Real talk time: it’s been a long time since I’ve had to sacrifice something I really wanted for the sake of my business, and for that I’m grateful. I’ll never forget how painful it was constantly having to turn down time with my brand new husband due to the photos waiting to be edited and the blog posts waiting to be written, because I was still working for a Fortune 500 company at the time. I wouldn’t wish away that experience though, because it taught me a couple of things. First, it taught me that my husband is worth more to me than my work- HE is my number 1 priority. Secondly, it taught me to FIGHT for the things that I love, and that often, the fight requires short-term sacrifice for long-term gain. The short-term sacrifice being time with Matt, the long-term gain being the ability to lead a life we love desperately. (Like taking a full week off to go to Nationals’ spring training, Disney, and Harry Potter world!)

This weekend was an example of that sort of sacrifice. I hadn’t prepared enough in the weeks prior, and I didn’t realize until Thursday night that Matt had Friday off, due to the July 4th weekend. Sunday was the day we’d picked out to film the next installment of Secret Project #2, so I’d been planning to work all day Friday. It was kind of a bummer, sitting in my office downstairs plugging away with edits and what have you while my husband scrolled through Netflix the floor above me. A rare day off during the week for him, and I spent it working. And then Saturday, July 4th, I again spent several hours of quality time with my Mac. I missed the annual picnic with our church friends as I prepped for filming the next day. And Sunday, out usual day of rest, was spent filming. And it went really well! But there we go, a three-day weekend, and I worked straight through it.

At first, I felt pretty sorry for myself. “This is JULY 4TH. Aside from Christmas and Thanksgiving, this is one of the most respected holidays in the US, and here I am WORKING. This isn’t fair!”

But then I remembered that I chose this. I chose this path when I decided to start a small business, I chose this path when I decided to embark on new exciting projects, I, WE chose this path when Matt & I decided to work toward the goals we’ve come up with together.

So yes, I was disappointed about working through one of the most anticipated weekends of the summer, but like I said above; dreams and goals sometimes require short-term sacrifice for long-term gain. And two months from now, once both of our secret projects have wrapped up and we’ve finished the launch process, you bet I’m taking a full three-day weekend. Maybe even four days!

Matt, thank you for understanding that my business needed me this weekend. You always know when to let me work and when to gently pry me away, and I am so dang grateful for you!