Some things are soooo special they need to be published twice....

Intro to the following post:

Yes, there are some things that are so blog worthy they deserve to be published on 2 blogs!  The following post was published on our family blog yesterday.  It will be the first of many about a journey my family and I (my husband in particular) are about to embark on.  I debated about which blog to post this post and other like it on.  I want to share this experience with everyone, but it's also important enough that I want on our family blog.  I realize this iBlog only has a handful of readers right now, and they probably come from our family blog, but perhaps one day it'll have more and our story will inspire someone.  At least that's my funny little hopeful idea.  :)  So, please bear with me for some post will appear on BOTH blogs for now.  Hope you understand!  Next Monday I'll be back to usual where I'll feature a blog/website that I love and next week I have a guest writer that I'm excited about!  I didn't get up with her in time over the weekend to plan her post.  Sorry, I've had sick kids this past weekend so I'm a little behind.  But, it ended up working out great so I could share the following with you!  Happy Monday!

Original post is as follows:

If you read my last post then you know I'm suffering from lack of sleep due to a certain baby that wasn't sleeping good (Update! We're back to our old routine of sleeping from bedtime to 3:00 am, then 3:00 am to 6:30 am! Whooo-Hoooo!) But, that's not the only reason I've been loosing sleep. I've been experiencing insomnia. Along with that, nervousness, excitement, joy, stress and anxiety. Yes, it's been a whirlwind of emotions the past few months. As most of you already know, John Taylor got laid off in December. It's been hard, but somehow I haven't been so worried about it. About us. Neither has John Taylor. The fact that we haven't been worried did surprise me at first, but now I know what it truly feels like to be held in the palm of His hands during times of brokenness and despair in our life. We have been more than well taken care of. It really, in truly amazes the dickens out of me just how well we've been taken care of. People (some friends, some family and some anonymously) have given us money to help us through the tough times of the holidays and there after. My email inbox was blowing up with emails from friends giving us information of jobs they knew open, recruiters they had contacts with, or people they knew in the same line of work as JT that he could call. We didn't ask for any of this. It was just poured out to us. We don't deserve friends and family this wonderful! Thank you (you know who you are) for everything. And, thanks for all the prayers. If you know me, or have read my blog for some time, you know that I'm a firm believer in the power of prayer and we greatly appreciate everyone lifting us up in prayer during this time. We could not have gotten where we are today if it weren't for prayer, I'm sure of it.

We're also thankful for our God given talents that have allowed us to make a little extra money during this time. If you know JT, then you know he's pretty darn talented! I'm so proud of him. I'm actually thinking of dedicating a whole post to JT in the near future because I'm so proud of him and his accomplishments. He has grown so much the past 2 years. There is no doubt in my mind that was all part of God's plan when He threw all those trying obstacles at us the past 2 years. I can't tell you how many times JT and I asked each other why. Why us when we're good people? I remember telling him once that we would one day get what we deserved. There was a plan in all this misfortune. One day we'd reap the benefits of doing right.

Well, that day has come and I honestly just can NOT believe it! I'm so pumped I just don't know what to do with myself. This is one of those days that I'm so thankful for my blog and so glad I've kept it up and continued to dedicate time to it. I think it's so awesome that I can keep up with this journey we're embarking on and journal about this time in our life. I can't say much (yet), but just know that BIG things are happening in our lives and we are so incredibly blessed. I just can not even begin to describe to you how blessed we are. Doors are opening for John Taylor on the job front and it's funny how everything works out in the tangled web of life that we weave. Looking back over the past two years, I can see how one thing that happened effected another and another and another and if none of those things would have happened to us, I would not be writing this post about the major life changes that are happening for us. I know you're all going to hate me because I can't just spill the beans right now, but I'm sorry! Just know that we're ok. No, we're more than ok. Big, wonderful things are happening. We're excited. Nervous, but excited. And we (JT in particular) need your prayers! Thank you so much! I can't wait to share more details with you, but all I can say for now is that John Taylor is a very lucky man that has been given an opportunity to do what he loves, be his own boss, and get to be with his family a lot more than most husbands/dads! It's something that I (along with others that know JT) have been encouraging him to do but there was just no resources for him to do it. Well, with a little financial help from the government (a.k.a. our tax refund), we think we're going to be able to make "this" happen and do it right. Coincidence that this year was the first and ONLY year that we've gotten am enormous amount back in our tax refund? Well, it could have been the fact we have my photography business to write off and I actually did good in business this year. It could have been the fact that we had another child to write off. It could have been the fact that JT was a drug rep the past year and got big bonus withholding larger amounts. And yes, it could be a coincidence. But, I like to think it's just God's gift and God's timing. :)

You have no idea how much planning has been going into this since we decided to "take the risk". We've been busy, busy, busy. Nap time now equals "meeting time" and I now wear many, many hats. I was already wife, mother, nurse and maid, but now I'm partner, secretary, book-keeper, account executive, marketing director, designer and head of research and development! Whew! Now you understand the tiredness. My wheels have been spinning all day and all night for the past few weeks as we've been coming up with our business plan. I'm sure you've all guessed by now what is happening.....but I can't explain everything just yet. I can, however, give you these hints. I know you're wondering why I CAN say everything I'm saying, but I can't just come out and say it. Well, we sort-of want to have a big reveal once everything (the name, logo, website, etc.) is all up and running. You understand right? You can know that so far we have come up with a plan. We've bought some equipment, software, etc. that we'll need. A logo and website are in the works. We've sat down and come up with our mission statement and well as a lifetime goal of our business --- to ALWAYS remain debt free and to ALWAYS give 10% of our earnings. John Taylor and I have BOTH signed a document stating that we'll:
1) Never let this come between us and our strong marriage
2) Never fight about money
3) Never bring work home with us (meaning at the end of a work day, it's all about us and family)

I'm determined to document (in writing and in pictures) every step of this right here on our blog, so stay tuned and you will find out more as it happens. For now I've leave you with these pictures of what we've been up to! :)