Difficult times

i'm still learning how to start an etsy shop. i know it's taking me a long time, but i guess it just doesn't click for me so easily. it's frustrating at times, but i am still determined to do this. i've never been more determined to start my own business than i am now.

my husband is on day 4 of unemployment, which isn't so bad. i like having him around, and even though we can't look at his stay at home as a vacation, cause we can't do anything that will cost us money, he has been spending a lot of quality time with our girls. right now they are working on making a movie, which i hope to post here as soon as it is finished. both of our girls are having a blast, acting and dressing up and watching the playbacks of what they recorded. it's really fun for them, and it gives me time to figure out this esty shop thing and try to get some craft work done.

along with me trying out this business thing, my husband continues to look for work. he also works on his resume and is now looking to apply for unemployment. all this worry of running out of money on mortgage and bills has made us be extremely frugal. now don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to get sympathy from anyone about our financial situation because i'm sure there are many families going through the same thing. i have hope that we'll work it through, and i try to see our obstacles as challenges.

it's made us so much more aware of how wasteful we've been and is making us appreciate everything handmade, homemade, and home cooked even more than we already did. i even plan to reuse any cardboard containers, like cereal boxes, and other boxed foods, for my etsy shop packaging, when before i would just put them in the recycling bin.

my husband is also using his time at home to work more on his hobby, which is cooking. he's careful to buy foods that are low priced, can be used in several different meals, and he gets to practice his cooking skills with what he has and comes up with the most delicious food i've ever tasted! i'm so proud of him! i keep hinting at him that he should start his own cooking blog, but he won't. oh well! maybe he'll change his mind later.

one thing that makes our situation so difficult to live with is my MIL. i won't go into details because it's just too much stuff to talk about, but i will say that my husband and i caught her in a lie and her reaction is to make herself the victim. she makes living in this house very difficult for us. we are definitely not in a place to try to sell the house because we have only co-owned it for about 3 years and so we don't have much, if any, equity in the house. if we were to sell it (and actually be able to sell it at this time!), we would be lucky if we could walk away without owing a thing. but the reality is that we would most likely have to sell it for less and still owe money on the house. we cannot afford that either.

needless to say, we are under a lot of stress. i hope that it doesn't take a toll on our health, because it's the last thing we need. fortunately, my husband decided on keeping our health insurance, despite that fact that it's expensive. but, i'm very grateful for that. i'm also grateful because a have a husband that is supportive and loving with his family. it makes it all worth fighting for.