Gratitude: Day 8

Day 8


I am grateful for my dream jobs. Once about a year ago, on a long road trip, Tyler asked me what my dream job would be. I thought about it for a minute and then came to the somewhat surprising realization that I was actually already doing my dream job. I was kind of floored because I had just never really thought about it like that before but it was true.

When I was a little girl I wanted to be a nurse like my mom. Then I became a candy striper and realized that, nope, this was not for me. Then when I was in junior high and for the first part of high school I thought that I wanted to be a journalist.  I took several years of journalism in high school and wrote articles for my high school newspaper and then I realized that I didn't want to do that either. Then I thought I might like to be a TV journalist. My high school boyfriend, Aaron, worked for a news station in Kansas City. The nightly news anchor was a family friend and got him hired on to work with the camera crew. He got to do so many cool and interesting things and I was intrigued. Due to his job we hung out at the new station a lot. It was so interesting. I became friends with the on -air anchors, camera people, and the-behind-the-scenes producers, editors, and crew. They would let me sit in the anchor chair after the news had aired sometimes and pretend to read the news off the teleprompter and even filmed me doing it once for extra credit for my journalism class. I got to pretend to do the weather and see how the green screen worked. I learned that, at least back then, most of the anchors were usually only in their business attire from the waist up and jeans or shorts from the waist down...especially the sportscaster!! On prom night Aaron and I were asked to come in and be interviewed about prom. It was a lot of fun but I soon realized that it wasn't all that glamorous, I was shy about calling people for interviews, and I loathed myself on video...so goodbye TV journalism.

Then my senior year I decided that I might like to be a psychologist. I was taking both a psychology and a sociology class in high school and loved them. My parents were divorcing that year, and it was nasty and brutal on all of us, so we were in some serious family and individual counseling. I loved counseling. Chatting about all my problems, worries, fears, and anger in a safe environment was wonderful. I loved going. I thought I had found my future career. I went on to study psychology at BYU and loved it. I did a lot of volunteer work with various agencies in that field and as an adult I worked for a time in the social work field with foster kids. But once again...not my dream job.

Meanwhile I went on to have the most darling baby girl and couldn't bear the thought of handing her over to someone else to watch during the day while I went to work. Tyler supported my decision...technically our decision... and worked two jobs for years to support our family financially and I became a full time stay at home mother. Then when Ailey was a baby my mom and I started talking about having a little crafting business of some kind together. I loved being creative and crafty and was just starting to have a little more time to actually do things like that by that particular stage in my life. My mom and I loved going to antiques shows and vintage sales together and we thought that it might be something fun to do. So we signed up to do Farm Chicks for the first time and actually got in. We convinced Stacey and Kelley to join us. We had a very successful show and were bit by the vintage bug. After a while Kelley dropped out of the business and Stacey, my mom, and I began going full force. This worked out well for me as it was something that I could do from home, on my own time, and that worked around my kids, and my family's schedules. Our business continued to grow and evolve and here we are today.

It was a wonderful realization to know that I AM doing my dream job. I am a full time mother and I have this business on the side that allows me to do fun things, work with my mom and sister, meet amazing people, travel, is a fantastic creative outlet, and brings in supplemental money for our family. I am doing my dream job. It was so nice to realize that... It brought such contentment and peace to my life. Of course, Sisters Creed is still expanding and evolving. We are probably adding a California show to our roster for 2015 and we still have dreams of Round Top, Texas and shows back east. There are still big goals to accomplish, and my full-time mothering is in full swing, but I absolutely love it! There is never a dull moment around here and I still find being a stay at home mother rewarding.

What a blessing!! So many people are discontent. They aren't doing what they want to be doing or aren't in the career that they wish they were in. I am grateful that I am on the career path(s) that I want to be on and that I am doing what I want to be doing.