Day 31 of Living my Dream..Not the end

Well, Dear Friends, Here we are. We are now at the end of 31 Days of Living My Dream. I have tried my best to allow you to follow me through my journey the last few years. I hope that you can see  how God has protected my dream and allowed it to unfold in His time. God has allowed my dream to begin to blossom even as my life was making big changes.

  My dream has probably saved my life. The grief and sorrow has been so significant  that there were weeks that I sat on the sofa and could not think of a single thing that was important enough to make me get moving. There were times I did all my normal things but my heart was empty. But God placed that desire deep inside me. He knew that Vyntage Barn would be more than a dream. He has allowed my dream to become a place where my siblings and I can be together and laugh and work. Our children have become involved in such a big way and the dream just gets bigger. We have big plans for the spring sale even as we prepare for our Christmas sale. There is an excitement in the air for each of us.

  My shed has giving me a place to be, a place that sparkles and glitters and makes everything seem so much better. A place where I can dare to dream even bigger. Vyntage barn is my escape from all the worries and sadness, a place my parents would have loved.

  My hubby and I spend more time together looking for stuff for the  store. My brother stops over with his items that he is making and gives me ideas for the sale. My sister is finishing her last year of teaching and will become even more involved as this school year ends. 

  My Mom would have loved to have seen how our idea of a little shop has brought us all together is such a grand way. She would have loved that her passing has brought our cousins out in full force to support us, to share with us, to love on us!

   My dream is not ending with the completion of the 31 day series. My dream is just starting. I will continue to share what I am doing and how things are going. But I hope that through my journey you can see that God is there in our darkest moments. He has things planned that only He can make happen. He wants more for us than our biggest dreams. God has held on to me when I couldn't move. He has supported me when I didn't think I could do it. He as loved me when I was beyond lonely. I call on His name to comfort my soul when the grief overtakes me.

   I still have days of tears and sadness. My heart is clearly a work in progress but my dreams are growing and ideas are flowing and I am trying to laugh again. My life has been forever changed by the loss of my parents but my life goes on until I am called home to be with them again.

  God has given me a reason to go on. He placed a dream in my heart that would not go away. I am blessed to be living my dream right here, right now...in my shed, with my family. I am blessed beyond measure.

Day 30 Living My Dream...sometimes I work too hard

Well dear friends, I spent the day painting furniture and moving it into my shop...tomorrow I will moving things around.....I think I am so tired that I don't have much to share!

day 29 living my dream....sharing my joy

  Well, I just want to share a few thoughts today about my dream. When I enter the doors, I enter into a world where I can create. I listen to music and I dream of what it will look like when I get done. I work hard daily in every capacity. I enjoy every minute.
  It has been so wonderful to connect with old friends. It has been a season of meeting new friends and reconnecting with family. But at the same time it has been a season of truth. I have a friend that is showing signs of jealously, signs of worry but not signs of happiness for me. It is always interesting when you see truth, when someone reveals who they truly are, when you are staring into a new reality.
  I believe the Lord uses these times to change our path, to draw us close. I am not sad, I am happy to see truth revealed....I am happy to change my path when I am going the wrong way.
  The Lord has changed my path may times and I am thrilled with when He has taken me. I am home and working at doing something I love. My dream is growing and changing and dear Friends, you are here to see it happen. You are with me, you have shared your kind comments and ideas.I am blessed . You have shared my sorrow and my grief and seen joy begin to build in my heart. I am so happy to share this with each of you!

Day 28 Living My Dream...A Day of Rest and Fun

Yesterday I spent the morning priming this piece of furniture so I do not have a picture of a finish. I actually primed a few other pieces too but I was in a hurry to get moving so I will have to share those later.
 When I got home yesterday I had all intentions of putting a coat of paint on some of the furniture but once I sat down I just did not feel like going back to the paint!
  After I spent some time with relatives I went to a small town to deliver something when I thought of a dear friend that lived across the street. She has the cutest porch so I walked over to see if I could catch her at home. We spent the next few hours talking, laughing and sharing experiences. What a treasure friends are to my life. I am blessed beyond measure.
 

Day 27 Following my dream. More furniture

Good Morning Friends,
 I have been putting together more furniture for our next sale. This piece was so pretty that I hated to paint it. I adore how it turned out and I am hoping to get it moved into my little shed today! I knew when I saw it that it would be coming home with me!
  There is much to do but it is all good. When you are working on things that you love it just isn't work at all.
Dh and I have been working the auctions to find something new and different. The best part is we do it together and that makes is even better. Today dh and and a friend are acturally doing alittle work on my little shed and then tomorrow I will work in there after I do a little visiting.
  Sometimes it is easy to forget there are people out there that need me and that I need to slow down a do a little visiting or helping. So this week I will make a few other stops as I work. I will work steady no quickly.
  Sometimes I feel such joy in my dream such happiness that I have a safe and happy place to be, then there is the deep sadness of loss and hearbreak. That feeling of dread that you can't change the last two years and some of your loved ones are gone forever from this earth. It seems so impossible, so dreadful and so real. I try to allow myself a time of sadness before I try to move forward. I know we will be together again but sometimes I can't find immediate relief from that...I have to hold my memories dear and follow my dream knowing they are with me in all I do!

Day 26...Living My Dream..and We Begin Again!

Well, Dear Friends,
  I was thinking about when I was deciding on what the topic would be for my 31 Days.. Honesty when I was trying to decide the topic it had not occurred to me that my dream would come true during our time together. It didn't even occur to me until I was on day three that it would happen as I was writing my 31 day series. God is good and he has a sense of humor because sometimes I don't get it.
  Since our sale I have been trying to get some furniture purchased for our next sale so I thought I would share some of what I have been up to today.
   I did get my cast off and today I started therapy on my wrist so what better time than to start some furniture. My dh primed all the pieces for me and what a big help that was. So I put a couple of coats of paint on them and tomorrow I will put on a stain but for today this is where I started.

And this is where I am ending for the day. One drawer is getting repaired so it is missing in this picture but you will get the idea. This is a new color for me and so far I like it but I will love it once the stain goes on. I was too tired to stain it tonight so it will have to wait for tomorrow.
  While I was finishing up I got that sick feeling that comes around when I realize that my parents are not here to share my success and failures. Mom would have loved this color and Dad would have thought I ruined it with paint. It brought a smile to my face and then a few tears. How my heart cries when I think of my loss.
  I hope you love the furniture!

Day 25 of Living my dream...my dream gets bigger

So today I went shopping with my dd and after we found her iphone that she left in the bathroom at Lowes we purchased some paint and primer. Yes, I am getting display pieces ready for our December weekend. I am excited to see what I can do with a few new pieces and some new gift items.
  It has been an exciting time, a few bumps in the road but overall we have had an amazing opening event. My siblings were amazing with their support and help. And since we are having so much fun we have decided to be open one more weekend. I will have some new pictures very soon of some of the new displays. I can't wait to share.
  Today when I went inside the shop to drop a few things off I was a little sad to see how bare it is. I think I forgot to post pictures but I will update this post with a few pictures of the shop now.
  One thing is for sure, I am living my dream. I am making mistakes and I am loving every minute of it. It is such had work and I often spend 12 hours a day working on projects but the days go fast and the ideas keep coming. I am so happy even when I am sad. I have a deep joy that only God could place in my heart. But to be honest, almost everyday I pick up my phone to call Mom. It seems like I just talked to her. She is so missed, so loved and yet she is in everything I do. I have an even bigger dream...things I want to do that will expand the little shed. I want to add on to the back and make it larger. There were times we were very full of people and I think we could easily expand. Can't wait to see what we can do. But first we have a show to get ready for the December event!

Day 24 of Living my dream...Looking Forward

Today was such a busy day. Hubby and I decided to take a day and do a little road trip. We found a few items for the Vyntage Barn. Even when we are relaxing we are always on the look-out for something new and different. But sometimes we go overboard and find many things.
  Today was one of the those days. We found so much that we finally rented a u haul...so much fun.
 When we finally got home we had one of the boyfriends come over to help unload. My hubby says he is tired but I just keep smiling! We had a great day!
  I would love to show some pictures but now that would ruin the before and after! So for today I can't share but I am hoping to prime tomorrow and from there decide on color.
  I have been very thrilled with all the wonderful response from our sale. I am so happy that there are so many others that love our stuff too! So I am gearing up for another sale! The date will be announced very soon!!!

  

Day 23 Living my dream...Regrouping

 So today we are on a road trip. We have decided to go on the hunt for more furniture. We are up early and excited about another adventure. We continue to have people stop and wonder when we will be open again or wonder if we will be open more.
  As of right now we are hoping to be open in December but until we have some furniture we can't set the date.Wish us luck!

Day 21 of Living my Dream...the next thing

 As I was working today I was thinking about all the pieces of furniture that are now gone. My poor little shop has lost most of her furniture. What a treat it was that everyone loved the furniture but oh my. I did not have my camera with me but I will show you some of the ones that are gone. This big beautiful hutch is now gone..

 the beautiful dresser is gone...

 all the blue furniture is gone...

tree and desk gone..

 my little old hollywood stand is gone..

and chevron...also gone.
  My goodness there is not much to show you but I will take pictures tomorrow so you can see for yourself.
  It has been a blessing but not I am back to work. I am on the search for more furniture and more things for the shop. Today we moved a few things around and started to clean up the mess.
  I am so thankful for everything and now we begin again. Not only is it fun it is challenging too!
  I am trying not to think about how difficult it was to see everything leaving. I am not as sad as I had feared. I thought it would be depressing but honestly it is a challenge to me. I am wondering what I can do with what is left and what can I find.
  I am having an interesting journey and although my shop opened this is not the end this is just the beginning. Right now I am looking for more furniture and inventory but I am thinking of all the changes I want to make for the spring. I am thinking of all the ways I could make the sale better and what else we could add to make it interesting for our customers.
  For now I will work on organizing and cleaning and decorating but I am still dreaming, dreaming of what the next step will be!

Day 20 of Living my Dream..after the sale

Well, there is so much to tell you and so much to show you but no pictures of the sale yet. I still have a few more people who are coming to load furniture then I will show you what my shed looks like now.
  First let me say that I am so thankful for all the people that took time out of their day to join us! On Friday we had a few people ready to shop at 9am and from then on we had a steady crowd all the way to 6. We had a beautiful crisp sunny day with a little wind, just a perfect day. The customers we happy to share in our excitement and we were as prepared as we knew how to be!
  Sometime in the afternoon we had such a surprise. Car loads of our cousins stopped to show there support. Some of them had to travel many miles and none of them live in our little town. Each and every one made an effort to make it to our home! Now that is the way our cousins show their love and support!! They are such treasures.
  At the end or Friday we could not imagine how Saturday could be any better. But on Saturday it started out rainy and cold and not many customers but before long the cars started coming and coming and coming and we were virtually swamped all day long. I could not stop smiling and I was thankful for such a blessing.
  I can tell you that on Thursday I wondered if I would cry when we opened. I wondered if I could make it through the day without Mom. I put my necklace on that was in her honor and headed outside. But when I started looking around, she was there. I saw her in my children, in my brother and sister in love. I saw her in my sister and in so many other ways. Then my cousins, well my Mother loved her nieces beyond measure and there they were. When my Aunts used to get together they would laugh all day long and when the cousins arrived, we did the same.  Mom was with us.
  Mom would have loved what was happening and I am so happy that I followed my dream.
  God is still working on me. I still have a lump in my throat when I think of her. I still cry often when I see something that was hers. This little flower pot holder was hers and I keep it at the end of the sidewalk, a gentle reminder of her.
  My dream has not been an easy journey nor has it been a fast journey. It has had some of the lowest lows and now some of my best days. I am filled with joy at the response I have had to my Vyntage Barn and I feel like there were kindred spirits with me both days.
  I am at the beginning of my dream. My little business has come alive and now I will have to begin to work on how to grow it and make it become what I believe it should be. I am now going to listen to God and allow Him to lead me.
  I will be sharing pictures soon so you can see what I have left and honestly, not much. Isn't that just the way God works, more abundantly than we had ever dreamed?

Living my dream. Open!

We were more busy today than we were yesterday! Promise to share more tomorrow! I am blessed!

Day 18 Living my Dream Opening day

Dear Friends,
  All I can say is praise God from whom all blessings flow! We had amazing weather, an amazing crowd, carloads of cousins, old and new friends. Great sales, family time and so much more.....When I am not so tired I will share more....tomorrow we do it again!! Thank you for your kind words and prayers. My dream came true in a mighty way!

Day 17 of Living my dream....Vyntage Barn

 Well Dear Friends, Tomorrow is our day. Tomorrow is what I have been dreaming of, you  have been with me for much of this journey. Tomorrow is happy and sad and good and tragic and so much more. I am blessed beyond measure and I give all the glory to God for my inspiration and for allowing my dream to come true.
  Today is a day of thanksgiving for all the Lord has do through my life. I feel like He has taken my heartbreak and given me some joy. The grief remains but the joy is beginning to rise.The joy of living your dream is without question a different kind of joy, it makes you look back and look forward all at the same time. I want to live abundantly maybe to show that my parents did give me all the training that I needed to be successful. Maybe to show that if you hold on to the Father, He will bring you through, changed and improved, closer to Him and allowing Him to work through you. This is how I have spent my 2 years of grief and sorrow, I have created a place for me to be that is full of beauty and glitter and sparkle. My little shed has been my haven, given to me in love and now I share it with you! Vyntage Barn.

Day 16 of living my dream..For Such a Time as This!

Oh my goodness, dear friends, yesterday was so much fun. The ribbon cutting ceremony was a great encouragement to me. Everyone seemed to love the shop and all I could do was smile. Two of my girls were there also and it was so good to have them with me.
  It is such a  pleasure to share my dream with others and I am proud of what it has become.

I have worked for months to get to this point and I have loved every minute of it.My inspiration has come from the Lord. When I was tired or sad or discouraged He would comfort me and nudge me, sending someone with sweet words and kind thoughts.
  I have a passion for this little shed and I know my parents would have been here all the way, they would have loved seeing what it has become.

So Friday and Saturday we open our doors to the public, share the creations and sparkle. I am excited, I am exhausted but best of all.....MY whole family will be here this weekend. We will be spending the entire two days together laughing and working. We have cousins who will be set up with their wares and their hubby's will be here too. This is what Vyntage Barn is about...family..love..living in the moment because we know how quickly things can change.

Some of you may remember that this summer my daughter and I were in a Bible study on Esther by Beth Moore. Well, it keeps ringing in my soul how Esther was in the place she needed to be "for such a time as this."
  That is how I feel. I am at this point at this time"for such a time as this." This is God giving me a little smile and a time to shine. With a full heart and full house I will open the doors and invite each of you into my little dream. I am blessed beyond measure and I know that it could never have happened without God's hand of favor. Dear Friends, "for such a time as this."

Day15 of Living My Dream Ribbon cutting today!

Well, even with a broken wrist I have continued to work towards opening my business, Vyntage Barn.My dh has stepped up and worked on so many projects for me. My dd took much of the jewelry projects that I has started and finished them for me. But honestly, I think God knew I would work myself to the bone if he hadn't slowed me down/

I have been delighted at how things are taking shape. I must admit, I am very tired of my hand being swollen and hurting.

But as I dust and sweep and get ready for the opening I feel so blessed to be able to see my dream come true.This is what I worked for, this is what I dreamed of and to make it sweet the Chamber of Commerce is coming today for a ribbon cutting ceremony. What a sweet thing for them to do. I am blessed and to make it even better, today is my birthday. God has a sense of humor and he knows how to make things touch your heart. I am blessed.

So, Friday at 9am my business will open. My dream is happening as I write about it. All my family will be here for both days of the sale. Even the boyfriends will be here to help.
 This is what I was hoping for,  a business that we could all be involved in and spend the days together. This is what my Mom would have wanted! I am being blessed in a mighty way.

Day 14 Living my dream..even in a struggle

While I was crafting and moving furniture and things were moving along I was working on a drop leaf table and it dropped onto my right wrist. Yes I am right handed. There was no way I could paint or craft now. Sometimes when you are chasing your dream things don't go the way you have planned.

But the good news was things were coming together, it was looking pretty good and in six weeks my cast would come off. The problem, my sale was 5 weeks away. But God is good and I began doing the things I could with my left hand and my family helped more. Life is not a narrow, straight road. It winds and curves and turns when you least expect it but that is when you lean on your faith.
  Tomorrow is the ribbon cutting ceremony for Vyntage Barn. My dream is so close now. I am spending the day working on the porch of my building and getting things organized. My business opens in 4 days and my dream for it will continue and change as my business grows!

Day13 Living my dream..things take shape.

Sometimes living your dream is a challenge. You question every step. You begin to wonder if what you are doing is crazy. But once I finally committed to my little shed I moved forward. I started filling it with things I love. I painted, stained, crafted and smiled all day long.

Just as my little shed started to look like a shop, one more problem. A drop leaf table fell on my wrist...
  As of today, 5 days until I live my dream!

Once we were moving forward and the barn was starting to fill up I don't want you to think the challenges were over. I worked night and day in my little haven and was the happiest I had been in a long time. But you know when your guard is down there is always trouble.

I got a call from a dear friend who owns a storefront downtown and she called to say that her renter was moving out and she now has a spot that was totally renovated and waiting for me. Wow, just what I had been wanting. I took a tour with her and we talked figures and bills and what I could make it look like and...wait..what about my barn?

I put her in my car and took her to my home and showed her what I had been working on. She loved it but still wanted me uptown for 4th quarters sales....I could see it decorated for Christmas, I could see the people, the fun just what I wanted. Then I thought of my barn and how I loved being home and working at my own pace. I started praying to see if I had made a mistake, should I move uptown?

Day 12 Living my dream....working for my goal

 Once the name had been decided, once the place had been decided, once I knew that I was going to give it my all, I started. I worked 10 to 14 hrs a day in my little shed. I would work but it didn't feel like work. Each day was a pleasure and my little Vyntage Barn was becoming an enchanting place to spend my days. It has sparkle and glam and glitz and it made my heart sing.

 Hubby and I would go to auctions and flea markets and garage sales and my basement and we started collecting all kinds of treasures. If you are a long time follower of my blog then you have been with me on some of my trips. They were not always fun but were usually found something that we loved. I made up my mind that I would only buy things that I loved and would use in my own home. If this was going to be my business then I had to love what I was doing. Sometimes we would find things that were already made and didn't need anything done to it. Sometimes we would push and pull and paint and break and..well you get the picture.
  My little shed was becoming just what I had wanted...a place where I could dream a place where I could forget about the outside world and the pain and the grief .
  In the midst of this, I knew that I was carrying around so much suffering...oh the suffering of the loss of my parents. The kind of suffering where you cry but you don't feel better. You stop but you don't feel better. You go and you don't feel better. You act normal but you don't feel better. But finally during church one Sunday I felt an urge to be anointed for relief from the suffering. The grief is normal but the suffering was so terrible. The Pastor anointed me for the suffering to be gone...for me to be healed from such suffering. Now, when my Mom got sick my index finger started to swell and split open. It had never done that before. I tried everything to try to cure it. I tried ideas that Mom told me but nothing seemed to help. I wrapped it at night with medicine but still it would split. Months after Mom passed away when I was at the doctor he gave me medicine for it...still it was swollen and cracked.
   Time passed, seasons changed..still cracked and swollen. I called it my grief finger. Throbbing, bleeding, bothersome...then the anointing. My finger stopped hurting. Stopped swelling. My finger is not split, swollen or hurting. My finger is back to normal. My grief finger had stopped. I do believe it was the anointing for the suffering that helped heal my heart and my finger. Do I still have grief...everyday. Do I still cry..almost everyday. But that terrible suffering has been lifted.
  Vyntage Barn is giving me a purpose to my days. A reason to keep going. A joy in my heart. A love for what I do.
   We are now 6 days from me...living my dream.

Day 11 Living my Dream Setting things up

   Once the  name of the business had been settled and the location was determined, we began moving all the furniture into the building. I had no idea I had finished that much furniture. I guess in the midst of all the decisions and the problems I had continued to work on all the display pieces. No matter where the business was going to be I knew that we had to have display pieces.

So, finally we began to set things up. However,nothing is ever that easy!!

Day 10 Living My Dream...The Name

  I am so sorry that I have not posted earlier but as you know, my dream is almost coming alive and I could not be more busy. Yesterday I told you that today I would share about the name of my business.

 When my business was going to be in town I knew that I wanted something that represented my Mom. My sister, brother and sister in love threw around so many different names but finally we decided on Y Knot. The Y is for Yvonne which was my Mom's middle name. The knot was to represent a love knot because she wrapped us all so tightly in love. We were thrilled with the name and it was settled.

  Then came all the bad news, there was no place for my business to be. All the shops were full and, well, you know that story from the earlier posts.

   When God closes doors, he opens windows so I continued to work on furniture and our little building and finally it was settled that I would start my business at home. But somehow the name did not fit my little building and and I talked it over with my family once again. We struggled with a name that would represent Mom and us....slowly and carefully we finally decided on Vyntage Barn. The Y was for Mom. The Y will always be for Mom.

  My brother called me last week and said that we were going to have a signiture, something that represented our love for our Mom. All I's will officially become Y's. ..That is who we are..we are about being a unit together we are about continuing her legacy. 

   So Vyntage Barn will be having a grand opening on Oct. 18th and 19th and it will be a joyous celebration of all of our faith. God has brought us to this moment. God has led us through the pain and sorrow, the grief...and we are not through that..we are in that. But we go on, pushing forward as she would have wanted. Showing our children that our faith is strong, we go on doing what is right, following the Father's steps so we can all be together again.

  Yes, Vyntage Barn is a new beginning, not without struggles but in spite of them.

   I give God all the glory for what he has done.  Love...Love..love.

Day 9 Living My Dream...Decisions

Now that my little shed had fancy walls I knew I would have to have some furniture.  I love furniture and I have painted my entire life so it was easy to start going to auctions and sales and pick up pieces that I loved. There were days I would paint all day and dream about what I was actually going to be doing. There were days that I paints all day. There were days that I just couldn't move off the sofa.

I found enjoyment while I was occupied but I still would glance out the window to see if my parents were here yet. Ya know, that expectation of seeing them pull into my driveway has not gone away. My parents were at my home almost every day and I continue to "expect" them. I am not sure I am ready for that to go away.

Finally, as my collection of furniture grew I was going to have to make a decision about going forward with "littles" or sticking with just furniture.
  I feel like I had to go all the way around the circle to get here. I had to go through every door to end up right where I started. Sometimes, when you don't listen for God's voice, you try to make things happen.
  God knew that in  my heart I love to be home and that is where my business will begin. At home, in my shed my parents put up for me.
   Now, don't let me fool you, it is hard some days I cry before I step in the door, I see them there with me...I wish them there with me. Then I go in, I have not choice. I can't change what has happened but I can make a change now.
   My business get a name....tomorrow!