Baby It's Cold Outside

Winter is here (if only for a week or two) and I'm loving this little cold spell. We're laying low, spending time in front of the fire and relaxing a bit before the rush of the holiday season. I've been MIA for a couple of weeks, for no good reason other than that work has been nuts (story of my life), I've been busy baking, and just enjoying life in general. I used to be able to knock out a blog post or two during the work week, but the pace lately has not allowed me to do so. By the time I get home, get dinner on the table, and settle in with my little family, the last thing I want to do is fire up the computer to tell you about stuff that probably isn't very exciting. I made a promise to myself to only post when I have something interesting to share, and I plan on sticking to it.

A little about life lately....

Out and About:

We went to see Head and the Heart at Stubbs last weekend. This was our second time to see them, and their new album is awesome. If you're looking for some new music, I highly suggest downloading it "Let's Be Still". Summertime and Shake are probably my two favorite songs off the new album, but it's hard to go wrong with anything they record.

Animals:

Our 5 girls keep us entertained on a daily basis. Brees is almost 9 months old and still growing. She's due for a check up, but I'm guessing she's right around 50 pounds. We're hoping she will come up short on her projected weight of 70ish pounds. We'll see. There have been a few rounds of vet visits for the three older ladies, but everyone is hanging in there and for the most part staying healthy (with the exception of our ever depleting wallets). This past Sunday was the coldest day we've had in forever, and we all enjoyed bundling up and snuggling on the couch in front of the fire.

Brees the wonder pup

Marley and Maddie (Miss Drama Queen)

Katie and Bailey hogging my spot in bed

Baking:

My little side project, Sweet Elise, is still going strong. In fact, I just had my first repeat customer who is NOT a family member! I've been making mostly decorated sugar cookies, along with a few cakes. I'm hoping to find some time this weekend to work on a few cookie sets that I would like to market for December, but am still struggling to balance my time between baking and making time for family. I'll share some pictures of recent projects in a separate post.


Work:

It was a tough year for me professionally. After two massively successful years, I learned the hard way what happens when you blow out your sales quota. They double it. While I still managed to exceed my revenue from last year, I was not able to meet the expectations set for me. I was without a field rep for half of the year, and that certainly didn't help. But all I can do is lick my wounds, and move on to the next year. We're well into the first quarter, and things are already going well. I have two new field reps this year, and I have no doubt we're going to blow it out again. While I didn't win the club trip this year (insert sad face), I'm going to work my butt off so that we can celebrate Hank's 40th birthday in Anguilla January 2015. We just finished our sales conference out at the Hyatt Lost Pines last week, and it was just the right amount of kool aid drinking to get me energized and excited to tackle this new year. Bring it on!


So there's a quick little recap for you. We have so much to be thankful for, and I'm looking forward to celebrating the holidays with my now husband. Tomorrow marks the two year anniversary of our very first date, and what a wild ride it has been. I know there are a lot of great things in store for us, and I'm so thankful to have such an amazing man in my life. I hope that all of you have a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving!