Staying at Home

While Chris is deployed, we decided that I would not work. It just didn't seem fair to me that we would both miss so much of her first year of life. Granted, the job market here isn't that amazing anyway so I doubt I'm really missing out on much. It's been hard to go from making more than Chris to not making anything but we do okay and the deployment money helps.

I've really been trying to find a way to become a stay at home mom permanently. I would love to work from home and be at home with the Bean and our future children. So, I've bought a sewing machine and I just ordered another lens and some more camera accessories. I am also going to pick up writing again. I am extremely determined to find a way to make money and stay home.

I have never sewn a thing in my entire life. Well, that's not entirely true. I made a pillow once in 7th grade Home Ec but I don't remember it turning out too well. But, I will force myself to learn how to sew and see what I can come up with to sell on Etsy. First, I have to take the damn thing out of the box but you know, baby steps. Does anyone have any favorite online stores they like to buy fabric and patterns from? I need to get some practice on some easy peasy things first. What did you guys start with? Below is what I got to start. I haven't bought anything else yet.

I lived in the dark room in high school. The dark room is probably one of my favorite places in the entire world. Digital photography is relatively new to me and while I still prefer the dark room and traditional photo processing, I don't have the means to have a dark room and I probably won't for a very long time. I do have my Canon T1i and a few lenses and flash and Adobe Photoshop and I do pretty well. Bean has been my main subject but I took photos for K and her daughters and they turned out great. I figured why not try to make money at it? I'm going to do some free photoshoots to build a portfolio, create a website, and see if anything happens. Even if it doesn't, I still plan on taking pictures of Bean and it's a fun hobby of mine so no loss. I'd love to get a better camera but that will have to wait until I can justify the purchase!

I can't tell you how many stories I've started writing only to abandon and delete them because of sheer laziness. Now, I have real motivation.

I'm hoping at least ONE of these things pan out for me. If not, it's back to the drawing board. What are some ways that you guys make money from home?