They are a-changin'

I'm officially declaring this our climb back up. The past 4 or 5 months have been hard, hard, hard. I keep trying to pinpoint where the decline began and I have to say it was probably somewhere around that ill-timed refrigerator replacement before Christmas. I can distinctly remember thinking that things were going pretty good before that and it seems like most of my posts were happier back then.

Since then, it has been one. thing. after. another. It is completely true when I say not one part of our life has been untouched. Family, friendship, business, home, disasters of the natural kind, disasters of the personal kind. It's all been affected. And it has all been hard to go through. But, we've survived and are still here.

So, why am I writing this? Because as of today, our business -- the one that we spent months of energy, sweat, and everything else you can imagine creating and trying to build -- is closed. Kevin spent the last three days loading up the contents and dragging them to storage. I spent today helping him pack up the office, load up the plants, sweep the floors, wipe down countertops and say goodbye. 

Now, before you feel sorry for us -- Don't. Please. We closed a chapter. And luckily for us, we get a take two. This week, we begin rebuilding the business in what we hope will be a much better and more successful place. Closer to home, better populated, and hopefully a better fit for us. I don't expect our climb back to be easy, but I do think it's beginning. I think one of the bravest things that my husband could do was to admit that we couldn't make that business work there. No matter how hard he tried, the elements did not add up. We had lines to the door, but only for an hour a day. Just not enough people--no matter how good the food. He calls the last however many months a failure. I call it a stepping stone.

Anyway, this week marks the end of the crap if it kills me. I think we've all basically been stressed 24-7. There's been a dark cloud over our lives and we've been letting it get to us--bad. We've both felt pressure to stay optimistic, which can really be enough to make you crazy. And then, you start to think. I mean really, all you have to do is survive this mess, right? And even if it sucked, we did survive.

Rather than make this blog all roses and butterflies, I decided to kind of use it as an outlet for what we've been experiencing--without lots of specific details because we've really been dealing with alot of really personal stuff. But, because of the over-share, we've really gotten a ton of support from friends and family, with comments, emails, and phone calls. I'm not sure that we would have made it through this crazy time without the encouragement that this too shall pass. I know everyone is sick of the sad show we're presenting (we are too), but you never made us feel like asses for offering up bad news time and time again. And you kept taking our phone calls, which is encouraging in itself.

So, yeah. I think it's passed--or passing. I'm very, very confident it has passed. There's just a different feeling in the air and I genuinely feel optimistic. Not forced optimism. Not that we don't still have challenges ahead, but that the worst is over. The comeback is just ahead. And I can't freaking wait. 

Here's to April and all that comes after. I can't wait to see what's waiting in Chapter Two.