Manda

So, I’m trying to get back into the whole blogging thing. Years ago, way to many years ago, I would blog several days a week. That was close to 20 years ago. And I enjoyed it. But as I got older and the years ticked by, the desire to blog started to diminish. And it became something that I would think about doing every few months but wouldn’t take the time to actually do it. This past year has brought that desire back tenfold so I thought “why not jump in with both feet and just start blogging again.”

So here I am.

Will anyone read this? Probably not, and that is okay. I didn’t blog for people to read, that’s why I never had a lot of followers. I blogged for me. Because I enjoyed it.

Here’s hoping I can keep it up!

Featured Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

When I first started at my past job years ago, I thought for sure I would be working there until retirement. I absolutely loved it. It wasn’t until the pandemic hit that things started to change. I won’t get into it, but I will say that how us “essential employees” were treated by both the customers and the company was not something I could continue to deal with. It took a huge toll on my mental and physical health. Add on that I was unable to take time off (even though I had an abundance of vacation and PTO because I hardly ever called off) and you had a recipe for complete and total burnout. So I decided to give up on the job I once loved so much.

It was beyond scary to take that leap. Despite the negative effects it had on my health, I was paid extremely well, and (not to toot my own horn) I was good at my job. But I just couldn’t do it anymore.

What we decided to do instead was take the plunge and work on our business full time. It was a scary decision that some days I regretted due to not having the stability that my other job provided. And it took several months to “mellow out” (my past job had me stressed out 24/7).

Even though I work way more hours now with our own business (some days it feels non stop with caring for the bees, making product, finding venues to set up at, research, generate social media content, and so much more), I have been able to spend more time with my family and feel just so much better mentally.

It has been full of ups and some downs, trails and errors (plenty of errors), doubts and confidence, excitement and fears.

Featured Image by Simon Berger on Unsplash.

Another year in the books, and boy was this one a doozy. Nothing inherently bad happened to us, thank the good Lord. But 2020 has been odd, to say the least.

The year start off normally. We went to a few beekeeper conventions in January and March, and then COVID-19 hit. That put a halt in everyone’s plans.

But I’m not gonna focus on anything negative that happened this past year, and instead list the positive aspects of 2020.

We were able to make some improvements to our home (new garage doors and new kitchen flooring). We also added a bunch of fruit trees (peaches, cherries, and plums), as well as several blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry bushes, to our property.

Mike was able to grow his apiary. He has also started to create products with his beeswax (such as lip balms, salves, and soaps). His business is really taking off! He started selling his honey to a local coffee house/restaurant, and now has a booth with his honey and bee related products available for purchase at a store in our town.

Here’s to hoping that 2021 treats everyone well!

Featured Image by Luke Hodde @gamevogue thanks for making this photo available freely on Unsplash.