Logan Hits the Route!

Usually, Monday mornings Peter and Clara head out to service the clients on our route that need their machines filled more frequently. Logan has felt left out the last few weeks and loves to help his daddy with anything and everything- especially if it involves tools or keys of any kinds.

Today, for the first time, daddy took Logan out to service the route and he was delighted!

Lots of Updates!!!

So many exciting things have been happening in our business and in our family! We've been so busy, I haven't had much time to update the blog! So here are the most recent happenings with our family and our business

Pretty Princess Tea Party

We had a unique opportunity to participate in the Welcome Spring Pretty Princess Tea Party at the Greysolon Plaza on April 6th. We are really enjoying our new semi-partnership with Pretty Princess Parties and they really do an amazing job with all of the little girls they meet.

Clara had an absolute ball at the tea party with me as she absolutely adores the Disney Princess. Frozen is the movie particularly hot in our house right now, and daddy got to be there too since he was doing the candy buffet for the event! Here are a few of the pictures from the party.

Here are some pictures of the princess candy buffet for all of the little princesses at the party.

Clara Turns Four!

A few weeks later, Clara had her fourth birthday. Hard to believe! 

We are so thankful for Clara. She is funny and thoughtful and smart and talented, not to mention beautiful. We enjoy all of the emerging aspects of her personality and who God is creating her to be. We threw her a party a few days later and Pretty Princess Parties was kind enough to show up with TWO princesses from Frozen. Clara was surprised and delighted and they did an amazing job with the kids at the party, I can't recommend this company enough if your daughter loves princesses. And of course, there was a Frozen candy buffet!

Events Around Town

We've also kept plenty busy with events for our business. We've done several candy buffets and the cupcake vending machine had it's first official event in the Twin Ports today at WITC. We also created a "Junior" version of the cupcake vending machine for smaller parties and events.

As a family, we are keeping extremely busy. Peter went down a day at Bridgeman's this month to focus more on the family business, God is continuing to grow this business by leaps and bounds, it's been really fun to be a part of all of these special events taking place right here in our community. I have no shortage of work either with my marketing job, which I do from home. God has truly orchestrated the right jobs for us at the right time. Peter and I are both extremely blessed to have jobs where we work for great Christian people, who we really LOVE working for. We enjoy our jobs and we enjoy our business and all the places God is taking our family.

Stay tuned for the Mall My Love event we are excited to be apart of coming up in June!

Duluth Bridal Expo

Today Peter and I took the Sweet Event candy buffets and cupcake vending machine to the bridal expo here in Duluth.

This is the first time we've debuted both services to a massive audience here in the Twin Ports. Both services went over very well with the brides we met. 

For the candy buffets, many brides said they had wanted a candy buffet at their wedding, but didn't know we existed, so they were attempting to pull one together themselves. They soon realized it was a large undertaking, and were grateful to find our service.

"WHAT. IS. THIS!?" Was a very typical question we heard upon someone walking up to the cupcake vending machine. They laughed, they yelled, they had their pictures taken with it. 

We had two definite hits on our hands today. It was fun to meet so many new people, and also work together. We do make a fantastic team.

My mom and dad graciously spent the better part of the day today with Clara and Logan so I could help with the show. We had a lot of fun working together and being there together to see two of our dreams, years in the making finally take shape and see the public's reaction to them.

As always, we are so thankful to God for the provisions, ideas, and opportunities He has presented to our business. When we first started our vending business 4 years ago this month, we had a lot of big dreams for this business and the implications for our family life. We didn't know how we would get there, but God did. Today is potentially a big turning point for our business, and we are humbled and thankful for the possibilities it holds!

The Cupcake Vending Machine Debut!

Today was a big day for our little business. Today we debuted our cupcake vending machine to the world. Peter took the machine and the candy buffet to a small wedding workshop hosted by his brother's DJ company, Diamond MC Entertainment.

It was a good test run to see how it looked and functioned. Peter said the machine had positive feedback, and we are looking forward to the big wedding expo in Duluth next Saturday. 

This was a lot of hard work and planning come to fruition. We are so excited and we are looking forward to offering this service to the Northland!

Becoming a Northlander

We haven't been to Northland College in Ashland since Logan learned to walk. He was all too thrilled to explore on his own, which was fine because the students are on the winter break. So we had the place to ourselves while Peter filled the machines.

It's been cold here. Really cold. Needless to say, the grand playground experiences we have had in Ashland while Peter's servicing the college are not happening. 

Since he was only a few months old last winter, Logan is just now learning the joys and experiences of living in a climate colder than Mars.

For example, sometimes playing  outside is really playing inside the Ashland Wal-Mart.

Or, you know, sometimes your nose freezes shut, your eyes freeze open, your car won't start, and even when it does, it feels like you're driving a frozen block that may break at any moment.

Luckily, the kids haven't had to start or drive a car yet this winter. 

And culturally, Logan is extremely excited about our love in the Northland to display  our hunted animals on our walls. I snapped this shot of Logan after he discovered one of Northland College's trophies: 

 

Yes indeed. He's becoming quite the little Northlander. 

On another note, despite the freezing temps, we aren't a bunch of ninnies! We are debuting our cupcake vending machine at the wedding workshop at the Rex from 2-4 PM. Check it out! Pics to come!

Happy New Year!

Another year comes to a close. It seems every year flies by faster and faster. Yesterday, Peter spent the day entering our end of year numbers. This is it- the end of 2013. 

I'm not much of a new year's person. Since becoming a mom, I despise losing any moment of precious sleeping hours, new year's feels as exciting to me as starting any other month of the year. I don't make resolutions, or put together "this was my year" slideshows. However, one thing has never changed month to month or year to year, and that's that God has been good to us. 

So. Very. Good. 

It was 4 years ago this very soon January that we started our business. Considering most businesses fail within the first year, we feel very blessed to even still be in the game. Not only that, but we've done better every year. Our revenue has gone up, we've gotten more locations, expanded on to our business, learned more things, and met more people. God has gone before us every step of the way. There have been multiple opportunities for us to fall on our faces, screw this whole thing up, but God has been merciful to us and this business.

This year of blessings has not been without its challenges either. The biggest occurrences in our business this year were taking on Northland College in Ashland in May as a location, and starting our A Sweet Event extension business. Don't be fooled by the brevity of that sentence. These were large, massive undertakings that required a lot of time and a lot of money. 

It has not always been the easiest path, working three jobs between us all without the assistance of a daycare. But this is where we were almost exactly 4 years ago. I was pregnant with Clara, we knew WE wanted to be the ones to raise our babies, and we wanted to be a family as much as possible. God has been good and provided a way for at least one of us to always be home with the kids, working two jobs, and running the business. We get tired, worn out, and stressed, but we've never forgotten our goal in the last four year- to be a family, as much as possible. We still believe this business is our ticket to this goal. We don't want to be millionaires or run our own office or join a country club- we just want to be together.

There are days where this goal seems more elusive than others, but we believe this is what God has for our family. Some days that's all we can stand on. 

We have had a lot of fun together this year. It's been so rewarding to watch God work in and through our business. We are so excited for 2014 and what that holds for our family and for this business. We at Northland Vending wish you a very happy new year full of God's best for you!

First Event Fundraiser Candy Buffet

Peter and I feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity on Sunday to participate in the Night 4 Life Fundraiser for the Women's Care Center here in Duluth. They asked us to provide a candy buffet for the event, and we jumped at the chance.

In short, the Women's Care Center is a pro-life center in Duluth that helps women through their pregnancies and parenthood. Throughout the life of our business, God has used income from our business to bless a Christian youth center, our church's food shelf, the local animal shelter, and various other causes close to our hearts. The pro-life cause, however, is especially near to our hearts. Since they've opened just last March, they have saved 23 babies, including one whose mama came to their center mistankingly thinking it was the abortion center across the street. They've also helped tons of moms and dads along their parenting journeys in various ways. We love what God is doing through the Women's Care Center, and we are so honored to have been part of their event.

We understood they were expecting 250 or so people. I think there were at least double that in attendance. The candy buffet was a huge hit too. Peter and I hung out most of the time and just watched people enjoy it. Here are some pictures:

God is using our business to bless the causes close to His heart, and we are so enjoying being along for the ride! 

"Life" is indeed very, very sweet. :)