So I Quit My Job, and then Traveled A Lot

Wow, I have neglected this blog, my little corner of the world wide web.

I loved posting updates on my work every other month and I haven’t even done that! Uuuuugh. I owe a big massive update. Buuuut until then, here’s little about what’s been going on in my life…

But the title of this post sums it up quite well, but let’s start with: So I quit my job. For the last 6 years I’ve worked as a designer at Central Creative Group. When I opened my shop 2 years ago, I NEVER would have imagined that I could possibly do this for a living. That my shop alone could be all my income. Last fall, that unknown dream became a reality and over this past year, I’ve struggled to maintain a life outside of work. If you know me outside the web, then I guarantee I have bailed on seeing you at least once this past year because I had to work. If not once, then maybe a dozen times. Or a few dozen times. Thankfully, I LOVE my work. So while I found so much joy and fulfillment from working with the design company I was at while also running my shop, the relationships in my life have suffered tremendously. So with a heavy heart, I quit my job… and with a overjoyed heart, I am running my shop full time—which I already was doing—while taking on other freelance opportunities as they arise. This is the biggest leap of faith I have ever taken and I can’t wait to see what God does with this as He’s already revealed so much to me in the tiny steps so far taken.

There are so many things I’ve been slacking on and want to do more of while on the flip side, there’s a lot I’d like to do less of and see a lot of potential to be able to delegate a day away. If I could give a little on my control issues that is.

I want to do more…

Daily creative lettering. Whether its a fun saying in ink or with a brush, I just want to have fun being totally open and creative. Thanks to the the Letter It challenge by Jenny Highsmith, I already started this although with our out of town trips, daily isn’t quite happening.

Dreaming and scheming for the future. Right now all I do is try to stay above water but once this workload gets under control (which I think may be possible someday) then I’d love to actually crank out new work just for the heck of it. Introduce new lines without being asked to.

Work outs! I haven’t had a good work out since…. October. If I had even 10 minutes to spare, I would take that time and get one more order done. One more photo retouched. One more listing perfected. That’s just not going to slide anymore. Daily workouts are what keep my headaches away the best anyway so its really better in the long run, in so many ways, to keep the daily cardio a priority.

Strengthening of relationships… its the people in life that matter most and friendships and family relationships have definitely fallen to the wayside. It’s time to build those back up and invest in the people who have supported me so much these past couple years. Who have heard me say time and again, “I can’t, I have to work.”

Building on our marriage. If anyone has seen the downside to my workaholicsm it’s my husband. He gets the brunt of every meltdown—and the headache that follows the meltdown. He gets stuck with the lonely nights as I work until I just can’t keep my eyes open anymore. He gets the leftovers of my energy and time which is really next to nothing anyway. I need to make him the priority.

Reading!!! I have been building my “want to read” list on Goodreads so much but I want to start moving those over to my “read” list.

I want to do less…

Busy work! There’s so many random little things that go into running my shop that I don’t necessarily have to do. Since so many of my projects require my hand, literally my handwriting, that’s not something I can delegate. But cutting out tags on the Cricut, making print runs, packaging stamps and cards… all that can be delegated away. And I am happy to do so! Again, this is where that releasing of control will come in handy as I’m a little OCD when it comes to how I want things done. (Big P.S. I actually wrote out a lot of this post months ago so since then… my friend Jamie has totally stepped up and helped me out big time while we’ve been out of town and even while we’re home, even to the point of calling our Internet provider to get our Internet working again while we were cell service-less in Yellowstone—I mean, she could have just given up, right? Reliable and detail oriented help is hard to find and I love her so much for all the help!!)

travel travel travel

Besides all that… other big things going on right now are lots and lots of traveling! With my hubby’s work and mine being what it is, our home is our workplace and we can take that on the road! For me, it does pose some challenges but all of it can be worked out… like I said, my friend Jamie has helped tremendously in keeping a lot of my shop running from my house while we’re gone.

So anyway, we just got back from my family reunion in Montana! We flew back early for my friend’s wedding and now we are gearing up to DRIVE back for some BBQ competitions! First Wyoming, then Montana and then to South Dakota with a pitstop to see my hubby’s grandparents too! On “our way home” we will stop in Colorado to pick up our GIANT new BBQ trailer and then finally be home at the end of the month.

September is a month of staying put—almost for the whole month! Then we will be on the road again. Starting with Vegas then on to Missouri for the American Royal. THEN we just found out that the Rooftop Team won “the draw” to be able to compete in the Jack Daniels World Championship in Tennessee! So we will compete there in October as well, then drive on to Florida (hello Magic Kingdom!!) to compete in the World Food Championship. THEN drive home while making a few stops along the way (Hello New Orlean’s jamabalaya and beignets!). Competing at the American Royal and Jack Daniels competitions are on Andy’s “BBQ Bucket List” so he is quite excited!

This trip is the craziest but when else in our lives would it be possible?! We are taking to the road to chase my husband’s BBQ dreams and thankfully, my dream of a job can come along too. We will be cooking and lettering across America. How’s that for a reality show? 🙂

Follow along with me as I travel and work from the road! Instagram: @samallencreates