What a year!

 When I wrote my blog post about my word for 2013 "forward" I had NO idea I would not be posting again in 2013! What a year it was! My hubby and I started out the year looking to possibly move closer to our kids and grandson. We spent 2 weeks on a road trip exploring possibilities. At the end of our trip we came home and decided we weren't quite ready to leave the pacific northwest. So we jumped in with both feet and opened a shoppe! 

We spent months researching other shoppes, collecting furniture, and scouting a location. We thought we had a perfect location for a great price, but negotiations with the landlord fell through. We had spent a couple months coming up with a list of improvements, drawing floor plans for the layout and were running out of room in our 3 garages full of product. We wanted about 2000 square feet, but the choices we had were either smaller or much larger. Storage was important, parking a huge factor and an area we could hold workshops or classes. We finally found a really great contender, but it was only 1300 square feet. After meeting with the landlord we were SOLD! He was tearing down the building next door and we would be able to add on another 600-1000 square feet.

The building is new, the original building was torn down and rebuilt with apartments above and retail on the street. The space was an empty shell, so we were able to pick the flooring, the lighting and some of the paint colors. After we signed the lease agreement April 1, 2013 the fun began! We kept busy painting furniture, my hubby built our counter out of an old entertainment center. 

Our window display came from 3 old doors and some leftover decking material. Our wrap counter came from 2 wood file cabinets a friend was throwing away and a butcher block top. With the key pieces in place we could finally start filling it up! We hired my niece Kourtney, who had just graduated from college in Utah as our full time employee and a coworker of my hubby as our part-time employee.

After weeks of painting furniture, unpacking product, and placing everything perfectly we were ready to open the doors! We opened for our first day of business June 1, 2013!

It's been quite the adventure! Many heated discussions, lots of favorite pieces of furniture I had a hard time parting with, but it's been so fun! 

 Lucky for me my employees are wonderful! While trying to keep up with the demand of the shoppe, my daughter was married July 27, 2013.

 I was matron of honor for one of my besties August 31, 2013

 My adorably cute grandson came to visit for the first time!

And my son got engaged on a visit in November! Wedding set for August 2, 2014. I also had visits form my sister and her husband, my brother and his wife, my mom-in-law and father-in-law and my mom and stepdad! It was one of the BEST years EVER!

My word for 2014?

I'll be back soon =)