The Finishing Touch Is Born

My sweet and talented sister, Lori Lynn Whitlock, set up this blog for me as part of my birthday gift.  I have been thinking about doing this for a while and am excited to give it a try.  Maybe this will get me journaling again.  I got out of the habit after our accident, because I didn't want to write anything negative.  Maybe I will take more photos also.  Scrapbooking became very painful and overwhelming after our accident as well.  I am hoping to see life from a new perspective. 

This has bee a difficult year for us as Dean left his job  with Western States Contracting to become his own boss after purchasing two franchises, Roni Deutch and L&W Fraud Investigations.  He found that he didn't have time to do both, so he has concentrated on the Roni Deutch franchise.  After much hard work, the first store opened on Sunset Road in Henderson, just ten minutes from home, in September 2008.  The second store, located on the corner of Bonanza and Lamb Blvd. opened in December of 2008.  He is in the middle of his first tax season and is putting in long hard hours seven days a week.  I definitely feel like a tax widow.

We have been living on our saving for a year while we are building the businesses.  It has made me feel very uncomfortable to watch the outgo exceed the income.  I decided that I needed to do what I could to help out financially, so I have begun my own business called The Finishing Touch.  Even though I have my B.A. degree in interior design from BYU, I don't want to go to work full time and in this economy, design jobs are hard to land.  The Finishing Touch can be a design company, if I choose to pursue that at some time in the future, but for now, The Finishing Touch is going to focus on a collection of handmade accessories and boutique gift items for sale.  I chose the business name, The Finishing Touch, because it can have many applications and can grow as I do.  At the moment, I am concentrating on beaded watch bands and bracelets.  Lori taught me how to make the beaded bracelets like the Bumbles ones that are all over Utah.  They are new here and I am doing very well.  I have had my first two shows and have sold over $1500.00 worth!  I am also sewing other gift items such as baby burp cloths and tote bags.  I have two more show scheduled this next week, thanks to my nieces.

Also, I am working with a friend, Joanne Spelts, doing weddings.  I joined Joanne mid October, just after spending five months doing our son's wedding We are thrilled to announce that Sean married the lovely Brittaney Hash of Henderson, Nevada, on October 11, 2008.  The ceremony began at 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon and was held in our back yard.  It was a lot of work, but it turned out beautiful in spite of a sudden change in the weather.  It was a very cold October day.  Rain and wind made for a challenging set up but calmed before the wedding began.  Just two weeks earlier, our good friends, Doug and Donna Brady, had a wedding for their daughter, Jessica, which was also outdoors and it was extremely hot.  Dean and the boys were uncomfortable in their suit coats at the Brady wedding.

Joanne's company is called, Joanne's Designs.  We do everything beginning with the consultations to the set up and take down of all decorating and floral arrangements.  It is a lot of work to make a wedding come off smoothly.  I have learned so much already.  

If that doesn't sound like enough to juggle, I have jumped through all of the hoops to get my substitute teaching license from the state of Nevada.  It has been a long process going through all the paperwork, interviews, and online courses.  I had to complete five online courses and I am happy to announce that I passed two with scores of 96% and three with scores of 100%.  Mt my age of 50, it can be intimidating to think about going back to school.  I guess I still can do it!

Life is definitely a juggling act as I fight to keep up at home and on top of the every mounding laundry pile, which I named Mount Clothesmore, yard work and explore new business opportunities.  The boys are still my first priority and I will not let them suffer as fit these other things into my life.  They are growing so fast and they all tower over me, but they better still look up to me!  I adore my boys.  They have made life worth living.   

Nathan is on his last lap of his junior year at Foothill High School.  It has been a fun year for him as he has been very involved with student council.  Jonathan is finishing his last year (eighth grade) at Burkholder Middle School.  He is very social and keeps life exciting at our house.

I have become a long term substitute for Dean's Sunday School class and still have a lesson to prepare for tomorrow.  I am also serving as the Visiting Teaching Coordinator in the Relief Society, which keeps me busy.

I am learning to juggle many things in my life.  I am excited to be able to keep up with you and yours too.  There is not a single photo in my first blog.  Maybe by the next posting, I will have figured that out and then I can put the Finishing Touch on my blog too! 

With love,

Pamela K.  Walker