Pro-God, -life, -family
Hello
I'm a 27-year-old married mama of a one-year-old, currently residing in Greenville, SC. Although I've been here for two years now, I'm still discovering new places to visit. If you're from here, I'd love to chat!
My Journey
My and my husband's journey has been a challenging one. We moved here when we were newlyweds and had basically nothing. Everything we owned fit in the sedan we traveled in, down the eastern US. We didn't have even a mattress for two months. (We slept on the actual floor with a blanket!)
Everything was new to me. A new husband, a new job, a new location, and (within four months of arriving) the exciting news of a new baby. Here I was pregnant, thousands of miles from any relatives, working fulltime, and navigating the newness of marriage.
Suffice to say, I was scared. I was lonely. I was isolated.
Then the difficult news came. My baby was measuring small; he had a growth restriction. Suddenly, I had to visit the doctor twice per week while also checking my blood sugar four times per day (I had failed the glucose test; that drink is disgusting, by the way).
But that was only the beginning. On that fateful day at only 34 weeks gestation, I was rushed into the hospital with pre-eclampsia with severe features. Fourteen hours of induced labor proved ineffective. When my baby's heart was stopping and restarting, I was rushed into surgery in the wee hours of the morning. An emergency c-section saved my son's and my life. He came into the world at only three pounds, but he is fighter.
Through his twenty-day NICU stay, he proved how hard a fighter he is. (Now, he is a healthy and very tall twenty-pound one-year-old).
My husband had left his job to care for me. I am so appreciative to him for never leaving my side during my four-day hospital stay and beyond. Unfortunately, however, his unemployment proved difficult to escape. When I returned to work after a brief two-week maternity leave (I know! Insane!), my husband took on the role of fulltime stay-at-home dad for eleven months while he sent applications into the void. After so many rejections for not having a degree, he decided to return to college online, fighting for a bachelor's in business admin. He also settled for a job in fast food until he can find somewhere more in line with his dream career.
Now? Well, we are doing okay, finally looking for a house to get out of the 600-square-foot basement we have been renting this entire time. (It doesn't have laundry in unit and has only one window!) But the house-hunting here is extremely competitive.
I finally thought, "This needs to change! I have a master's degree and I live like this? There has to be a better way!" So, I started researching supplemental income strategies. The search led me to print-on-demand through Etsy.
Appointed Arrow
Although this business venture is intended to help me (eventually) be able to afford daily expenses, it's so much more than a money-making pursuit. Everyone on earth is struggling. We've all gone through rough times, and it hurts. Some of it causes lasting trauma. But it doesn't end us. We learn to laugh through it. If I didn't have my humor-wielding husband to keep my spirits up during my darkest hours, I don't know if I would have made it.
This shop is a place of hope. My son is here for a reason, and so am I, and so are you. God has a plan for all of us. We have been appointed for a time like this. The Bible speaks of children as sharp arrows in a quiver. Children are extremely important to Him.
Thank you for visiting my shop. If you made it all the way to the end of my story, congrats. I hope you are blessed and never lose your stunning smile.
God bless, my friends.