Author: debutont

Today i get up because, I have legs and I can!!!

Today I breath in, because I am alive and I can!!!

Today I choose to be grateful for the life I have & I choose to live it!!!

I will get up when I am tired.

I will keep going when I want to quite.

& I will wake up a better man tomorrow, because of who I chose to be today.

Never give up!! Get up!! Quit being a namby Pamby & keep swimming the race.

Today, I am at a standstill. Sometimes, I feel like I am standing in a sea of indecision.

There are so many things I could or should do, to move forward. I hate committing to any solid idea, because I know everything I do is just a rough draft that I am praying will work. Until I can find a way to do it better or someone comes along and says I love this idea, can I help you make it stronger. Lol

It would be so easy for me to just sit idle, making no decisions at all. It would be completely reasonable to use my lack of funds, as an excuse to stay in my current situation & go no further. I have done sooo much this year. I could truly quit right now and call it a victory!!!

But this years goal, was to get my property to pay for my life. Everyone knows I have 3 financial goals.

1st goal- my property pays for itself

2nd goal- my property pays for itself & for my life expenses.

3rd goal- my property pays for itself, my life, my retirement & savings for the future.

My property is going to sustain me!!!

In the first year I made it to my first goal, on my first month in business. For the rest of the year I went on to hit that mark about 40-50% of the time… I am not an economist but I know, it is a great success, to turn a profit in the first year. So I counted it as a victory and took it as a sign that I was on the right track.

Now in my blonde business mind, I say ,,, I hit my first goal enough times this year, that I need to raise the bar & try to hit my 2nd goal.

2nd goal, 2nd year… Why not??? What’s the worst that can happen? I don’t make it??? Who cares?? I’m still further ahead, than I was before & by trying to hit my second goal, I might hit my 1st goal 100%.

So let try, it will be fun. Lol

If I am indeed going to hit my 2nd financial goal, I need my 3rd website up, running & generating income by October. Hahahaha… I know It’s going to be a lot of work. But I am going to try like hell to make it happen. Through slivers and tears with hopes and fears. I will do this, with or without help. I’m moving forward.

I write in my blog to give myself accountability. It’s easy to talk the talk and tell people what you would like to do… but just talk, with no action or sacrifice, will get me nowhere. Telling the world what I am doing, makes it harder to quite. So, I throw myself on the stage, so I don’t back out. I will use my vanity, to fuel my purpose.

I don’t want to be just another daydreamer, dreaming my life away & accomplishing nothing. Life is too short and uncertain, to waste the minutes & moments, wishing your life away, but doing absolutely nothing about it.

I have recently had a lot of friends & family, dying around me. I want to grab them and say ” wait… don’t go yet!!!… we still have so much we didn’t do!!! ”

We got distracted by excuses. We were so busy talking & dreaming about our plans for life,,,, that we forgot to live it, we missed it all!!! The trips almost over & we didn’t accomplish our dreams.

This has compelled me to reach harder, for those who can’t & quite assuming I have years left in my lifetime. I could be gone tomorrow, I must leave behind me, a path worth traveling. Something that others can find worthy. Even if it’s just a piece of inspiration.

I see others, including myself, who have moments of being stuck. “Like I feel today”.. We aren’t dead yet, but we are stuck waiting for the road to tell us what to do, where to go or just struggling, with how to get there.

I don’t know what to do, I don’t know where I am going & it’s silly for me to pretend I do. I want to shout out to everyone, who wants to know, what I am doing. I have absolutely no idea. I don’t know , how I am going to do it. I just know am going to do it. I also know, I am making it so I can operate my business from anywhere. I will be able leave anytime, for as long as I wish and it will pay for itself.

I am completely aware that I am building my dream, using my tree house construction skills to get me there. What does this mean? It means I am not going to take myself too seriously. I am going to play with every idea and have fun doing it.

Do you remember when you were a child. You found the perfect tree & you believed you could make the perfect tree house. In everyone’s mind, it would be the perfect place to live. All you needed, was a few nails, a hammer & any random scrapes you could find to make it work. Nothing was impossible.

Then it began… 1st you grab a board nail it to the tree and take a step up.. Grab another board, that doesn’t match, nail it in and take another step up. The only goal, was to build a ladder & to the top. It wasn’t the perfect ladder, but it worked & it got you there.

I am making that ladder in life. I have the plan to someday go back, when I have the time and the money to pay someone else to do it the right, But until the I will not stop. I will use what means I have to get me to the top. It is my only focus. I can not worry about the things I can not change or what anyone else thinks. I can’t wait for someone, to hand me the perfect plate of money, to make the perfect dream.. I have to rough my way through it, making discoveries & hoping for miracles, as I go about my way!!!

For now, for this year.. I need to do what ever it takes, legally :), to generate the income I need to meet my 2nd financial goal.

This weeks goal is to to create the coolest, camping bathroom in the history of histories. It will exsist in storage unit of my garage. It’s going to look like a real bathroom & work as a temporary solution, until I can afford the real deal. Some people might snub their nose at the idea, but pish posh to them..

I must be willing to sacrifice if I am going to make this happen. This year, I will sadly go back to sleeping on my couch for a short period of time & I will have minimal access to a traditional bath. It’s going to be an adventurous winter. It will humble me and make me grateful, for what I have.

If I start to feel sorry for myself. I will remember all the people who are out in the cold homeless or displaced in life.. Then I will Feel lucky to have a home, a roof, a choice, the freedom to live every moment, realizing that the only boundaries I really have, are the ones I create for myself.

Perfectly, imperfect is a wonderful place to be!!! Work hard and make sacrifices.

Love your life & the people who are in it. embrace every minute, Get up & Reach for one more moment, Live your life until it’s gone… !!!!!

Debbie Smalley ( Deb’e)

Over coming fear is one of the biggest obstacles in life. So many things go unexperienced, so many moments left, not taken.

So many opportunities missed. Afraid to fail or afraid to be looked at as anything less than amazing.

I believe life is a buffet just waiting to be shared!!!

No ones plate is the same. It is true we are what we eat. In this life and into the next. Taste it all!!! Try it!!! Say yes to new experiences. Leap without fear into the unknown. Love and live!!! Get up and reach!!!

Debbie Smalley (Deb’e)

Airbnb Story time!!!

I have been infatuated with floors and interesting wall coverings or tile jobs for many years. I love stained cement floors and mosaics.

My garage floor is going to be my first cement project. But I have to practice first. It’s the one thing I don’t want to mess up.

I’ve had painted floors for years. But as my airbnb progresses, less and less of my painted floors are remaining. I would have loved to leave them but, walking on subfloors makes the house too noisy for my guests. So I have slowly & been covering them up.

As I have been moving forward, my mind keeps playing with the idea of coating the floor or the bottom of my old ugly tub with mosaics in rock.

I have been torturing myself with it. It is really easy to put things off, when I am working with such small windows of time. Especially when fear is involved. Lol

I know once I jump into any project I am officially off the cliff & there is no going back. As with most of my projects, I just have to get the guts or the attitude to jump.

So this week I woke up with an attitude. I was disgusted with my lack of progress. I just want things to move faster. I sometimes feel like I am getting nowhere fast.

So, I took my attitude, grabbed a bottle of gorilla glue and my rock & headed for the bathroom. I was going to do it. I was Moving forward and jumping without fear into this idea. No more waiting around, feeling helpless or weak.

The tub already needed replaced or refinished. So what was the worse that could happen. If I failed, then I just have to get a new tub sooner than expected. Right??? Right!!!

My 2 goals:

To make a cool looking, slip free texture on the bottom of the tub.

&

to bring the feel of the outside, inside.

I hate those cheesy slip free stickers about as much as I hate those stupid rubber mats. They look tacky and make me feel like I’m in a hospital or retirement home. Plus, they are a pain in the ass to keep clean.

So I got gutsy & made the shapes of turtles on the bottom of the tub. Then I piled my colored rocks and sand on top of the glue, hoping it would look like turtles after the glue dried and the extra rock was wiped away.

The first oh shit moment came, as the gorilla glue started to dry. All my shapes began to puff up and swell. Oh crap!!! Lol

The turtles started to become mutated and my abstract designs start to look like snakes. Great!!! Of all the shapes… most people don’t find snakes to be a relaxing tub experience.

At this point I am bent over the tub, trying to keep the turtles, turtles and trying to turn the snakes into snails.

I am infamous at laughing during disasters. But all I can do is laugh & Pray that at some point the glue stops swelling & everything starts to cooperate with me.

Thank god, by the end of this first stage, I am doing a victory dance with my hands covered in gorilla glue , rock and sand. I have successfully managed to create turtles without gluing myself to the bottom of the tub. Yaaaaaa me!!!!

The turtles were not quite as sexy as I was hoping, but I was relieved non the same.

Day two – I took a quick shower and walked over the shapes to make sure they were comfortable on the feet & tested the glue to make sure it wasn’t going to lift off.

It passed the test. 🎉

I was pretty nervous to proceed. The day before felt a little scary. I was thinking this could very well be one of the stupidest adventures, I ever got myself into. Man, I did not want to have to buy a new tub.

But it was too late to go back now. I was committed to the idea and I was going to give it 100%.

So I grabbed my gorilla glue, a buckets of pea gravel & some sands from my back yard and headed for the bathtub. This was going to happen.

I swirled the glue around the shapes until the entire bottom was covered, threw down the rock and said a prayer, that the turtles and snails survived the glue souname.

I kept layering the sand and walking over it as it swelled up. Layer upon, layer until the bottom of the tub looked like the making of a good grave site. I was sooo nervous. It looked like a big mess.

I was so glad it was over. I kept thinking I don’t think I will ever do this again.

But the optimist in me is stronger than the pessimist, so I hoped, that when I vacuumed up all the rock and sand. It would reveal something very cool & it did!!!

I was so happy!!! There are still a few hollows that I am going to fill with some decorative accents. But I got exactly what I was dreaming.

Today when I took a shower, it felt like I was wading through a river, naked in the rain. Showering will now feel like an adventure outdoors, everyday. I am excited to see what it is going to look like when it is all finished. There are sooo many options.

I’m so glad I went for the challenge and can’t wait for my next project to begin!!!

Debbie Smalley ( Deb’e)

Steve Miller Band -Fly like an Eagle

Seal- Fly like an Eagle

My life is just a rough draft for a pretty amazing dream.

Debbie Smalley (Deb’e)

I’m Gonna Be- Proclaimers

I’m Gonna Be- Imagine Dragons , Live

When I visualize my future and I can see it happening. I am building out and up. I am adding onto my house & maximizing my properties, full income earning potential. I can feel it’s success. I can see it happening. In many ways & on multiple roads.

I don’t look at my empty bank account and feel defeated. I do not, allow the size of my dream to put weight on my back and burden in my heart. Instead I let its size lift me, like helium & fill me with hope. I have been blessed with a dream. It gives me purpose. It gives me ambition. It fuels my strength & pushes me forward; to pursue all things that drive my heart & call to my soul.

I am human. I have moments, when I am so tired. I feel like, an ant, trying to move the entire picnic by myself. During these times, I must stand back and give myself grace, not pity.

I can not look at the size of my dream in its entirety. It is so very big. All the tasks, all the work ahead, all the money needed, to make it happen. It could easily overwhelm me, if I let it . It could even feel like a heavy weight or a burden.

But I will not let it!!!

When I decided to change my life & pursue this dream. I promised myself that I would stop & start enjoying life, I would embrace, each moment as it came to me. I would find good in the bad, I would find victory in defeat. I would gain strength from each lesson. I would follow every road, that opened up to me and I would embrace it with no fear. I would be happy, I would feel love in and for life, everyday.

I know I must take it one step at a time. One project at a time. Turning $1 into $10. Over and over again, in every possible way. Looking for the deal. I would not quit!!! I could take any detour I desired, but I could not & would not quit.

My journey will be long. It will take a lot of work and ingenuity. But … I must not let it take me down. I must let it build me up!! Lift me up!!!! And pick me up!!!!

I will enjoy it!!! Every second!!! It will be my great adventure and I can do it.

No matter what it is emotional, physical, personal or business.

This was my life, My road, my journey, my way!!! I will love every minute of it.

Choose your journey, choose your path, live & love with purpose!!! You have been blessed with another day!! Get up and live it!! Reach for one more moment, you make a difference in the world!!!

Thankyou God!!!!

Debbie Smalley (Deb’e)

Don’t whine & complain about your life. Quit crying over the things you can’t change and start looking at the things you can.

Quit wasting the precious minutes. Quit pouting because it’s not perfect. Get up!!! Dust it off, LIVE your life. LOVE your life & embrace the day!!! Every minutes a blessing and your chance to make a difference.

Debbie Smalley (Deb’e)

In the year to follow the opening of my business, my life began to evolve in the most unexpected ways. I am now working more hours than I ever have in my entire life. I am driven by shear desire and motivation. I truly feel on top of the world.

I have no time clock to obey. I stay up as long as I want & get up when I feel like it. It has been such a luxury, to be the ruler of my own life. I am now the boss of me!!

In most people’s fantasies, this would mean I was sleeping in and being lazy. But, for some reason the need for sleep and the desire to be lazy does not play a roll in my life. I pass out watching TV at night and have to force myself to get enough rest. I give myself permission to take lazy moments, but they have to be surrounded by a productive day or a reward for a job well done.

I can not sit idle, I have no time to waste. My extra job could go away at anytime. It is the blessing that has allowed me the time and the money to live, while building my business.

Because of this, I need to move forward with my renovation. I had completed my first stage & it was going fabulously. But it was just the beginning. My goal was to make my property pay for itself, support my life and finance my retirement. If I was going to succeed, I needed to get inventive and be willing to financially, think outside the box.

My finances are so tight. Each month is a juggling act. I am currently on phase 3, building my 3rd. Airbnb. 2 & 3 are happening at the same time, because I currently live in 2 & 3 will not be complete, until I can afford to plumb in another bathroom. As I move through each phase, the jobs become financially & physically more challenging. I can’t imagine doing it all myself. I am smart enough to know when it’s time & when it’s best, to leave it to the professionals.

I would like to get things moving quicker. So recently, I have been looking at purchasing or acquiring use, of an old RV, to live in. It would be a temporary situation, that would allow me to rent out my 2nd place. It would also free up some funds to help finance phases 3 & 4.

It is at the moment just a thought. But that is how all dreams start. I know It will be a sacrifice and there will be a lot of unforeseen challenges. But if I am going to do this, I must be willing to work hard, make sacrifices and reach higher than I have ever reached. I can’t give up, I can’t quite & I can’t let the fear of failure stop me.

I have two neighbors who also own Airbnb’s. We have become friends & are slowly creating a little Airbnb community. It has been an unexpected twist to my adventure. We are all so different, in our approach. It’s been fun to watch them build their business. They have become great assets, to have as friends on my team.

Our homes are right by the interstate, 3 minutes from the airport & a block away from a huge chain of hotels. It sounds very industrial. However, our neighborhood runs along the inside border, of a city park and elementary school. We are sitting in the sweet spot. If we were playing monopoly. Our houses would be on Boardwalk. If we are all smart & play our cards right, we have the perfect formula, for a very successful journey.

My neighbors have been blessed to have a handyman who lives & works on site. He has done all their renovations and does fabulous work. I have not had the luxury to pay someone to do everything. Someday I hope to be in that position.

Even though I am doing a lot of the labor myself, it has still been a true blessing to have someone to call on, when a job gets to tough. Sometimes I just need extra muscle, to keep me from hurting myself. ( Its truthfully, one of my most frustrating things to admit. I hate feeling weak. It truly pisses me off. 🙂 It’s definitely, one of my least attractive qualities.)

Asking for & accepting help, has been one of my biggest lessons I have had to face in life. I was raised with all boys, so being weak, appearing weak or being vulnerable, put me at risk, to end up on the bottom, of the food chain. This made me strong, stubborn and sometimes too tough, for my own good.

But hiring someone to help me or having a friend, pick up a hammer or saw on my behalf, has been such a blessing. It is so nice to watch someone else build the wall and fill in the hole where my garage door used to be. I am no longer afraid to say. I need some help!!! It has been sooo freeing.

It has been a little miracle to have access to someone, who is working & living, so closely to my place. After a hiring him for a few jobs & paying him for his work & feeding him while he was working. Years of my granny’s training has finally paid off, who knew my cooking could become a commodity & a source of trade.

It has become a true, Will work for food, agreement.. Thankyou God!!!

I send plates of food next door and in exchange, I have someone who helps with the projects I need help with. It’s the perfect trade & the perfect scenario for my life.

No dream is impossible, if you approach it with an opened mind. You must never give up, reach higher, work harder and risk it all. Live by your heart and reach for the things that call to your heart. There is no dream to big or to small. Love, Live and Dream. It’s not over until it’s over. Get up and REACH!!!!

Debbie Smalley ( Deb’e)