Uprising In The Midst of Fall

Just like I would have thought, blogging is not an easy thing for me to maintain on a regular basis. My busy schedule is always going through it’s ups and downs and right now, I’ve finally got some down time to recollect my thoughts and share what’s new in my life. I really don’t want to make this post a novel, but will simplify it into a timeline if you will.

October 31st – Hubby and I went to the San Francisco Giants World Series 2012 Victory Parade to celebrate with thousands of fans in honor of our home team. Check out the slideshow photos on my hubby’s blog.
November 1st – Took my cousin, Lanie, to her 3rd round of chemo. She is such an amazingly strong, beautiful, loving woman. Visit her blog–Melanie’s Pink Journey– on more details about her journey as a Breast Cancer warrior.
November 6th – I started training for Seasonal Customer Service Rep at Paper Culture. Love this company and so excited to be part of their Seasonal team for the holidays.
November 10th – Hubby and I also have a love for photography and recently started our own business — ICEBOX IMAGES (site currently under construction). We had a wonderful opportunity to do a family mini session with the Latorre Family at one of our beautiful local parks in Pacifica.
November 12th – My official first day working at Paper Culture! This unique company makes eco-friendly stationery products that uses 100% post-consumer recyclable paper and the greatest part is, with every order placed, they plant a new tree that customers can dedicate to a special someone or organization of their choice. Read more about them here. I love companies with a valuable purpose!
November 19th – Hubby had an interview for another job since his previous job is a contracted position that will end on Dec. 6th So, we’re hoping and praying for a miracle! He has not been laid off since 12 years ago.
November 22nd – Spent Thanksgiving with my hubby’s family and sang Karaoke like I was on American Idol, except I probably sucked, lol!

This year so far, has been very challenging and was filled with many different struggles in almost all aspects of my life — within my personal relationships, spiritually, emotionally, physically, but most of all, financially. It began with being displaced from our home and having to move twice within 7 months, which pretty much sums up why this year was so difficult. There were a lot of changes that came with it, most of the time without warning, which also threw our backs against the wall as we were burdened with so many sudden decisions that needed to be made in order to keep our family happy, healthy, and safe. It was an absolute nightmare. Needless to say, I am thankful for the hard lessons that we’ve learned throughout this whole process and I feel that our experiences have really shaped and molded us to look at life differently, humbling us to value the smallest, yet simplest treasures that most take for granted.

It’s ironic sometimes to see that in the midst of such a chaotic time in our lives, the adversities revealed opportunities that redirected us towards a different path than what we would have imagined. Sometimes, if we really scrutinize these unfortunate circumstances that we find ourselves in, what we’ll find can actually be a blessing in disguise. For us, it meant we needed to find multiple ways to produce supplemental income, which forced us to finally make those leaps of faith in our business goals and dreams. No more procrastinating on ideas that sat on the back burner of our mind. We always thought of building a successful business doing what we love, but never really took the steps in making it happen until now. So far, these little steps made a big difference. After never listing one single item on Etsy, I finally overcame my fears and listed not one, but 3 items in my shop. I haven’t made one sale yet, but I did have some positive response to it. Other steps that we took was investing more time to build our photography business, we’ve managed to grow our client base and have booked several photo shoots this year that has really helped us get by during times that we needed it most and it has really brought us a great wealth of knowledge and skills that we needed to grow to make us better photographers and business owners. My hubby is also doing a lot more with his plant nursery and its bringing a lot of attention from folks all over the world who are strongly interested in purchasing his plants on a wholesale level.

So, as I take a step back and look at the big picture, these negative experiences brought about a lot of exciting opportunities for growth and we’re so humbled and grateful for it. Many times we were faced with some nerve wrecking situations where we thought we could not make rent on time, or our utilities on the verge of being shut off, or not having enough money for gas to make it here and there or for food to feed our family, but where there is a will, there is a way and our faith in God has been the main source of our strength and perseverance. Also, there are a few significant members of my family and small circle of trusted friends who offered their help with some our needs, big and small. We are eternally grateful and can’t be more appreciative for the sacrifices that were made on our behalf. They have truly blessed us and given us the chance to see brighter days ahead and hope for a better future. There is no excuse for me to never have anything to be thankful for. Every day is a day of Thanksgiving.

xoxo,