Life of a stay-at-home mom (sahm) is not all bon-bons and manicures is it!? Prior to our move to Utah 7 years ago, I was working full time in a Financial Aid Office at a private university in Orange County, California. There was always lots to do, recognition for a job well done, and I had a great boss and co-workers. Joe was working through the Master's program and home with Ella.
Moving to Utah was good, but hard. Our small town has 2 grocery stores, no mall, and snow for half the year - big shock to the system! Couple that with now being the one to stay home - I was ecstatic, but a little lonely.
Since being home I've always looked for ways to help with the "bottom line" of our family finances. And done lots to help with the church Joe was pastoring, financial books, bulletins, etc. . . in the midst of having babies, and taking care of stuff - I lost myself. I was the one taking care of everyone else, leaving no time, no energy for myself. Sound familiar?
When I started quilting in earnest, I found more and more of myself. Uncovering the layers, if you will. I found this amazing online community, shortly after loosing our church community, and dove right in. I set up this blog, an etsy shop, and began leaving comments everywhere! There is so much inspiration to be had in the community, and I'm doing my best to soak it all up, and make connections.
So my question --
Do you have goals? Do you have a dream? Aim high and make baby steps toward it!
I would love to know your dreams.
Amy
The pictures are a few that Joe has taken around town this week.
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Next steps:
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One of my long term goals is to create my own fabric line and open a brick and mortar store. One of these days.....
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post and learning more about you. I think sometimes people online forget that we are real people behind the screen names, Etsy shop names and blog headers.
It's nice to learn more about you Amy, as I read your blog regularly. My dream is to own a quilt shop where I can play with fabric as much as I'd like! Hubby runs a long arm so luckily we could work together. Hopefully it will happen soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this post, it's an awesome way to get to know other bloggers. :)
These fabrics would make great gifts for certain sewing type people :)
ReplyDeleteWork from home India
Amy, thank you for sharing some of "you". And thank you for the photos. I assume that's your big, gorgeous home?
ReplyDeleteYou have inspired me to think about doing a post on myself. It's so much fun learning about our cyber-blogger-friends.
i totally needed to read this post today. i'm pretty stuck and literally just got off the phone with my BF and we were talking about what the hell are we doing creatively? nothing. i need to write down some goals.
ReplyDeleteMy goal and dream is to publish my patterns or combine them and write a book, but I really don't know where to go for so for now it's on hold.
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI loved your pictures of Utah - I am also a CA transplant and am now living in VA. Where did your husband go to school for his masters? I taught in Costa Mesa from 20 years (have been gone from there for 5 years now.)
Love your blog, Shirley Albertson Owens
sao (drsaowens@gmail.com)
www.shirleyannesheart.com
I love reading your blog and your story is wonderful. It is great to be in a small town...I miss that so much. I was able to live in a two stop light town for a year and I've always wanted to go back.
ReplyDeleteMy story is very much like yours....I have found and loved more of me by blogging....and I plan to continue.
Now I want to come visit :)
Kelly
And I can say, "I knew you when..."
ReplyDeleteI would love to write a book someday. I have several very different ideas of books I could write...I guess maybe we'll see which one writes itself first. This week God reminded me that his dreams for us are 3-dimensional...always changing and evolving.
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI would love to become a fulltime Artquilter - and that in a country where only a handful of people can make a living from this kind of Art (Germany). Sigh. But you are so right about the babysteps (do you know flylady???).
I would love to use some of those gorgeous pictures in a quilting project I'm working on right now - if I may? Please let me know: quilthexle@yahoo.de.
Thank you so much - and go on with this wonderful blog, I absolutely love it!
Take care,
Frauke
I was in a great job. Paid well. Unethical environment. Working 5/6 days a week 12+ hours a day. I had no life. My kids are in their 20s. I'd sacrificed along the way. I decided it was my time. I resigned. I'm not working at the moment, but I'm o.k. with that. I'm feeding my quilting/creative soul for a change. I'm inspired by people like you who have explored themselves and found a path to take that is rewarding and allows them to have a sense of integrity at the same time. I'm so thankful for blogs like yours that are helping me find my dream. I'm not there yet, but I'm on my way!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Amy! I know how you feel. After working full time and then becoming a sahm was a very difficult thing for me too. I am so glad that I've found the blogging community to support me. :)
ReplyDeleteMy ultimate dream would be to open a local quilt shop that is the perfect size for my town and cater to the locals while growing an internet side of the business, as well.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that this dream will ever be realized, as I am the power earner of the family. However, one never knows what is just beyond the horizon!
Thanks for sharing with us. Sometimes we feel like we are the only ones that have lost themselves because of all the responsiblities life brings. This quilting community has really helped me find my creative outlet. It has been a real blessing for me. You have made it even easier for us to see all that is out there in te quilting world so that we can continue to be inspired and inspire others. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to run my own business designing women's and children's patterns... loved learning more about you!
ReplyDeletemy goal is to get back to metalsmithing and making fabulous jewelry that i did before my son was born. i have some of my tools and torches, but not everything...nor the proper space.
ReplyDeletei also have a new goal to open a fabric/quilting store. a real one that i can sit at, finger the soft fabrics, have a longarm machine for side work during the days and love what i do. i could make simple jewelry while sitting at the counter or work on my illustrations.
Your photos of Utah are extraordinary! Good for you to set goals for yourself and to see them through. You are very talented.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the process of defining my goals as they are still rather haphazard. As a sahm and the one who directs the learning of my children at home, my identity has been as a homeschooler. In a few years dh will retire from the Army, our last child will be in high school and my current life will be different...where to go from here? Which talents and interests do I develop?
ReplyDeleteI know this sounds very old-fashioned, but my goal has always been to be a homemaker, wife and mother. I'm 2/3 of the way there! That being said, I do have a degree in Emergency Management and was a firefighter/paramedic for many years. I saw a lot in that job that I wish I hadn't. I am so blessed to be free to be at home and pursue my creative side- I could never do that before.
ReplyDelete~ Jennie
Aside from quilting all the tops I've finished, I want to finish editing my book and get it published. maybe to run a marathon with my sister. Also want to be brave enough to enter a fencing competition when I think that I can actually get a hit on my opponent.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely post Amy. I love the Utah photos. We lived there for 5 years and sometimes I miss the snowy beauty.
ReplyDeleteDreams - moving my little dining room (soon to be living room too) store into a "real" structure, getting more patterns published, and many more.
Boy, I can relate, sista!! I posted a similar story on my blog (http://ninamamaroux.blogspot.com/2009/12/something-wonderful.html) and I am now a happy Etsy seller, blogger, and have met wonderful gals in blog-land. I can also relate to your one shoe post. I do that all the time, although with a slipper!! Good luck with all of your adventures!
ReplyDeleteDelightful post Amy. Thanks for sharing. My story is pretty similar. I'm hoping to teach and inspire.
ReplyDeleteSewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
I haven't thought much about my own goals lately so thank you for asking. One of my main goals is to be fit and healthy but I let life get in the way. My other goal is to explore my artistic talents and keep creating art. Right now I am loving art quilts and I'd love to have some of my work published and in shows.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously don't live in Park City proper if these photos are from around where you live and you say you only have two grocery stores. Although I guess there are only a couple in Park City proper that I can think of - but lots of shopping. I'm just down the hill from you in the muck of SLC, although it is beautifully clean and clear today and I am very thankful! Thanks for sharing!
My goal is to be more myself again--I seem to have spent too much of the last 20 years second guessing in an effort to fit in better. Your comment about finding yourself is quilting is right on for me. Plus I have lots of fabric stash (sadly not modern but still me) with which to work!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your incredible openness and honesty Amy.
ReplyDeleteYour post made me think about this question of goals. I'm not an ambitious person in the tradition sense but do like to be the best I can be. I want to stop flitting and become more focussed in my quilting life. I want to make the most of life. I want to be there for my family and friends and for anybody else who needs me without getting bogged down myself. I want to get my case packed for my trip to NZ without anymore stress!
Love hearing more about you! Obviously a lot rings true as a fellow SAHM (and one who used to work in higher ed, too!). I have also found that quilting seems to give me my own space to be myself again, and I love it for that.
ReplyDelete-Liz
Oh, friend. I don't know how you do it. Part of me would love to do the small town thing, but I've done the reverse of you: coming to San Diego from Utah was a much better change. I'm not sure I could come back (although Park City is verrry cute.)
ReplyDeleteMaybe you told me before, but what was the Univ in OC? My hubs and I went to Biola...don't suppose that was it?
Hang in there, friend. God has a definite purpose for you being there.
This was a great post. I just posted today something about myself, as well.
ReplyDeleteGoals...I really want to concentrate on my etsy shop. I'm changing directions and really want that to be my priority. I am so thankful to have a community of blogging friends from which to draw inspiration.
P.S. What university in Orange County?
ReplyDeleteMy dream is to someday have a quilt store. An actually building filled with fabrics. I just started blogging and set up an etsy account. I'm going to try selling fabric on etsy to start and see where that goes.
ReplyDeleteI think being a Moda Bake Shop designer and teaching quilting classes is a dream that I'd love to conquer, however I'm not disciplined enough yet to even come near it...but maybe one day...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing so much about yourself and your journey trough life. Being a stay at home mum and raising kids is the job I most admire. I never experienced the joy of having kids myself, though I know the job often comes with few recognition.
ReplyDeleteI dreamed my little dream. After having paid employment for 22 years I went to art school at the age of 39, became a self-employed graphic designer at 41 and graduated at 44. When I discovered quilting and blogging, 3 years ago, I thought of it as just another hobby.
Now, I dream another dream. To design quilts and fabrics. To fuse my work and hobby, to push myself to the liberated side of quilting. Maybe it will never become reality, but I love to hold on to the dream!
What a wonderful glimpse through your life's journey! Thanks for sharing such a personal story! I'm thrilled that you've found yourself through quilting and the online community and of course a big congrats to your dream of publishing a book! I seriously can't wait to get it! My goal is to live a life I love where I don't regret or say what if all the time. I want to make things and be proud of them and make a living off of that. I definitely aim high and take baby steps. I wish I could take bigger steps towards my goals but it's hard with a full time job and rent to pay. Thanks for always being an inspiration for me!
ReplyDeleteThe pictures that your husband took are really amazing too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous blog!
ReplyDeleteWonderful comments-I LOVE reading
about others' dreams and thoughts!
It's always a gift when someone
shares their heart and I love all
the heart felt comments here!
Dreams...my dreams? Oh, so many!
To inspire and encourage others is what makes me tick! And that is why I write and sew and blog!!
My dreams are to do those things with all my heart and soul- and to
continue to find ways to monetize them!!!
Enjoying all the LOVE here for FABRICS and QUILTS and CRAFTS!!!
Thank you so much for sharing your journey, Amy!
God is using you and I see Him in YOU!
And THANK YOU Bloggers for sharing your amazing dreams-I loved reading them!
God bless,
Elaine
www.ElaineBarnett.com
Writing(and sometimes SEWING)To Encouarge YOU!
Nice post Amy :-) My dream, which is actually going to come true in 2 months, is to be a mom, and stay home full-time. My last day of work is 3/16 and I couldn't be more excited! After we get used to having a newborn, I plan to sew & quilt to my hearts content... hopefully making a bit of cash in the process... if I can manage to not SPEND all my quilting income on more fabric :-)
ReplyDeletefirst let me say, i wish you all the best, Blogging is just the loveliest way of keeping in touch with so many communities that it does help with the loneliness sometimes, people are so sharing and caring, Love those photos, good luck with the book and patterns, as for myself, I am really in a happy place right now, pottering away, I would like some more sewing time though if that was possible.
ReplyDeleteSorry I tried to email you and the computer wants me to use Outlook and I don't have it set up. I also did not find you email address just the place where it says email.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could email me at cheflatte@yahoo.com. I am in need of figuring out some things like how to get a book published ...Could really use your thoughts.
Love your blog & loved this post. My goal right now is to get decent enough with my long arm to work myself out of my real job and just do this all the time. I love the online quilting world and I don't feel as lonely quilting as I once did.
ReplyDeleteI live abroad and shopping for anything quilty can be difficult. Even ordering online is risky 'cuz I may not get the package. My dream is to open a store and share my love of quilting!
ReplyDeleteahhh! A photo of Chick's! Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteI would love to design fabric. Or design anything I felt the urge to design. But I don't always know where to start. I guess my bags were a good first step!
my dream is to find a new job so that I have one that I really like and can spend more time with my husband and quilting. The problem is that I live in the middle of Michigan and if you find a job in my town, you better stick with it ( I have for 6 years now). On the good note of my job, it was needed desperately when I found it and I met my husband there.
ReplyDeleteYour story really touched me today for some reason. Your life seems very happy to me. I just sent my youngest son off to college so I'm just entering a new stage of my life. Kinda hard at first but now I'm getting my groove and finding this quilting community really helped. Even though I only just started I've been helping some girls at work with their quilting and I love helping and encouraging them. My dream is to continue to grow creatively and to maybe teach or hold some workshops someday to support other new quilters.
ReplyDeleteAmy! We needed to know this about you - thanks so much for sharing! Your hubby is a fantastic photographer! I posted about my long term goals here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.candiedfabrics.com/2010/01/01/looking-ahead-long-term-goals/
Your success with the book deal has inspired me for that pie in the sky goal!
My goals... I want to publish patterns of quilts and maybe other things too. I'm investigating the different ways of going about it. I want to be a good mom and connect with each of my kids every day. But having this thing that is more just for me, sewing and quilting, makes me a bit better able to be a good mom.
ReplyDelete**I thought I posted already, but think it got lost...
ReplyDeleteI feel guilty wanting to pursue my next dream in life as being a teacher has been amazing and everyone says "but you have it made when you go back to work...spring break summer break winter holidays..." But inside, I know my goals are creativity related...this year I'm stepping things up and pushing myself more. I want to work in the textile industry - quilting related preferably. I'd love to be a fabric rep for a major company or a consultant in the business. Oh heck, I want to open up an etsy shop too and sell things that I have made....and eventually own my own quilting retreat/shop by the sea. Will you come? ;-)
Great post Amy! I have lots of hobbies and interests, but the big goal I have for myself is to be a published children's writer. I have lots of ideas and lots of manuscripts. Until then, I will draw inspiration from my cute kindergartners!
ReplyDeleteFinally logging on to blogger today. Those pictures are beautiful! We have a commercial for "visit Park City" here and I think of you every time!
ReplyDeleteI had forgotten that you stayed in that "financial aid office" long after I left...
I'm working on making goals...right now I just feel like I'm treading water to keep from drowning. I hear it gets easier. Praying it's true...
Amy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story. It's funny how similar our stories are even though we are on opposite sides of the world. My dream? To print fabric of my own design - and I mean actually getting down and dirty and doing the printing. Preferably on organic fabric that come from fair trade farmers.
Thanks for asking!
Hugs from Australia.
Libby
I like your post!!!
ReplyDeleteMy dream would be to become a stay-at-home mom with four children somewhere under the sun in South France!
Now, I'm working since I finished university and have one sweetie. In order to have a house with a nice garden here in Brussels (Belgium), it's so expensive that you need min. 2 salaries for at least 15 years!
But even it's a dream, I am happy as I live NOW because I'm priviliged: I have a nice job, a lovely husband, a sweet daughter, a house with a big garden and time to craft!!!
What should I need more;D
Great post! I really like the 3rd picture that you used, the colors are so vibrant! Good job Joe!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you wrote this post today, I was filling out all the finanical aid forms and scholarship apps for this coming school year today. I think it re-energized me thinking about my goals. I might be working hard now at school and work, but hopefully in the next few years I can be doing more of what I really love... not that I don't love what I do now, but you know what I mean. anyways, love ya!
For me is to have all my debts gone with - well esp my credit cards. I don't mind still paying my house and car. The dream is to have my craft pay for itself and earn my living so I don't have to travel to work everyday. But then, I will miss my weekly body combat and yoga at work. SIGH. 2010 started very badly for me.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting post, Amy. Like many of those who have responded I too have aims. I lefrt my full-time teaching post at the end of the summer. I had had too little time to be truly creative for far too long. My daughters grown and living independent lives, though we are frequently in contact, it was time for me. Now, I work as a supply teacher (relief teacher) loving the time I spend with children from the ages of a few months old to eleven. Its varied, no two days are the same. I can plan time for my own projects and leave part of each week free for these. Future plans? Well, I would like to have one of my quilts accepted for a major exhibition, and also organise an exhibition of quilts in the town where I live. Its good to have dreams........
ReplyDeleteAmy...I guess you can say I'm living my dream, I opened a quilt shop in 2005 and haven't looked back. I work harder now then when I was in banking but I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. I guess my next dream would be to retire on the water but that's several years off so until then I'll keep having fun.
ReplyDeleteI've recently met a bunch of my goals-finishing graduate school, moving, finding a job and now I have some ideas of goals flitting around in my head. It's been tricky (almost like the day-after-Christmas feeling) once I met those big goals to come up with others. They will come, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteI can identify with being at home with small children in a rural setting. That was me 25 years ago--an hour and a half away from any city and significantly older than the demographic norm for a parent with toddlers. All I can say is that I marvel at how you have the time and mental energy to be as creative as you are, and that's a compliment, not a criticism. My memories are more of the survival sort, but time passes, children grow and the creative urge did return! My husband is a farmer, so he did much of the kindercare while I went back to my job.
ReplyDeleteNow I am retired and happily playing with fabric. No regrets though! Thanks for your posts-I enjoy them all.
Margaret
I love that first picture!
ReplyDeleteMy dream is to leave the desk job and be a full time sahm and full time creator - cooking, writing, quilting. Already on my way.
I love this post and relate to it in so many ways. Goals are a big part of my life. They bring fulfillment and like you said help me find myself.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to learn all that new info about you! I had no idea what you did prior to having kids. It's so cool to learn people's stories prior to your experience with them. Dreams and goals? Yes! I dream about being self-employed someday. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post.
ReplyDeleteMy goal for this year is to learn how to really use my new machine and get good enough to start selling my quilts and throw pillows.
Part of that goal will include setting up a new domain and blog about the things that inspire me, along with pictures of all my creative outlets.
In addition to being a mother, wife and quilter, I'm an architect. Right now I've got a great gig - I'm contracting with a firm and working from home. It's not quite my dream job (I prefer more modern design than what this firm does, and since I'm a contract architect, I don't always get to do what I want....).
A longer term goal for me is to develop my architecture with my quilting, all while working from a rural commune (I guess intentional community is a better term), where my favorite people are gathered and we have goats, chickens and an organic garden.
Amy,
ReplyDeleteI love following your blog. My brother lives in Park City (also has a condo in Salt Lake) and is the Keeper/Owner of the Blue Victorian up off Main Street. Love the pictures.
Gosh. Your post seems so much like some of my own. I am also a struggling sahm who found quilting as my expression. It helps so much to know that other women struggle with the same things. I think one of the reasons I like quilting is because it is such a womanly thing that has persisted over the centuries. Sometimes while quilting I think about the ancestors who taught me what I know, or bequeathed their tools to me, or just etched sewing into my DNA somehow. It makes me feel connected, just as all the blogs do.
ReplyDeleteYour story inspires me to think how much I can achieve. Thank you for sharing.
It was great to here more about you. I'm in a simular place. I have goals that I want to accomplish but I'm not sure how to do it yet and I'm a bit scared. Is that how you feel about it sometimes? I want to design fabric and patterns.
ReplyDeleteHi! I recognize that mountain... it is the most beautiful mountain in the state!
ReplyDeleteNice to hear your story, and you live in a wonderful area, although I imagine a bit tough for a transplant!
Love your blog, will check back!
~Cat
Can my dream be to get all the rooms in my house clean at the same time? Really, I did fine until the fourth baby, and now there is just no keeping up with the small (albeit adorable) forces of destruction in my world.
ReplyDeleteAlso, your picture of Chick's Cafe made me homesick for Heber- not that I've ever lived there, but my grandparents do, and we spent much of every summer there. I need to get up there and visit my sweet little Grandma. Thanks for the beautiful pictures! There's nowhere else in the world like Heber Valley.
I really enjoyed reading more about you. I have been a sahm for 24 years. My youngest is now 12. I too had lost myself and quilting has helped me to express myself. I have had a longarm business since 2004,but am now felling the desire to do more but not sure what. Maybe a shop. Thanks for your inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI'm a SAHM also....my dream would be to be organized. I'm the worst. Throughout the years my dreams have evolved and run the gamete of such to be a professional singer, to being a writer, professional shopper, etc. But now I just want my kids to be happy and successful in anything they want to do.
ReplyDeleteBTW I was raised in the Heber Valley and my folks still live there. It has grown alot since, but I still find it very quaint and when driving home I love to come up over the mountain and look down at the valley and look at beautiful Timpanogas mountain blessing the valley with its wondrous beauty. That mountain for me is a symbol of home, peace and happiness. I hope you are able to find that also.
It is so nice to meet you :o)
ReplyDeleteI found you through another's blog and am looking forward to your quilter's festival. I have only been blogging since the summer of last year (so feel as if I am still learning about blogs and bloggy-things...). I didnt even know what a blog was until our older daughter showed us hers...and thankfully, she had won me a blog layout design to get me started. I do well to at least get one post out a week, so I hope to try to join in with your meme.
I just posted about quilts, so did I understand that I will not be able to use this quilt post during that week? May I use it if there are any changes that I make or add to it?
Blessings & Aloha!
(we are in Kentucky right now for our son in law's graduation, but will be back home in Georgia on Monday...so I wont be checking our emails again until then. But if you have time, I would love to hear from you...mgbotelho21@gmail.com Thank you :o)
Just found you today. Thank you for posting. I can so relate. Just started this blog thing. Come on over and say hi. :)
ReplyDeletesewsowinlove.blogspot.com
I look forward to reading more! thanks, again, jan