WELL… SO MUCH FOR BLOGGING EVERY WEEK

Remember when I said I was going to blog every week?

That was cute.

And for a while, I actually did it. I was on a roll. I had things to say, stories I wanted to tell, and—possibly for the first time in my life—something resembling consistency.

Then life laughed.

The plans for our businesses completely changed.

We sold a building.
We built out another one.
We moved Squirrelly Mama.
We brought our Shoppe 218 vendors along for the ride.
We moved Create Chaos.

We left the place we hold so dear, and where it all began. We combined things that weren’t originally supposed to be combined.

Then summer happened.

And I still have four children who expect things like rides, food, attention, and participation in their lives.

Rude.

Somewhere in there, the blog quietly slid to the bottom of a very, very long list.

The funny thing is, I didn’t stop blogging because I ran out of things to write about.

I stopped because I was too busy living the next chapter of Squirrelly Mama Adventures.

WAIT… THIS WASN’T ACTUALLY THE PLAN

If you’ve followed along for a while, you know that I love a plan.

I also love changing the plan.

Sometimes intentionally.

Sometimes because life grabs the plan out of my hands, crumples it into a ball, and says, “We’re doing this instead.”

That’s pretty much what happened this time.

Not that long ago, the plan looked completely different.

We had Shoppe 218. We had Squirrelly Mama. We were ready to start opening Create Chaos, which was going to have its own space.

I had plans for all of it.

Good plans, too.

Possibly the most thought-out and detailed plans my Squirrelly self has ever put together, and I was so excited.

I was excited not only about the businesses, but—far more importantly—about what I knew these businesses could bring to the place we love.

And then things shifted.

Pretty quickly.

We made the decision to sell the Shoppe 218 building, to move Squirrelly Mama (insert 14 lbs. of eating my emotions), and to change the location of Create Chaos.

After much thinking, a lot of crying—because that’s how I roll; admittedly, I am a way-too-emotional human—and a lot of Ben & Jerry’s Dirt Cake, the new plan became:

What if we put ALL of it together?

Squirrelly Mama.
Our Shoppe 218 vendors.
Create Chaos.
Custom apparel and gifts.
Classes and events.
All my random ideas that probably should require adult supervision.

One big space.

One epic destination.

It wasn’t the original plan.

But the more it came together, the more it felt like maybe the world was showing me that old cliché:

Everything happens for a reason.

AND THEN WE HAD TO ACTUALLY BUILD IT

Minor detail.

There is a very big difference between standing in an empty building saying, “Oh my gosh, imagine what we could do in here!”

…and actually doing it.

So. Many. Decisions.

Walls. Floors. Fixtures. Displays. Signs. Equipment. Inventory. Workspaces.

Where does this go?
How should this work?
Why doesn’t that fit?
Who ordered this?

Oh.

Me.

Cool.

There were long days, late nights, things that went perfectly, things that absolutely did not, and plenty of moments when I questioned why the hell I don’t just get a 9-to-5. Good thing I had my project manager to help!

But slowly, it started looking like the thing I had pictured in my head.

Actually, that’s not completely true.

It started looking better.

And that part still gets me.

Because I can walk into Squirrelly Mama now and see pieces of all these things I’ve built over the years living under one roof.

Is it finished?

Absolutely not.

My brain is still approximately 14 projects ahead of reality.

There is still SO much I want to do with this space, so many cool things coming that I can’t wait to share, and so many epic things I can’t wait to bring to this community.

But even so…

It’s already pretty freaking amazing.

And I’m really proud of it.

MEANWHILE, AT HOME…

While all of this was happening, my children did not receive the memo that Mom was opening a new store and should probably be given a lighter schedule.

Somewhere in the middle of everything, Linkin looked at his already-full sports roster and thought:

“You know what would really round this out? Golf.”

Of course.

And because he’s my kid, we don’t really dabble.

We have a bit of a go-big-or-go-home problem in this family.

So naturally, golf couldn’t be something he does occasionally.

Golf became an everyday activity.

Because what we were really missing from our lives was another expensive sport and somewhere else to drive. And yes, it was one of his Halloween costumes this year, and yes Cruz was throwing that big of a fit over taking a picture!

Bri is still a diva.

Cruz is still feral.

Ceyauna is the adult child, which sounds like it should mean one less child to manage, but anyone with adult children just laughed.

And Steve and I continue doing what I assume most parents with businesses and four kids do:

Looking at each other occasionally and asking,

“Who’s taking who where?”

LIFE HAS BEEN KICKING MY BUTT

It really has.

But I’ve been thinking about that phrase lately because it doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

Life has been kicking my butt…

in the most ridiculously blessed way.

And I don’t ever want to lose sight of that.

I’m tired.

Like, really tired sometimes.

There are days when it feels like I move from one thing that needs me directly into the next thing that needs me.

Store.
Kids.
Customers.
Sports.
Events.
Laundry.
Business.
Dinner.
Something someone forgot they needed until 9:14 p.m.

Repeat.

And sometimes I catch myself thinking:

Holy crap. This is a lot.

But then I look around.

And holy crap…

Look at this life.

There was a time when Squirrelly Mama was just a crazy idea.

There was a time when I hoped people would find us, shop with us, tell their friends about us, and come back.

And now?

We have this big, beautiful space filled with things I love.

We get to meet the greatest people.

We get to create.

We get to host events.

We get to make ridiculous things.

We get to support other small businesses.

We get to dream up what’s next.

And I have four kids who are healthy and busy building lives filled with things they love.

It’s chaos.

But it’s our chaos.

And damn, are we blessed.

BLESSED CAN STILL BE EXHAUSTING

I think sometimes we act like being grateful means we’re not allowed to admit something is hard.

Like if you prayed for it, worked for it, you aren’t allowed to occasionally say:

This is kicking my ass.

But two things can be true.

You can be incredibly grateful for your life and still want everyone in that life to stop needing something from you for approximately 17 seconds.

You can love watching your business grow and still feel overwhelmed by it.

You can love being a mom and still wonder how every child you’ve created needs to be in a different geographical location at exactly the same time.

You can know you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be and still have days when you’re completely winging it.

And maybe that’s the biggest thing I’ve realized these last few months.

A full life can also be a hard life sometimes.

Not hard in a bad way.

Just FULL.

Full of people.
Full of responsibilities.
Full of opportunities.
Full of noise.
Full of ideas.
Full of things that need doing.
Full of moments I don’t want to miss.

And when I stop long enough to really look at it…

I wouldn’t trade this crazy, exhausting, beautiful life for anything.

Okay.

Maybe I’d trade one Tuesday for a nap.

But that’s it.

SO… WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

Right here.

Building.
Moving.
Momming.
Working.
Driving.
Changing plans.
Figuring things out.
Changing my mind.
Probably changing it back.
Buying golf equipment.

And somewhere along the way, we built something I’m incredibly proud of.

We’re nowhere near done.

There are still projects to finish, ideas to bring to life, things to tweak, things I haven’t even told you about yet, and approximately 700 ideas bouncing around in my head for what Squirrelly Mama can become.

But we’re here.

The doors are open.

And if you haven’t stopped in to see what we’ve been building, I hope you will. Because pictures don’t quite do this crazy place justice.

People are loving the new space.

We’re creating.

We’re laughing.

We’re figuring it out.

And it’s already better than I ever imagined.

And don't worry, I have PLENTY more to share about how this whole place came together, what we've created, and all the ridiculous ideas still bouncing around in my head.

But those are stories for another day. Or three.

Because apparently I don't know how to do anything small.

So no, I didn’t quit blogging.

I didn’t run out of stories.

I just got really busy living them.

And if the last few months are any indication…

I’ve got a whole lot of catching up to do.

Life is crazy. Life is full. And man, are we blessed.

— Jaclyn
Squirrelly Mama Adventures 🩷