Carpe Diem

Well, it’s been a little over two weeks since Steve quit his job to join my team, so I wanted to update everyone.  After all, this is a new journey for us and we want you to be a part of it! This leap of faith has been huge for us, and your encouragement has meant the world to me. The hardest struggle for me going into this decision was the financial aspect. I mean, we lived solely off Steve’s income, and my business income was spent towards business expenses (and anyone who is running a legit photography business knows that the expenses are pretty significant), and the “extras” in our lives. And there weren’t that many extras.  So, we essentially went from one decent-sized paycheck to nothing.  We knew where our finances were and how long we could get by on savings, and the bookings that I had already booked for the year. We knew that we could comfortably get through the summer, and most the fall, before we had to come up with other means to make this work, or before Steve had to go back to his job. After a lot of prayer, we decided to just do it.

Relationships

We know we are taking a huge risk. We know that this might not work in the way that we are hoping and planning that it works. But, so far we are not regretting a single second of it. I can’t begin to describe to you our growth in last two weeks.  Productivity aside, let’s talk about the RELATIONSHIPS!!!  Before Steve quit, the kids were seeing him maybe 30 minutes a day with the exception of weekends. I was seeing him about two hours a day, but because I didn’t get to work on the business during the day, I would be working next to him when he would be trying to relax for a bit before heading to bed.  Then, the weekends were filled with photo shoots for me, which means he got quality time with the kids, but not with me. Basically I was having no quality time except for our Friday date nights. But that wasn’t enough for me.  Needless to say, my “love tank” – the thing that keeps my motivation to actively love Steve in return – was running on empty. And there was no sign of refueling in his old job.

But NOW…now Steve and I have had two weeks of working, playing with the kids, and doing just about everything side by side. We even started working out together again. This was one of the things we did together when we were dating, and I have caught moments of “butterflies” in my stomach for my hubby again like in the beginning of our relationship! Kellan and Addisyn can’t get enough of Steve being home either. We have set a schedule that lays out specific time when we are together as a whole family, and when Steve watches them so that I can work during the day. It has been a game changer for all the relationships in our family.

Carpe Diem

My sister and brother-in-law are friends with this wonderful couple who quit their jobs to travel the world for two years and experience all of these amazing things – moments that a huge majority of us will never enjoy.  In the beginning of their journey, I remember not being able to fully wrap my brain around the fact that they were just up and quitting their jobs.  My thoughts bounced between, “They must be nuts!!!” and “I am uber jealous that they are Carpe-Dieming the heck out of their life.” And now that the two years are almost over, I have watched as they traveled from Antarctica, to South America, to Australia, to all over Europe and a handful of other countries and continents, and I bet they have not one regret. How could they? This was a life-changing experience for them. They did something bold and soul-fulfilling for them, and it was perfect! That is exactly how I feel about what we are doing. My carpe diem may not be traveling the world, but it is certainly doing everything I can do to make the quality of my life worth the quantity of my life – making my life bigger than just getting by day by day.

Road Blocks

This past week we had to dip into our savings to cover some expenses for our household and the business. We know that every time we do that it could mean that Steve will have to go back to a job that took him away from his family. We are daily in prayer, deep into our Bible studies, and trusting that God will show us during this time what His will is for our family. Until then, we have been working our tooshies off to get our business to a point where we want it to be.  We are certainly not being lazy!  Our days are full with working to get everything in order for our new business experience, which we will be officially launching in June.  We have increased the SHP work hours three-fold since Steve has come on board.  And we see growth already. Because of that, the enemy has tried to get at us good. He has tried to take us down and tried to take us away from doing things that will please God. We are holding strong though. We are recognizing signs of discouragement, quickly squashing the negative thoughts, learning and moving forward.  Negativity serves no good purpose in our house, and it only hurts our family. I say “Get behind us, Satan!”  We’ve got a Diem to Carpe!!

So, here’s to us Carpe Dieming the heck out of our life, right now, today!  Whatever may come, I will never regret this choice, but instead, I am sure, will look back and say these days were some of the best of our life.

Loving Every Minute,

Stacy