A start up business...doing it right

So I told you a few weeks ago that I felt God leading me to start a business, Bezi's Creations.  Crazy, right?  The goal is to raise money for our adoption and things are coming together. I can see the ball start to move.  Word is getting out and I've landed several encouraging orders.  Now, I'm a CPA by trade and I love the accounting of small businesses (weird, I know) so I was determined to do the business side right.  At least until I started investigating...sales tax at 9%, business licenses, fees for a business checking account, and on and on.  I'm just a little guy and these start up expenses were really discouraging.  Then I started making excuses..."If I'm discreet, I'm not likely to get a sales tax audit.  My proceeds are going toward a great cause.  Surely I can get away without having a business license."  I mean, the City of Mobile business license is $130 alone.  That's a huge investment at this level.  Ok, so as I'm writing this out it's becoming obvious how embarrassing this is to admit.  Just know that I'm being transparent here.

Anyway, I was taking Haley to gymnastics a few weeks ago and noticed a sign on a local bank advertising "Free Business Checking."  Ok, that sounds promising, I thought.  Considering every other bank I looked at had some kind of monthly fee tied to it, just for the privilege of having a business account open.  I opted to pursue this one.  Besides I couldn't justify using a "personal" checking account for my business...felt deceitful.  (Funny to be worried about that after my previous confessions.)  So I went to open my free account the next week while Haley was in gymnastics, only to have the process halted with the question, "Do you have a business license?"  Ugh.  They wouldn't open the account without a business license, so I started stewing over it.  As I drove back home I was truly on the fence.  I called my mom and Toby desperate for one of them to push me one way or the other.  On the one hand, I really felt like I should do this right, but on my frugal hand $130 just seemed like a huge investment.  Of course, neither my mom nor Toby answered their phones.  I was left to take my question to Jesus.  Funny, that's what I should have done in the first place, but I had already decided that I didn't like the answer I knew He'd give me.  All afternoon I'd been hearing "do it right, do it right" in my spirit.  It was like a broken record and I was running from it.  When faced with nobody else to talk to about it, and started whining, "But God, after the business stuff and the start up product it will be like $500 to even get it off the ground!!!  That's $500 we could put straight toward the adoption!"  Immediately, as clear as if Jesus were sitting in my passenger seat I heard, "Do you trust me to multiply that?"  Long sigh....Ok, I guess I will.  I steered my car toward City Hall.

About this time, my mom called me back.  She's also a CPA and has a niche in helping small businesses.  Her words were further confirmation, "Yeah, you probably should do it right.  It's hard, but this is why so many small businesses don't make it.  There's just so much investment on the front end."  I made it to downtown and made about two or three laps around before finding a parking spot.  I had made up my mind, I was going to do this RIGHT all the way around.  As I was circling downtown a church tour bus pulled out in front of me.  On it's rear in huge writing was further confirmation, "'But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.' 1 Corinthians 14:40"  Ha!  I couldn't help but laugh.  Ok, God.  I get it.  I'm going to do it right.  I later looked up that verse in another translation where "properly" was translated as "honestly"...figures. 

So I load up Jake in the stroller and arm myself with snacks, the iPod, and entertainment for Haley and head into the government building.  As we walked inside Toby returned my call.  He had run an errand during his lunch break and had a few minutes to spare in the car on the way back to work.  Having not been privy to my previous hour's thoughts, he launched into a list of pros and cons and questions regarding the business checking account and the business license.  I couldn't get a word in, so I listened as the kids and I circled the giant lobby.  Suddenly, Toby stopped mid-sentence.  "Carey, this bus just pulled out in front of me!  You're not going to believe what it says on the back!  'But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.' 1 Corinthians 14:40".  I was floored!!!  "Oh, my Jesus!  Toby, I just saw that same bus, not 15 minutes ago!!"  I don't know how much more BILLBOARD you can get in instructions from God.

The scripture I've been soaking in lately is, "Your ears will hear a word behind you, 'This is the way, walk in it.' whenever you turn to the right or to the left."  Isaiah 30:21.  I don't think I can deny that in this case, I've been given my marching orders.  So, I paid my $130 for my city business license, finished opening my checking account, obtained my county license and paid my first round of sales tax.  All that's left is state sales tax and I'm working on that.  I WILL do this right and will trust His leading.  How can I dare ask Him to bless my time and my efforts if I'm going to cheat on step 1 of starting a business?  Ridiculous!

Wouldn't you know that a week to the day when this snowball started I got a big order.  An order for triplets!  An order to more than recoup my business license expense.  Ha!  I will trust, I will walk and I will tell of His faithfulness!  

I would love for you to stop by my FaceBook page and see what I have available.  Also, if you'd be so kind as to pass the word along and share this page with your friends, that'd be great, too.  Thanks for your help!
www.facebook.com/beziscreations

A far away dream comes near

As long as Toby and I have been together...all the way back to high school, we've dreamed about one day adopting a baby.  For me, that's just what it's been...a dream.  I've always thought that someday it would be nice to entertain that idea, but for now it still seemed pretty far off.   Toby, however, was on another page.  A few weeks after Jake was born in July, Toby said, "I think we should adopt our next one."  Hmm.  We both want to have a big family, but I was fresh off of new baby hormones and not so interested in the idea.  I gave him a half-hearted response, "Huh.  Sure.  Let's talk about it later."  And with that the idea of adoption stayed a far away dream.

As the months wore on, Toby was relentless.  Every few weeks he would bring up the idea, and when it came up again at the first of the year we were in the throws of selling, buying and moving.  Again I brushed him off, "Let's get moved and settled before we launch into another life altering process."  So, here we are.  We've moved.  We're settled.  I'm out of excuses...and it came up again.  Finally, I agreed to start praying about it.  I asked Abba that if adopting a child was really in His plan for our near future then to change my heart and confirm this path.  Wouldn't you know, He did just that.  As I prayed over this for a few weeks I became more and more certain that this was something we should investigate.  Adoption was suddenly in my face everywhere I turned.  I got a call out of the blue from a Tennessee friend.  They were in the middle of the adoption process and wanted some advice and prayer.  On a rare date night out, Toby and I ended up at the movie theater watching October Baby.  (Shameless plug - If you haven't seen October Baby, you need, need to see it.  It has such great perspective and healing from so many angles.  End shameless plug.)  Toby and I had endless conversations about the idea and within a matter of weeks adoption went from a "nice idea for later" to me identifying a hole in my heart.  Through these weeks of prayer I have become convinced that my baby is out there and I am not whole because he is not home with me.  The best way to describe it is that I miss him.  One of my babies is missing.  Abba has His protective hand on my baby boy until we are able to meet him and bring him home.  You see, this isn't about doing some good charity deed.  In my heart I know that we are searching for this one child that has been earmarked for our family.  I'm already attached to this baby I've never even met. 

I suppose Toby's passion for our adoption started years ago.  God gave him a vision and in it he saw he and I walking away.  I was holding his hand and in his other hand was a two year old little boy.  We know that Jake is not the boy he saw.  During my weeks of prayer and searching I had a similar vision during worship at church one weekend.  I saw my Jesus holding the sweet hand of my little boy.  He was about two years old at the time and had the most adorable little face.  His eyes were bursting with joy and the sight of him was so real that I felt like I could reach out and touch him.  That was my baby.  I just know it.   Also during this time I was reading through my Bible and a name jumped off the page at me.  It stayed in my head for days and I couldn't get away from it.  It was my little boy's name.  The name Abba gave him means "chance" and "fortunate."  Rather fitting, I thought.   

Now it's just a matter of following God's leading to the path that will take us to our son.  We have contacted several different adoption avenues in Mobile and decided on Children of the World out of Fairhope, Alabama.   We had our first lengthy visit with our social worker this past week and are so thrilled to be working with them.  The people of this agency truly love the Lord and they love their jobs.  They are deeply compassionate and caring people.  We have received glowing references and love that they take their birthmothers under their wing and minister to them before and after the adoption.  We are now working on our final application for the State of Alabama and are gathering lots of paperwork in preparation for our home study.

A few months back, before I began entertaining the idea of adoption, Jesus gave me specific instructions one Sunday morning.  Our pastor was preaching a series on miracles and as he got started that morning, I found myself thinking, "We've seen so many miracles.  I wonder where we're going next."  Immediately Jesus responded to my spirit, "Adoption.  I want you to start the process even before you have the funds sitting in the bank."  Hmm...seemed random at the time.  So we recognize that adoption is not only a great emotional investment, but it will require a great financial investment as well.  In light of this, my Jesus graciously showed me where some of these funds will come from during a 4am feeding with Jake a few weeks ago.  It was like a light had gone off in my head and everything clicked perfectly in place.  I had been complaining to Toby just days earlier that I felt like I needed somewhere to focus my energy...outside of running our home.  I mean, let's face it...you can only get so much satisfaction and sense of accomplishment out of 14 loads of laundry.  I also have been dabbling in some new creative outlets and had wondered if maybe I could sell some of my creations.  When the goal was extra spending cash it just didn't seem to make sense and the pieces just didn't seem to line up, but now there was a specific goal to strive for.  I would use the skills I've been working on and the creativity He's been working to reveal to bring in the funds we would need to support the adoption.  And just like that Bezi's Creations was born!  Bezi comes from Bezalel in the Bible.  God gave Bezalel the supernatural ability to envision and build all of the items for the tabernacle when the Isrealites were wandering the wilderness.  This guy has just stuck out to me ever since I studied this with my Boothmakers a few years back.  Mind you, I'm a CPA and have never thought myself to be crafty, so any time I come up with anything even remotely unique or cute I claim a "Bezalel moment."  So anyway, Bezi's Creations will offer handpainted furniture (a new, super fun hobby) as well as styles and accessories for little ones including bibs and onesies with neck ties or pearls, month by month onesies to capture your baby's first year, and hooded towels great for snuggling up a freshly cleaned baby or wrapping up a toddler after a fun day at the beach or in the pool.

I am so excited for this new season, even though it will be chalked full of stuff to accomplish.  My prayer over the last few days has been for God to show me how to manage my time, how to structure my day so that I can spend quality time with Him and my family and still take care of our home, gather the needed adoption papers, and get a business up and running.  I tell you, my days of vegging out in front of the TV are long gone.  But it's all good.  I wouldn't change a thing.  He has answered my prayers and so far all systems are running smoothly. 

So, will you help us in this?  Will you join with Toby and me in prayer that God will guide our steps and give us wisdom and discernment as we walk the road that will take us to our son?  Will you pray for protection over our baby and his birthmother?  And will you help me get the word out about Bezi's Creations?  I have started a FaceBook page and would love for you to "like" it and spread the word by sharing it with your friends.  My products will be available for sale on the FaceBook page and also I will have my first sale this coming Saturday.  I'm so excited to get things going!  Thank you in advance for all of your support in this season.  I know my Jesus has some amazing blessings lined up for so many in the coming months.  It's going to be an awesome adventure!

A new normal

We've been in our new house for two months now and many people have asked us if we're settled yet.  I guess the answer is yes and no.  Nearly all of our boxes are unpacked and we are functioning "normally" but there is still much to be done.  For example, the bonus room is home to many of Haley's toys.  We've never had a bonus room before and therefore, we have no bonus room furniture...thus Haley's toys are scattered all over the floor with no place to be put away.  By the way, that's about to drive me nuts, so we'll be getting some bookshelves, at least, in the near future.

Toby is itching to hang pictures on every wall of the house.  Somehow I can't get him to realize that it's not quite that simple.  While I agree that having our art or photos on the walls would do wonders in making our space feel more homey, there are several steps ahead of hanging pictures.  For instance, our bedroom has been burgundy and gold for the eight years we've been married, and I'm ready for something different.  Which means a new bedspread and curtains.  Also our bedroom here is so much larger, so we are saving up for additional furniture like a seating area...all of which must be established before said pictures can be hung.

So anyway, in answer to your question about "are we settled yet?"...we're getting there.  Toby and I both still have days where we just walk around and laugh at our house.  It feels like we're living in somebody else's home, or at least some fancy hotel.  Not a day goes by that we don't look around in awe and amazement of the gift God has given us in this home. 

Another new aspect of "normal" is the addition of MiMi and Pop just 13 houses down.  Yes, that's right.  After they had their house on the market, on and off, for three years, my Jesus finally sold their house (in His timing) and moved them to my neighborhood!  I can see their front door from my driveway...it's amazing!  They've taken the kids while I do housework, I've dropped the littles off so I can browse the grocery store isles in peace, and we've eaten many meals at their table.  Having never lived in such close proximity to family, this is taking some time to get used to...I don't have to do everything on my own all the time!  I have help!  This is such a blessing and I'm loving every minute of it!

I would say that my biggest adjustment since the move has been managing my time.  As any stay at home mom of little ones will tell you, raising, feeding, educating, and caring for the little guys is a full time job that demands lots of attention.  Throw the household chores like laundry, shopping, cooking, cleaning, and bill paying on top and you've got your hands full.  So I've been juggling all of that for three years, but now I've got this big house to furnish also.  Unfortunately, my littles are not too crazy about running errands all over town in search of rugs, lamps and sofas...it's just not their thing.  So I had a bit of a break down a few weeks ago as I explained to Toby that I felt like I was treading water, just trying to keep things moving, even as the laundry was about to eat me alive.   As always, our God is so practical and He is helping me to find my balance.  I have several new goals.  Two of which are to make my kids belly laugh every day and to accomplish one thing each week toward the furnishing of the house.  So far, so good.  Decorating this house will be a marathon, but the dreaming, planning and bringing it to life is the fun part.  I'm thrilled to be able to turn this house into our home, even if it does take years to do it.

On my most overwhelming day a few weeks ago, I landed on a wonderful phone call from a friend, Tracy.  She has five teenagers, so I know that she knows exactly what I'm talking about.  She offered such wonderful advice, "You know, you've got to cut yourself some slack.  Once I feel like I've got my normal under control and we get in a rhythm, somebody goes and changes all the rules."  Every season and every stage will have it's own set of challenges and "normals," so I guess now is as good of a time as any to start rolling with the punches.

It's a good thing too because I know we've got another new normal just around the corner...

Christmas memories

I love to have a visual of the people and places I read about. Ok, Toby calls me nosy, but either way I realize that I haven't shared many family pictures with you...so late Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy a glimpse into our Christmas holiday. Thanks for following me this past year and I'm looking forward to many great things in 2011!

Making Christmas cookies at Granny's house.


Chef Haley working on cookie masterpieces.


Christmas cookies.
The kids put forth a fair effort, but wimped out pretty quickly. Aunt Susan and I finished off the rest.


Our visit with Santa wasn't as successful as I'd hoped. Haley was fine to watch him from a distance, but wasn't too excited to sit with him. (Go figure...not sure I'd want to sit on some stranger's lap either.) After getting a candy cane early and sitting with Mommy, we finally got a calm picture with Santa. Had I known I would be in the shot, I wouldn't have worn hot pink...lesson learned.
MiMi made Haley's Christmas dress with the help of Granny and Aunt Susan. One of my goals for 2011 is to learn to sew with confidence.


Haley had a Toy Story Christmas. Here she is with Buzz, Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye tucked under her Buzz and Woody blanket, all piled inside her blow up Toy Story tent. It's so fun to watch her imagination as she makes new "friends".


Haley playing in the backyard. One of my new favorite pictures of her.


Mommy and Haley at the Bellingrath Gardens Christmas in Lights.


Me and my love, Toby, enjoying the lights.


Toby and Carey


Finally, a decent family picture...aka Haley is smiling in the direction of the camera, the rest of us are irrelevant.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Shrimpfest

One of my favorite things to do is check out local festivals. I love being outside, I love seeing the local art and creativity, and most importantly I love the food! Not long after we moved back to Mobile, I saw a billboard for Shrimpfest, so Toby and I planned a mini vacation to Gulf Shores to check it out. Yesterday afternoon we left Haley with my sister and headed south...

Carey and Toby at the beach, enjoying Shrimpfest.

We got there just in time to join the crowds for dinner, but of course we had to make a complete loop to take in our options before making any decisions. The offerings were ridiculous...crab cakes, fish, scallops, clams, conch, lobster...anything you could want on a stick - shrimp on a stick, chicken on a stick, gator on a stick...and to steal a line from Bubba, "fried shrimp, grilled shrimp, shrimp creole, popcorn shrimp, coconut shrimp, shrimp scampi" and the list goes on. There were also plenty of land lover options including pizza, hamburgers and gyros, but why would you go for that at Shrimpfest? I even tried the "2009 Best of the Fest" winner, the Creole Pistol...crab, crawfish, shrimp and cheese stuffed into a roll and fried...it was interesting, good bread, but too much cheese and not enough seafood for my taste. I guess you get the point...I like to eat! The Shrimpfest is still going on tomorrow (Sun, Oct 10) for any of you locals that haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

Nothing like a funnel cake and Wild Bill's root beer for breakfast!

My second favorite thing about local festivals is the art. I am always amazed at people's creativity. We saw tons of paintings, mostly beach scenes, but all were beautiful. There was one booth that had taken beer and wine bottles, melted them down into various objects like bowls and wind chimes...interesting and creative. Another booth boasted jewelry made out of glass bottles and another artist had made portraits on canvas out of beer bottle tops. Are we seeing a theme here? Despite the alcohol theme of several of my favorite vendors, the festival was very family friendly. There was a great kids play area and tons of children's clothing booths.

Last night we met a great mom and daughter duo selling classic handmade children's clothing. Their shop is called Sarah's Kids and they were the sweetest ladies. Their clothing was beautiful, simple, well made and reasonably priced. I'm not a frou frou kind of girl and therefore rarely dress my daughter in the traditional southern frocks. (For those of you outside the south, little girls here are expected to sport lace, smockings and tights on special occasions...all of which require delicate care and formal settings...neither are things that interest me.) Anyway, after seeing what Sarah's Kids had to offer, I decided I wanted to have cute Christmas pictures this year with Haley in a *gasp* dress. We found one we loved, but quickly ran into a snag. Haley is way tall and way skinny. Any dress that fits her enough not to fall off within two steps will leave her tiny booty hanging out the bottom. I asked one of the owners her opinion and she offered to alter a size 2 to fit around her skinny self. What a sweet offer! After further discussion, we concluded that Haley needed a 6-9 month size to fit her waist and a 3T to fit her long legs. The sweet owner said, "I tell you what, why don't I just cut you a new one?" What? "How much extra will that be?" "Nothing...I live in front of a sewing machine...it's no problem." What a sweet gift from my Jesus! Not only did we find a great Christmas dress for Haley, but we basically got a custom dress at a really great price! Their website is still under construction, so give them time to get some more pictures up, but moms, you've got to check them out!

All that being said, Toby and I really enjoyed our 24 hours away. We were able to relax and enjoy each other's company without any pressures or responsibilities hanging over our heads. My favorite part of the weekend...simply holding his hand and strolling the beach in the sunshine.

Toby brushing off the sand after our walk on the beach...and not so happy with me for snapping a picture.

Haley's first beach trip

Growing up in Alabama, trips to the gulf coast were regular and expected every summer. The beautiful, white sandy beaches on Florida's panhandle are incomparable to anywhere else in the world...or so I'm told. Since we moved from Alabama when Haley was nine weeks old, beach trips got left behind in the move to Tennessee. Making a nine hour trip with a one year old just didn't seem that appealing. So, a bonus with moving back to south Alabama was taking Haley to the beach for the first time this Labor Day.

I should probably preface this experience with, "Carey is not a huge beach fan." Sure the beach is beautiful to look at and while I love playing in the water, I much prefer fresh water over salt. In addition to the sticky sand, salty water and biting critters, I think my aversion to the beach started when I was little...I must have been six or seven. Our family was walking on the beach in a big group and out of nowhere a seagull pooped on my head!! I was horrified, panicked and threw the biggest fit. Needless to say, I did not return to the sandy beaches the rest of the trip. I remember my sweet grandmother hanging back with me at the pool for hours on end when the rest of the family went down to play in the sand and the waves. Side note...my grandmother adores the beach, and this is the first time I've recognized what a great sacrifice that was for her...note to self, I need to say "thank you!"

Anyway, all this to say, Toby and I much prefer the lake over the beach, but given this was Haley's first experience we felt it was our responsible parental duty to "do the beach" properly. So on Saturday we trotted out toward the ocean...buckets, shovels and beach chairs in hand. Being moderately OCD about messes on her hands, I was apprehensive as to how this adventure would turn out. But we put on the happy, "isn't this the greatest thing ever?" face in hopes that she would have fun. At first she wasn't quite impressed and didn't understand all the messy sand. Then she warmed up to the "scoop and dump" idea...that was intriguing. Eventually she got okay with it and thought it was pretty neat...as long as she could sit on me.

I must say that my sweet Jesus gave us the most beautiful weekend to introduce Haley to this creation! The weather was perfect...beautiful, clear blue skies with a nice breeze and the water was clearer than I can ever remember. By the end of the weekend, we had all played in the sand, made sandcastles, a swam in the ocean. And truth be told, I actually had fun!! The sand wasn't so bad, the seaweed was not around, and I got pretty good at making sand turtles.

My favorite part of the weekend was watching Toby and Haley swimming in the ocean. We repeatedly told her to close her mouth as the waves came by, but each time she closed her eyes tight and opened her mouth as wide as she could. It was so cute and she lucked out that she never got a face full of salt water. As I sat in my beach chair watching my family swim and explore this new thing for the first time, I saw a mom and her two teenage daughters walk past, casually talking about life. It occurred to me that it won't be long until I'm in that boat...talking to Haley about boys and high school. So I spent the next 15 minutes locked in on my toddler...treasuring each moment of discovery. This is the greatest gift of being a mommy...introducing my baby girl to Jesus and this beautiful world that God made for us...showing her His creation and pointing every wonderful thing back to Him.

So here's to another step out of my comfort zone. It was a wonderful weekend that I will treasure always.

Haley showing me the "mess" of sand on her feet.

Totally trusting her daddy as he tosses her in the air.