I’ve been reminiscing a lot lately. Can you believe that 10 years ago this month a very shy, 29 year old girl launched a business called Amazing Transformations?! Me either! And boy have I been TRANSFORMED!
Here is just a small sampling of how my life has changed over the past decade:
1. Met my trainer, mentor and dear friend JoAnne Lenart-Weary who encouraged me to follow my dream to create beautiful spaces.
2. Launched my business Amazing Transformations.
3. Made weekly/monthly appearances on NBC56 news in Tyler, Texas. (Yes this very shy girl actually asked to be on live television and they said yes! Not sure if I would be able to do that now. :))
(No, I did not have the opportunity to decorate the set. I sure would have liked to!)
4. Had the privilege of working in all levels of homes across the country.
Here are a few examples:
Before…
After…
Before…
After…
5. Opened 2 different studios (one in Texas and then one in Oklahoma) to teach decorating classes. Oh how I loved that season of my business! It was so fun to share so many decorating tips with my friends and clients.
6. Started writing Transforming Tidbits on a weekly basis in 2007. I continued to faithfully write almost every week for about 3 years straight! But because of #7 (see below), my ability to write as frequently, dwindled quickly.
7. Went from longing to be a mom (and having great difficulty becoming one) to becoming a mother of FIVE! (through the gift of adoption and fostering)
8. I began the homeschooling journey with my oldest two daughters. I have to admit, although I never saw myself ever even considering being a homeschool mom, I can’t imagine my life any other way now! I have enjoyed growing closer to my daughters and learning along with them. I will say, this year certainly has its challenges with also raising three little ones 2 and under. You can usually find them right on top of the dining room table while I work with the older girls. At least I know what they are doing, right?! 🙂
9. About 1 1/2 months ago, I rid my home of almost all processed foods and started a very challenging but exciting adventure of eating whole foods. As you might imagine, eliminating processed foods leaves one having to do a lot more work in the kitchen. You may be asking yourself…”Why in the world would this open adoption, fostering, homeschooling, decorator mom even think about adding this to her already full plate?” I know it is crazy, but I am finding it is totally worth it!
You see, about 6 months ago, a very dear friend who is just a few years younger than me was diagnosed with breast cancer. Through her journey, she shared with me how much the food we eat affects our health. She made the choice to fight this ugly disease through diet and I am pleased to say she is winning!
Once you learn information in life, you are then responsible with what you do with that information. Well, what I learned has motivated me to make a huge change in the way my family eats. It was tough changing at first, but now I can’t begin to express how amazing it makes me feel! I have renewed energy, my clothes are much looser (woo hoo!) and best of all, my husband says I am more beautiful than ever before!
10. And probably the most significant change, I am content with who I am. For a long time, I was driven to be “known”. Known as an amazing decorator, known for working with people I highly admired, known for writing an amazing blog, known by the world. But now, 10 years later, I couldn’t be more happy. Now I am a wife, a mom, a teacher, and a homemaker who occasionally decorates and I wouldn’t change this privilege for the world!
As I enter my 39th year of life, I can’t wait to see what the next decade has in store. I have a hard time imagining being able to top the last 10 years!
Transforming Tidbits 