Of Gypsies and Cowboys

Update:

Only minutes after my last post, the area health inspector called to inform us that we are required to undergo an inspection of our operation since we are working with food. Food? Hm. From the information we have so far, it sounds like we are required to have a seperate commercial level kitchen. We also need to prepare a sanitation plan, food safety plan, and full floor layout of our facility. Hm.
This was a fairly significant piece of informtion. Especially since we do not currently have a separate kitchen area. Hm.

You know, there's a lot going on in my heart and head these days. There was a mass of conflicting emotions and responses throughout the afternoon and evening as I tried to evaluate and make sense of where we are and where we have come from. We've come a long way. There are many new and blessed points of growth and change in our lives, but at the same time there is so little to really 'show' for what we've done and what we've accomplished. We've invested a significant amount of time, money, energy, and overall life into the past several months. I believe we have gained more than we have spent, but there has been a definite cost to it all.

We're not sure what's going to happen with the business part of this whole life venture. Something we are learning to embrace is that we can still make choices and steps to cultivate a simple life of that is truly good. We can raise our son together and teach him an appreciation of the earth and moral values and simple happiness. We can take time with our marriage and continue to grow towards each other. We can continue educating ourselves about Fair Trade practices and the ethical treatment of our global community. And, of course, we can keep roasting and drinking and trading really good coffee ;)

We're not sure what our next step is, but it's likely going to lean more towards 'slow and simple' instead of 'rash and risky'. I was about ready to plunge in, sign everything onto someone's dotted line, and put it all into lease and equipment and the whole deal. In response, J reminded me that he isn't willing to bring our family into danger. It's one thing to take a crazy risk but another to burn all the bridges and act without wisdom.
So, we're going to keep roasting and selling, at least privately (through our site, farmers markets, etc). Bit by bit, through drawing people into the conversation and educating ourselves and sharing our story and beans, we hope to get to a point where we can confidently open our own shop and share this good thing. J will likely begin some work to keep our cupboards healthy and such, and I might take a day or two with that other creative woman inside myself who has been silenced of late.

Hm. Nothing in the past year or 4 months or week or day has been what we expected or planned. I guess that's part of the beauty of the journey. Here's hoping to a sunny open road...around the bend.