Hi everyone!! Oh my goodness. I haven’t written since last year – literally! I had this whole big post planned for the beginning of 2021, and then decided I didn’t want to. Mainly because I didn’t quite want to jinx anything before jumping right into the new year. (My daughter and I had this whole big talk about it!) 

As many of you know, the last six months of 2020 were pretty hard for our family. Between COVID-19, quarantine, and financial distress. I did finally get everything figured out, but there were still a lot of moving parts until we were all caught up. The week of New Years was AWFUL! Needless to say, I had a mini meltdown. It got to a point where I sat on the bed after midnight (after finally getting the flood cleaned up…) and screamed as loudly as I possibly could and just cried myself to sleep. So many things were going wrong, and I was so tired of using all my energy “to just figure it out”. The phrase “It’ll be okay, I’ll get it all figured out.” came out of my mouth more times than I care to count. 

Then, something remarkable happened! In the second full week of 2021, all of the madness stopped. Even better, literally everything turned around for the better. 

Everything Fell Into Place

When I say all of the madness stopped, quite literally all of the madness stopped. All of our financials fell back into place, and we were able to get all caught up. More on that later. Everything else that went wrong between Christmas and New Year’s also turned out okay. My dad got out of the hospital, and with new and more balanced medications. Our main drain pipe that busted open and flooded our basement has been fixed for now. It will need more attention later, but it is fine for now. It turns out that pretty much all of the piping in our house needs to be redone! Oooofffffff. Talk about stress. You can imagine how utterly relieved I was when everything felt like it was really okay! 

Now For The Most Exciting News!

If you have been following my blog, you will know that I work from home part time when the opportunity presents itself. I have been looking for a full time position working remotely for a very long time. While I was in quarantine with COVID, I didn’t have the energy to do a whole lot of things. I did, however, spend a lot of time rewriting my LinkedIn profile, as well as my UpWork profiles, and even rewrote my resume using some more targeted keywords. I am extremely proud to say that all of my efforts have paid off!! 

I got a new job working from home – FULL TIME! It started as part time, and I have to say I was a bit nervous about this, because last time I did this with another client, it just didn’t quite work. Sometimes work relationships just don’t work out – and that’s okay! I have been working at my new remote job part time for almost a month now, and it is going great! It was supposed to be a slow six month transition into full time. However, it moved along a lot more quickly than either of us anticipated. I have given my two weeks notice to my traditional office job, and will be starting remotely full time on Feb. 15th. 

This Is BIG News

This is big and exciting news for our family! It’s a huge career move for me, and it will also give my family a lot more flexibility and freedom. It’s also a lot more money. Not that money is everything, but it matches (plus a little) what I was making in IL before I moved to the small town I now call home. This is something I have been working towards for the last three years. 

This job is also a lot more challenging than my traditional office job that I am  leaving next week. It is in the ecommerce / manufacturing industry in which I have lots of experience. Except I will be handling a lot more. Essentially I will be running the day to day operations so the owner can work on expanding the product line, which I will also be helping with! Seriously, this is my jam and what I love doing!! I think it’s important to also love what you do. 

Now We Are Moving Forward

Now that we are FINALLY moving forward, I am taking it one day at a time. Seriously. Lots of changes are happening, and I am taking all of this in very slowly. Lots of observations, and letting things flow. I feel like if I move too quickly in any of these big new changes, there might be a mis-step and I don’t want to fall flat on my face. I don’t quite know how else to put it. 

Getting this new job means a lot more for our family than what I previously stated, but I will get there. I don’t want to blurt it all out just yet. I need a plan. First, I need to settle in my new position. See what my actual income and schedule will look like for a couple of months. Then start moving forward once again. (I also need to set a new schedule and morning routine for myself – again.) 

Other Changes

The new job isn’t the only change we are facing for 2021! I have also gone gluten free, to see if it would help with my skin condition. I get eczema terribly on my face, but recently I have had this type of permanent hive / allergic reaction on my face that wouldn’t go away. No matter what I did, creams, benadryl… you name it. Following a gluten free diet actually seems to be working! I am also going to be sending some samples of our skincare line, Helina’s Healing All Natural Skin Care, to a shop that might be interested in carrying our products. (Also huge!) And my son will be turning 16 this year! Whew!! 

I was not expecting this huge whirlwind of changes this year, but I am not complaining! All good things. How about you guys, any major changes you are facing this year? How are you handling them all? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!