All my jobs

Yes, I spend most of my time entertaining Elly and keeping her healthy and happy (and preventing her from destroying things). Some days this includes making sure she doesn't try to play Daddy's guitar with her banana, or distracting her time and time again from wanting to open the freezer, stand there and empty the ice bin one cube at a time. Some more of my time is spent trying to keep my family wearing clean clothes and sleeping in clean sheets. Still more of it is spent trying to buy and prepare food that will sustain their lives and hopefully boost the quality of said lives. More time is spent on making sure the house isn't totally nasty looking...and smelling.

But, I have a few other jobs as well. I take photos for people! I take them of people and their families and their kids. Sometimes I take photos of art or companies or events. Yes, people pay me to do this. It's great. I never thought a bachelor's degree in art would lead to paying jobs! Anyway, it's a lot of fun and it's nice to have something to offer other people besides my family. If you want to see some of my photos, you can visit my photo blog:

I also spend a few hours a week tutoring a 5-year-old boy. He was recently adopted from Moldova by a family here in Visalia. He speaks only Romanian...I mean he spoke only Romanian when he came here about two months ago. But, I am helping him learn English and he's doing great! He's getting along great with his brothers and sisters and he seems to absolutely love the U.S...or at least The Power Rangers. It's great watching him learn new things!

As most of you know, I spend some time working with my sisters on our business, Shy Girl Designs. At first, I took all the photos for the website and I still manage the photos. But, recently I've been working hard on marketing, getting our stuff out there with some sweet giveaways on various blogs. We just had one this week hosted by The NieNie Dialogues and we've got one coming up on Boutique Cafe. If you want to win some free clippies, go check it out! I love working with my sisters and we have such awesome items that I honestly want everyone to see them! We've always wanted to have a business together and fortunately for us- my oldest sister is a genius with a sewing machine.

So, there you go. You are now more familiar than you probably want with all my jobs. I am so blessed to be able to spend the most time with my baby girl, but I am grateful for the other ways I am able to use my skills and talents, too.

Introducing: Shy Girl Designs!

My two sisters and I have been working up a storm bringing this new business into the world. It's called Shy Girl Designs; clever accessories for girls. It's been so much fun working with them and we're excited to keep going. Keri is the mastermind, creating all the patterns, fabrics and hand-making each item. Madelyn is the brainiac numbers expert, who conveniently also has a superb visual eye. I have been taking so many pictures for Shy Girl that I had to get an additional external hard drive! Anyway, it's been crazy fun and we are so proud of our hard work. We want you to check it out. That's right: shameless marketing. Deal with it. Tell everyone you know who may be interested about our adorable accessories for little girls. You can find these delightful products at:

www.shygirldesigns.com

We're offering a 15% friends and family discount right now, so if you didn't get my email invite- comment on this post with your email address and I'll send you the promotional code (even if you're not my friend or my family).

Happy Holiday Shopping!