Here we go – general questions! You can see a Q&A on the shop & small business here and a Q&A on crafting and blogging here.
If you weren't running your own business, what else would you like to do?
This is the best question ever because I have no idea.
You know how little kids want to be things? Like ballerinas, astronauts, firemen, veterinarians, etc? I never wanted to be any of those things. All I remember wanting to do was to be a business women. I wanted to wear fancy suits and march into board meetings. I wanted to jet-set around the world and hire and fire people.
And now, I am a business women but in such a different world. And I cannot for the life of me figure out what else I would want. I want to be a mom, and hopefully I will able to still do what I do and that too. (And I'm a poet who didn't know it.)
I know you said that you were planning on going away while Paul is deployed. Do you know where you are going already or do you have a wish list? If so why are these places on the list?
I am planning on traveling while Paul is deployed. I am going to spend a few weeks in July with my parents using their garage and wood from our old fence to build stuff. Then, at the end of August, I am going to visit some college friends in Chicago and NYC. And then hop up to Canada to stay with Kal. In October I am going to St. Louis to see a friend from high school. I am sure I'll spend Thanksgiving & Christmas with family, but hopefully somewhere fun, not just at home.
I am dreaming about going to Europe or something too, but I don't know if that will work out.
Are you two planning any vacations in the near future?
We are! We are going to Palm Springs at the end of June to lay by a pool and drink and eat. I am so excited.
After deployment… hmm, we'll have to do some good stuff quick because I am going to be even more baby crazy than I am now.
Have you done anything lately on any of your lists, like your birthday list? Does your husband have any lists? Is he as creative, artistic and organized as you?
I don't have a birthday list this year, but I am completing 26 projects. I am making progress on my crazy new years resolutions too. Paul is not a list maker. At all. I don't know that the man has ever owned a calendar. He is creative, but I would not say artistic. He is crazy intelligent but not organized at all. His side of the office is basically 25 huge stacks of folded paper. Once a year, I go through his stacks and help him sort the junk from the real stuff. It's good times.
you should do a post on something you would do if you knew you couldn't fail. i'm a sucker for fun ice breaker-type questions 🙂
If I knew I could not fail… I would open a store TODAY. A real brick and mortar store complete with real stuff. (Some handmade and some not.) And I would write a cookbook with Paul. And I would ask Paul if he wanted to blow off everything else and go open a winery in Napa. And there would be a farm in the backyard.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
If I could wave a magic wand, in ten years we would be in Southern California (though we might have left already) and living in a real house complete with a yard. By then Paul would be settling into his job and his schedule would be less intense. We would have three little ones but probably no pets. And all of our family would be closer to us.
And I would still be blogging. And my "Get Crafty" channel on TV would be super successful.
This is a completely personal question, so I understand if you wouldn't feel comfortable answering it. I'm curious, though, how you and Paul have navigated married life and money. My fiance and I are in the beginning stages of this. He's working, and I'm in grad school, and I really have no idea how we're going to manage the whole money thing. Will I always have to feel guilty about buying a new pair of pants? Because that would be sad…
Paul and I share all of our money. We lived together for three years before we got married and then we had separate accounts, but now it's all joined. (Except I have a separate business checking account.)
Money is a BIG DEAL. I think you have to talk it over often. Both people have to express concerns and no one should ever feel guilty. I would just be open and honest and see where you both stand. At first I worried that I was going to feel like a fool contributing my meager earnings to our accounts but that would be a very long time of feeling like a fool, so I got over it.
What do you do when you can't fall asleep at night?
I get super annoyed. Sometimes I picture the color orange and try to just keep only that in my brain. Sometimes I get up and read blogs/twitter/the internet and try again to sleep in half an hour.
What are you most looking forward to this summer?
A tiny vacation with Paul before he deploys. Making something new out of wood. Running on the bike trails in my old neighborhood in Sacramento.
Have you ever had pen pals?
Yes, but I am pretty bad at it.
Do you read fiction? If so, what are some of your favorite fiction books?
All the time. My most favorite book is The Time Traveler's Wife
. And Harry Potter, of course.
How often do you get your hair trimmed/cut?
Every 2-3 months.
Who is your favorite comedian, if you have one?
Daniel Tosh, hands down.
How's about a post about keeping yourself motivated? And doing the fun and the not so fun stuff (cleaning, for me) without procrastinating for too long. : ) Cos for me, it's easy to say I am inspired but it is hard for me to actually take that inspiration and do something with it. Ya dig?
I did a pretty in-depth post about motivation here but one thing I have realized recently is that I just have to be in The Zone. For example, sometimes I can clean my whole house from top to bottom in a few hours without it feeling like work and other times the idea of just grabbing the broom makes me what to cry. So basically, I think when you have the energy, you just have to dive in and tackle it. RIGHT AWAY. Before the gigantic-ness of the project overwhelms you or your email notifier dings. And once you have momentum, don't stop until you have to.
what you wish you could tell yourself 4 years ago?
You're doing the right thing. Keep going.
how you mainly keep in touch with family/friends that don't live where you live (email? phone calls? skype? good old fashioned snail mail?)
I hate the phone with a passion. Seriously. It's awkward how much I don't get along with the phone. So email is my number one go to. I communicate with friends via email. I have a group of 8 college girlfriends and we send email "chains" every week or so which are just random dumps of information. It helps so much to keep us in the loop and feel like real friends even though we are spread out across the country.
I talk to my parents on the phone every couple days. They always put me on speaker so the three of us can chat. Sort of chaotic, but good. I don't mind the phone with them. Oh, and when Paul is gone we chat via gmail video. Love that.
And I also send cards. And communicate a ridiculous amount via twitter. (Longest answer ever.)
in all the years (yes years) i've been following you, i don't remember you ever really doing a blog about your music interests.. what do you listen to while you craft? run? etc?
I think I have never posted about this because I am not a big music person. (Gasp.) I always feel like that is the most embarrassing thing to admit. Sort of up there with saying you have a tail. But I do listen & like music it's just that I am not a big "Oh I just discovered this great band" type of person. I normally have random stations on Pandora, and it changes so much. I'm the girl that hears a song in a commerical, Googles the song and then sets a Pandora station around that song.
I also like to work with TV on in the background – I basically watch Arrested Development on a loop. I usually run with Paul, so no music, but I am just getting into Podcasts (very slowly, I think I have listened to one) and I liked that.
Your life and business always seem so together and flow seamlessly. Do you ever have days where everything is out of sorts and/or business related creative roadblocks? Days where you question if self employment and crafting as a business were the right choice for you? If so, how do you get around/over it?
It's wierd because my life and business are so connected. I think without my blog where I share my personal life my business life wouldn't really exist. But I hit creative roadblocks all the time. At least thirty times in the last year I have convinced myself that I am out of ideas. It's over. The stream has dried up. But then I remind myself that I've been here before and I'll be here again. It's all ebb and flow. That's comforting.
I can say for sure though, that I never doubt this path. I have worked a lot of jobs and none come close to the joy of working for myself.
Whew! It took me a long time to finally post answers – you probably forgot you asked! As I was going through them again, I remembered how many people wanted to know my favorite blogs, those are detailed here. Thanks for reading.
. Here's what I'll say about the rug : I love it. But it's like a pet. We call it "the dog" because it sheds like you wouldn't believe. I don't think Paul is sold on it, but at the end of the day, it was "free" with Amazon credit and I'm the only one who sweeps and vacuums. So that sort of solves that problem. And it's crazy soft. And awesome.
(pink hole puncher)
(I use this machine for everything and love it)
enJOY it 