Wednesday, January 21, 2015

It's a mad mad world.




I am not one for change and I sure as heck don't like to take risks. Trust me, I am not the one you take to Vegas to make crazy blackjack decisions with then proceed to bungee jump off the Hoover Dam right after. I am the one who will meet you by the pool at 10am with two pina coladas and a cabana boy to lotion up your backside and bring us more pina coladas. So when it comes to gambling on the business and the future of the business etc. I tend to take the safe road every time. Besides, someone has got to stick to that resolution of intention. I guess this is why I am the bookkeeper and not the decision maker.

Here is why.  

Dave and I originally bought this property with the intention that we would have everything together all in our very own little compound. Work, home, chickens, kids etc. etc.. Big huge honking decision to move out of town and "buy a farm."The one thing that sold us about this property was that it came with a 40x60 shop for Summit to operate out of. Ok, I am lying it was the barn actually for me. But seriously, the shop has been great and is home to all of the space we could ever need in addition to the outdoor corral to store materials. Our office was in the house until a year or so after I had Calla, then we recognized we needed more space. So we renovated the barn. Downstairs is still the original dairy operation straight out of the 1950's. Glass pipes, stainless steel tanks and all. Upstairs is our office. All be it a bit chilly on windy days like today, it is the perfect homey space for us to be creative and "pretend" to actually separate work from home. Then India made her appearance in this world and the girls shared a room. That was working just fine, but the 1 bathroom situation was getting old quick once she was out of diapers. So we decided after 10 years of talking about it to go forward and make our tiny 900 sq. ft. 1 bathroom farmhouse into a 2400 sq. ft. 3 bathroom farmhouse. (I am still trying to figure out how we go through an enormous amount of toilet paper each month now, but that is beside the point).


We are happy as clams, peaches, insert whatever food you choose these days. But because we are business owners we are constantly striving to make things better for our clients. Be it the experience, the process, or pretty much the whole shebang. There is always that tick in the back of our mind that says we can take it one step further. January is our strategizing month. The one where we pick apart what we did last year and tweak it to be that much more efficient, easier etc.. It could be as simple as a job work order, what color to paint the barn door upstairs, or how to get guys and equipment to the job site daily. For example, one of the things we are currently working on is merging the work/client relationship with our shop and barn. Nothing crazy, just making it a bit easier for our clients to pick out materials, and colors to help them see the big picture. More on that to come later. But every once in a blue moon one of us comes up with an idea so crazy and different from our competitors it requires a bit longer discussion to see if it would even work.   
FYI the barn door is now Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze:) 
Let me explain how our creative process works. First, Dave and I get geared up to sit down and talk about an idea. Occasionally along the way during the process we throw things at each other. Next, we rip apart the idea. Let it go. Come back to it. Possibly go "Office Space" on the ink jet printer while discussing it. (#not it ) Throw in a trip to an Industry Convention in Denver in the middle of it all which typically motivates us, but this year actually made us question what were convinced would work. Sometimes, we talk about an idea civilly over chips and salsa and beer and margaritas. But afterwards, we proceed to throw everything previously discussed in the trash because the beer and tequila told us to. Only to have a brilliant idea come to one of us at 1 am. This is when we usually get super excited and make it happen. 

Meet Epson. He will print 13x19 color landscape design plans wirelessly in my office once I unpack him.   
 Now you see why I don't like taking risks. Big decisions, and changes are exhausting and leave me "hung over" for lack of a better term. In the end they are always the right decisions, but damn it makes my brain hurt. 

Tomorrow Dave and I are going to take that big shiny crazy idea so different from everyone else that we have been mulling over and over and roll with it. Literally….. roll with it. I am excited, nervous, and still a bit hesitant, but I know it is the right decision. Please cross your fingers and say good juju, and hope all goes well. The gentleman I spoke with yesterday said the whole thing was serendipitous. 

In the meantime while I sit on my hands and wait patiently like a good little girl waiting for her hippopotamus on Christmas morning (thanks Michele), the kids and I plan to make cookies like we did last week. It is our new thing. Here's to hoping I don't nervously eat them all before tomorrow. If I do, it is because the tequila told me to. 

P.S. Here's a hint! Stay tuned.  


Thursday, January 8, 2015

Vintage Whites Market

So this is happening Friday night and all day Saturday. www.thevintagewhitesmarket.com


Dave and I are heading out to the Ranch on Friday night with pre bought tickets. Yup, taking him on a date. He will love it. Until I start buying things that is.  

Who knows? Maybe it will inspire me to dust off some of the stuff I have been hoarding out in the ol' dairy barn from my previous life as a dealer of antique garden ornaments and such and get back in the game. What….wasn't every new college graduate an antique dealer?


Oooh maybe say with a Summit Barn twist thrown in for fun and good measure? 
Anyway, moving on. ;)

Or, it may bite me in the butt and make me want to buy all.the.things for the farmhouse we have no room for because I have a shopping problem and we have plenty already. 

Not to worry though, I am very good about justifying things and why they need to come home with me. Case in point, it is how I ended up dragging a ridiculously heavy behemoth of a vintage Fridgidare home from Denver to live in the mudroom and store things like sunscreen and dog shampoo.


Let's just say my Father still curses me for what it took to get it back to Fort Collins. Picture in your mind us shoving it into my Mother's SUV already full with 4 adults and 2 small kids, in bucket car seats and my BOB stroller. No truck of course because A. that would be too practical, and B. there was no plan to buy said fridge. (Never is for the good stuff!)  It wasn't pretty folks, and I'm sure it was somewhat illegal. I blame the Fridgidare. It told me it to do it! 

I want to know what your favorite thing you have ever brought home from an antique show/flea market was? Oh and, if you end up going to the show, message me and we can share a cupcake. I'd be happy to help you justify some purchases before you take them home!

XOXO

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

New Year New Blog Design


So if you haven't noticed I did a little house cleaning here on the blog this week. 
I caught myself looking back on how this little blog started and also realized that India Rose will be 5 years old tomorrow. When I started the blog she was a teeny tiny baby. This is how she looks today.


WOW! (Damn I'm getting old!)

It got me thinking how much has changed since then. We have added onto our business, and onto our farmhouse. We have grown in many ways. On that note, I have declared that this year will be the year of Intention. Before you go thinking I will get all philosophical on y'all and make you question what the heck blog you are reading. Or wonder if I had some sort of spiritual awakening while on my flu meds over the holidays and then had the word "Intention" tattooed it on my arm, I didn't. (hum….tempting though!) Long story short, I want to basically cut out the crap and do things with intent. I want to slow down, simplify everything, and make things easier each day so we can enjoy it more. More intent, less running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Make sense? Also I am beginning to realizing I can't control All.The.Things! Yeah, this one is hard. But I am learning.

As far as this blog is concerned, I have come to the realization that because I can't do it all, I just won't. I don't get to blog as often as I would like, but that is ok. The posts won't be as long and rambling, and there may not be as many pictures, but hopefully this new design will let me keep things a bit more clean and intentional. (Get it? Hah!) I plan on catching everyone up with the farmhouse renovation and all the fun things we made for it like that door up there. As well as keeping you up to speed with the  stories, events, and projects we have on the docket for this year. There may be some overlap between this blog, the Summit blog, and my Instagram. But hey, the more the merrier right? 



If you get a min. send me a quick message and let me know what you think of the new design and my whacked out concept.  

XOXO.