White Desks
DISCLAIMER: This post is sponsored by Walmart. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Walmart for sponsoring this post! Post contains affiliate links (read my full disclosure).
Good Morning! It’s a brand new day and a brand new week and kind of a brand new life for us over here as we woke up this Monday morning. As John and I drug four huge Walmart desk boxes I had ordered last week from Walmart’s Online Pickup and Delivery down into the basement last night, I quite honestly couldn’t stop smiling. Wanting to pinch myself at how the last six months… the last year… the last two years have worked themselves all out. But then I dropped a box on my toe and hopped around in pain for ten minutes so no need for that! LOL.
Writing this post quite honestly feels kind of surreal. From the fact that my life felt like quite the now unrecognizable nightmare just two short years ago to the fact that John and I finally put together pieces to a seemingly impossible puzzle to the fact that all of my business dreams and goals that were squashed over and over and over again over the last ten years are all finally amounting to something. It isn’t actually surreal. It is actually happening. John and I are joining forces. And I don’t just mean in holy matrimony. We are officially business partners. Literally starting TODAY.
Yep, my sweet man has “given up” his beautiful lake home and now his job as a senior superintendent for a national homebuilder in Atlanta for us to grow a dream together. Huge pieces of each of our goals and dreams all wound up together into one big path for us now. There have been so many times in my life that I have wished I just didn’t dream. Wished that I loved staying home full time and that I didn’t have a million and one things I wanted to pursue at any given time. Truly believed the lies that me going for my dreams was just too much. And as y’all may remember from several posts I did way back when… even giving up Addison’s Wonderland completely right after my appearance on Shark Tank back in 2013. It took me a loooooong time, as in almost my entire 39 years now, to realize that it’s okay. I am allowed to be a mom and a wife and have big dreams. I am a dreamer and it is OKAY. And now to top it all off, I have a hunky hubby to dream alongside.
It all started back in November when I was going to “give it all up” and move out John’s way. It just made the most sense at the time I guess. For me to be the one to make the sacrifice. That’s typically how it works right? For the woman to shift and mold and put everything on hold. As y’all may remember, we looked for homes out his way and I even got every single thing situated “legally” with my ex to make the big move and pull my girls out of their school. John was actually in the process of finding and purchasing land to build homes on his own as well. It all just made sense.
I guess. I was sad but also 100% on board. Just so incredibly thankful to have found my partner in life. My business was growing. My brick and mortar stores were booming once again post Covid. I had quite literally just put together my AW Design “dream team” we’d just launched. But I was going to shift and mold and make it work. I could type and yap and chat about the details for way longer than y’all want to read but in short, one day in January we decided otherwise. John opened up a real and honest conversation with me one evening about what I actually wanted and what actually made the most sense for us. As I have chatted about before, with me being debt free and him having sold his home unexpectedly with profits to put toward future dream projects for us as well as our other big unexpected sale of the cabin, it felt like God was putting together the pieces in a way we both never ever expected.
Do you ever feel like you are turning all four of your wheels in completely opposite directions? Like you are moving full speed ahead yet with each wheel spinning east, west, north and south you are never actually getting anywhere? That’s honestly kind of how it felt for us. John could move out my way and have a 1.5 drive EACH way to work while also building on the side kind of sort of pursuing the same dreams and goals as me in the exact same industry. OR I could move out his way and commute my girls back to see their Dad and their friends and check on my brick and mortar store while working through Zoom with my design team with a fully booked design calendar through September. We could have absolutely done that, each with bells on, but if we don’t HAVE TO then why run full steam ahead in complete opposite directions? And what we realized that evening is that we didn’t HAVE TO. A blessing we fully recognize. Let’s just say that we are both just really happy to be here. Having genuinely felt we’d never find our “ONE” and now meshing each of our lives and finances down to one, we are good. Really really really good. What we realized is that we don’t actually HAVE TO run around like crazy people to make it all work. And what would we actually be running around for?
I am a dreamer. I think moreso each and every day. Like I said, sometimes I wish I could just stop but I am so beyond thankful to now have TWO incredible people by my side helping me, HELPING US… all THREE OF US (including Abigail), mold and shape this crazy thing we call AW into something amazing. Way more than I ever thought possible. With my experience in design, Ab’s real estate license and John’s experience and passion in building and construction I am beyond excited to see what the future holds. I would have NEVER in a million and one years thought this would be us right now. That he’d be willing to join me in pursuing MY DREAMS while I join him in pursuing HIS DREAMS… now OUR DREAMS.
So today is the day! Ab, John and I are having a morning meeting to get the ball rolling on all things AW. We have all of our normal hats to wear plus quite a few new ones. With John now on board, we will be blogging A LOT more. We will be finishing up the cabin, finishing up house projects, working on Camp Wonderland, looking for land to build or homes to renovate as well as two new hats that are a crazy out there dream for me… one involves me writing and one involves us dipping our toes into the FOOD INDUSTRY! Not to mention the tequila brand that John and several of his buddies are launching soon. Oh AND us getting healthy and organized!!! Yep, there’s never a dull moment around here to say the least ;-).
So first things first… we need AN OFFICE!!! As I chatted about on stories over the weekend, we have decided to make our basement into ALL THINGS Headquarters! I have tried to talk myself out of this idea sooooooo many times over the years. I’d just always felt it doesn’t seem “professional” for some crazy reason. But at the end of the day, let’s be real… I work from home… we will mostly be working from home. And when we are off working on a renovation or opening up some crazy new venture, we need somewhere to come back to and stay organized. Plus, with four kiddos now in tow, it just seems most practical for the both of us. The three of us.
White Desks
You know when you want something, you want it like right now? I am the WORST about that! The worst! One more reason why I order using Walmart’s Online Pickup and Delivery more and more often. Once we decided to move forward with the office, I wanted desks to arrive as quickly as humanely possible. I was on Walmart’s Online Pickup and Delivery online ordering everything I needed to meal prep for a cleanse I was starting and just added four white desks to my cart too! We don’t actually need FOUR but I am all about symmetry and as you will see in the final office setup, four made it work! Plus, my design team will also have another place to hang out. Especially this Summer when all of our kiddos are home!
White Desks
In addition to ordering desks, as I mentioned I also ordered everything I needed for a detox cleanse from Walmart as well. As crazy as it sounds, it all kind of lined up with our new life transition. I wanted to get a jumpstart on the new healthy eating goals John and I have now that we are both around town full time now. It was soooo hard when we were both all over the place but the plan is eating good and working out TOGETHER now! That is one more reason I have become hooked on their Online Pickup and Delivery. What once felt so time consuming with meal prepping and walking the store aisles trying to find each and every item is just a search engine and cart add click away! Plus, I am a Walmart+ member which means that items shipped from Walmart ship free AND free delivery from my local store. Which I use often as I share on IG stories! There is a $35 minimum and a small delivery fee may apply. Pickup and Delivery available in select markets.
Yep, big changes around here lately. From a wedding in less than four weeks to two new kiddos joining the fam to a new business partner… you never ever know what life is going to throw your way but always just taking y’all along for the ride!
P.S. I will share lots more on this detox soon! It was very difficult but I honestly loved it! I will link everything I purchased from Walmart’s Online Pickup and Delivery for the detox here as well as the blender I used and a few peeks at the shakes and meals…
XOXO, The Future Mrs. Palazzo
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