Time to relax

This weekend Cherub is turning 6!! How did that happen? It didn't feel that long ago when I was taking her to speech therapy appointments and practising her homework....now she's in Kindy reading her home readers to me! It really goes by too fast!

Mmm yummy cupcakes

Cherub was very excited today, as she took cupcakes her and Daddy made to school to share with her class and Kindy friends.

We've had a very busy few weeks with so many things happening at school - book parade, dance festival, walk-a-thon, and basketball gala day, so I am looking forward to a nice break. I also started my own little business in August so have been busy working on content for its website which I am hoping to launch in October.

L to R: Walking together at walk-a-thon, Popette getting ready for dance rehearsals,
Cherub finally riding her bike without training wheels, and book parade costumes.

I think it's finally caught up with me, as I have been ill for the past few days, I'm hoping I get over it quickly as we are on school holidays as of tomorrow and (hopefully! go away bug!) will be going camping for 10 days. Cherub is very excited as she gets to spend her birthday waking up in a tent! She keeps reminding me to not to forgot to pack her presents!!! As if! I can't wait to spend time with my Hubby and munchkins, and to sit back and relax, looking up at the stars, roasting marshmallows, bushwalking and enjoying the outdoors.
I hope you enjoy your break whatever you are doing! I'll be back after the holidays :)

Being grateful: Spring

I am grateful for the sunny afternoons and that Springtime is finally here! Apart from allergies causing me to sneeze and my nose run, I love Spring, it's a beautiful time of year where I live in the Blue Mountains. We have some beautiful flowers budding in our front garden, and in the backyard our plum tree has bloomed like crazy attracting different birds. I am grateful for our back deck, which is a lovely spot for me to paint while watching the girls play in the sandpit or jump on the trampoline.

Its also a great spot to enjoy a coffee and watch the birds in our tree.

We have had some beautiful Rosellas, Lorikeets and King Parrots (not pictured) visit our yard this year.

While I love our logfire, its nice that winter has nearly left us. We enjoyed a delicious Father's day lunch together on our back deck, and can't wait for daylights saving, so we can have more dinners outdoors.

What's your favourite season? What are you grateful for?

Taking one step at a time

I haven't written very much on the blog lately or been doing much of my art as I have been super busy getting a business up and running.

After 8.5 years as a full-time, stay-at-home parent, it's been hard finding a job, or returning to the career you once knew. I found myself doubting my abilities and my confidence was low, I wasn't sure if I could do the job as well as I used to.

For the past 8 months I have been searching for a flexible part-time job so I could still be there for my girls in the mornings and afternoons, and attend events at the school, but had no luck in finding anything that was local (nearly everything was in Sydney) or part-time (most company's ideas of part-time was 4-5 reduced hour days), which didn't work with me collecting the girls from school.

With all the jobs I looked at, I couldn't find anything that was close to being flexible full-time jobs, part-time jobs, or even job share jobs, that promoted a work/life balance, or the ability to work from home. I guess I was a little picky, as I could have just gone back to temping through an agency.

Love this quote.

Its taken me awhile, but I finally reassessed my skills, and had a big think about what it is that I want. I knew that I wanted to be there for the girls, have flexibility with my time and workloads, I wanted to be my own boss (as scary as it seems, as I need to find clients and network - as a little anxious introvert it's a big step out of my comfy comfort zone!) and be accountable if I fail, so in the end I decided to take the plunge and start my own virtual assistant business from my home office.

Starting my own business is such a huge learning curve. The whole idea that I am going to be my own boss and need to look after sourcing jobs scares me a little, but it also excites me.

This week I've had Popette performing in her first school dance festival, which has been very exciting, while fighting a cold I've been completing a job for my first client! Hurray!

I've also been writing like crazy, doing lots of research on 'what it means to be a virtual assistant', listening to courses about becoming a VA, comparing the competition and the services they provide to what I want to offer....so so much to do. But I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself, and taking one step at a time.

I'm slowly launching my business, first through social media outlets like LinkedIn and Facebook, while I continue working on content for my website which I still need to develop.

If you would like to follow me on Facebook, I can be found at JAM Business Support Services.

Do you run your own business? Do you have any advice for a new startup / small business?