2018: The good, the bad and the ugly.
2018 was a big year in a lot of ways for Foxtail Lilies and for me personally. In May we rolled out our Foxtail Lilies website and things went BOOM for FTL and really have not slowed down. Next up, we need an app. Coming soon…
On a personal note; Dana and I had become very close friends in the last 6 months of 2017 with the budding of this new side business we had put together. We saw each other at least once a week, usually more. We messaged each other constantly and we were fast friends. I felt like she and I had always been friends. It was almost strange that we had only recently connected. I am convinced that God put her in my life when he did because he knew that 2018 was going to be a year that I needed her in my life. I did not have many “close” friends and my dearest friend lived several states away at the time.
In January of 2018 I separated from my husband and moved into a house I purchased 4 days after Christmas. The transition was incredibly difficult. I had spent 16 years sharing a home with him and here I was on my own, trying to transition into a new normal. Mortgage, various bills, house maintenance, lawn maintenance, working full time, managing my girls and ensuring their needs are met, keeping myself healthy, etc. Until this point in my life I had never experienced anxiety or depression at the extent that I did during the first half of 2018. To top it off, our girls were just turning 3 and the transitions back and forth with custody were trying on them. Maintaining their security was very important to us and so working over the months to help them get use to the schedule took a lot of time and effort. It was and still can be exhausting. Thankfully he and I are working together to ensure that our girls receive all the love they deserve from both of us and they are flourishing very well.
Dana was and has continued to be a wonderful friend to lean on through this process for me. While things have gotten much easier for me and my anxiety has lessened, the work remains. Being a full-time working single mom is TOUGH. I cannot tell you how tired I am some days after I get my girls in bed. Why on earth would I want to even think about continuing with Foxtail Lilies you must be thinking? Because I enjoy it! When I have extra time, I want to do something I enjoy. FTL is it. I enjoy spending time with Dana and interacting with the community of women in the group. Dana and I love working with suppliers and designing new things. We love getting messages from you all about how much you love something you received or how thankful you are for our customer service and how you have never found another group with such quick shipping or a group with a return policy, etc. That is what makes this so enjoyable and worth the effort. Please don’t think it is silly to reach out and send us messages when you love something or have something positive to provide feedback on. We like getting feedback when things aren’t right, so we can make it right, but hearing good things provides affirmations that we are doing things well.
You may not have known about these hard times I have been having this past year, but please know that you have really helped me! In the beginning FTL was a distraction when I struggled with not having my girls when they were with their dad. Now, FTL is a second family that I enjoy interacting with and being creative with. I love coming up with new print styles with you and watching those come to life! I look forward to everything we all will get to experience together in 2019!
XOXO,
Sarah