Christmas Cards!

I love the Christmas season! I love dressing the house in red and green, decorating the Christmas tree, hosting Christmas parties, and sending and receiving Christmas cards. Last year, I sent out a simple Christmas greeting. It was a nice card but lacked the personal touch I was looking for. It was generic.

This year, I'm using Shutterfly to create a Christmas card with some pizazz. It's going to be great! I'm adding images (including this adorable one of my sweet pup, Boone):

a few shots of me and Josh, and a couple of images from the bakery. I'm also including a personal greeting and a quick re-cap of our year. There's so much I want to share with my friends and family. Including news about the bakery (we're growing quickly!), trips we've taken (Warren, PA!), and what the upcoming year will hold.

Shutterfly has everything I need this holiday season including fantastic invitations and even Thank You notes. Check out the links I've included and get creative!

30 Things That Make Me Smile (in no particular order):

1. My loving husband
2. Our growing business
3. My encouraging brother-- I could not make it through the day without him
4. Laughter
5. My dog, Boone
6. High School Reunions
7. My sister-in-law (she always listens and never judges)
8. Isaac
9. Eli-- he is beginning to shine!
10. Encouraging parents
11. Sleep
12. Sunday mornings
13. Carson
14. Our customers
15. Larry's Beans
16. Great Bread!
17. Challenges
18. God's Provision
19. God's Grace
20. Margaritas
21. Clean Sheets
22. Gifts
23. Blue Ribbons
24. Handmade scarves
25. Prayer
26. My in-laws (Tom and Marilee rock!)
27. Christmas-- I LOVE Christmas!
28. My garden
29. My bed
30. Snuggling

I want to Blog

I want to blog but I am uncertain of what to say, or how much to share. I tend to be a private person. I like to think things through, and really examine my own thoughts and feelings before blurting them out. It takes me a while to open up to a stranger, and the thought of a stranger reading my thoughts and feelings is scary. But, here I go. I need an outlet and I think blogging could be a very good one.
Josh and I are getting back into a routine. The holidays were a little crazy at the bakery and we both found ourselves working long hours. I don't think we would have minded the long hours so much, if we could have come home at the end of the day and been together, snuggled on the couch, watched a movie, fallen asleep together. The Christmas season took a lot out of us.
We're still on opposite shifts but things at the bakery have slowed down a bit and we're able to spend some time at home- together. It's nice.

We Made It!

Here is the final tally:
26 Pumpkin pies
11 Pecan pies
9 Apple pies
8 Coconut cakes
10 Stollen
19 Stuffing bread
66 dozen yeast rolls
and a miss match of this and that totaling 97 orders and a HUGE day in sales.
It was a busy day at the bakery.
Josh arrived at the bakery around 3:30pm on Tuesday afternoon and went to work mixing the doughs. He worked for 14 hours.
His sweet friend, Jared, and our good friend, Matt, volunteered their time and spent the night at the bakery. They weighed out ingredients, mixed, and shaped. They pulled bread out of the oven, stocked the shelves, and bagged yeast rolls. They worked hard and Josh could not have accomplished all that he needed to without their help. They are great friends.
I arrived at the bakery at 3:30am on Wednesday. I was ready to work. I was ready to put special orders together, stock the pastry case, bag bread, and brew coffee. I was ready for the day to begin. And, it began with a bang.
At 3:45am the power went out. Fuquay-Varina had a blackout- the entire town lost power. No street lights, no traffic lights, no power at the bakery.
Deep breath.
There was no time to lose, no time to waste. Nathan and I began packaging special order by the light of Josh's cell phone. And, Josh and Jared kept track of time- there was Stollen in the oven and we couldn't let it burn.
The blackout was unexpected and stressful but it gave us a reason to let go and laugh. Josh and I (and the rest of our staff) had been so anxious about the orders and production and putting everything together that we had forgotten to be still and be thankful. The blackout forced us to stop and listen. It forced us to stand still. And, it forced me to turn my attention to Christ. To ask God for guidance, for peace, and for light.
God is so faithful. The power was restored by 5:00am and we were able to complete our tasks, open the bakery, and labor through a crazy day. With God's guiding hand, we were able to make it through the dark.

Thanksgiving

The countdown has officially begun.
Although we will be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day, we believe that Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) is going to be ridiculously busy. I'll post our Special Order tallies tomorrow night. Right now, I'm going to take a deep breath, turn off the computer, and snuggle with my hubby.

Lock & Load

Main Entry: Lock and Load
Function: Verb

1. Short for locking the magazine/cartridge into the gun and loading the ammunition into the gun's chamber.
2. A term used to show toughness, ambition, and other strong characteristics.

It is time for us to lock and load.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and we have a long To Do list that includes creating a solid staffing plan, ordering a variety of ingredients, taking a trip to Wal-mart, baking a test batch of Stuffing Bread, mixing fruit for Stollen, and organizing Special Orders.
We have already started taking orders for the Big Day (the day before Thanksgiving).
Here's a look at our Special Order tally to date:
23 dozen yeast rolls
8 Stollen
23 pies (we're offering Apple, Cherry, Cranberry Walnut, Pecan, and Pumpkin)
2 Coconut Cakes
4 Pumpkin Cheesecakes
and a mismatch of this and that.

In other words, it's time for us to "Get ready!"

Mom-and-Pop

Main Entry: mom–and–pop
Pronunciation: \ˈmäm-ən(d)-ˈpäp\
Function: adjective

1. of or pertaining to a small retail business, usually owned and operated by members of a family: a mom-and-pop bakery.
2. of or indicating something, as an enterprise, investment, or project, that is independent, small in scope, and modestly financed.
3. a small-scale, owner-operated business



My husband, Josh, and I own a mom-and-pop bakery in a growing community 30 minutes south of Raleigh, North Carolina.

We have been open for 9 months.