WAHM Canada Community

Attention: Canadian WAHMs, Canadian Moms!
Are you a Canadian work at home mom?
Do you want to be a Canadian work at home mom?

Are you a work-at-home mom living in Canada who is looking for support, ideas and encouragement for your home-based business? Are you a mom looking to work from home but don't know where to start? Have business questions & need answers from fellow Canadian WAHMs?

Well you are in LUCK!

Join our Work At Home Mom Community WAHM Canada Community to access our business club for moms, developed exclusively for Canadian work-at-home moms who want to network, encourage each other, and discuss family life as well. :)

Top 5 List of reasons why you should register and become a member of WAHM Canada Community!!!

5. Meet up with other stay at home or work at home moms in your city.
4. Start your own in real life Mastermind group! Join Forces! Cross Promote!
3. Find answers to Canadian ONLY wahm business questions that you might have!
2. Network with other "Canadian" Work at Home Moms!
1. MEMBERSHIP is 100% FREE!!

Visit www.WAHMcanadaCommunity.com for more info!

Storks & Berries Is One Year Old!

It's been a busy year for me. Busier than most - but I have also accomplished more than usual I think ... although I suppose some might disagree. I've grown and changed ... so has my business ... and my family.

I started my online business, Storks & Berries, a year ago. My son was about 6 months old when my meager little business went live online. Since then, I have spent much of my free time (what little of that a new mommy has!), working on my website, researching new products, and ensuring that Storks & Berries offers it's customers service the likes of which isn't easily found in today's era of online shopping and fast paces.

I have done well, although the perfectionist in me wishes that I had done better. It's a juggling act (as I am sure you all know) for a WAHM business owner, who also has a family and home to care for, as well as a career outside the home - one that is often emotionally and physically draining. Time is of the essence.

Storks & Berries is 1 year old this month! I still cannot believe it when I think of it. My son is about to be 18 months old, my second child will be arriving within the next couple of months, and I am the owner of a business that I love spending time growing. It is strange how life progresses so quickly, how there is always so much to be accomplished, how the world challenges you as you interact with it.

Storks & Berries started off selling a couple of brands of cloth diapers and a couple of types of baby carriers. Fast forward one year ... I offer 5 brands of cloth diapers (AppleCheeks, Baby Kangas, BerryPlush, FuzziBunz, and Monkey Doodlez) ... all of which I love using on my own son and which I love raving about to anyone who will listen. I still offer the baby carriers (CuddlyWrap, Mobile Mommy, and Cosy Baby Happy Mommy) - fantastic products which I wholeheartedly believe in. But I have, as I mentioned previously, grown. I now also offer my customers toys, environmentally friendly household products (laundry detergents, soapnuts, and rechargeable batteries), cloth training pants, and so much more.

I maintain the same basic goal for my business as I had one year ago ... to offer excellent customer service while providing customers with products that I love and use myself - products that I truly believe are the best of the best, that are manufactured responsibly by companies who genuinely care about the environment, the world, and the "little people" (my son and your children) who are, ultimately, the end users of the products they create. My goals, like my business, have grown in the past year, however. I have discovered, after months of personal experience, that both moms and dads are unbelievably busy people. We are constantly juggling the needs of our children, with the needs of ourselves, our spouses / partners, our work ... and so many other things. That's why I have been spending so much time researching new products for my store ... so that busy parents can get what they need without having to shop at numerous places.

I have a vision for Storks & Berries, it remains a work-in-progress. I suspect it will be such for a long time yet (likely forever?). I continue to work hard at growing my business and my product lines while maintaining that basic focus on providing exceptional customer service to people who want exceptional products. I look forward to my businesses 2nd year. I know I will continue to do well, to grow and learn, to enjoy this adventure I have started on.

I invite you to visit Storks & Berries when you have a moment (hopefully now :) ... register for an account and sign up for our newsletter (which offers exclusive coupon codes each month), take advantage of some of the great sales we currently have going. Come back soon as well because we will be having more great sales before the end of the year to celebrate our momentous 1st birthday so don't forget to visit Storks & Berries again soon.

Please also consider telling your friends / family / co-workers about Storks & Berries. I would appreciate your support and referrals and I extend an offer of a coupon code to all WAHMs who read this blog. Please use the coupon code "FIVE OFF" to receive 5% off your 1st purchase at Storks & Berries. This coupon code will be valid until December 31st, 2009. Please note, that it does not apply to sale items, clearance items, or cloth diapering kits.

Thank you for reading and allowing me to share some of my thoughts at this late hour :)

Dawn

Owner

Storks & Berries

www.storksandberries.ca

Need Motivation?

You HAVE to watch this!

Read the whole story here: Cliff Young

Enjoy (and then go for a walk!)

Darlene
www.PraiseWalker.com

Laziness has a price...

Every now and then I hit a place in my walking where I need to take about a week off. Because I've never had problems starting up again, I allow myself this grace. It happens about once or twice a year. No biggie.

About a month ago, such a timjavascript:void(0)e had arrived. I just needed a break, so I took a week off. That weekend I got the dreaded flu, and the following two weeks, while there were no messy flu symptoms, I was so tired as to be useless. I did do a couple of walks, but not enough to brag about, and each one left me drained and exhausted.

Following that my husband and I took a week off and went to Montana. Training wasn't even slightly in the picture.

Read more of the story here: www.PraiseWalker.com

Canvassing - A GREAT Excuse for a walk

A couple of years ago I got a call from the Heart and Stroke foundation. A lovely man was on the other end, and asked quite apologetically if I would be able to canvass for them that year (in February). The routes were very small, he assured me, and I'd have two whole weeks to get it done, and my own street was available if I'd like to do it.

He must have caught me at a weak moment, because I said yes.

"What?!" he exclaimed, in shock "You'll WILL?!" He must have been having a bad day, because you would have thought I'd just handed an eight-year-old boy his first puppy.

We laughed about that, and he told me the person in charge of my area would be in touch.

A few weeks later I got a phone call, set a date to get my packet and some brief training, and I was "in".

The Idea of "Sabbath"

To call me a "driven" person is an understatement (friends might use the term "scary"...) There's something about my makeup that doesn't allow me to tackle a day without to-do list of at least 30 items. I kid you not. There are always 27 different projects to work on, and I take my relationship with my kids and husband very seriously, so time needs to be set aside for that, as well. This means I live each day highly focused, and heaven help you if you get in my way when we're not in "relationship" mode!

And there's something about today's society that makes this kind of lifestyle something to be deeply proud of. I mean whenever someone asks you how life is, "busy" and "stressed" seem to be appropriate, praise-worthy responses. Weird.

In my Monday's Post I shared about the trip my husband and I took to Montana and the incredible sense of rest that it afforded us. My own faith stresses highly the importance of Sabbath.

This is an idea that has been buzzing around in my head and my heart for a long time. I actually do start each morning very slowly with time for devotions, praise, walking, and the like before I hit the ground running, but the idea of a whole day of Sabbath every week? That's tough. Weekends are so short and so fully of "busy-ness" that it's hard to figure out how to make it happen.

I believe more and more, though that it's a vitally important part of true wellness, regardless of your spiritual beliefs - or lack of such. It takes some work to make it happen (that sounds like a contradiction in terms...) but the results are well worth it. Here are some links that you might find helpful (if you're not religious, these ideas can be used as a starting place and be adapted to suit your own needs):

Read more here: www.PraiseWalker.com

The Power of Rest

My husband and I just got back from a week long stay at "The Montana Cabin" where we had a full week of rest, quiet, beautiful scenery, and no schedule or goals to accomplish, other than rest and reconnection.

The mornings were slow - we got up when we were awake, not when some alarm beeped, and had coffee together overlooking the lake. The views fed my soul with rest, relaxation, and deep peace.

Read more here: www.PraiseWalker.com