Did You Think I Fell Off the Face of the Earth?

I should have checked when it was the last time I posted before I decided to sit down and write this post. So many things have happened since we last chatted and blogging has always been a huge thing for me to do. (Update: I checked the last post from me was in the beginning of April 2018) Has it really been that long?

It is what allowed me to share my thoughts with the world, without knowing if anyone would read them. It enabled me to meet some incredible Christian men and women that I still maintain contact with through social media more. It has also allowed me a platform for first book reviewing and now supporting my small business.

I guess if I had to begin somewhere it would be that reviewing books is a chapter in my life that is truly more for relaxation instead of a passion and obligation to do each day. Most of the publishers have now gone the way of eBooks or electronic copies of books, to help reduce costs and while I can appreciate it, nothing beats holding a book in your hand. The smell of the pages, and just the weight in your hands. Also no batteries or charging is required. I don't even know if my Kindle is even charged anymore to be honest. I have set that one down as well.

So many changes with family now too. Steve's parents are still having all kinds of health issues. His mom is still dealing with AFib and keeping her heart in the right rhythm without racing too fast. I guess I never really understood the challenges with patients who have been diagnosed with aFib. She is also the main caretaker of the two and with her own health issues, it can become a lot to deal with. They are kinda local for us right now but are making plans to head back to Havasu to live in assisted living so they can be closer to their siblings and friends. Not sure when that will happen.

Our youngest daughter, Kailee got married in November of 2018 at a beautiful barn wedding, surrounded by family and friends and honeymooned in Jamaica! So we have added another family to our ever growing family tree. Our oldest daughter is going through a divorce after her husband decided that marriage and family was more than he initially wanted from life. So we have been working with helping her out in Modesto and enabling her to be more self sufficient living alone with adding a security system and alarms. This was prompted even more by an attempted home invasion break in which she was able to keep from happening due to quick thinking and a call to 911.

Needless to say, things have been more than interesting. Steve and I have entered our empty nest phase of life and while our kids are close enough to visit, this has been a welcome change of sorts. Steve travels quite a bit which has allowed me to work on expanding my growing business with Kat's Creations, a small business that sells wreaths, home decor and now offering online training and a monthly subscription group to learn how to make beautiful things for the home. I also teach people how to make wreaths in my Facebook LIVES every Friday night at 5pm PST if you're interested in talking to me, or learning how to make them.

I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or been a recent celebrity death, but simply busy, but wanted to let you know I am trying to pick back up my writing so I can stay in touch with YOU, my dear blogging friends once more. Oh how I have missed you all! Hope you'll stop by and say Hi again!

A Very Busy Life

To say that I am busy in any one particular day might be an understatement.

I often lie awake in bed unable to sleep with such a large "To Do" list looming ahead of me for the following day. When Steve is out traveling for work, then all of the daily things needing to be done, fall on my shoulders. It makes me wonder just how much sleep can I skip out on, and still get it all done. I find myself staying up later trying to cram it all in, in hopes that tomorrow might have less things needing to get done in it.

Starting a small home based business can be fun, but it is a lot of hard work. You have to not only make the product, but market it, post about it, and get it sold if you can really say you have a home based business. You have to sell quite a bit to get it from simply being a hobby, to being a business as well. So you have to also become a part time accountant. You need to know if you are really turning a profit or merely trading supplies from one project to the next.

You also have to stay up with the latest trends because business now a days are not run like they used to be. Everything I am discovering is that it is all online driven, so you also have to be your own shipping and receiving as well as Customer Service department as well. I can't wait to be able to hire those who are really good at what they do from handing operating and maintaining a website, obtaining more supplies, production, marketing, oh you can see where this is going on top of spending some time learning about the business trends of a home based business.

Doing it in your mid-50's isn't hard, it just is mastering where your proficiencies are. Good luck with that. Plus there are so many variables you don't consider in doing that. You have to put in an 8-hour day if you hope to make this a full time business. For me, it is keeping it fresh and fun, while still using the talents and time God has given you to keep things interesting. So when I am not running my small business, I am still reviewing books, even though I have cut it back by 200%. No longer reading them every single day, I have scaled it back to 2 per week, but even that can seem difficult as well.

You want to be great at it all, but some days just seem a bit overwhelming. Like yesterday, I had gotten so far behind on my devotions and reading my Bible, that it was going to take some time. It was something I didn't want to stop doing, and found there is blessings when you are obedient to God over your own wants and needs. He can help you to manage your schedule, to help build your business and thankfully use the talents and resources He has provided to help you move forward just a bit day by day.

So remember, if you feel down in the dumps or overwhelmed, grab your Bible, spend some time with God first, and see how much better your day can go. 

My Newest Adventure!

 $40.00 (not including shipping or handling)

WOW! So much has happened since I last blogged. I almost forgot how to log in and make a post! My oldest daughter was married last October and has recently moved to Northern California to a new job and a new home. That is heart breaking in its own right. My youngest is now driving at 18 almost 19 now, has been dating a great guy for the last two years and is working for Amazon now.

Now looking back I can definitely see that life is truly a vapor and you wonder where has all the time gone? Besides blogging and review books and now more products there seems to be an emptiness with some of my time, so I thought I would share with you what I have been doing as of lately. Lately meaning as of this weekend, I have turned back the hands of the clock as it were and picked back up my crafting and tried my hands at something a bit new. I have been making my own Christmas and Fall wreaths for awhile and made some for family and friends but never thought of sharing that as a home based business just to see if anyone would like what I was making.

So I made about 6 wreaths of a variety of occasions like Halloween and Day of the Dead even though I don't celebrate it as well as Fall and Thanksgiving ones. I was looking at the ones on Etsy and thought from a personal stand point, based on some of their prices it seemed a bit much to buy the wreaths most people were selling, some as high as $300. I am a mom and every dime counts for us and I couldn't see why people might be charging so much when it seemed like I could recreate them for way less.

 $50.00 (not including shipping or handling)

So I opened up a Facebook page, Kat's Creations and you should see a wreath on the door if you found the right page, and posted a few pictures along with some prices and considered even shipping them to people who would want them in their homes and BOOM, I am almost sold out. I had to make more fall wreaths since I only have one left. I like the idea of keeping them unique and one of a kind. I don't want to lose the passion I have for creating them by doing something mass produced. Plus it is nice knowing so many of them are going to some great blogging friends, Facebook family, and now even people I used to work with.

The best part is allowing people the opportunity to customize them to add more colors or decorations to meet their needs and of course keeping the costs reasonable means something to me. It doesn't mean I can't go all out and elaborate based on their needs like I want a 24 inch instead of an 18 inch, and I would rather have more greens and less fall like colors. I can't wait to do some Christmas ones which will all be completely unique and one of a kind originals.

 $40.00 (not including shipping or handling)

Since this is a new venture, I would LOVE for you to come by and take a look at what I've been doing. and hopefully "Like" my page if you are a Facebook user and if not, I will be posting them here for my blogging family and friends to find. These are first come and first serve, so if you see something you like, email me at Stevenkat27@gmail.com. You can even let me know if you want something personalized or customized to match your home. I'm just getting my shipping boxes in and will also try to find ways to make shipping them affordable if I can. I do take Pay Pal, Money Orders or Personal Checks, and if you're a local Southern California resident I do deliver for a nominal fee from door to door. Let me know what you think and please feel free to comment below if you want me to contact you regarding a personal order as well.

The ones I have sold are pictured below: