What Would you do if you Won 1 million dollars?

I was in the store the other day and a woman said to me I am working towards my early retirement. I said that is great, what are you doing? She answered playing the lottery! Ok while I will admit to the idea of buying a 2.00 lotto ticket (yes now 2.00) and coming away with millions is really exciting and for those it happens to well are very lucky, you can't stake your future on it. That is no legacy to leave to your kids. What if you NEVER win! Well then you keep doing the same thing over and over until you are too old to work and hope you scraped up enough in your savings to last the remainder of your life. So what if you manage to scrimp and save all your life for the future you never live to see? That magical day where you can finally travel, explore this world, or just have cable without worries, and you are gone before it happens?

Most people dont frown on the idea of gambling a few dollars here and a few dollars there to come away with the magic lottery, but when you talk about actually building a multimillion dollar business from less than two thousand they shy away or balk. That's not possible.

Really? Every business starts somewhere and its a proven fact that if you get paid 10.00 an item you sell and you want to make 100,000 a month you have to sell 1000 items a month. Well what if you could do that? Does that really seem that incredible? Ok but that means you have to sell right? Of course no one is going to pay you for doing nothing but I would much rather sell 1000 items and make the 100,000 than do 1000 in sales and get paid marginally for my efforts. But wait what if you didn't have to do it alone? What if you had a team of people who all got paid like you but you got to share the effort in sales. You making 10 didn't take away their 10 but the 10 of you now only had to sell 100 or better yet you had 50 and you each only had to sell 20 to make the same 100,000 a month. That seems more manageable doesn't it?

Another thing you might be asking is WHY would someone NEED a million dollars. Actually with inflation I need about 20 million. How many more years do you plan on living 50-60 more? Divide that up its only 2000/year which means you would still need to work. How can you live on 2000/year. You probably would make about that in the next 50 years but the difference is earning it while you are young and in one lump sum would allow you to control how and where it is spent and where its invested to grow even more.

So again why would I want that much? I personally want help grow my non-profit organization and send my kids to college. I want them to study not try to get through college with 10 jobs and possibly make time for education. So I want them to excel. My dream is to help all those that God sends to me without hurting my families lifestyle and so I don't know how much that would be because I don't know how many people God is going to send me.

So I do want to be a millionaire. I want to build my business to the heavens with God as the center and I want to change our lives and those that I are sent to me to touch. I am sitting on the opportunity to make that happen, and I am not ashamed to say I want it to. I want God to entrust in me that kind of wealth so I can do his work. Will my lifestyle change? Of course to some degree, but I won't. I will work to earn this blessing, and all I ask God for is protection from the devil and for the seeds I am planting to bear fruit.

So instead of hoping that you will win the lottery, why not take charge of a real opportunity and create your own? The odds are in your favor and this one has a much greater chance to actually throw your numbers and pay off.

nothing day

Ok I officially love my new IPhone! I can keep up with my Facebook chats without being tethered to a computer all day. Even a tablet has limits, but my phone is easy and it looks and reacts just like the computer version. So today while cleaning my room I chatted with friends. During kitchen duty I talked to a woman about sending her samples out and I was able to transfer that data to a note and then take that with me when I stopped by the post office.

I almost feel lost some days. I am not sewing all day and night or trying to put out orders, so I really don't know what to do with myself. I cleaned my room up and the kitchen. Kolten and Kari put away their toys (so proud of them) and we just got reacquainted. There is a strange peace in me today. I mean I don't know where this is going to go. I don't know if we will make Diamond level or get stuck at Gold but I know the winds of change are upon us. Like the calm before the storm, but this "storm" or flood is a good one. It would be a crazy whirlwind of prosperity and fulfillment. Somewhere off in the distance I can hear God say get ready. I am. Like Moses I am ready to be lead from bondage and slavery and debt. So now I am calm and sipping my coffee and waiting for his voice. The one that tells me the he sees our trouble and he sees my heart and that everything is going up from here.

Yes I can't talk about my family or my business without bringing God on. He is the center because he wants whats best for me and ONLY he knows just what that path is. So I lean on him and there is a peace that comes with that.

I hate to say today was a lazy day but I got some work done. Just enjoy the pure joy of doing nothing in particular. Those days are not around much but I love to do nothing with my kids when I can.

Our Journey, our evolution

The Johnson family has had several hard years. It seems a black cloud has followed us for the last seven years.

We took in a girl who's husband had left her on our door step 17 and pregnant. He abandoned her to us. Part of me felt the motherly instinct to protect her. That instinct gets me in trouble a lot but I try to be nice and help. I love to help, as long as I am not punished for my help. What is that saying? No good deed goes unpunished? Did they write that about us?

We rented a house to a "friend" and they trashed it. I mean tore up the floor, broke holes in the walls, let food decay in our brand new fridge, etc. We had to almost gut the house and start fresh in order to sell it. On top of paying rent and mortgage because he had to PCS before this could be completed. We were in a tight spot. We lost all our nest egg in that house, I won't list a number it still hurts.

Meanwhile I was trying to get Yummy Luxe Couture off the ground. I was designing the tees myself, printing them and selling them. With cute sayings like "Sweet as Suger Wanna Taste?" Yummy was a little cute, sass, and naughty. It was for adults. Kolten was born and shortly after we left MD.

I toiled away at Yummy, getting some acclaim and even a fashion spread in a local magazine and some screen shots on a local tv show. I also made friends with wardrobe specialist for magazine shoots and tv to get a few more designs out into the right hands. I thought I was well on my way. Nothing really happened after that. Sometime after that I wrote and published my first novel.

Karisma was born in 2007 and I started making bows. Something about having a little girl makes you want to make bows, especially when you see how expensive they are.

Karismatic Couture was born. I started to learn to sew one of my first things was ruffles on clothing I was obsessed. I dreamed of opening a shop of my ruffly clothes and put Yummy aside. Hoping I would someday be able to pick it up again.

Then I learned to make tutus and tutu dresses I made into fairy costumes for Karisma. After Ben was laid off we had to sell our ribbon and tulle to survive and I lost interest in the craft. I started to lose hope.

Moving to Texas opened more opportunities for me to live my dream and design clothing for my daughter. I started with skirts and then pettiskirts, I found I was really good at sewing them and spent many an hour sewing petti fluff on ANYTHING I could get my hands on. Karismatic Couture gave way to Karismatic Chaos and I thought finally we would be successful. Unfortunately I was too helpful and someone I sewed for not only drained me physically because I could barely get my orders done but creatively as well. Of course when I shut down operations I noticed some of my ideas I told her in private or ones I released in Arizona and were planning on doing that here were in her new collections. Or the fact I loaned her my equipment and had to BEG her to get it back even when I had customers waiting on their products. She never once thought of how that would effect me. I truly wonder if she did it on purpose, if she saw me as too much competition? Well that is between her and God I can honestly say I gave this the best try I could. I got an investor (who refused to go any further with funding even though I had orders) and was in a showroom, they barely sold anything. Emotionally and creatively I gave up. I burned out, and soon I closed down my baby. I am over it now.

So why tell you this in my blog, its not for sympathy or anger towards those that wronged me.

No to show how our negative does NOT have to hinder or influence the positive for the future. I had a few more ideas fall away but now I am working on a business that is flourishing that I can make a real difference at and can sell a product that not only can benefit their health greatly but change their lives financially.

I am writing again and now that I am not in pageants I can say that I write romance novels. I love to write its a passion. I want to be a New York times Bestseller and now I have time to dedicate to my writing. Its scary breaking into a new genre but I am ready for the challenge. I am also rehearsing my singing and writing songs again. My voice is improving and near the caliber it was when I was young and singing all over. Most of all though I run a business, have hobbies, and actually get to spend time with my children, friends, and husband. I couldn't do that before. I would have to work all the time night and day to make very little. Now I don't have to sell 1 million pcs to make a million. I just have to bring in a few people who do the same and they sell $50-100 each (like 3-7 boxes) and I have to sell that too (or buy it and drink it WOO HOO). Much less burden, with a much bigger payout.

So I am hoping that this dark cloud that started when I helped that girl is lifted this year. That we are finally free from the bondage. I feel the ropes loosening but they are not off yet. At least that is a start and I will do anything the Lord directs me to do, all I ask is please God let it be the right thing that will work. Fingers crossed I think I found it. Wouldn't it be funny 2012, the year that is supposed to spell our doom, actually turns out to be our salvation? God works in mysterious ways I know that to be true so I don't discount anything anymore.

God Bless,

Andi