license back…told me that being able to see well was not important when driving 🤦🏼‍♀️. There were more stories…but I will just leave it at that.

We drove home exhausted…I had answered the same questions….repeated myself a million times and explained where my son was (who hasn’t lived with us in five years). And just for fun, today they had to ask about my dead dog about four times….so yep…I was exhausted mentally.

On the way home…I just listened to praise music and dreamed of the day when we will all be made new….when there will be no more pain and no more tears…..

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. I’m grateful for warmer weather….

I’m grateful for trips that have been put off for four years that finally get to be taken. I’m grateful for my two dogs…my amazing children. I’m grateful for my house, my business, new staff members, and my amazing husband. I’m grateful for customers, and our church and our church family and friends. I’m grateful for sunshine, fresh bread, homemade soap. I’m grateful for decorating for spring and gold bunnies and chocolate…

I’m grateful for all the amazing opportunities that life gives us…I’m grateful for coffee in the morning…umbrellas, warm blankets…hot showers and warm blow dryers. I’m grateful for music and being able to know how to play the piano…I’m grateful for all the amazing people I have met through clowning and so thankful I get to spend a week with these people this summer…..

But today…..today I’m sad….I’m scared this genetic disease will grab me to…and that I will also be a burden to my children…and I really don’t want that.

For today….I’m grateful he knew me…even though he needed a reminder…I’m grateful that he knew my daughter. I’m grateful he likes fried chicken and chocolate cake….and no matter what…he always wants to talk about fishing…for now….that will have to be enough…

Today I was supposed to get rest, and be rejuvenated but that didn’t happen…I had big plans for today…I could tell you that’s life…but it seems it’s been happening every three weeks for the course of two years…and it’s time for a change.

Owning a business is hard…but it can also be very rewarding it enables me to do things that most people don’t get to do.

It’s gotten my big clown foot in the door at many schools and retirement homes….

It has allowed me to continue my obsession with decor and also soap making. I enjoy baking bread and cooking….and I have been able to do all these things and more and for that I am grateful.

Sometimes though in life…we need to change our focus…we need to make hard decisions…and that’s what my husband and I have done lately…make some really hard decisions that don’t feel good…but will be good.

For the good of our family and our mental health these changes will be put into place in the next four weeks….our hope is that these changes will bring a more predictable schedule for everyone involved, and we hope that plans for extracurricular activities can now be planned for.

With these changes, my husband and I hope to be able to concentrate on our activities that drive us to be creative individuals that are able to focus on the important planning aspects of what makes our business unique. Our business continues to grow…and we must make some hard changes to make it continue.

Over the last two weeks I was asked point blank what makes me happy? And I had to sit and ponder it for a long time….

What brings me great joy is to play keyboard in front of my congregation. The singing of my church family almost brings me to my knees every time.

The second thing that brings me joy is homeschooling my daughter. Doing science projects and writing assignments and all the things…violin and art classes….

The third thing that brings me joy is work in my community…clowning, other committees all of those things….

The fourth thing that brings me joy is our business and learning all those things that make our business unique….

What can rob your joy is the mundane parts of business…getting caught up in the grind of your business that shouldn’t even be something you are left with worrying about. Finding dependable and reliable people that show up and do their job without you having to babysit them is what can make or break you…and finding people like that can be hard to find….

We are lucky to have a good team of people…and I’m grateful for each and everyone of them. We are grateful to have a consultant who can look at our business from the outside and let us know what is no longer working and what must change…someone who sees a bigger vision.

So for now as my anxiety is through the roof…and my creativity is plummeting…and my fitness routine is completely gone…house is becoming shambles and house projects are once again put off….I am resting in the fact that change can be good…and growing pains can turn into beautiful things….

Today, we returned to normalcy. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed my own bed..my shower.

Today, my dogs were dropped back off and my Ozzie ran so hard to the door that the leash came out of the person who watch him hand….same Ozzie same.

As I picked up my order from Sam’s…had my delivery from Walmart. Took my daughter to the orthodontist, and now her two writing classes….I was so thankful…..but again….so torn.

I feel that on a business trip I work soo hard…and when I return the tasks at home seem so much more overwhelming….and I wonder which lane I should be in.

As my husband was discussing business things my mind had a hard time staying on track….

I feel constantly pushed between homeschooling and clowning….and keyboard playing. Then, there are the chores from home, soapmaking….all the things that all of us dabble in.

I’ve decided that this too shall pass. I’ve decided that all my ducks will never be in a row…that time will always evaporate….that I will never be great at everything.

So right now I haven’t made soap since November….we are behind in school since we’ve been away on business…my puppy still likes to pee inside. I have a ton of inventory to put in for Valentine’s Day. I’m clowning at schools and retirement homes and having a hard time focusing on work since my mind keeps moving away to clowning and new ideas for a new program I just started in our community. I have band practice tonight…but have been away so this practice will definitely be scary….

I’m behind in working out….my house is not clean….but my fridge is…because while we were gone I had loads of science experiments going on…I have groceries and half clean laundry!

These are NOT big deals….not in the least….but they can weigh us down if we let them. The perfectionist side of me wants everything to be perfection. The perfectionist side of me wants to do great in all the things…but three years until my homeschool chapter is closed….

And she walks off into this big bad world. After that….bits and pieces of time and phone calls…

I want to relieve my husband from business pressures…I keep making changes….we will get there.

I want to be a funny light in my community….where laughter happens and smiles come out. Where you forget about your troubles…for just a little while.

I want to create beautiful things and see amazing places….experience new things…

I don’t want to sit around…perfect ….and control all the things….life is messy…funny…dirty…terrifying….heartbreaking…stressful…and surprising. Don’t get caught up with what you did wrong…what you failed at…what you are behind on….

Today my lane was orthodontist, food, clean laundry, clean the fridge, get my dogs settled, unpack the suitcases, go to writing classes. Band practice and make dinner….

Tomorrow it will be work, cleaning the house, homeschool lessons. Next week more of the same…the point is…don’t grow weary in the journey. Make sure to put things in there that give you joy…that make you happy…creative. That feed your soul….and remember all of us have a different lane…so keep your eyes on your road…full speed ahead!

Tucson is home of the second largest gem show in the world….we were delayed a day sadly because of the ice in Texas….

Now onto the show….

We also went to another show….

We saw some amazing gems and were able to meet some new vendors and enjoyed seeing our present vendors as well….

Stay tuned for more information!

What a glorious time we had in San Antonio. Even though it was for business, we still enjoyed seeing many things and enjoyed it…it wasn’t super warm but not too bad at all.

We first enjoyed walking around the city and seeing a few sights…

We also enjoyed the river walk…

We were there for business but we also found an amazing donut shoppe!

The riverboat cruise is a must…we enjoyed ours with dinner and it was a beautiful night. Definitely not something we could do at home in February!

We did a lot of work as well….because we were there for business. Attended a lot of classes as well….

These shows are vital to our livelihood….

Then right when we were getting ready to leave to fly to Tucson, Texas decided to get drizzle and Dallas got ice….which means our flight was cancelled and delayed until the next day…so our sightseeing of the Alamo didn’t get to happen….but we finally did get to go to Tucson!

We also brought in a new watch line as well….

Stay tuned to see all our adventures in Tucson!

Sometimes, you have to take a break…for us, that means going away.

For the past two years, I’ve been on a mission to find places close to bodies of water for my husbands relaxation and something funky and out of the ordinary for my creativity and personality….this weekend I found another…

This Silo was pretty darn cool and there wasn’t any complaints from either one of us…

It was an amazing place to stay. I very much like unique places so this fit the bill perfectly. I try to plan out unique places like this by using Airbnb and have been very happy so far.

We then went for a hike near Roaring River which was fabulous as well…

The fish you see pictures are Trout

…

To me, going away is well worth it. More creative, happier, and am able to accomplish all that is wanted in my crazy life….

Go out and explore!!!! This is also why I go to the gym…the climb on our hike wasn’t easy…the staircase to the second floor wasn’t easy to navigate but it was so worth it!!!

I don’t know why January has always been my favorite month…but it has for awhile.

It’s my chance to reevaluate, reset, fresh starts fresh planning.

This year is no different . So far we are on track for work planning, inventory, and One Year Bible track. We are also completely off track for the gym…and we aren’t getting back on track for homeschooling until next week…because my youngest kept doing school while we worked constantly and just now this week, gets an actual break.

I find that this is normally how my life goes…and I’ve finally accepted it. I think if I could tell young mothers one thing…it would be this…and it’s taken me 48 years to figure it out. You will stink at something always. When you are succeeding at something, you are failing at others. It’s the truth…and I’ve learned to accept it…because otherwise, you will always and forever feel unworthy.

When my youngest was little and sick ALL of the time…I was sleep deprived, didn’t get to work out…appearance wasn’t the best…because I was just trying to keep this little human alive…I was trying to keep my husband happy and give attention to my son…I was pretty bad in most areas of life…but I kept the tiny humans alive.

This past December our entire family was sick for the first week of December…we own a store…this was not good…our house was in shambles…I kept the dogs alive…and the humans that lived here. We had Walmart deliver our groceries…Amazon was a huge contender…and the house was a dumpster fire. When I finally returned to work I confess that I did not check for a fever…I just had to get to work. Bills needed to be paid, customers needed things…my staff needed relief. I was a horrible wife, mother and caregiver to my child. My store however, was lovely , we even had freshly baked cookies, and the stir was beautifully decorated. Staff party was had, but I didn’t cook because we had it much later and I was at the store all day…it wasn’t the party I wanted but I had to let something go. Christmas shopping had thankfully been done in November as well as all decorating. I had to say no to special events, turn down opportunities I desperately wanted to be at. I was focused on one goal…my store.

Yesterday, I took down almost all Christmas…I have two trees up, all bare, They are completely ready for winter…but Christmas lights still hang on the outside of the house…and Christmas bulbs are still in the lanterns. My store is Christmas free…and my house is finally getting back to how I like it. Projects are being planned for…school and art and violin are being looked at again. Vacations and work trips are being planned…

New adventures await…and this year…I am looking forward with anticipation the fun that awaits us. Hard work always…but some fun…some signs of relief for the difficulties that we have overcome..and some peace.

When I’m a good store owner, I fail at mothering. When I’m a great mother and homeschool teacher, I fail at a clean house and cooking and laundry. When I’m a great keyboard player (which is never) I’m bad at going to the gym…when I’m great at working out..I’m bad at learning new skills for clowning. It’s just the way it is. I’ve tried for so many years to do all these things with perfection…and they can’t be done.

When I’m great at visiting my parents, I’m horrible at meeting my friends for coffee. When I’m great at going to events for the chamber…I’m horrible at remembering events for homeschooling. I even forget music lessons…

So, this year….

We have one life….and each day we are given choices. We will make mistakes…we will have regrets…but life is a beautiful mix of bad and good. Each day, make the choice to do better….and that’s all we can do. Live in those special moments that we are given each day…and learn that we cannot do it all. We will fail every day…at something…but don’t quit. Keep going.