Has a Fundraiser Ever Smelt so Good!

As some/many of you know, my husband is in the Navy.  And as some of you know, he just found out he is a Chief Selectee.  Chief is a pretty big deal in the Navy.....my husband could tell you the heritage, as that is something he is supposed to know in the next 6 weeks before he gets pinned "Chief".  All I know, is it's a big deal, and in the next 6 weeks he has to do a lot of stuff to prove he is worthy.
One of the things Chief Selectees have to do, is fundraise. Well, unfortunately for my husband he will be out to sea doing, who knows what, for 1/2 of the time period he is supposed to be raising money.  I figured I could come up with an idea, and a means to help him.
So here it is.  I will be doing a candle fundraiser for the month of August.  You can pick any scent you'd like from the below list for your candle.  The candle will be $10, with $5 Shipping (no shipping for locals of course!).  I am so generous that all $10 will go to those selectees towards their fundraising efforts.

This one is scented Oatmeal Honey Almond

The candles are 9oz and ina glass tumbler, with a USN sticker adhered to the side.  After your candle FINALLY burns out (should last 40-50hrs), you can clean out the glass tumbler with hot water, soap and a rag, and you'll have a great little glass piece to do anything you like with. And of course my everlasting love, that you helped not only support my husband, but all the selectees, the US Navy, and America (doesn't that sound patriotic!).

Here is an Etsy Listing for this item. Chief Selectee Fundraiser Candle. You can purchase via Etsy, or from my Facebook page.  If you purchase via Etsy please put your scent choice in the comments.  If you are local, and don't want to pay the $5 shipping, please contact me via my Facebook page or via comment here.

Scent List:
Bayberry
Blueberry Cobbler
Clothesline
Cucumber Mint
Gardenia
Ginger Peach
Green Apple
Lavender
Lavender&Peppermint
Lavender&Vanilla
Lemongrass
Lemongrass&Vanilla
Lemon&Lavender
Mandarin & Coriander
Oatmeal Honey Almond
Pearberry
Peppermint
Peppermint & Vanilla
Pumpkin Souffle
Vanilla Bean
White Peach and Hibiscus

Lessons Learned from Summer 2011

I need to make a mental note to look back at this post, come April/May of 2012.  I know that summer is not yet over.  School starts up here 6 weeks from today.  We have been on summer break for 10 weeks now.  So I think I've experienced enough to reflect on some lessons learned in business, life, and summers as a work at home Mom.

1. Business is not fractionally slower, it is DEAD.  I had mistakenly thought, that summer sales would be 33%, maybe 50% less than my sales tend so far for 2011.  This was NOT the case.  I found it is not a % less.  There seems to be a glass ceiling.  For instance, let's say my average sales in 2010 were $500/mo, and in summer went to $330. My business instincts were preparing for, if average sales were $1500/mo, that they would become $1000/mo.  When in reality....they were still $330 (numbers not exact, just explaining a point). So next year, instead of completely stressing out about it, and instead of having multiple failure sales and promos, just ride the wave...accept it will be slow and just "Let it Be".
2. See above.....so instead, the kids are home, let's have FUN!  At the beginning of summer, I had been freaking out hoping I could get the kids into camps, so I could work and keep the momentum going with the business. I pushed camp. Although my son enjoyed Lego Camp ($205), and my daughter loved Horse Camp ($245), they were both stressful.  The driving back and forth, the jealousy's, the MONEY.  Worse yet was me trying to pay for a Mon, Wed, Fri morning daycamp (Mom's day out type thing).  Sounded good, but at $90/week for just 9hrs, and no sales coming in, it was STRESSFUL.  It ended up costing me more than $90/wk, since the registration was $170 (all numbers are for both kids together, so $45/wk and $85/ea registration).  This daycamp lasted 3 weeks before I realized we couldn't afford it, and the kids were not enjoying it.  So in total we spent $890 to camp-ify summer.  And it could've been spent better. How???
3. DO Buy all the memberships you can get your hands on! We bought a membership to the waterpark at Little Creek.  It was $125 for the 3 of us, but would've been $15 a visit to go.  The kids love it there, and it is a fairly relaxing 2hrs whenever we go. We got a membership to the Virginia Aquarium for $150...this one is great for days we need to stay indoors BUT get out of the house. We haven't gotten the chance to buy a membership for the Virginia Zoo yet, but it is $75 for military families.  Also movies on base at Little Creek are $2/person. So with the $890 spent on camps for a total of 5 weeks, we could have gotten A waterpark, aquarium, zoo, and over 5 trips to the movies for just $500 (not to mention the beach is FREE)!!! We can also enjoy our YMCA membership during summer, kids using the interactive zone while I work out and just a swim in their pool...at $88/mo it is a bit...but even adding that in to the $500, we still come out cheaper than the camps.  Plus YMCA offers a free parents night out for members. And since we don't need to worry about business too much (see #1) then we could just sit back and enjoy. The kids will only be kids once!

At the Virginia Aquarium

YMCA Mt. Trashmore

Little Creek Water Park

Beach on Dam Neck military base

Who, What, Where, When, is the MCF Auction?

Back in Spring of 2008, I was a newbie on Etsy, and my bud Kristin, aka Moose Threads, convinced me to join an Etsy team of Military spouses. This team was so amazing. Not only did they give me business advice, but they were there for me while my husband was deployed.  I will never forget all our chats and fun and support.  We built long lasting friendships.  Some of these friendships so strong, that I have and they have gone out of their way for us to meet in person.  And with everyone I have met, we have talked non-stop for hours. Never had I been involved with a group so diverse in religion, backgrounds, politics etc, that were so respectful, and non-caddy in a group.
Well, as times change, so did that Etsy team.  So did we...as many of us now have sites off Etsy, no longer have shops, etc.  But we still have our friendships.  So recently we created a group on Facebook where we can chat and stay in touch.  This evolved to also include a business page, where we could help promote each other, whether our shops have their own websites, whether we sell predominantly on Facebook, or even if we just have some great stuff to share. 
To kick off this military friends page, we thought why not have an auction. So many of us do similar things on our business pages individually, that we thought having one as a group, and introducing our clientele to our favorite shops, would be fabulous!  I can vouch for every participant.  Not only are they fabulous artisans, but they are also some pretty awesome women!
I invite you to like our fan page.  And please attend the auction, sometime between 8pm and midnight EST tomorrow (Sunday).  Even if you don't bid (although bidding ends at midnight EST), please just come to see this fantastic sampling of items from this group.  You won't be sorry!!!!

MCF 1st EVER Auction
Sunday July 17th
8pm-Midnight EST
Direct Link http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=231464313550995

Some of the fabulous shops participating:
www.Facebook.com/LilacAve
www.Facebook.com/Memoriestoyou
www.Facebook.com/TwoSeasideBabes
www.Facebook.com/DancingBearsTeaHouse
www.Facebook.com/BadCatJewelry
www.Facebook.com/wanderingwhimsies
http://www.facebook.com/ReynaRed

What's Beautiful About Military Life

In our military life, we've lived in Georgia (twice), Hawaii (twice), Washington, and Virginia (second time around right now). I have found that there is some good in every place, and some bad (although some moreso than others); And you must concentrate on the good to be happy and survive.
Well, about a month ago, we moved back to Virginia.  For those that don't know, we own our house here, and are currently working on it to make it ready for us to move our stuff in (pics will be in a blog post in the future).
Last night we were over at our house, visiting with the inlaws who are here to help, and to work a little more on the yard, and discuss more work to be done. And last night, the fireflies were out. My son caught one in his hand and we all watched as they would glow and go dark, and glow some more. To me it was magical.

Our neighborhood although in Virginia, reminds me a lot of the house I grew up in, in Rivervale, New Jersey.  There were fireflies there too. A mix of all sorts of houses, big and small, brick and siding, no sidewalks, and tall trees making a canopy over the neighborhood.
As my children were in awe of the fireflies, and enjoyed the summer air (and the mosquitos), it felt like we have been able to give them a piece of my own childhood.
Then in the car on the drive back to the house we are temporarily staying in, the CD played, "Somewhere over the Rainbow" by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole. The kids were talking about how it reminds them of Hawaii. My daughter talked about how her teacher would play the Ukelele for them, and we could go to the beach every day. We talked about our adventures and memories there.

I realized in that moment how beautiful this life we are giving them is. They get to carry the good parts of our past, have adventures that not everyone gets to have. When they are older and look back, maybe it won't just be the lapses of time without their Dad, or the leaving friends in different places as we move....maybe it'll be of lightning bugs, beaches, ukeleles, walks in the summer night, and love.