Finding the Best in Midwest Weekend Getaways
Woofta, it’s been awhile since we’ve seen Random Monday Thoughts (the last one you can find HERE), but I actually missed doing them, so they are back for now! I think it’s good sometimes to sit back and reflect on
While a lot of small business owners have always dreamed of owning their own brick and mortar store, Lori did not start out that way. In fact, over 11 years ago her mother-in-law persuaded her to purchase the existing flower store in town from someone else and take it over. Not wanting to see a business close in town, Lori took the risk and learned almost everything she knows about the business from Rita Reiter (who previously owned the flower shop under the name “A Family Affair”). The rest as they say “is history”!
Matthew 7:24 – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
It’s graduation time here in North Iowa and I can’t help but think about R graduating in a short 3 years…or about how I felt 16 (gasp!) years ago when I graduated. I also can’t help but remember when I was the graduate. There are so many mixed emotions. There is part of me that feels like those days were just a year or two ago and the other part of me feels like a lifetime ago. I suppose that’s because it was a lifetime ago. Wait…how did I get this old??
But, I digress…
Dear Graduate,
I have several things to say, so bear with me if you would. The next week or two is going to evoke a lot of emotions…sadness, happiness, pure excitement, and fear. You’re not only going to feel these emotions in the next week or so, but the next several months as you prepare for the next step in your life. So, here are a couple things to keep in mind as you move forward.
Anyone else have those leftover meats in your freezer that you must use, but are always at a loss of what to do? We’ve had that quite a bit lately and specifically ham! We had left over ham from Christmas and then added another container of left over ham from Easter.
While we love ham (just eating it plain), we had done that a couple times and were looking to reuse it another way! T was actually the one who suggested chopping it up and putting it in my twice baked potatoes. Then for ease, I added a few other items and the seasoning to make them into ultimate mashed potatoes. We’ll get to these potatoes in a minute, but first let’s talk about weekends for a second.
Weekends are a funny thing, aren’t they?? You spend the majority of the week waiting anxiously for them and then once they are over, you are either glad to get back to a routine or realize it went so fast, you can’t really remember what you did!
This past weekend was a rare one where we didn’t have 15 things that we “had” to do. Oh don’t worry our list of “to do’s” was plenty long as we hadn’t had much time the last several weeks to focus on home, but only one place to go and one thing we had to do which was a baseball game for M on Saturday night. Knowing it was going to be cold and windy, I decided we were going to need a hearty meal to fill our bellies and help keep us warm during the game, so that led us to where we are now.
I’m so excited to introduce you to today’s Friday in Franklin County business…probably because I spend time there every Tuesday & Wednesday morning at 5:30AM! I’m so happy to introduce you to Jennifer Gruelke, owner of Jennifer Gruelke Studio!
Jennifer moved to Franklin County 17 years ago to be near her now husband Butch. Since being here she has worked a variety of business jobs in Hampton and she has had the honor of meeting and working with dedicated and hard-working individuals. Now, in addition to running the Studio, she and Butch own and operate Butch Gruelke Auto Body and they continue to raise their son and family in the area.
Continue “Friday in Franklin County: Jennifer Gruelke Studio”
Psalm 95:5-6 “The sea that he made belongs to him, along with the dry land that his hands formed. Come! Let us worship and bow down; let us kneel in the presence of the Lord, who made us.”
You’ve opened your business like you always dreamed! You have your employees hired and you have regular business hours, but you are so busy that you don’t know which way is up! You’ve heard from the experts that you need to have a social media presence, but how do you add one more thing to you never-ending list? You have a Facebook page, but only have time about once a week to post to it. You have a special event coming up and feel like you need one more way of boosting your marketing (to add to the newspaper and radio ads). You feel that you and your business have a special story to share and you want to tell it, but have no idea how to go about doing it. Do any of these questions or statements describe you? If so, it’s time to hire someone to help with social media!
Help, just like in all aspects of life, comes in different forms and on different levels within social media. So, what can hiring someone to help with social media look like for you? Well, that’s the great thing about social media…it’s completely customizable for each person and each business, but here are a few ideas!
Continue “Hiring Social Media Help..What Does It Look Like?”
Wow! Where did the time go? See how that happens? Life is crazy busy and I forget things and things forget me, but I digress….
Last week you were able to follow me through the first half of a week to see what my life really looks like and how busy we stay! That was Sunday through Wednesday and you can check that out HERE! So, what happened the rest of the week? Here you go!
Thursday – if you recall from last week, my alarm goes off at 5:01AM every morning. Today I’m off to POUND class again and home to shower and prep for work. Once I’m ready, I pack my lunch and breakfast as well as pack M’s lunch to take to school. Off I go! Work until about 12:30 when (and this is incredibly rare) my hubby picked me up for a quick lunch date. The Iowa Grill (food truck) from Mason City is in town today and it’s a gorgeous day, so we are happy to oblige for a quick lunch. Back to work until 4PM (that’s an hour earlier than normal) and I fly home to pick up my mom, T & M to head to another track meet about 45 minutes away. We arrive on our normal scheduled time only to find out we’re a half hour (or so) early for R’s events, so now we kill time…good thing it’s a gorgeous day! We watch his first two events and then quickly head downtown to find some supper (we’re all very tired of concession stand and fast food by this point). Back to the track meet for his last event (he runs the 4×400, which is literally the last event). Thankfully, it isn’t too late and we’re home by about 8:30PM. The dog is limping…why is the dog limping..texting my dog walker (yes, I’ve actually hired a neighbor girl to walk Nike and spend a little time with her all these nights we’ve been at track meets). We discover she’s scraped off part of her pad on her paw…nothing life threatening so we can fall into bed!
