Photo Album of the Store

 Now that you know about my exciting news I want to introduce you to our new store.  Take a tour with me.

This is the outside of the location that Twice Blessed was located when I volunteered with them.   This is the back door where the donations were dropped off.

I got to keep this logo and I plan to put it up in the new store right behind to front desk.

The toys and clothes in the old store.

Clothes and shoes in the old store.

Loading all the merchandise in to the moving truck to take it to the new location.

And here it is!! This is the entrance to our new family store.  I never thought I would say that.  It is a central entrance.  People enter this door and either go to the Chiropractor on the right or enter the Thrift Store on the left.  I have ordered the vinyl for the windows.

This is the lighted sign for the complex.  My store name will go on the top.  The sign costed more than I thought but that sign area is way bigger than I thought and I have to have two signs, one for each side.  I can't wait to see my store's name in lights!

This is a grass area out in back that the owner said I am welcome to use any time I want.  I plan to use it as a play area for Megan and Alex right now.  Next Spring/Summer I will most likely have "yard sales" in that area.  Or maybe we'll just have some nice get togethers, who knows.

This is the back entrance to the store.  The entry way to the back door is where we will accept all the donations.  Those are the stairs going up to the yard area.  The area to the left of the stairs is where I will have a bin placed by a company that will take all the clothes that we can't sell.

Here is our front door and entry way.  I want to put up a chalk board on an easel with our specials marked on it and also any sales we might have coming up.  I see some greenery there too.  There is so much possibility for our entry way.

Here is the desk I will use as a check out area.  The wall behind the desk is where I want to put the logo from the other store.  I also want to put up a board there telling people what we do with the proceeds from the store.

This big area is between the desk and the back door.  Look at the open space.  It will hold the large furniture items.

Hidden in the back, behind the break room is a room with cabinets and drawers perfect for sorting donations.

This is the break room. I want to put a couch, tv, mini fridge, and microwave in here for the family to enjoy when they are not working.  

This is the back hallway.  Each one of these doors lead to a room that will have a different theme of items sold in there.

This is my favorite room.  It used to be the Optometrist's main exam room.  Now it will be where I sell my kitchen items.

This is a room in the back of the store where I will store the seasonal items.  I already have a room full of Christmas trees.

When you first enter the store there are two doors to your right.  The solid door is a closet where I will store things until I can convert it in to a dressing room.  The split door is the entrance in to the children's play room.  This is where I hope the parents will leave their kids while they shop so that they are not making a mess of  the store...I hope.

Inside the children's play room the walls are painted making it the perfect room to make kids feel safe.

More of the mural in the children's play room.

We have already started filling up these rooms in hopes of opening on time.  One thing that is holding us up is the Fire Department.  The store has to pass an inspection by the Fire Department before I can get a licence from the city and we passed everything except some lettering on the inside of the front door.  I don't know why the other business didn't have to have it but anyway we have put up the words "This Door To Remain Unlocked During Business Hours" but we can't get a re-inspection because the person who does them is out of town on vacation.  Lousy timing.  I don't think we will make our Oct. 5th. goal.  Here's hoping.

Twice Blessed

I am so excited to tell you about my exciting news!  CJ and I are now store owners!  I have wanted to own a family business since I was a child and now because of blessings that could only have come through our Heavenly Father, that dream is now a reality.  We bought the "Twice Blessed Thrift Store" that was just down the street from our house.  We will be very busy but we look forward to every minute of it.

If you have time and want to read about how we were offered the store here is my long winded version.

   Well, about 4 months ago I asked a local thrift store, running inside of a school just down the street from me, if I could volunteer my time with them.  They had so much work that needed to be done and not near enough time to do it.  From the minute I walked in to their store I couldn't get it off my mind, I just wanted to help and, unlike me, I was very persistent in my pursuit to volunteer.  I was told that it would probably be okay but the owner Valerie and I kept playing tag and never seemed to be able to sit down and talk about what help I could give them.  After a month of leaving messages I was finally able to sit down with Valerie and talk.  She told me a little about the school and the store.  Then she looked at me and said point blank, "Why are you doing this...you know I can't pay you?  People don't just walk in off the street and volunteer their time to a place they have no connection to."  I understood that it was suspicious and assured her that my intentions were honorable.  I told her that I have been looking for a volunteer opportunity that I could do with my children.  I knew my older girls would love the chance to organize the store and I hoped it would give them the opportunity to learn the value of work.  I didn't expect anything in return, I only wanted to help.  She asked me again if I was sure I wanted to do this and I said, "absolutely".
Fast forward to the Saturday before last.  I went in to work and Raeleen, the other person helping to run the store, told me that the building the school/store was in had just sold.  Everything needed to be out by the end of the month.  That was only 2 weeks away!  It was total shock since the building had been for sale for many years with no interested buyers.
   I helped search for a new location for the store (the school was moving to a barn in Santaquin that would not be big enough for the store too) and it was fun.  The first location was right on a busy corner next to an ice cream and sub shop.  The inside was nice sized and the location was really good.  I loved it and wanted so bad to make it work.  The downsides were that the location was part of a restaurant and would have to be partitioned off costing a pretty penny and taking too long to complete since they only had a short amount of time to move everything out of the current location, and the monthly rent was very high.  Location is everything and sometimes its worth the cost to ensure visibility.  Raeleen said that the rent was just too high and so I continued to search.  There was a small row of offices right across the street from the current location Raeleen wanted to check out so we inquired about any vacancies.  After being referred to so many different people who might know how to get in touch with the owners (there are 4 office spaces with 4 different owners) but having no such luck we left it alone and called another location just to compare to the first location.  The office was located in a medical plaza and had been occupied by an optometrist.  The location was just as good because it was still on the busy street only a block down the road from the first location we looked at.  The owner did not want a retail store moving in at first but asked just what would be sold.  He agreed to meet in person and show the building space and talk about the possibility of allowing a thrift store to move in.  To my surprise the office space was PERFECT in every way!  I quickly lost interest in the first location and was very glad for Raeleen's experience because had I been in charge I would have taken the first place and we never would have seen this most perfect building.  We couldn't believe it.  Then we couldn't believe how kind the owner was and how low the monthly rent was.  He said he could charge more but he is more interested in helping businesses succeed, not just taking their money.  Raeleen approved and everything was set.
   Then came the biggest shock of all...I was told that they just didn't have time to run the store now that the school would be in Santaquin (5 miles south of Payson.)  She said that they were just going to try to sell off what they could and then throw the rest in the garbage.  WHAT?!!!  There is no need to throw any of it in the garbage, I was thinking to myself that I would offer to take whatever is left to the DI for them so that it did not end up in the dump.  Then in the next sentence she asked the life changing question, "We would like to sell it to you if you want to take over and make the store yours."  After picking my jaw up off the floor I got really excited because of how perfect the new location was and how much I had enjoyed volunteering for them.  I went home and talked to CJ about the opportunity.  He wasn't quite sure so we asked a few diffferent friends of ours what they thought.  After much consideration and detailed questions, they all gave the oppinion that it was a good idea with minimal risk.  CJ gave the green light to buy the business.

YEA!!!!

   It was only a few days later that we had to have everything out of one building and into the other (not to mention all the other things we have on our to do list.)  It all happened so fast that it felt like a whirl wind of activity (hence the reason it took me so long to reveal it in the blog...sorry ladies), but we did it.  We had a moving truck that came to haul everything with one small catch.  Long story short...we only had about 3 hours to load and unload EVERYTHING!!  Earlier, on moving day, our Home Teacher stopped by because he had offered to help us fix a virus that got onto our main computer.  I was in the middle of electronically backing up all of our files so he wasn't able to fix it.  He asked if there was anything else he could do and I jokingly said he could help us with a big move.  Thankfully he agreed as did my friend Ashley Fuller.  There were about 6 adults helping to pack the truck and it went pretty fast.  As we were on our way to the new location our wonderful home teacher called the Elder's Quorum president and asked if he could find us some more help to unload the truck.   Thankfully there were some others who were willing and able to come and help.  With the amount of help we got we had the entire 26' truck empty in under 50 minutes.
   In less then one week we went from ordinary folk to store owners.  It is still hard to believe.  The kid's couldn't be more excited.  They have told their friends and their friends have all offered to come and help us put the store together so we will be ready for opening day...which is Oct. 2nd.
   Every step of the way, from volunteering my time with the school's store to becoming the actual owners of the store I can see the hand of our Heavenly Father opening this door for our family.  I know that it was His tender mercies that brought these blessings about.  I will forever be grateful for these wonderful blessings!
   There is much to be done before opening day next week but we are all looking forward to doing it together.

Celebrations!!

Well, the offer was made and we accepted!!  I don't have time today to go into details but I had to share the good omen.  Today, just after we made the decision that would change our lives, a rainbow appeared in the sky.  We call it our good omen rainbow.

After such a busy and exciting day we decided to celebrate as a family and eat out at our favorite restaurant, Winger's.

Curious Yet

I know I told of exciting news and haven't said anything yet.  This post is not going to talk about that news.  What it is going to do is clarify what the big decision is not about.  I know I just told you about my excitement of owning my own preschool.  Dream Big Preschool.  It is all set up and ready to go.  I have only had one inquiry to my advertisements so far.  Apparently parents pick out the preschool they want for their kids and get it all squared away in March/April.  Very few people if any are needing a preschool in September.  Didn't think that one through very well.  Anyway, something completely different was offered to me and now I have to choose between the two things I want to do very badly.  There is a small chance I could actually do both but that would be very exhausting and that would not be fair to the kids or my family so I might actually be ending my preschool days before they have even had a chance to begin.  I guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Old Is Made New

A midst all the craziness going on right now the one thing I needed and couldn't really function without is a new van.  Since loosing my baby last week I have been struggling to stay sane with all the transportation needs my family has and not being able to accommodate them.  Thank you to some wonderful neighbors that have really stepped up things have been running relatively normal.  I knew right away that the insurance company would "total" my van since it was old and not worth as much as it would cost to fix it.  I started looking right away to find a replacement van but was having very bad luck finding anything decent in my price range (like I said, the other van was a miracle.)  Well, the Lord does love us and if we work hard enough blessings will come.  I found a company that had a few vans in our price range.  I went and looked at them and found one that I couldn't believe was in our price range.  I knew as soon as I saw it that it was meant for us.  Even though I was feeling a little rushed (not by the sales people but by my own necessity for my own transportation) I purchased the van.  It was a little above the amount I felt comfortable paying but I bought it anyway. As soon as you see it you'll know why I felt it was meant just for us.

We had a white 1995 Dogdge Grand Caravan.  While I loved the van very much, it was a little out dated and only had one sliding door and I did always wish that magically a second one would appear.  Imagine my surprise when I found a white 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan with TWO sliding doors!  It looked almost identical to my other van, right down to the interior fabric.  There are some differences of course like the second sliding door and captains chairs in the middle row instead of a bench seat, but for the most part, it IS my van that I just had to say good bye to.

If the fact that it was almost identical to the other van was not enough, it also had a sticker family on the back consisting of a mom a dad and 5, count them 5 children, just like my family.  Yeah for tender mercies.

Something Exciting

It looks like something exciting is around the bend.  It is not official yet but looks like the decision could be made and accepted as early as tomorrow so I can't give any more details right now.  This is something that I have been working for my whole life!  The details could not have worked out more perfectly in such a short amount of time.  I feel that the blessings of how this exciting opportunity came about and fell into place so seamlessly were direct blessings and tender mercies from my Heavenly Father.  I did have to work hard for it, face many fears, be VERY persistent, and of course be in the right place at the right time doing the right things that I should be doing in order for the blessings to be given.  I am not trying to toot my own horn or boast in any way.  I am just so very excited that I want to share my joy with everyone.  I also want to give public thanks and gratitude to my Heavenly Father for blessings that are beyond what I had ever hopped for.  I don't feel deserving of these blessings.  This opportunity is not only an answer to my prayers but will be so wonderful and a great blessing for my whole family for many years to come.  It will change all of our lives and be A LOT more hard work, but I look forward to every minute of it and pray that it will bond our family together even more than we already are.  Tomorrow can not come fast enough.  If it doesn't happen I will be sad but I will continue to be forever grateful just to have been offered this opportunity.  You know..."it was an honor just being nominated"...and all that jazz. lol

Stay tuned for the results...

BYU Concessions

At BYU games there are many concession booths that sell yummy food.  What I didn't know is that those booths are staffed by different youth groups around Utah County that get to keep all of the proceeds as a fund raiser.  There are obviously more groups wanting to earn money than booths available.  This year, our Young Men / Young Women got the chance to staff one of the concession booths for the basketball season at BYU.  The girls were so excited and couldn't wait to sign up for their turn to work concessions.  Dakota was very disappointed to find that you had to be 14 or at least look 14 to work in the booths.  Tonight was Rebecca's turn.  It looks like she had a good time.  How cool is that!

Rebecca is on the far left of course.

My Car Got Hurt

Accidents happen, and today one happened to me.  Long story short...I was driving south and the other lady was driving east.  There was a huge tree blocking views at the intersection we were both entering.  By the time we both saw each other it was too late.  I slowed down, she sped up.  We collided and because she sped up instead of slowing down she ripped my front bumper off (oh yeah, she was on her cell phone too.)  I had just done a lot of work to the radiator.  I'm so glad that all the radiator fluid on the ground was good and clean seeing as it was BRAND NEW.  Ugh!!

I love my van.  I have felt that it was such a huge blessing to our family and the way we acquired it was such a miracle that I would thank Heavenly Father for the van almost every time I got in it.  It was old and out dated but it was mine and I loved it.  I cried as they towed it away knowing that I was saying good bye to my special friend.  I can't believe it.

My poor baby.

It's amazing that an accident going 25mph or less could cause so much damage.

Family Photo

Our Relief Society has a monthly spotlight on one sister in the ward that they do.  This month I was the sister chosen for the spotlight.  I filled out a questionnaire and had a family picture taken for the newsletter.  I forget a lot to have a family picture taken so I am very glad that this opportunity came along.

Dream Big Preschool

Something I have been wanting to do for a long time is to own my own preschool.  I love to teach and I love little kids who want to learn.  I need to earn money so what better way to earn money while staying at home with my kids then to run a preschool, especially since Alex will be part of it.  I know I haven't mentioned this on here at all but that was because it was just something I was thinking of doing.

Well, this summer it seems that everyone who runs a preschool was done and they were selling all of their preschool items at yard sales.  I picked up a little here and a little there and before I knew it I had enough to start a preschool.  Once I got the details worked out I picked up a few more items at Deseret Industries and the Dollar Store.

After setting everything up in the front room I couldn't believe how cute my preschool looks and how much stuff I had to get started.  I also couldn't believe how much more I needed to really feel like I had what would make the preschool complete.

This is the wall where we will start our days.

This is the imagination play area.

Here is the shelves with all of the containers of learning objects.

This is the cabinet in the hallway full of all the other supplies I have gathered for the preschool.

I have been searching and creating lesson plans, scheduling out activities, and just plain getting super excited.   I needed a name for this preschool of mine.  I went through many different names and found that they were already taken.  I decided to forget about traditional preschool names and look to something unique about me and my family that could give us the name.  The first thing I thought of was DREAM.  This has become really special to our family.  When you take the first letter of all the kids names you can spell the word dream so I call my kids my DREAM TEAM.  Using Dream as my starting point I tried all kinds of word combinations that would be good for a preschool. Nothing seemed to fit.  I almost gave up.  Then I thought of Dream Big.  I thought that was a great name for a preschool and wondered why it took me so long to think of it.  Dream Big Preschool.  I like the sound of that.

 Now all I have to do is advertise so that Dream Big Preschool will actually have some kids in it.

Onion Days

Here in Payson our city celebrates Onion Days.  This is a city tradition every Labor Day weekend.  We have not been here for the last 3 Labor Days because we go to our families land in Arizona (that is our families tradition.)  This year however, we were not able to go to Arizona because Rebecca is in the Color Guard and is marching with the high school band in the Onion Days parade and it is required.  So this year we got to see the big parade and celebration that everyone talks about.  It is quite the celebration I must say.  Most cities in Utah have a day once a year where they celebrate.  When I was very young we lived in a northern Utah city named Roy, where we celebrated Roy Days.  Every year I looked forward with great anticipation to all the festivities that Roy Days would bring.  This is Payson's city celebration.  It is just like it was when I was a kid and I love it.  The only complaint I have is that they call it Onion Days instead of Payson Days.  Oh well, what are you going to do.

Here are the pictures of the marching band from the parade.

Lizzie enjoying the parade.

The small but very dedicated Payson High School Marching band.

The blonde girl in the center of the Color Guard is Rebecca.

First Day of Kindergarten

So you think I would be ready for this day.  Not that I was a crying mess or anything but it is still difficult yet exciting to send my little Megan off to school.  She is soooooo excited.  She is ready to be away from her brother for a little while and play with kids her own age.  I love her teacher, she is so sweet and seems to already know Megan so well.

I came in to take pictures of all the kids in her class today with their picture frame.  It was so cute.  I am so excited to be starting my preschool.  This is a dream I have had for a very long time and the closer I get the more excited I am.  Seeing all the wonderful items in Megan's class just made me more eager to get started.  Enough about me, this is Megan's first day of school.

She looks so grown up.  Can you see the excitement on her face?!

Her class' theme this year is "Super Heros".  Megan LOVES the hero she got.  Alex is a little disappointed that he is not going with her.

This is the really cute frame that I took pictures of all the kids in.  LOVE IT!!

Staycation Part 3

Our last day was Sunday.  We had planned on going to the Music and the Spoken Word, tour Temple Square, and then head home.  We made it to the Conference Center just in time.  I sent CJ and the older girls in to the main area while I took the little ones to the overflow area where small children can be noisy.  After that we took lots of pictures (I think the kids were done with my obsession with the camera by this point.)

I LOVE my family!!!

It's nice to let loose once in a while.

I rarely get my picture taken, but I couldn't miss a chance to snuggle
with my husband in front of those beautiful flowers.

I love this picture of the kids in the reflection pool.

Kids at the reflection pool with the temple.

I couldn't resist a photo opp with the beautiful gardens at the temple.

Megan just loves rolly-polly bugs.  She spent most of her time
collecting these bugs to bring home and add to the one we have.

This was our first full vacation where it was just our little family.  We have always gone to visit family in another state or gone camping with friends or family or something like that.  We did have a ton of fun and we really bonded as a family but I must admit that I kept thinking about the family that wasn't there and how much I wished we could have shared our vacation with them.