Days 7-10

It's amazing how this challenge has seeped into every aspect of my life. It's what I needed both physically and mentally. Making the move to a new town, and more importantly into a new lifestyle shook me up to the core. I loved our life in Kalispell. I got to stay home. Prior to Kali's birth we had run a media company, grew too fast, and eventually pulled the plug on our talents and risks. It took us awhile to lick our wounds and recuperate. For a couple of years we worked odd jobs throughout the valley from construction to retail. When I went to work for a wholesale plant nursery, we got pregnant. We wanted more than anything to be able to stay home with our children...that was the "plan". We both had a knack for plants and creative design. Growing up on a farm, getting my hands dirty seems to be in my blood. Getting into landscaping was a perfect fit...and we loved it! Our first full season we had a crew of six, and Ryan ran the operation. I stayed home with Kali and ran our small cold-hardy plant farm.
I was homemaker and bookeeper. I loved it! And, we were good at it. We didn't have much money for advertising, so we relied on drive-by traffic. See our RoGrown website. Luckily we lived on a popular side road between Kalispell and Whitefish. I was teaching myself different skills in both business and home living. Landscaping was our bread and butter. The plants were my hobby and it fupply for our landscaping unit. Through our construction connections and word of mouth, we kept a consistent calendar booked our first year. We did superior work, and everything seemed to be rolling our way. Our client base was growing and we had acquired great recommendations.

Our second season we decided not to hassle with employees, and only took on jobs that Ryan and I could do on our own. Looking back, this was the start of our demise. That same year I ordered too much plant stock. I purchased stock based on what we needed to sell to make it through the year, instead of how much we could actually sell. A very beginner mistake of simple economics. We started the year in debt, and couldn't get out. The economic downturn had started in our valley. We tried advertising more, and it worked, but not enough. Bad timing and bad decisions hit our pocket book. It was time to find a steady paycheck once again. Because I have a college degree, I had better luck finding a good paying job. The negative was that the good paying job required us to move 200 miles east. I had to say goodbye to our Eden west of the Divide.

Soooo, the past 16 months has been adjusting to not only a new town, but new lifestyle. We have officially put our place in the valley up for sale. A friend has purchased our portable "greenhouse", and is coming to get it this weekend. To say I've been a little depressed is an understatement. Thankfully, this project has brought me hope. Hope that someday I'll have my Eden again. Hope that someday I can again be full time homemaker and bookeeper; instead of homemaker, bookeeper, and full time marekting director for someone else. This challenge has stirred my energy to focus on what can be again, but with more lessons learned and smarter economic decisions. This challenge has given me a fresh look at our future. It won't be the same as before, but like they say, sometimes you have to give up the good to find the better.