Happy Anniversary, Honeybear!

Ok, yes, that's what I call my husband. Anyone who knows him chokes when they hear that.

They gag even more when they hear what he calls me. >evil wink<

We've been married seven years today. I think it's seven. Wait, lemme count...

It IS 2008, right?

You'll have to excuse me, I left my brains in my other jeans.

Yes, seven years. And we've been together for a total of almost 13 years.

Whew.

So what are we doing for our anniversary?

In all honesty, most likely nothing. One or the other or both of us are always working on the day of our anniversary ever since we got married! So it was a good day to get married, but not a good day to have an anniversary, apparently. Logan is closing tonight, so there won't be any restaurants open by the time he's done with work, except for the all night McDonald's down the street.

However, Logan is very burnt out from working, so he's going to take some vacation time this month and we're planning to take a driving trip around Alaska. Maybe head to Fairbanks, then come home by way of Glenallen. We're not sure yet.

But then, there are changes looming on the horizon as well.

I just completed a training weekend for a program of exercise that I'm very stoked about. They have other programs that I'm also interested in getting certified in, but we'll have to see what comes of that. I start teaching this one in September.

But Logan just planted something in my head. Since he's pretty much supporting me with his job and he misses teaching and practicing martial arts, he's got me convinced to consider opening a dojo here in Wasilla. With me running and teaching most of the classes, he could teach on his free evenings, which would give him an excuse to get off work at a decent time once in a while and a place to squeeze in a good workout for himself. And it would be worthwhile and meaningful work for us both.

There are six schools in Wasilla already and each seems to be teaching different styles, but we're not sure of that. Since Wasilla is growing so fast right now, I imagine there's more than enough room for one more.

But I admit that the idea frightens me. That's a big responsibility and having been raised in California, it always seemed like a legal nightmare to open a small business.

But here in Alaska, small businesses are still the thing. The "big box" chains are only just starting to creep in. They've had the Walmart for a while and now they have Sportsman's Warehouse, and Target and Walgreens will be opening soon. There are even rumors of Costco going in.

But that's it, really. Everything else is mostly "mom n' pop". I don't think it'll be as nightmarish here.

I'll have a lot of research to do. I don't know anything about running a business, though I'll tell you, with all I've been accomplishing just in these last few weeks, I'm getting braver! The weekend training thing really opened my eyes to what I can do.

And then Logan's job may be moving him along farther up the ladder sooner than we thought. But that remains to be seen.

We know that we can't expect the dojo to make any money the first year, especially since we're starting with no equipment. But that's just it; With Logan's job, we don't really need it to.

So for now, I'm going to teach at the club here and learn about what it takes to start and run a business in Alaska. Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome.