If we were having coffee, I’d tell you how nice it is to see you and thank you for joining me on this cold, crisp, January day!
Do tell, how are you? Are you enjoying the New Year so far? Have you found your groove again after all the Holidays and merry making?
I have to admit, the last two weeks have been a struggle for me. It’s not that I don’t like my job, I just want to be home all.the.time. and having eleven days off really hit that home for me. I want to be on the property, planning and planting, taking photos and hanging out with the goats, collecting firewood and…well, not working for someone else.
Alas, this is not an option right now, despite my longings, dreams, and desires.
And yet, the inspiration for something else has been sparked and so I am exploring and investigating and making lists and trying to figure out what the fist couple of steps might be on the path towards reaching a place in life where I’m no longer gainfully employed by someone else…but instead am gainfully employing myself.
And so, I met with a fried the other day (for coffee, of course), and picked her brain a bit about her own path, her photography, where she is in her our journey, and I left feeling so thankful for the opportunity to just chat with her about her experience…and to have a few more to-do items to add to the ever-growing To Do List. (Thanks, Anna!)
So, might I pick your brain a bit, too? Do tell…have you ever been self-employed? Are you now? What do you do and do you love what you do? Did you leap from one career to another and trust that a net would appear or was it a bit more calculated than a simple leap? Oh, I’d love to hear about your experiences!
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you all about Akuna and this exciting adventure…
…which gave everyone a good chuckle on Facebook and, in turn, our friends and family when they saw it pop up in their feed. That pretty pup of our may be the death of me, but I’m happy to give everyone a good laugh in the process.
If we were having coffee, I might mention that I finally finished my big triptych painting and even got it up on the wall! I am incredibly happy with how it turned out and love watching the colors change as the light changes in the Dining Room throughout the day! I’m thinking that my next painting might involve a bright orange and red sunset…but we’ll see what moves me when I pull out the brushes. I’m hoping to invest a bit of time each weekend to painting so as to build up a bit of an inventory. Who knows, maybe I’ll even try my hand at showing some of my work some day…maybe even my photography and my paintings?! Hmmm…you see where my head is at?
Ah! But we could also talk about the seeds I’m planning to push into soil this weekend now that all of the seeds are nice and organized. Just a few tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos to start so that we might have some fruit ripening in June or early July.
And I would ask about your own plans for a garden this year! What will you plant? Do you plant in containers, raised beds or straight in the ground? Do you have any tricks for combating Squash Bugs because they are a nightmare here!
If we were having coffee, I’d ask what you’ve been watching, reading, and listening to lately? My favorites recently have been…
These movies:
This book:
And these songs:
If we were having coffee, the coffee would now be gone and it would (sadly) be time to go. Thank you kindly for spending a bit of your day with me! I do love to catch up 🙂
Let’s do it again soon, yes?
xoxo,
M
Linking up to Part-Time Monster’s Weekend Coffee Share. Pop on over to see what everyone is chatting about this week!
I’ve been having that after-holiday slump, too—but I really don’t have the time! I should be doing a lot of things, so I need to start getting my butt in gear and moving on with them. Currently I’m mostly self-employed–I work part-time for a nonprofit and do bits of this and that. I’m trying to work toward a more cohesive plan, but I’m just not sure what it is yet. Figuring that out first might’ve been the thing to do, but I went about things the opposite way, because that’s just how life happened. lol
Ah yes, life *does happen when you’re busy making other plans, doesn’t it?! Thank you for sharing a bit about your journey!
I freelanced for 10 years mostly writing articles and recently decided to work a regular job and do that on the side. I may go back to just working for me, but I got tired. It’s a lot of work. If you love it, it’s great. When you start to not love it, time to look at it and maybe do something else. If you do it, I hope you find something you love so much that that love never leaves you!
Tara recently posted…#WeekendCoffeeShare: The Joker, The Cheeseheads, and Me
Thank you so much for your insights, Tara! I appreciate you sharing your experiences and perspective!
Hi Melissa,
I promise I didn’t laugh at your
story of Akuna. My goodness. I feel for you. The complications of farm life! I have a son starting high school this year and so I dread having to field these sort of matters with my kids during the teenage years. Can I put each of them in a cage? Drats. Didn’t think so.
The main tip I have in starting your own business is to do something like A Small Business Management Course to gain some basic skills to get your started.
All the best with making the change.
xx Rowena
Ha! I have a 20 year old and it was definitely her Senior year in HS that I could have locked her up ad saved myself some sanity. Sadly, that was not an option 😉
Thanks for the thoughts on starting my own business! One step at a time 🙂 Hope you have a great week ahead!
Your story about Akuna re
Mained me when I let 2 or our dogs together at the end of her season. They mated but there were no puppies. I love to grow from seedand now I have fewcindoor plats. Good luck in your endeavors.
Betty Louise recently posted…IF WE WERE HAVING COFFEE/TEA JANUARY 16
Thanks for stopping by, Betty! Glad to hear about your green thumb! Hope you have a lovely weekend!
I don’t have any tips or anything about being self employed, but after seeing the pictures of your triptych I hope you considering doing something in the arts.
I hope Akuna is puppy free after her little elopement. If I remember correctly, there were other animals on your little farm that you were trying to breed. I don’t remember seeing, were you successful?
Trent recently posted…If We Were Having Coffee – 1/16/2016
Thank you so much! Yes, I would *love to bring in an income through painting!
We’re pretty confident he didn’t *get Akuna! Fingers are crossed! And our Mama goat didn’t show any signs of heat last cycle, so are fingers are crossed in the other direction for her 😉
Gorgeous painting! Love how you broke it up into three pieces.
I hear ya…working outside of my home when there is so much fun work to be done at home is hard but makes me appreciate my time at home even more. I nanny now and at least working for other families and keeping their kids home…but the goal is to be a full-time homesteader someday.
We visited a beautiful almost all off-grid homestead in West Virginia…I hope to blog about it soon! Being there made me think of you and all the other blogging homestead pioneers! 🙂
Oh Kelli! I’ve missed you! So nice to hear from you!
We really must do what we have to do while chasing ours dreams, don’t we? I have no doubt that we will both get there 🙂
Can’t wait to read about the homestead you visited! Sounds amazing!
xoxo
Oh! And thank you so much for your kind words about the painting! I am so very happy with it! ❤️
I have been self-employed for over 17 years. I would never go back to an office job, working for someone else. I love it. I’ll be praying you are able to find the perfect work-at-home situation for you!
Thank you so much, Traci! I truly appreciate it!