So it’s been 4 days since I’ve written. I know that I said I would write here everyday for a year, and I’m not going back on that. I’m just not being as strict on myself as I have been in the past.

Tonight is the 1^st time I’ve been alone in several days, and for this natural introvert, that can be a real challenge.

We left Thursday afternoon to head to Boise, Idaho for Velata’s very 1^st convention, and we have had a glorious time. We’re staying with our sweet friends, the Sprys in their camper on a camp ground.

Despite a few minor unpredictables with the camper, this trip has been a glorious breath of fresh air.

So tonight, while everyone else is napping, I’m sitting outside the camper catching up on all that we’ve been doing and thinking the past several days.

I thought I should probably start with today……

The boys woke up first thing this morning (as has been the trend the whole time we’ve been here). They made a delicious breakfast that consisted of fried white corn tortillas, refried beans, fried and scrambled eggs, sweet potato hash, and an avocado salsa. It was delicious and a perfect start to the day.

We were in no rush to get up and around since the past 2 days have been busy, busy. After breakfast, Jari and I cracked open our bible studies while Joel did the dishes and Brian went to check out the camp ground facilities.

I will say, I could get used to the camping life. Campers today have everything you could need to have an enjoyable experience while away from home.

We soon all dressed and packed our bags to head to a friend’s lake for a day of paddle boarding, canoeing and fishing.  We have the most generous friends who invited us to use their property for the day, and we were thrilled and honored to take them up on it.

We dove up to the most glorious lake. A beautiful property with paddle boards, canoes, fishing rods, lifejackets, and tubes ready to play with.

Jari and I immediately drug the paddle boards across the sandy beach to the water. We had no clue what we were doing, but hopped right on. The water was still and perfect, and we paddled across the entire lake.

The boys grabbed the fishing rods and started casting, but it wasn’t long until they were on their own paddle boards out in the crystal clear water with us.

Jari and Joel eneded up trading their paddle boards for a canoe. Brian and I went on a walk to explore the property.  We walked past babbling brooks and over little bridges. We even found a bee hive. It was the 1^st time I had ever seen one (besides in the movies), and I couldn’t help but think how beautiful it was.

We stayed and played in the sun for a few hours and the headed to grab some food.

We had a delicious early dinner and headed back to the camper. I took a shower, and while I was showering, the other 3 fell asleep. It really has been a long 3 days.

So here I find myself. Catching up. Reflecting. Getting it on all on paper. Stayed tuned for more.

Happy Sunday, Ya’ll.

A Night in the ER

I have friends who regularly spend time in the ER. I hate that they are familiar with the ER scene, but I love that they are my friends. They have changed me so much.....made me look at the world in a totally different way.....made me love the Lord in a way I didn't know I could. 

And tonight, I got a tiny, itty bitty glimpse of what they deal with. 

None of our kids have ever been to the ER. We took one of our foster babies for stitches in the ER once, but our kids have never been....until tonight. 

Around 5:00 pm tonight, Luke started complaining of a tummy ache. I am the mom who used to over react every time someone said their tummy hurt. But now I'm the mom who assumes that a tummy ache is nothing at all. 

So, that's what I did tonight. I assumed he was tired or hungry or needed to poop. I mean, what else could it be? 

But within minutes he was really complaining, and it wasn't like tummy ache complaining, it was something else. Addy and Brian were headed out the door for church, and I told them to go ahead. I was thinking that maybe he caught a bug at school. No biggie. 

Not 15 minutes after they left, he couldn't stop crying, and my momma gut told me that something else was going on, so I loaded both boys up in the truck, and headed to Urgent Care. 

{On a total side note. We have the most amazing Urgent Care center in Edmond called Edmond Urgent Care. The staff there is incredible. We never have to wait, and I trust them completely. If you live anywhere near 178th and Western in Edmond, this place is amazing and open 8-8 7 days a week.} 

When we walked in the door, I was carrying Luke and holding Wyatt's hand because Luke said he couldn't walk. They asked what was going on, and I explained that Luke was having acute pain in his lower left abdominal. They didn't even check me in or ask our name. They just said, "let's just put you in a room and have Dr. Tommie look at you....you may be in the wrong place." 

And that's what they did. They put us in a room, and Dr. Tommie was in the room within minutes. He checked Luke out, and told me that we should really go to the ER. 

So I drove right down the street to church where Brian and Addy were. We decided it would be best not to take Wyatt to the ER. Luke wanted his daddy to take him, so we switched cars, and I took Wyatt home. On the way home, Brian called to say that Luke had thrown up in the car and could we bring everyone some clean clothes. So we got home and packed up clean clothes, and headed to the ER. 

Wyatt and I stayed for a bit. Luke was already in triage. They were talking about a CT scan and labs and all the mess that comes with an ER visit. 

They really wanted to rule out appendicitis even though his pain was on the opposite side, they were still looking at it as a real possibility.  

We decided that I should take Wyatt home and get him to sleep. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law came over to sit with Wyatt and pick Addy up from church so I could go back up to the ER to be with Luke and Brian. 

By the time I got back, Luke had had 3 x-rays, had thrown up again, had started an IV with fluids and been given zofran. And right before I made it back to the room, Brian sent me this picture with the words "he just passed out." 

Excuse me? 

He immediately sent another text that read "sleeping."

Oh good. 

That's better than passing out. 

As I walked into the triage room, the assisting physician had an x-ray on her phone of a very giant piece of poop stuck inside my kid. 

Poor guy. 

We had originally ruled out constipation because he pooped just last night. The kid is the most regular pooper I've ever seen. Turns out, that mess can get stuck on the side wall of your intestines and the other poop can go around it for as long as it can, until eventually it gets so compact, that nothing can pass by. 

Who knew? 

So the poor guy was just severely impacted. That may be too much info for a blog post, but I'm writing it anyways. It's real life people. 

But before it turned out to be a not too huge deal, it was scary. My mind goes to the worse case scenario. They made it sound like appendicitis was a real possibility, or worse than that, it could have been something with his pancreas or colon.  

I am so grateful that our 1st ER visit turned out to be relatively uneventful. Now we just pray for poop. 

{AND....our Last Chance/1st Glance Open House is still on for tomorrow from 1-3 or 7-9. Stop by for the best goodie bags I have ever made!} I'm just saying : ) 

Scentsy and Velata Goodies

Oh good gracious....it's been busy around here. And I think I like it that way...mostly. I have to be careful not to overbook myself and most importantly, make sure that I'm spending time with my hot hubby and taking quiet time for myself. 

There's a chance I overbooked myself this week. We are making lunch tomorrow for the 15 employees at our foster care center and hosting our Last Chance/First Glance open house on Thursday. We're pretty excited, and I may have gone overboard on the free goodies I'm taking them. I really, really like to spoil people. 

Here are the 15 bags I've been working on for the past couple days.....{there is a very chance that these bags will be very similar to the freebies my Last Chance/First Glance attendees will receive for stopping by.} 

Each gift bag has a catalog sack on the inside with free samples from both Scentsy and Velata, and a personal letter inside each one. 

I made Landry Liquid and Washer Whiff samples tonight, and they turned out so cute! I found plastic test tubes on amazon that I used for the laundry liquid. 

I also included a new Fall and Winter catalog, a Harvest collection flyer, a September monthly flyer, and a couple wax samples. 

For Velata goodies, I added one of our Artisian Rub samples, a recipe card (to match the rub), and a dark chocolate sample along with a current catalog. 

I'm thinking those are some pretty amazing freebies, but our case worker (and all her friends) definitely deserve it. 

I thought you might like to see what I've been up to. I'll let you know how lunch goes tomorrow. It should be lots of fun. 

Last Chance....First Glance

To say I'm excited about our new Scentsy and Velata catalogs is the understatement of the year. I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, except it won't be Christmas morning, it'll be September 1st. It's basically the same thing. 

I'm crazy over our September warmer of the month. It's nostalgically perfect. 

I'm also the most excited I have ever been about Velata and our upcoming catalog. As I type this, my mind is reeling with ideas to implement to help get families around the table this Fall. 

My mind is running a hundred miles a minute. The ideas and the things I want to do are begging to be put on paper. (I'm also thinking about how my friend called me out for a Velata ice bucket challenge which means I have to pour a bucket of ice over myself tomorrow and donate $10 to our local food bank). That'll be fun. 

But, back to the new catalogs. I'm thrilled and excited and can't wait for our new catalogs to launch, so I'm hosting a Last Chance, First Glance party. Stop by, Book your Fall Party, Shop at 10% off, and sample all our new Fall scents and products. (oh and don't forget about all our specials!) It's the best of both worlds...Spring and Fall all rolled into one night. Laid back and fun. 

It's going to be one great party. Hopefully you'll join us, or host your own! The most important thing is that you keep it simple and focus on connecting with your customers, friends, and family. 

The most honest my story has ever been.....

It is so easy to become jaded.....to question and doubt all that you are and all that you do. 

The voices in our heads tell us that we're not enough and that we don't deserve what we have. And eventually, we start to believe them. 

We step back and we question and we wonder if what we're doing is the right thing. 

Six years ago, I was teaching 8th grade English. Brian was selling high line cars, and Addison was 9 months old and learning how to walk. 

And more than anything, I wanted to be home with her. I loved my job, but I loved her more. The reality was that we were in credit card debt up to our eyeballs and there was no way I could quit my job...unless I was willing to cut out cable and cell phones and groceries and heat and a/c. We live in the south. There was no way I was cutting out heat and a/c. 

Quitting my job wasn't in the cards. 

However, I don't like it when I don't like the options at hand, so I sought out other options, and by sought out other options, I mean I prayed like crazy that we would win the lottery (that we didn't play) or I would find $20,000 on the sidewalk. 

Neither of those things happened. 

But what did happen was something I never expected. Through a series of events involving about 80 tiny lip gloss like containers filled with deliciously scented wax, a Scentsy catalog, a little research on the internet, and $99, I signed up to be a direct sales consultant. 

If we were friends 6 years ago when this happened, you laughed when I told you what I was doing, but I didn't care. 

I knew absolutely nothing about sales, let alone direct sales, but I didn't care. 

I was scared to death that I could never sell a thing to anyone, but I didn't care. 

All I cared about was her.

She changed me. She made me so much more than I ever could have been on my own. 

And somehow, despite my complete lack of knowledge about all things direct sales, I did okay. And I somehow convinced other people that they should do it with me. It would be fun. 

And it was fun. 

And 3 days before my 1 year anniversary as a Scentsy consultant, I promoted to the highest rank possible. I cried in my living room on Halloween. I was the company's 23rd SuperStar director (along with about 30 other people who promoted the same day that I did), but we'll call it 23. 

And life went on. Baby #2 came along not long after that. I spoke to a crowd of 800 people at a Scentsy event 3 days before he was born. 

And business was good and momentum was good and life was good. 

Then I battled fear for a long time. It's a lengthy story that I'm sure is somewhere on this blog. {Best of luck finding that post.} 

But I worked and I worked hard, and I knew why I was working. For them. We wanted more. We still weren't out of debt.  Brian was still working long hours at the car lot, and life still wasn't what we wanted it to be. 

So I worked. I sold product and people joined my team and our company grew. 

And before I knew it, Brian quit his job. We started making more money than we had ever dreamed of making, and our marriage was as unhappy as it had ever been. I couldn't help but wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. It turns out that money really doesn't buy happiness.  

But the Lord is so gracious and so patient. We moved to house #2. We started to like each other again, and all was well in the Dalke house. 

Then one day, we felt the Lord calling us into foster care. So we went. In the process, we couldn't get a foster baby fast enough. The day we were finally approved as foster parents, we received a call that there were 2 babies. A 1 year old and an almost 2 year old. Siblings that had been living in the shelter for 7 days. And could we take them? 

We did. And they wrecked my world in the best way 2 small people can wreck someone's world. They changed everything for us. 

And our business kept on keeping on. 

And those babies made me want a baby of my own. And before they moved out, I was pregnant with baby #3. 

Then we almost moved to California. We really tried to. We tried to buy 3 houses, and it just didn't work out. 

And instead we had a baby on Halloween 5 years after that day I cried in my living room. This Halloween, I cried in my hospital bed because I knew we couldn't move to California even though we had already sold our house and we had to be out in a little less than a month and a half. 

As we drove baby #3 home from the hospital, Brian and I talked about California and about Oklahoma and about where we wanted these babies to grow up. And we both knew that it was here. 

So with a newborn in hand, we frantically began looking for house #3. It would literally have to be a miracle. I was not settling for anything less than the space we were looking for (I swear this is the last move we're making!), and we had no where near the time we realistically needed to close. 

But we looked. And we found the house we had been looking for all along. A house we never could have bought, on a lot that we never could have afforded. The perfect spot, with the perfect space, and now we just had to make it happen in the perfect time. 

It ended up all working out by the grace of God alone, so we moved and we began to settle in. 

Before we knew it, that little girl that I worked so hard to stay home with was going to 1st grade. Off she went. 

But she wasn't happy, and we weren't happy. The little girl who had always loved school was bored and annoyed by the thought of 1st grade. Not exactly what a momma wants to hear. After a lot of prayer, we took her out of public school and started homeschooling. Brian teaching 2 days a week, myself teaching 3 days a week. 

And that's where we found ourselves last year. Adjusting to life in a new house with 3 littles while homeschooling. 

I suddenly felt trapped. This incredible "job" I had, had afforded all of this and so much more. I was grateful for sure. But there were moments where I felt trapped. I felt like I was stuck and I couldn't get out if I wanted to. 

We depended on the money. It was our lively hood. Even if I wanted to just be a stay at home mom, I couldn't. Not now. We were too far in. 

So, last year, I coasted. I did everything I was supposed to do. I did more than I was supposed to do, but if I'm honest, there was something missing. 

The passion, the fire, the drive, the inspiration, it was gone. I didn't know where it was and I didn't know how to get it back. 

I tell you this story to tell you that last year isn't the end of the story. It's not the end of my story with Scentsy or direct sales. It's really only the beginning of my story. 

When I recently walked away from social media, I asked myself a lot of hard questions. I was able to think clearly for the 1st time in a long time. I knew what I thought. I wasn't confused by what everyone else thought. 

And somewhere between turning off all the voices of negativing in my head (thanks social media) and sitting on a beach watching the waves roll in, I was reminded of why I love my job. 

I honestly don't know why I forgot. 

Because this is my story, but at the same time, it's only one of thousands of stories. Direct sales is a business that creates personal change in people. I have seen so many people in my circle of friends and family who have been remarkably changed by their experience with the Scentsy family. They are better people. More generous people. More well rounded. More real. 

And in the past few weeks I have been so beautifully reminded that I get to be a part of that change in people. I get to sit across from them at coffee or at lunch or over the computer and hear about the way their business fits into their life. I get to hear about why they're working and what they want. And I get to be a part of the change that happens in people when they decided to ignore the voices of fear and doubt in their minds and do something bigger with their lives than they ever thought they could do. 

I guess this is my apology. 

I was never negative. I was never negligent. I was never absent. I was just uninspired. I forgot for a moment why it is that I work. And it's not complicated, and there is no mega dream board or 12 month goal plan. It's simply them. 

And him. 

and us. 

 This place and these people and this life is the reason I am a Scentsy Family consultant. They are the reason that I will continue to choose to run my business with passion and purpose this year. 

And whether you're a customer or a consultant or a friend or a fellow blog lover or an IG follower, my hope for you in 2014 is that you too will work with purpose and passion. 

Here's to 2014.....May it be your best year yet. 

Be brave and find margin

Oh what a week it's been. 

Something is changing and shifting and moving, and whatever it is, it feels so incredibly good. 

Somewhere along the way, I became complacent. Just coasting. Going through the motions when it came it my business. I don't know how it happened. I could blame it on multiple things, but why start the list? We all have things we can point to for excuses. Let's not even go there. 

Let's just go forward...move on. 

I'm thrilled that this new found passion and purpose is sticking around. I was a little worried it would fly out the window after a week of trying harder. But the passion is still here, and I'm still choosing my business this year. 

On a side note, choosing my business allows me the incredible freedom and ability to choose my family and to choose homeschool and to choose so many other things. This is a significant side note. 

I write the side note to tell you that it's easy to get carried away. My to-do lists this week were long. How do you make up for a year of complacency? I'll tell ya, it involves a lot of to dos. 

So if you're on this crazy journey with me, I want to encourage you to create margin. Oh margin, that fleeting, unicorn like time that sounds like a good idea, but that doesn't truly exist. 

So that is true. Margin does not exist unless you make it exist. (And no, you can't make a unicorn exist just by wishing it, but you do have the power to create margin in your life.)

Margin is basically extra space....time. It's time for your family, time for interruptions, time for God to move in your life. Our culture literally has no clue what margin looks like. 

We work ourselves to death. It's so incredibly important that you find that extra space in your day, in your week, in your month for the important things in life to truly live. Choosing your business this year does not mean sacrificing your family and your values. God and your family always have to come 1st. 

So in the midst of the laundry and the toys and the school day and the babies and the errands and your "real job" and everything that comes along with life, you have to choose to be brave. You have to choose to do hard things. 

The only difference between successful people and people living in mediocrity is that successful people decide to start. They decide to be brave and try a little harder to do a littler better. 

I'm reading this awesome book by Jon Acuff called Start. In it, he talks about how brave we have to be to step out of the easy, mundane and routine, and into something greater, and it all begins with starting. Choosing to start. He says: 

You have to be deliberate and intentional and focused. You have to be a Starter. And then you have to be brave enough and prepared enough to react when a surprise presents itself.

Jon talks about how we can't map out the beginning to the end and expect it to turn out exactly the way we planned for it turn out. Honestly, we have to start knowing that the way we get to the end may be nothing like we expect it to be.

When I started my Scentsy journey 6 years ago, I never could have planned it out this way. I had no clue. The best things that have happened in my life and in my business since then are things that I never had on my radar. People I would meet. Friends I would gain. Experiences that would change me.

I'm glad I didn't have the finish in mind when I started. I just knew I needed to start, and that was enough. It made me brave.

So tonight, I'm praying 2 things over you: Margin and Bravery. Know how and where you need space and time, and create it. You'll have to be disciplined about making sure there is margin in your life, but it is possible.

And after you create Margin, be Brave. Do the things that you know you might fail at, just to say that you tried. And try a little harder to be a little better one day at a time.

You can do it. I believe in you.

Choosing my business this year.......

 (Thanks Jaime Pilcher for the reminder that it really is about being braver than we feel. I love you and never saw you coming in my plans. How grateful I am that there were bigger plans than mine in play.)

I'm Choosing My Business in 2014

It's time to begin again. 

Do you ever just feel like you need a do-over? 

I think we all do sometimes. It's probably the new year that has me all excited about new beginnings and beginning again. But the new year also has me reflecting on the past year and looking at challenging myself to do this year a little differently. 

This year, I want to choose my business because I believe it has the ability to change people for the better. I've watched the Scentsy family help people change the course of their lives. How could I not want to see that happen in others? 

To live the life you always dreamed of. That's the goal right? 

To be finically free. To stand behind a product that you are passionate about....a product that you love. That's what I want. 

So this year, I'm choosing my business, not because I have to, but because I want to. 

I want to see life change in others. I want to share the incredible opportunity that our company allows people. I don't want to be stingy. I want to generous. 

I want to lead and love and share. That's what direct sales is really all about. 

Some of you may feel like you've just been going through the motions for a while. Honestly, all of last year, I went through the motions. Somehow, I lost a little bit of my passion, and it showed. 

So that's why I'm campaigning for a new start. A do-over of sorts. Let's scrap last year, and start again. 

Maybe you've never really run your business at all. You've sold a little here and a little there, but you've never looked at your Scentsy, Velata, or Grace Adele business as a business. Maybe you've wanted more, but never known how to go about getting more. 

Wherever you find yourself today, I proclaim today as a new day! Let's just start again. Let's remember why we signed up, what we hoped to get out of all of this, and let's run businesses that thrive. 

I want a business that creates value in the life of others. I want my business to contribute to my community and the lives of my customers and the lives of my team members. That sounds a lot better than mediocrity doesn't it? 

But before we move towards choosing our businesses this year, there is one more thing we have to address. That nasty F word. 

Fear. 

It stops us in our tracks and keeps us from moving forward. Running a small business isn't scary, but putting yourself out there and failing is. It's what we're ultimately all afraid of.....what if I try really hard to make this work, and it doesn't? 

I get the fear. I was there. But there has to be something bigger than the fear. For me, it was the face of my little girl. Addy was 9 months old when I started selling Scentsy and I desperately wanted to be at home with her. I wanted to take care of her. I was willing to take the risk of failure if it meant that I might succeed in the process. 

So what is your Big thing? What is it that will allow you to push past the fear and do something great? What is it that makes you want to be a little better everyday? 

Let's name it. 

This is your year. Choose your business this year. Forget about the fear. Push it out the way. And let's start over together. 

Your challenge is to commit. Post this picture to social media with the hashtags #IChooseScentsyFamily #IChooseMyBusiness and tell us what your reason for working is. Let's hold each other accountable. Let's do something big this year. 

Then follow along. All year long, I'll be blogging about my business. We'll start from the beginning. We'll do things that make successful consultants, and we'll do it together. 

What do you say? 

Are you choosing your business this year? I know I am. 

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Open the House Peeps

So I regularly talk about the importance of being your best host and hosting your own Open Houses when need be. 

There is no huge secret except being consistent. Well that's a broken record. I do my best to make my customers feel spoiled and loved and appreciated for coming while keeping things fairly simple on my end. 

Today it took me and hour and 1/2 to set up. I didn't use anything except what was in my dining room. No tablecloths, no extra tables....everything went in the dining room just as it was. This was a Last Chance (at the old catalog) First Glance (at the new catalog) Open House. 

I invited my customers with a postcard placed in all orders delivered over the past month and via a customer email sent directly to my customer list. I offer my guests a free gift for letting me know if they can make it or not. (Helps me know who to expect). 

Sorry for the blurry picture, but this was literally my Grace Adele display. Grace Adele was not my focus this Open House since it's Scentsy transition month. 

I think you can absolutely do a display with a single purse and 2 clutches. This would be my personal collection...yes, I'm a bit of an addict. 

The Velata set-up was easy too. I put out Raspberry White Chocolate and Peppermint Dark Chocolate originally, but I eventually had to get out Caramel Milk to make my kids happy. 

Easy Peasy people. Snacks. Done. 

I always have a booking calendar somewhere at my Open Houses. I booked 4 Fall parties at my last Open House, and I only have 3 dates left in September! (By the way, I found that cute, stand up calendar at Target. Perfect for a booking calendar.)  

I put out all the testers for the discontinuing scents. 

This is my Layers basket that many of you have asked about. That's what I take to parties. Easy, simple. 

Then I put out new catalogs, the Fall flyer, and the new Fall scents and allowed customers to pre-order for the September launch of the new catalog.

I can't wait for these!

And here's the truth about Open Houses. Sometimes they soar, and sometimes they crash. Last month, I had a great Open House. Tonight, no one showed up until 8:00, and then one of my best Open House customers showed up with her friend....the same friend she brought last month. 

And before they left, I had over $150 in orders and a new recruit (the friend signed up to sell Scentsy and Grace Adele!). So no, it wasn't a huge night. I didn't book any parties, but I got a new recruit, and if everything is simple, easy, and not a big to do, then it's totally worth it. 

An Open House will be what you make it. Inviting and then following up is key. Doing them on a consistent basis and making it worth your customer's time and energy is also important. Tonight, I left both of them choose a free Layers item for attending (which I use my host rewards to purchase).  

So there you have it.... a little insight into the Open House. There is something to it. It's one of the main ways I have grown my business over the past 6 years. Never done one? Maybe you should try it. If you're not willing to host for yourself, why would someone else be willing to host for you? 

Just a thought. 

Head to the Mountains

You all sure do know a lot about guineas. Thanks for that. Good to know that their eggs aren't that great. Sounds like a combo of chickens and guineas would be best. I'll keep you updated on that. 
We might decide to be weird. We'll see. 
On another note, this week has been incredibly long in the best kind of way. We've been so busy since coming home from Scentsy's family reunion. It's been quite overwhelming to be honest. 
I spent today setting up for my Open House. I sort of pulled out all the stops this time. Just about every single thing I own that is Scentsy, Grace Adele, or Velata is out and ready to be sold tomorrow. 
I'll post pics tomorrow. Promise. 
So I'm doing that tomorrow. It's more of a customer appreciation party than an open house. I have customers that wait around for theses parties, but they're some of my best customers, and that's what I need....good customers. 
But I'm also going a team get together at my house tomorrow morning. I figured I'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone if you know what I mean. 
After this week and all the over committing I did, I am definitely ready to head to the mountains with my sweet family next week. No work. No Scentsy. No Grace Adele. No Velata. No nothing. Just writing, reading, my hubby, my babies. Sounds like a good week to me. 

Decompressing

Scentsy's annual Family Reunion is always amazing. It's something I need. 
I need to be reminded and inspired and moved. I love it. 
But it is absolutely the most exhausting week ever! I am drained. 
It doesn't help that I'm an introvert which means that being in large groups of people completely wears me out. Last night all I could think about was how I needed some serious quiet, alone time. I need to decompress and process everything. 
I need to sit in a coffee shop with my headphones, a giant cup of coffee, and my planner. That's my idea of peace, people. 
There are so many things that I am excited about. Grace Adele has a brand new line of amazing bags, clutches and accessories that I am in LOVE with. There is a new leather bag called the Taylor, that I can't wait to get my hands on. 

Here it is modeled by my friend, Megan. And it not only comes in that beautiful Stone color, but also in Grape, Scarlet, Metallic, Ocean, Black, Ocelot, and Orange. I am so excited. It's available to order on August 1st here. 
I'm also thrilled that our incentive trip this year is to 1 of 3 places. We'll be able to earn an all expenses paid trip to next year's Family Reunion in St. Louis OR an all expenses paid trip to the Bahamas to stay at the beautiful Atlantis resort, and the top 100 earners will earn a trip to Greece. 
Last year we helped 7 of our frontline recruits (plus 135 people in our group) go on a free trip to 1 of 6 locations. This year, I want to double that. That's sort of a lofty goal, but I have seen that 1-on-1 support with our frontline and good communication with our directors is the key to helping other people set goals and achieve them. 
We have 3 people who are ready to join our team in the coming months, and I want them to earn the trip as well as all our newest recuits. There is nothing more rewarding than watching people earn a free trip. It's amazing! 
In addition to all that, the new Scentsy catalog is beautiful. There are so many new warmers that I can't wait to get my hands on. These new Element warmers are awesome for your master bedroom where you want a comforting scent without the shine of the lightbulb. You can see one on the middle and bottle shelf of the bookcase below. They are short and don't have any light at all that shines through. The Element warmers will be available to order on September 1st here. 

I'm also thrilled that we are going into 2 new countries in September. That means that all consultants (no matter what country they live in) are able to build teams in other countries. I have a team member who is from Australia and is so excited that we'll be expanding into her home country starting in September. If you know anyone in Mexico or Australia who would like to start their own business, pass on my info. We'd love to help them get started. 

In addition to getting home late tonight and attempting to decompress, we are taking our family on a little family trip a week from Wednesday, so I have a full week of business this week. 
But it's a good feeling. I'm excited to have goals to work towards and new and exciting things to share. 
Hope you had a good week! 

A Family Reunion

There are so many necks to hug. So many people to see. So much progress to observe. 

Two days. It's just two days of being reminded why I do what I do and why it matters. 

Our annual Scentsy family reunion ended this evening. It was a whirlwind of a couple days. There is so much to take in and process. 

New products, new opportunities, and new chances to try a little harder to be a little better. 

But when everyone is gone and all the craziness of the past couple days begins to fade, I still have to have a reason to move forward. 

The money, the products, the trips.....none of that is enough to make me want to work everyday. 

There can be no end to the work you do as a leader in a direct sales company. There are no doors to close for the night. No, "be back at noon" signs. 

You're always on. Someone always needs you or needs to order something or needs advice or needs a pick me up. 

So all those "things" really aren't a good enough incentive in the log run to stay the course and continue the work that can often become exhausting. 

But the change that has happened in me and the people around me, well, that's a different story. 

I wake up every day feeling incredibly blessed for life that the Lord has provided us with. Our story and the life we're currently living doesn't even seem fair. There are so many good things in a day. 

And there are so many people that are my family now because of this amazing company. I have watched our lives change. I have watched their lives change. 

I've been thinking a lot about what I want my business to look like over the next couple of years. My kids are little, so I want and plan to be more than present in their lives.   

I used to try to micromanage my team. If there was something cool to be done with your team members, I wanted to do it. 

But it was last September when I took a good look at the way my business was functioning and decided that it was much more simple than I was making it out to be. 

In the beginning of my business, I was laser like focused on my new team members and on building relationships with them. 

The majority of the people that I put myself close to and maintained a steady relationship with then, are still active and thriving consultants now. 

Somewhere along the way, I got away from that. I stopped focusing on relationships and started focusing on incentives and meetings and ideas and fun crafts and all kinds of crazy stuff. 

And as we grew and grew and grew, I somehow let a lot of relationships fall through the cracks. 

I say all that to tell you that I know that the most important thing I can do is to continue to foster and build relationships with the people on my team. 

The past 2 days have been beautiful. I feel like my life is so rich because there are so many people that I now know and love because of this simple little Wickless candle business. It doesn't even seem possible. 

Somewhere along the way, I made friends. And then I made family. Thanks to scentsy, we have become one huge family. It's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it. 

So when I think about what I want my business to look like over the coming years, the answer is pretty clear. 

Family. 

I want it to look like family. 

I want it to be centered around relationships and big goals and big dreams and even bigger accountability. 

I want to clearly show people how it is possible to succeed if you can only dare to be brave enough to try. 

I want to believe in people. Encourage people. Inspire people. 

I want to stay inspired. I want to take big risks and try new things. I want to think outside the box and be innovative. 

But more than anything, I want to see my family again next year. I want it to keep growing. I want to develop leaders and build up women who feel empowered to lead others. 

I want my family to grow. Simple as that. 

I don't know how much money I want to make or how many trips I want to earn (even though I absolutely plan on earning a trip to the Bahamas and taking a whole bunch of my family with me!). 

I just know I want more of what I had this week. I want more hugs, more smiles, more friendships.....more scentsy family. 

Because how can you possibly have to much family? You can't.