It’s Christmas Eve morning and my kids keep coming into the office asking, “are you working, mom?” Well, I don’t want to be, but just as everything else this year, I seem to be behind and a bit overwhelmed. 2021 has been a year like no other for us personally and professionally. We thought 2020 was a year like no other, and it was, then came 2021 and along with it a whole new set of challenges.

I’m a bit embarrassed that it has been last December since my last blog post. I had such big plans for blogging this year. A year like this, there has been plenty to blog about, yet, I have barely kept up with the daily tasks of keeping a business running with little time for much else.

As crazy as last year was in our industry, this year has definitely seen even more challenges from even higher prices in EVERY aspect of building, to material shortages, supply chain issues, labor woes, etc, etc. And probably the biggest challenge of all, DEMAND, DEMAND, DEMAND. Some weeks, it felt like for every call or email I returned from prospective clients, two more came in it’s place. Don’t get me wrong, we are VERY thankful for the business and the wonderful clients that have trusted us to be their builder. We are thankful people keep buying even though pricing continues to rise and build times continue to get longer. We are thankful to be a Small Business Owner that is still thriving when so many didn’t fair as well.

Yesterday, I was able to hand deliver my last Client Christmas gift. Again this year, I had aspirations to make our client gifts this year. Neil helped me gather some scrap material from our jobsites, and with the help of our framing crew was able to cut the boards into exact dimensions I had in mind for this year’s project. With wood being at a premium these days, I thought why not use left over material from our jobsites that was going to be thrown away. I was so proud of myself for getting started with phase one of the project before Thanksgiving and had such high hopes of getting ahead this year. Unfortunately, the constraints of multiple deadlines and other obligations quickly brought me back to reality (thus, delivering the last one two days before Christmas). However, I am so grateful for the personal time with each client and it is such a blessing to see how they have decorated their beautiful homes for the Christmas season. My hope is these gifts will always be a fond reminder of their first Christmas in their new home.

As we get ready to head into another new year, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to wish all our Clients, Friends, and Partners a very Merry Christmas. I hope you are able to enjoy some much needed time with loved ones and share in this special season of Love and Joy as we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

We are so thankful for each of you and hope for Good Health and Peace going into 2022.